Farm Gate

Place-based food economies are an opportunity to redesign food systems, from the bottom up, in ways that distribute profit and power more fairly throughout the value chain. They are also essential if we are to create a truly defensible nation with distributed resilience and communities that can thrive in spite of an attack on the centre. But what do place-based food economies look like - how do th...

ffinlo Costain and Martin Lines (Chief Executive, Nature Friendly Farming Network) are joined by Nisreen Shahin from Inside Track, an organisation that represents an anonymous group of senior executives from major UK producers, manufacturers and retailers, who say that boardroom short-termism is leaving the food system dangerously exposed to climate change, biodiversity loss and soil degradation....

ffinlo Costain is joined by Baroness Julia Aglionby, the long-serving executive director of the Foundation for Common Land, as she takes her seat as a Liberal Democrat life peer. ffinlo asks Julia three questions: why was she chosen, how did the appointment happen, and what does she plan to do now that she’s there?

As the impacts of climate change deepen, what will happen to food and farming systems in the UK and around the world? And do we need greater food independence and food sovereignty in the UK? Today, ffinlo Costain is joined by Kirsty Lewis , Applied Climate Science Fellow at the Met Office - by Vicki Hird , Strategic Lead on Agriculture at The Wildlife Trusts - by Honor Eldridge , Author of The Fut...

For more than a decade, nature markets have promised wadges of new cash for farmers, promising them financial security as they work to bridge the regenerative transition and restore natural infrastructure. But while many land managers are ready to supply carbon or nature credits, the demand simply hasn't scaled, and the market that does exist is hard to navigate. So, where are we now, and what...

Huskvac - the UK’s only licensed lungworm vaccine - will be discontinued after 2027. The British Cattle Veterinary Association says that this announcement comes at precisely the wrong moment, when UK cattle farming is increasingly adopting Integrated Parasite Management, of which Huskvac is a cornerstone. ffinlo Costain is joined by Rob Howe from Farm Beneficials and Helen Rogers from Friars Moor...

UK governments spend around £4 billion a year on farming and nature, but we need a further £4-10 billion a year just to hit our nature and environment targets. Meanwhile, £11 trillion is managed by the UK's investment industry, and the gap is a rounding error by comparison. So how do we get more of that capital flowing into nature recovery and agroecological food and farming systems? ffinlo Co...

ffinlo Costain (8point9) talks to Martin Lines (Nature Friendly Farming Network). Martin has been with the Conservatives in Birmingham, lobbying MPs and activists on behalf of food, farming and nature. The pair discuss: A more confident Conservative party? Plans to abolish Natural England and the Environment Agency "Fewer rules" versus environmental outcomes Do the Tories have a new poli...

Has 'regen' become toxic - is it how we save the world, or just a niche type of farming that's been hijacked by corporate food businesses? To investigate, ffinlo Costain is joined by Baroness Minette Batters , Member of the House of Lords, farmer, former NFU president and author of Harvest: A farmer's story of heritage, home and hope - and by Clare Hill , a regen farmer and co-foun...

ffinlo Costain (8point9) talks to Martin Lines (Nature Friendly Farming Network). Martin has spent three days (and nights) lobbying Labour MPs and activists on behalf of food, farming and nature. Find out the key themes and what was said behind the scenes. Labour's conference theme was "Hope Again". How does that mood music translate into action for food, farming and nature. Labour&#...

In this episode of Martin's Farm on the Farm Gate podcast, ffinlo Costain speaks to Martin Lines (Chief Exec, Nature Friendly Farming Network) and Holly Purdey (National Trust tenant at Horner Farm, Somerset, and NFFN England Vice Chair). They discuss: The debacle of England's Sustainable Farming Incentive How to embed resilience and adaptability into farm businesses What Martin found out...

20 years ago, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) promised African governments a transformation: subsidise fertiliser, promote commercial seed, mechanise production and open the door to private investment, and yields would rise, farmers would prosper, and hunger would fall. AGRA's promise has now been tested against nearly 20 years of national data — and, according to a new re...

ffinlo Costain (8point9.com) is joined by Tom Pycraft (Ark Events), Jimmy Woodrow (Pasture for Life), and Sue Pritchard (Food, Farming and Countryside Commission). They discuss food system risk and reflection on the discussion and outcomes from the UK's first Conference on Food & National Security. For the key takeaways from the conference - Click the link or scroll down (https://8point9.c...

