Inspiration at the Nuffield Farming Conference
I have been at the Nuffield Farming conference over the past few days. Here’s my full report.
Day 1 - Regenerative, future leadership and supplying today
Fly2Feed founder, David Tavernor, honouring his sponsor, Alan and Anne Beckett, who couldn't be at the conference
The Super Conference has started with a bang 💥 there were some fantastic talks. With the format across two halls, I chose my first session focused on "Regeneration and Net Zero" with talks from Chris Taylor, Sam Smith and Ben Hunt. Putting an environmental value on regenerative agriculture, particularly carbon, was very interesting to hear.
This was followed in the next session on "Looking Forwards to a Brighter Farming Future" with talks from Emily Aitchison, Chris Manley, Peter Craven and James Standen. There was a very healthy debate afterwords on how to keep families and people happy in succession, where enabling communication was heralded as the key.
The final session of the day that I attended surprised me in how much thought it provoked and it was on "Supply and More Demands", with Matthew Blyth, Gary Spence and Aisla Jones taking to the mic. The debate was much more varied talking about all aspects of the supply chain from producer through to consumer. As an insect farmer myself and former supermarket buyer, I was pretty excited at the Q&A!
My word of the day: Adulation 👏👏
Every one of those scholars delivered their presentations impeccably and their research was full of insight. You just need to look across the room to see the leaders of the industry enthralled by what is being projected at them from the stage. I'm feeling very inspired for what my journey has in store over the next 2 years.
Day 2 - Natural capital, sustainability and insect protein
2024 Nuffield Scholars
Day 2 had a mix of topics from Lizzie Carr-Archer on plant breeding. Nicola Harrison explained opportunities in valorising plant "waste". Fred Langdale gave his experience of cool climate viticulture techniques. And, Jimmy Stobart went through natural capital in grazing systems.
The second session of the day was focused specifically on answering the question: can sustainable farming be profitable? Dan de Baerdemaecker questioned the viability of a challenging deer farming industry. Toby Simpson shared how he is successfully integrating cover cropping, which was followed rather aptly by James Pick on his regenerative potato farm experiences. Thomas Young then shared stark insights on the importance of sustainable water use and policy.
These fantastic talks, delivered impeccably, led nicely onto what I would describe, in my very biased view being an insect farmer, as the conference showstopper, which I had been looking forward to since the conference kicked off. Olivia Champion gave her findings on whether insect farming can be profitable and shared warnings over the importance of changing the UK regulation.
To wrap up proceedings, our patron, HRH the Duke of Gloucester presented me and my fellow 2024 scholars with our ties / broaches.
I'm absolutely shattered. I've had early starts and even later finishes at the hotel bar and it's been extremely humbling meeting everyone. I even managed to catch up with the new DEFRA minister and 2016 Nuffield Scholar Robbie Moore. Only 3 days into his new job, his fellow Nuffield Scholars didn't hold back on giving him plenty to think about!
DEFRA minister Robbie Moore
Word of the day: Regenerate. Regen ag dominated the content of the talks. But, rather pertinently, to regenerate the minds of the farming community with truly innovative thinking. It's not often that the people with the most time-experience sit down for a full two days to attentively listen to the youth share their findings. This demonstrates the magic of Nuffield, to lead positive change in agriculture.
