2010 - 2024

During the 2023 growing season, four farms in the South West Grain Network (SWGN) – an alternative, human-scale, non-commodity grain economy – collaborated with millers, Stoates and Son, to produce approximately 100 tonnes of a functional stone-ground South West bread flour, milled from two population wheats. These were then available for purchase by bakeries in the South West and the wider UK. The wheats (YQ and Mariagertoba) were selected for their genetic diversity, ability to…

No-till has risen in popularity in recent years but many growers still struggle to adopt the practice and remain chemical-free. While no-till and min-till techniques have taken off in horticulture, a prominent question remains – how do you terminate your cover crops without chemicals or destructive tillage? Through the Innovative Farmers programme, growers are pioneering new machinery and strip till techniques to find ways of maximising the benefits to soil health. In this session, you’ll…

This workshop aims to collectively share stories and experiences of feminist approaches as researchers, food producers, activists or practitioners in the spheres of agroecology, food sovereignty or public health. Our starting point is that we are confronted with patriarchy in multiple ways and spaces: from the institutions we work in, to the colonial capitalist farm and food systems we oppose, from the social movements we work with to our own thinking and doing. To transgress…

The Fibreshed movement is a network of not-for-profit groups working to create local supply networks for agroecologically farmed fibres and dyes. This session launches the new Farming Fashion Toolkit, and will focus on wool, being currently our most abundant yet chronically undervalued natural fibre resource, and is open to sheep farmers as well as those interested in working with it. The first half of the session will take the format of an introduction to the…

How can research, learning and education be harnessed by movements to co-create and mobilise knowledge for just transitions in food systems? The session will largely focus on the work of farmer organisations, social movements, universities, NGOs and beyond who are creating alternative approaches to learning, co-creating knowledge and mobilising it to advance movements for more just and sustainable food systems. Drawing from discussions and outcomes from a Global Forum on Agroecology held in Vermont in…

Farm animals have been recognised as sentient beings and the role of early separation between young animals and their mothers an increasing point of contention. In this session, we hear from three experts who are championing natural weaning and who will highlight the multiple benefits of adopting a later and natural approach with the mother removing the young animal herself. Keeping animals together typically leads to improved animal welfare outcomes, which impacts longevity and economic…

The model of Share Farming is common elsewhere in the world, especially in New Zealand where it provides a pathway for new entrants to progress from getting started through to farm ownership. But how might it work in the UK? Join a panel of share farmers, industry professionals and a Churchill Scholar as they look at how the model works elsewhere and the opportunities and challenges for this model becoming more widespread in the UK.

LUSH is a model for providing high- quality food to food poverty projects at the same time as paying the supplier a full price and addressing social and community needs. We think this partnership arrangement is an unusually nifty model that addresses the many challenges of working in this area, so we want to explain and showcase it. We will examine the issues and hear a case study from the ground.

Understand what makes a good story, unlock your creativity and kickstart your ideas in this interactive media education session with the Just Farmers team. Join broadcast journalist and author Anna Jones, filmmaker Alex Price and Just Farmers’ Managing Editor Emily Davies for an hour-long Make Yourself Heard Workshop that explores the relationship between the public and the media. Learn what the media wants by developing your news sense and editorial judgement, and have a go…