future

Chris Packham and the Nature Friendly Farming Network

I recently visited Martin Lines, UK Chair of the Nature Friendly Farming Network. Martin invites large numbers of people to his farm each year to show them what he is doing to improve the state of nature on his farm. One of those guests was Chris Packham who organised a bioblitz to take place onContinueContinue reading “Chris Packham and the Nature Friendly Farming Network”

Searching for Common Ground at the ORFC and the OFC

I will be spending the next couple of days at the 10th Oxford Real Farming Conference and the 73rd Oxford Farming Conference and my mission is simple, but also overwhelmingly complex: to search for common ground between the two. How are these two conferences similar and how are they still fundamentally different? Is there aContinueContinue reading “Searching for Common Ground at the ORFC and the OFC”

Meeting Defra

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 FordContinueContinue reading “Meeting Defra”

The Next Generation of farmers and naturalists talking together

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 YoungContinueContinue reading “The Next Generation of farmers and naturalists talking together”

The Myth of England

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, theContinueContinue reading “The Myth of England”