This special podcast episode was recorded at the Oxford Real Farming Conference last week. The podcast offers a flavour of this year's conference and includes interviews and short clips from sessions including the Q&A with Defra Secretary Michael Gove, led by Zac Goldsmith MP. Thank you to everybody who spoke to me including: Kath Dalmeny, Miles … Continue reading ‘Meet the Farmers’ – episode 13 – Oxford Real Farming Conference 2018
Late night posts are never usually a good idea, but having just returned from an event down in mid Essex it seems right to pen my thoughts straight away, while it's fresh in my head. This evening I went along to a Young Farmers Club event near Chelmsford, chaired by the ever inspiring Ed Ford … Continue reading Meeting Defra
Fifteen months ago an idea came into my head. Wouldn't it be brilliant if some of the young farmers and conservationists who are just starting out in their careers could come together at an event to learn from each other, talk with each other and build connections. After all, as individual organisations and networks Young … Continue reading The Next Generation of farmers and naturalists talking together
To me, England is the country, and the country is England. And when I ask myself what I mean by England, when I think of England when I am abroad, England comes to me though my various senses – through the ear, through the eye and through certain imperishable scents. .The sounds of England, the … Continue reading The Myth of England
At the Birdfair in 2016 a plan for an event was formed and tomorrow it will finally become reality. For the first time members of the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs and A Focus on Nature, the UK youth conservation network, will come together to learn about conservation on farmland today and discuss the … Continue reading #farmenviro30
The autumnal equinox, when day and night are almost equal, has come and gone, the nights are getting longer, temperatures cooling and we begin to look forward to winter fires and long evenings. Predictions begin to come in as to where in the UK will actually receive snow this year. The Harvest Moon came upon … Continue reading Rising Tide
It's now a few years since I came across the concept of 'rewilding' and read George Monbiot's Feral, far from the first book to tackle the subject, but perhaps the one that holds the crown for popularising it to such an extent and garnering a more established 'movement' of rewilding within conservation circles. Over that same period … Continue reading Rewilding – still learning
England's green and pleasant land: a patchwork quilt of green and gold fields with quaint little villages nestled in between and ancient farms run by families who have worked the land for generations. Is this a true perspective of the English countryside? You and I know that this rose-tinted view is not the reality, nor … Continue reading One fifth of English farms have disappeared in past 10 years
It won’t be news to any regular reader of this blog to hear that many farmers struggle to make a living from the land. Farming is famously volatile and those running farming businesses are at the mercy of world markets, changing government policy and of course the weather! The decision to withdraw from the European … Continue reading Book Review: ‘Land of Plenty’ by Charlie Pye-Smith
You may not have heard of it, but 'The Rural Coalition' recently published its 2017 statement, outlining the policy priorities and actions that it thinks will be required to sail rural communities through Brexit and beyond in a safe and secure (as opposed to strong and stable) manner. The Rural Coalition is exactly what it … Continue reading Rural Coalition Statement 2017
