GWCT Take the project to the UK's premiere sustainable farming festival...
We’re pleased to share that Dr Niamh McHugh, head of Farmland Ecology Research at FRAMEwork partner organisation the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), was able to represent the project at this year’s Groundswell Regenerative Agriculture Festival in Hertfordshire.
Held yearly, the popular festival provides a forum for farmers, growers, or anyone interested in food production and the environment to learn about the theory and practical applications of regenerative farming systems. It describes itself as ‘by farmers, for farmers” which is, of course, a philosophy we can get behind at FRAMEwork.
The festival describes itself as:
A practical show aimed at anyone who wants to understand the farmer’s core asset, the soil, and make better informed decisions. It is a two-day event featuring talks, forums and discussions from leading international soil health experts, experienced arable and livestock farmers, agricultural policy experts, direct-drill demonstrations and AgTech innovators.
This year’s event, held on the 28th and 29th June, sold out of tickets, attracting over 6500 attendees, with 75% either directly farming or involved in a farming enterprise. The theme centred on the question “what is regenerative agriculture” and was explored through talks, debated and demonstrations by experienced regenerative farmers, technical experts, researchers, policy-makers and NGOs. There was something for everyone, with some sessions designed for those at the start of their sustainable farming journey, and other advanced sessions covering topics like integrated pest and disease management or enhancing underground communications.
Niamh, whose research focuses on landscape-scale farmer collaboration, and the potential benefits this may have on farming systems and ecosystem health, was asked to join the panel of a session called “Sensing Change: Taxonomy or Technology”. She was joined by fellow panellists Dr Laura James of the AHDB, organic arable and dairy farmer Sophie Alexander, and arable LEAF demonstration farmer Patrick Barker. They explored questions like “does farmland have a lack of biodiversity OR a lack of biodiversity data?” and “Where does the value lie in biodiversity monitoring on-farm?” It was fantastic that Niamh was able to bring her expertise in empowering farmers to take control of their biodiversity data, and that much of the conversation revolved around farmer-led biodiversity monitoring.
Thank you to Niamh for representing the project’s research at such a great event.
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