In central London, on September the 8th, Farm Gate and Ark Events will host the UK's first Conference on Food and National Security. The conference will uniquely deal with the subjects of food, nature and national security - because ecological and defence vulnerabilities, driven by our food system itself, go beyond simply food security and resilience. We will be discussing food security, resil...

Martin Lines (Chief Executive, Nature Friendly Farming Network) and ffinlo Costain (Editor, 8point9) discuss how Britain's farms have coped under the duress of this summer's fifth heatwave, and what needs to change to make food production more heat and water resilient. They also talk about the UK's new Prime Minister and his announcement of a £65m boost to support farmers during the dr...

Wakelyns is an inspirational organic farm in Suffolk; an oasis within a desert of conventional arable farming - it pioneered UK agroforestry and population grain - it runs courses, events and retreats. But Wakelyns is facing an uncertain future, for which community buyout offers a solution. ffinlo Costain is joined by, David Wolfe, Wakelyns' founder and co-owner. To find out more and to buy co...

In the final week of our 10 More Days of Groundswell series, I talk to Ben Adams (Farmer, Adams Agriculture) and Mark Palmer (Director and farm advisor, Systems4Food Ltd). Cover crops and no-till have transformed regenerative arable in England. But the easy wins are largely banked, and a more honest conversation is starting: what does soil health really look like once you've ticked the obvious...

In the final week of our 10 More Days of Groundswell series - I talk to Doug Wanstall (Director, Beyond Zero), Joshua Wade (Director SG Wade Ltd), and Lottie Hawkins (Founder, Earthly Biochar). This an impromptu in-the-field conversation. Circular farming is the regenerative idea that everything leaving the farm should come back as something useful. Farmers funded through Defra's ADOPT program...

10 More Days of Groundswell wasn't enough! This is the second of four summer bonus in-the-field episodes. With Holly Silvester, Future Resilience Seed Coordinator for the Seed Sovereignty Programme, and Katie Hastings, Wales Co-ordinator for the Seed Sovereignty Programme  at the Gaia Foundation.

10 More Days of Groundswell wasn't enough! This is the first of four summer bonus in-the-field episodes. With James Robinson, Strickley Farm, Cumbria, and Dr. Lindsay K Whistance, Principal Researcher - Animal Husbandry, at the Organic Research Centre.

ffinlo joins other regen farming and rural business podcasters for a chat about storytelling - the power of podcasts and communication - and some of the stories that are influencing farming today. I joined the host of the Six Inches of Soil podcast, Richard Tufton, alongside co-host Claire Mackenzie, for a conversation with Abby Rose from Farmerama, Clay Conry from Working Cows, and Ben Eagle from...

First Milk has released a 'white paper' for regenerative dairy. The report celebrates what the co-operative dairy has achieved so far, while making a strong case for Phase 2 of their regen dairy programme - moving from measuring inputs to assessing outcomes: actual soil carbon, actual numbers of birds and insects, actual river quality... To find out more, ffinlo Costain is joined by Lee Tr...

Today we're lying down on our beach towels to tuck into a good summer read. ffinlo Costain is joined by three brilliant authors from the 5m and Unbreaking stables, to find out why their books should be stacked among the sea shells and read between the rock pools. Benedikt Bösel has written Food and Farm Revolution - he's is an agricultural economist and the founder of Gut&Bösel, a rege...

ffinlo Costain speaks to Professor Tim Lang about his report for the National Preparedness Commission - Just in Case: 7 steps to narrow the UK civil food resilience gap. Tim Lang is Emeritus Professor of Food Policy at City St George's, University of London. Over a long career he's served as a consultant to the World Health Organisation, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, and th...

ffinlo Costain learns about fertility-building, rotations, and system design for vegetables from Andy Dibben (Abbey Home Farm), Christine Watson (SRUC), and David Newman (Bucksum Market Garden).