8.9 Newsweek - Peatland, worm-dancing, deer and venture capital

Farming at its best - agroecological or regenerative farming - can deliver a broad range of positive environmental and social outcomes. But at its heart, farming is a business. To scale the positives we need to scale the business of regenerative and agroecological agriculture - and for that we need investment. Pelican Ag is a venture capital business that invests in regen ag technology - I wanted to know more about what venture capital is - how it can help regen ag - and what makes venture capitalists tick? ffinlo Costain talks to Pelican Ag founder partners, Christopher Ramsay and Simon Evill. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/farmgate/message

Six Inches of Soil is the hit UK film that traces the trials and tribulations of three young farmers who are each trying to work regeneratively with their land. Anna Jackson, farms an 800 acre mixed farm in Lincolnshire with her dad, Andrew - (0'50") Beef farmer Ben Thomas has 75 acres of field and agroforestry in Cornwall - (16'24") And Adrienne Gordon produces veges, salad and edible flowers in around four acres of market garden in Cambridgeshire - (29'36") --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/farmgate/message

What exactly do the Soil Association mean by a Worm Hunt, and why do they want us to dance for these wriggly ecosystem warriors? Can venture capital really help to scale the transition to regenerative agriculture? Why has deer management become such a divisive issue in Scotland? And the latest UK Peatland Code revision is now open for consultation. Interviews with: Dr Renée Kerkvliet-Hermans from the IUCN UK Peatland Programme - 0'25'' Alex Burton, Head of Worms at the Soil Association - 7'57'' Simon Evill from Pelican Ag - 12'51'' Tom Turnbull from the Association of Deer Management Groups - 22'13'' --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/farmgate/message

Do we seriously need to chop down more trees to address the climate crisis? What about food? Is it possible to make a living from a third of an acre of land? In a world struggling with antimicrobial resistance - what's the WHO doing downgrading a whole class of antibiotics? And what about my farm - regenerative agriculture - it's a great idea, but it'll never work here! I speak to regenerative farming advisor, Tim Williams - 0'40'' Paul Brannen, the author of Timber! How wood can help save the world from climate breakdown - 12'50'' Dr Laura Higham a veterinary consultant for FAI Farms - 25'15'' And Ben Hartman the author of The Lean Micro Farm - 37'10'' --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/farmgate/message

Phil Carson (Nature Friendly Farming Network) and ffinlo Costain (8point9.com) discuss the week’s land use news - including: Government must deliver promised flood support, says CLA “Slurry pollution as damaging as sewage” NFFN unveils UK general election manifesto Farmers demand Universal Basic Income Research finds ten times more pests in insecticide-treated corn fields In-field crop diversity could deliver ecological resilience Urgent need for new approach to combat global grassland degradation --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/farmgate/message

Five interviews today - on topics ranging from the constant struggle for tenant farmers to dangers of slurry pollution. 1'08'' Martin Lines from the Nature Friendly Farming Network discusses the NFFN's general election manifesto, which includes a call for a fit-for-purpose farming budget 12'29'' Peter Powell from the Welsh Dee Trust talks about the terrible impact farm slurry can have on rivers 20'34'' Vicky Vanderstichele from North Star Transition tells me that scale is critical when it comes to financing nature-based solutions 32'09'' George Dunn, the chief executive of the Tenant Farmers Association, tells me about the often poor relationship between tenant farmers and their landlords 42'35'' And finally, Robin Walter from the Soil Association, makes the case for regenerative forestry. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/farmgate/message

Wheat from the Chaff: Wye chicken? Unlocking nature finance - And special guest: Rob Yorke Class-action-style claim takes on chicken giant, Avara Report focusses on unlocking finance for nature Updated carbon offsetting principles aim to combat greenwashing SPECIAL GUEST: Rob Yorke Welsh Government: New Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs confirmed “Where is the Land Use Framework?” asks EAC Questions remain over England’s plan for improving soil health Government caps land area used for six key SFI payments --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/farmgate/message

Four conversations today - first, I'll meet David Wright, the Chief Executive of Ecometric, to find out about how exactly soil carbon is measured - then after that I'll talk to Chris D'Agorne from Life to Land about an analysis that shows that the non-native sycamore is now the UK's third most populous tree species. Later I'll discuss the benefits of having more trees on farms with Huw Evans from Three Pools, and we'll round up the programme with a conversation about the Westminster government's proposals for mandatory method of production labelling with Peter Stevenson and Catherine Jadav from Compassion in World Farming. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/farmgate/message

ffinlo Costain (8point9.com) and Phil Carson (Nature Friendly Farming Network) discuss the week's land use news - and meet special guest, Chris Smaje, author of "Saying NO to a farm-free future" This is a re-edit of the original podcast, which contained inaccuracies in the first section (soil carbon intro). NEWS ARTICLES DISCUSSED: New paradigm in soil science shows vast potential for carbon storage Good soil management reduces the “high risk of conventional grazing” White paper connects regenerative agriculture with nutrient density "They belong to this land" - The Reindeer Chronicles INTERVIEW: CHRIS SMAJE “Cities, like feedlots, need to import food and water from afar" THIRD SECTION No single stretch of river in England in “good ecological health” Hedgerow regulations will be brought into English law Farmers look to help rivers by cutting plough use in maize trials River restoration key to saving Scotland’s disappearing salmon --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/farmgate/message

ffinlo Costain meets Judith D Schwartz - the author of Cows Save the Planet, Water in Plain Sight and The Reindeer Chronicles. Western civilisation has, for generations, sought to extract itself from its dependency on the natural world. Indigenous knowledge has been devalued and lost. And even now, as our monumental folly becomes clearer with each passing day, those who lead us have little real conception of our innate dependency upon an interconnected natural world. Judith D Schwartz has collected evidence of landscape-scale recovery led by visionaries who have reconnected themselves with nature. ffinlo and Judith discuss what we can learn from reindeer, green colonialism, prey and predator cultures, donkeys in Western Australia, natural capital and economic growth, and the transformation of the Loess Plateaux. Find Judith at https://www.judithdschwartz.com/ and on X Buy Judith's book, The Reindeer Chronicles, here. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/farmgate/message