2010 - 2024

Industrialised livestock farming is a leading cause of river pollution in the UK, and is a hot topic with voters. The behaviour of sewage companies has grabbed headlines, but we want to turn attention to big agriculture companies who are profiting while overproduction of slurry and manure is destroying wildlife in our rivers. We will discuss the pressure on farmers to intensify, and the policy solutions, and practices on-farm that can turn this around, as…

If the land had a voice, what would it be asking us to do? Is it possible that we could be working in a more reciprocal and mutually beneficial way? In this session we bring together those who work on the land at a subtle level - those who act as intermediaries between that which is seen and that which is unseen, those who can converse directly with the flows and cycles and spirits of…

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…

Many of us have complex relationships with land, especially those of us with diasporic identities and histories of displacement. How might a deeper understanding of our land lineages help us find belonging, connection, accountability and healing? In this workshop, we will invite participants to inquire into their relationship with the lands they live in and the lands their ancestors came from, hoping to open up a deeper dialogue and conversation about what land justice might…

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…