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Conversations we're having

Watch: an SFI special from Oxford

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Earlier this month, we attended both the Oxford Real Farming Conference and the Oxford Farming Conference (OFC). In this post, we share 2 videos. The first video is a session hosted by Jim Egan and Jonathan Baker on environmental land management and the agricultural transition. The second video features farmers John Geldard and Ben Taylor-Davies. John gives his opinion on the work of the team and Ben describes his experience of SFI and plans for his farm. 

The Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot: learning together

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A gathering of pilot participants on a farm

Farmers across England are helping us to test the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) through the SFI pilot. In this post, I’ll share a snapshot of what we’ve learned from pilot participants through on-farm and large-scale, regional face-to-face events.

How we used co-design to create vet visits 

Farmers, vets, industry representatives, and colleagues in government are shaping the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway together. The first step of the pathway is the Annual Health and Welfare Review. In this post, we share how we used co-design to create the yearly vet visits. 

Environmental land management schemes: progress update

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Yesterday, Rt Hon Mark Spencer MP, Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries and Janet Hughes, Programme Director, Future Farming and Countryside Programme appeared before the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee. The session was part of a committee inquiry into the rollout of the new environmental land management schemes.

Watch: The North Cumbria Farmers Group test and trial

Farmers in North Cumbria's Forgotten Lands are working with Natural England and Defra to help shape future environmental land management schemes. In this third video in a series of 3 about the North Cumbria Farmers Group Test and Trial, uplands livestock farmer and local history expert Barbara Smith explains how the group have been mapping the natural capital of the land, and the background to this history-rich area of north-west England.

Future Farming Podcast: Government-funded innovation

In the seventh episode of the Future Farming podcast, Tim Mordan, Defra’s Head of Farming Innovation, Productivity and Science talks to Rui Andrês, CEO of Fieldwork Robotics, about their innovative raspberry robot picker.

Future Farming Podcast: Tim Parton on nitrogen-fixing bacteria and nutrient-dense food 

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In the sixth episode of the Future Farming Podcast, Programme Director Janet Hughes talks to Tim Parton. Tim is Farm Manager at Brewood Park Farm, Staffordshire, where he manages 300 hectares using regenerative agriculture methods. Find out how Tim moved to no-till, reduced insecticide and fungicide use and brewed his own nitrogen-fixing bacteria.