Event has been set up following months of rainfall misery for farmers

L-r: Carol Paris, chief executive, Royal Bath & West of England Society; Stewart Crocker, chair of the board of Sustainable Food Somerset; and First Milk sales and marketing director Leona McDonald

L-r: Carol Paris, chief executive, Royal Bath & West of England Society; Stewart Crocker, chair of the board of Sustainable Food Somerset; and First Milk sales and marketing director Leona McDonald

A new South West conference has been set up to help farmers manage climate extremes following the wettest 18 months on record.

Called LandAlive, the event will explore how what are known as ‘regenerative’ or nature-friendly methods can improve farm profits, while boosting local economies, opening up new markets and stimulating innovation and investment across the South West of England.

The conference is to be held at the Bath and West Showground on 22 and 23 November 2024. It will feature a two-day programme of talks by experts in regenerative farming and sustainable food. They include Martin Lines of the Nature Friendly Farming Network, Helen Coates (DEFRA), Phillip Lymbery (Compassion in World Farming), Caroline Grindrod (Roots to Regeneration), Tim Martin (FarmWilder, Devon), Tim Coates (founder of Oxbury Bank), and Sue Pritchard (Food, Farming and Countryside Commission).

Chief executive of the Royal Bath and West of England Society Carol Paris said: “After the wettest 18 months on record, with reports from some farmers that 2024 would be ‘the first year without harvest since the Second World War’, there’s an urgent need for a resilient and a ‘climate adaptive’ food and farming system.

“Since our charitable objectives include educating in agriculture, we want to help advance regenerative practices as the best way forward for climate and food security. It’s also a huge opportunity for the food sector as a whole.”

While primarily aimed at farmers, organisers claim it is the first conference in the region to look at the place of regenerative farming within the wider food system. The have promised to ‘join up the dots’ across the supply chain, looking at ways to support farmers and local economies in the years ahead.

The conference is a collaboration between Sustainable Food Somerset and The Royal Bath and West of England Society, supported by DEFRA’s ‘Farming in Protected Landscapes’ (FIPL) fund through Mendip & Quantocks National Landscapes, with support from Somerset Council.

 

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