The Government’s legally-binding target of net zero carbon by 2050 has huge implications for farming and land management in the UK. In this session, experts from all sides of the debate will interrogate exactly what net zero means for farmers and land managers on the ground.

Discussion will range from the science that underpins net zero, to the politics behind the ambitious target, the policies we will need to make it a reality and the…

Adding trees to farms stores carbon, can boost productivity, diversifies outputs, and provides a host of other benefits. But how do we overcome the financial, skills, supply chain and market barriers to make trees a successful business?

This session will showcase a range of options and exciting new approaches: identifying financial opportunities offered by trees; how can farmers become foresters?; innovative tenancies and collaborations between landowners, farmers, and tree growers; the key role of land…

A recent study suggested that we should be eating seven portions of fruit and vegetables a day, rather than the government-recommended five. However, If the whole UK population were to eat like this, UK growers would need to produce an additional two million tonnes of fresh produce. At the same time, horticultural labour shortages threaten to reduce domestic supply.

LWA and Growing Communities’ Horticulture Campaign has a vision involving massively scaling-up UK organic horticulture production…

Hemp is a wonder crop that offers many agronomic, economic and ecological benefits, holding the potential to transform our farms and society at large.

This session will describe the opportunity to harvest seed, leaf and straw in order to create a huge range of valuable natural products. These include therapeutic essential oil, omega-rich seed oil, complete protein powder, carbon-negative housing, super strong textiles, composite materials and much more. After outlining its fantastic potential, the…

Come along and pick up a copy of the Soil Association’s recent Agroforestry Handbook for the UK (while stocks last), and talk agroforestry with authors and editor. Find out more about opportunities for agroforestry in the UK and where to link into local initiatives and learning networks.

Last year two global reports backed by the world’s governments laid out what the future of farming should look like, and in the process almost every single country in the world advocated for food production and land management methods most closely aligned with agroecology.

The reports, from IPBES (Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) and the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), examined how the world currently manages its land and the burden of…

120,000 family businesses are expected to close or transfer ownership in the next three years. There is a gap between family farms and the value they bring to food systems and meeting local people’s needs, especially in relation to household food insecurity as experienced by people forced to use food banks.

This session will unpack challenges facing family businesses, hear from a pioneer in democratic land ownership, explore meaningful ‘exits’ and creative succession approaches for…

Insects are seemingly everywhere. Quietly pollinating, controlling pests, decomposing waste and many more freely-provided services that we all rely on for our own continued survival. However, they have another side to their lives: a great number of insects (from butterflies to flies, dragonflies to beetles) are hugely migratory, travelling thousands of kilometres a year. Recent research from the University of Exeter (with other European universities) is beginning to show to what enormous extent insect migration…