James and Katie received a small grant from The GREAT Project toward the cost of 3-line electric fencing for their mob-grazed cattle. Watch James showing how he uses it to move the fence-line in a quarter of the time he took before.

Part I of our Mobilising Finance for UK Nature Series In this webinar, our panel of experts share how to approach developing aggregation models, and the types of legal structures to consider when putting together an investment proposition. Discussion is followed by a 20-minute Q&A. Moderator: Helen Avery, Director, Nature Programmes, Green Finance Institute Panellists: - Dan Hird, Founder, Nature Finance - James Mansfield, Managing Director, Finance Earth - Steven van Weede, Managing Director, Palladium Group

How can farmers profit from the natural capital that they are creating through regenerative methods? The Green Finance market holds a wide range of additional funding sources for farmers who are using regenerative methods to improve the environment on their land. In this talk Harry Farnsworth from regenagri will demystify the range of routes there are to additional funds for regenerative farmers, and how to unlock that capital. Considering Carbon Credits, Environmental Impact Bonds, PES schemes, the upcoming changes to ELMS, supply chain insetting and institutional investors, Harry will explain how accurate measurement and verification of your on farm practices through regenagri can unlock access to these additional funds through an internationally recognised scheme. Harry Farnsworth

This interactive session is aimed at anyone interested in strengthening agroecology, especially farmers, activists, donors/funders, researchers and policy makers. Agroecology promotes radical transformation of food and agriculture based on ecological principles, guided by visions of justice and led by farmers and citizens. It is increasingly embraced as a response to converging socio-ecological crises. However, almost all funding continues to flow to projects that undermine agroecology and strengthens the global, industrial farming system, despite widespread agreement that it is an engine of pollution, climate change and zoonotic spillover. Existing ways of financing projects and organisations are not suited to support radical agroecological change on the ground. In this interactive session, we will discuss what shifts can be made in private, philanthropic and public financing to effectively realise the transformative potential of agroecology. Research will be presented, which: reveals the minuscule amounts targeted at agroecology in development assistance, climate funding, etc., and how projects tagged as ‘sustainable’ largely focus on ‘tweaks’ to sustain the industrial farming paradigm, rather than regenerate the human habitat; lays out the approaches, conditions, challenges and recommendations of how to finance transformative agroecology; will spark discussion and lead to collective action points

Recording of a live event at the Royal Agricultural University hosted by FWAGSW on 10th February 2022. The event was to demonstrate developing local blended finance opportunities for farmers, landowners, and advisers. 0:00:00 Benefits of farmer collaboration - Jenny Phelps (FWAGSW) 0:18:50 Farmer Groups as Community Interest Companies - Paul Cottington NFU) 0:38:11 Gloucestershire Climate and Nature Fund - Matt Whitney (GLNP) 0:56:27 Updates on Carbon Markets - Dr Nicola Cannon (RAU) 1:11:56 Landscape Enterprise Network - Tom Curtis (3Keel) 1:35:03 Questions

In 2018, James Butterworth decided to leave behind a career in academia and set up an organic, no-dig market garden in the Cotswolds. After finding land and willing business partners in Jonty and Mel Brunyee of Conygree Farm, he has led in the development of Cotswold Market Garden. The business began growing and selling vegetables in spring 2020 and took on its first employee in spring 2021. Roughly half-way into the planned expansion, Cotswold Market Garden currently delivers veg boxes to nearly 50 local households, as well as supplying several local farm shops and restaurants.

James Allen and his wife, Katie, are 1st generation farmers who only started keeping livestock about 8 years ago. They don't own any land and started out conservation grazing species rich wildflower meadows for other land owners in the Cotswold. They now have 50 head of British White and English Longhorn cattle along with around 120 Castlemilk Moorit and Portland sheep. Since 2019 they have been regenerative grazing on the Bruern Estate offering prescriptive grazing to support wildflower meadows and soil health. They sell their beef and lamb direct to consumers through a box scheme and direct to restaurants. They also produce hides and sheepskins for sale, having them tanned in the UK. Katie has the wool from the sheep processed in the UK; she then designs and hand makes high quality wool produce under the brand Loopy Ewes. Grazing with nature is key to how they manage their livestock.

Oxford Real Farming Conference 2022 discussion with Ben Raskin The benefits of agroforestry to farming systems are becoming more widely accepted but most farmers are not making the most of their woody assets. Separation of farming and forestry in both policy and the marketplace have contributed to this, as has the abundance of cheap fossil fuels. The political and economic landscapes are changing and this is creating opportunities for building farm enterprises based on trees. This session will look beyond the fruit and nut potential to explore a range of options for on and off farm markets for timber and other woody products, such as growing your own fence posts, using woodchip for livestock bedding, or milling your own timber for building. We will also explore the potential for farmer collaboration in processing and marketing. This will be an interactive workshop session, so come engaged with suggestions and questions. #ORFC22 https://orfc.org.uk/

Oxford Real Farming Conference 2022 discussion with John Letts, Colin Tudge and Marina Chang Restorative Continuous Cropping Using Heritage Cereals: How To Produce All The Grain We Need Without Destroying The Planet For 10,000 years farmers grew genetically-mixed populations (landraces) of cereals adapted to local conditions. Today, they grow uniform hybrid monoculture varieties that yield well only when grown with massive amounts of agri-chemicals and fossil fuels. Organic farmers also grow modern varieties, but get lower yields and grow them only once every four to five years as part of a crop rotation. There is an alternative. We can produce all of the grain we need by recreating the resilient, productive and adaptable crops of our ancestors, and growing them using a restorative agroecological approach that produces three times more grain than a modern variety grown organically. In this session we will explore the subject of heritage grains, clarify terms such as landrace, population and genetic diversity, outline the paradigm shift we need in plant breeding, and explain how we can re-wild our cereal fields, reduce the carbon footprint of grain production, and sequester massive amounts of carbon while also feeding the planet. #ORFC22 https://orfc.org.uk/