By Paul Ward, Business Lincolnshire
- Online event, from Business Lincolnshire & PECT
- For SMEs in Lincolnshire & Rutland
- Tuesday 10th December, 10:00am to 12pm
- Book here
- Cost: Free
Agricultural & Horticultural businesses are concerned about the future, with increasing running costs & lower returns.
About Net Zero:
This focuses on inputs such as energy, fuel, water, fertiliser, refrigerants and other key inputs, and ways of reducing the Carbon dioxide equivalent.
The aim is to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide, NOX, Ammonia, and the Freon based refrigerant gases to neutral.
In cutting our emissions, there is also the opportunity to become more efficient and save costs.
Jargon Free:
This event is not about terminology. We will only mention key terms and explain what each panel organisation is doing around carbon neutrality, what farming businesses need to focus on and how to keep it simple.
So, if you are an Agriculture or Horticulture business, why not look at ways to potentially save money, and reduce CO2 inputs?
We’ve invited a panel of speakers from LEAF, Soil Association Exchange, the Allerton Project, Barclays Agri finance and three local farming businesses to join us to discuss what Net Zero really means, why they need to do more work on Net Zero, and what the key actions really are.
As a local adviser working in Ag & Hort local & global businesses, I’m extremely aware of the requirements UK customers have and what the future challenges will be. Financial institutions will also be faced with decisions on financing green businesses going forward too.
Equally, the Future Fens Integrated Adaptation group & the University of East Anglia commissioned research conducted by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change, which highlights that rising temperatures will bring intensified flooding, severe droughts, biodiversity loss, and drastic disruptions to agriculture. We’ve gone past 1.5C average rise & look set to hit 3-4C in three to four generations time!
So, not only can we save money, but we should also be discussing this topic to future proof businesses & leave a plan for future generations to build on.
Format:
Brief introduction to the topic by David Knight of PECT & Paul Ward of Business
Lincolnshire.
Panel discussion covering what the speakers do, how they see climate change & its challenges & the help available to farmers. The aim is to give attendees a better idea of the key elements of climate change, who can help you to navigate the process & what the key actions businesses need to urgently take to address the issue and also save money, and how to do this.
This is a panel format; our experts will discuss what they do, how they see climate change and innovative strategies for achieving net zero emissions while saving costs in the agricultural sector.
Attendees can freely ask questions of the panel throughout the webinar. There are no formal presentations.
Speakers:
Paul Ward – Specialist Agriculture and Horticulture Adviser at Business Lincolnshire
Paul is an agronomist by training and has worked both locally in Lincolnshire and the UK, and Globally as a produce technologist & technical director, focusing on variety development, IP Management, retail supply, and key issues of pesticide reduction, biological farming for the future, and reducing environmental impact.
Paul has been both grower and retailer facing in his roles, and is passionate about lower input farming and soil health. Paul is an Associate Member of the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment.
David Knight PIEMA – Principal Environmental Consultant at PECT/ iiE
David is a Principal Consultant and Technical Lead at PECT & Investors in the Environment (iiE). With over 10 years’ experience in carbon and energy management, he leads PECT & iiE’s energy consultancy services and the development of its carbon management tools.
He has worked with 100s of organisations of all sizes and from all sectors to find successful ways to make vital changes to reduce their energy reliance and carbon emissions.
PECT is a national environmental charity who have over 30 years’ experience working on sustainability projects with communities and businesses. They are currently working with over 350 businesses on sustainability through their environmental accreditation scheme, Investors in the Environment (iiE)
Dr Alastair Leake – Director of Policy & The Allerton Project
Alastair has spent many years developing holistic approaches to production that maximise yields and biodiversity whilst minimising environmental impacts.
Alastair is a renowned speaker and translates the practicalities of farming right through from the River Welland catchment where he is based to the policy forming arena of Westminster.
Beth Metson – Head of Farming Advice at the Soil Association Exchange
Beth is the Head of Farming Advice at the Soil Association Exchange & farms with her husband in Essex growing cereals in a system where herbal leys and livestock are integral to the rotation.
Beth is from a farming background, has works on key topics such as NVZs, Catchment sensitive farming, an Agrii Agronomist, focusing on the environmental side of agronomy & finally as head of SA Exchange. Her key role is to ensure the service is helping farmers build resilience, future proof and improve self-sufficiency.
SA Exchange is a service to help farmers measure their impact on the environment and then get the advice and financial incentives they need to improve. SA Exchange measures environmental impact holistically, using a mixture of remote sensing and on farm data collection and looking at 34 metrics across 6 areas. These are:
- soil health,
- biodiversity,
- carbon emissions and sequestration,
- water systems,
- animal welfare,
- people and society.
James Milne – Regional Head of Barclays Agriculture
James Milne is the Regional Head of Barclays Agriculture. James leads a team of 13 Agriculture and Landed Estates managers, across Central and Southeast England, who support farming and land-based businesses through a range of areas such as diversification, sustainability, and growth.
James is the lead on Sustainability for Barclays Agriculture and has a real passion for driving this with colleagues, customers, and a wider audience.
Clare Mike MSc BSc – Director, Technical & Business Development at LEAF
Clare joined LEAF in 2018 with 20 years’ experience in the food retail supply chain sector, predominantly in UK and global fresh produce. As Director, Technical & Business Development at LEAF, Clare oversees all activity related to the promotion of Integrated Farm Management, LEAF Marque and all key partnerships, including retailers, food brands and industry specialists.
Under Clare’s direction, LEAF has built relationships with all of the major multiple retailers, banks and beyond, leading to commitments to LEAF Marque from Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Lidl, Aldi and most recently, HSBC.
The Farmer Panel Members:
John Turner, Turners of Bytham:
Brothers John and Guy Turner farm The Grange which is a traditional farm cared for by the Turners for over four generations. Based in the village of Little Bytham near Stamford, the farm is able to produce some very special crops from its 100ha. It sits overlooking a broad valley formed by the once great Bytham River, whose legacy is its unique range of soils.
The farm converted to organic farming in 1998 & this was followed by an ambitious tree & hedge planting session. The business supplies local mills for milling & baking & is passionate about local-to-local supply.
The farm operates a 6-year rotation, which includes wheats, oats, Barley, or peas, & grass & herbs in years 4-6. Key to what the farm does is population cropping, where there are different populations of the same crop in one field. The farm also has 12-hectares set aside for bumblebees, butterflies, day moths, and of course their Hare population.
Andrew Jackson, Pink Pig Farm
Andrew is an arable farmer based in North Lincolnshire. He and his wife and daughter run the family farm, and in the last 10 years, Andrew has converted to regenerative agriculture. The family also run the Pink Pig Farm shop, and are passionate about soil health.
Andrew’s daughter recently made a film about soil health, called Six inches of Soil & hosted an event on soil health on 11th November. Andrew is a passionate supporter of Regenerative Farming but is also chair of the NE
Trina Britton, Managing Director – Thetford Farm Estate
Trina comes from a financial background in London & came to her current role as a financial director. However, once she took up the role, she quickly realised that the business needed to adapt, if it were to meet the future challenges it faces.
With her expertise in finance, the business has diversified and now owns a restaurant-pub, and recently converted a Dutch Barn into offices spaces as well as a Farm Barn into a wedding & conference venue. Trina is also keen to promote & support ladies in agricultural roles.
FSR Richardson is a third-generation arable farm in South Lincs farms at Baston, Morton & Twenty, and is now farming regeneratively where possible. The farm also is heavily involved in soil health projects including the peat preservation project in Baston Fen. The farm grows a combination of wheat, barley, potatoes, and oilseed rape, as well as peas, beans, and oats.
Leave a Reply