Farm Gate

ffinlo Costain (8point9.com) and Joe Stanley (GWCT Allerton Project) meet for Farm Gate's monthly discussion programme. This time: They discuss: Radical war-scale transformation needed in UK food system How food security depends on geopolitics Prof. Sir Dieter Helm's new paper: The Future of British Farming Lloyds report aims to help farmers reduce climate and nature risks "Extreme we...

What's happening on Papley Grove Farm this November? ffinlo Costain talks to Martin Lines from the Nature Friendly Farming Network - and meets Ifan Davies, who farms with his daughter at Carreg-y-Bîg in Wales, to talk about the pressures of social media and the Welsh Sustainable Farming Incentive. More land use news at 8point9.com

What's the business model for regenerative dairy? What sort of financial models are required to help deliver regeneration through the dairy value chain. This conversation is based on a panel at Land Alive at The Dairy Show at the Bath & West Showground. ffinlo Costain is joined by: Nick Hindle, First Milk's Communications Director Tamara Giltsoff, Senior Associate at the Soil Associati...

Stuart Rogers is a high yielding milk producer delivering regenerative outcomes on his 471 acre farm. He's also the Farm Carbon Toolkit's Carbon Farmer of the Year 2025. Stuart's pasture management and agroforestry create healthy, biodiverse, carbon-rich soils - and his cattle produce high quality milk and excellent ecological outcomes. We will be recording a Farm Gate Leaders episode with Stuart...

Nature friendly farming can help producers achieve economic, social and ecological resilience in the face of increasingly extreme weather. Last week saw Scotland's first Nature Friendly Farming Summit, which took place in Edinburgh. The theme was: Farming for nature, profit and public good. ffinlo Costain meets: ~ Denise Walton , an organic, Pasture for Life-certified livestock farmer from Pee...

FFINLO COSTAIN (8point9.com) and JOE STANLEY (GWCT Allerton Project), are joined by MARY-ANN OCHOTA, the president of CPRE, The Countryside Charity. They discuss: 🚜 🚸 Kids working on farms 😊 Nature as a positive, unifying force 🥬 Vertical farms 🦋 The role of CPRE 🏠 Brownfield first home building 🧱 And new towns Watch the rough cut video edit on YouTube

English nature faces an unprecedented human-made environmental crisis as thousands of Countryside Stewardship agreements expire at the end of this year. Over 4,500 farms are affected, threatening to undo years of conservation work. We'll discuss why we're in this mess - what it could mean for England's nature - and what can be done about it. ffinlo Costain (8point9.com) is joined by An...

This is the first episode of our new monthly podcast series, Martin's Farm. * MARTIN LINES is the Chief Exec of the Nature Friendly Farming Network, and throughout the year we’ll be learning about what’s happening month-by-month on his farm, Papley Grove Farm in St Neots, Cambridgeshire. We'll also meet key staff and farmers from within the NFFN. In this episode, we speak to ADAM FORREST the Scotl...

In this programme we discuss the new book - The Profitable Farm, Balancing business, nature and energy through maximum sustainable output - and I'm joined by the authors: CHRIS CLARK and BRIAN SCANLON. To buy the book, click here: https://5mbooks.com/product/profitable-farm * More land-use news at 8point9.com * To watch the rough cut video of this audio podcast, please search for 'Farm Gat...

In the last of our Agroforestry Show in-the-field podcasts, FFINLO COSTAIN is joined by LAURA GUDE (Programme manager, Innovative Farmers), KATE STILL (Head of Farming, Soil Association, and DAVE OATES (Rosuic Farm, Cornwall). The podcast covers: The launch of the new learning network for trees and livestock health The diverse benefits for different livestock species (poultry, pigs, cattle, sheep)...

Thomas Gent (Gentle Farming) proposes an agroforestry co-operative, to support farmers and landowners in the management and sale of agroforestry-managed farmland and assets. What do you think?

Are trees a liability or an asset for whole farm carbon footprints? Speaking to the Farm Gate podcast at the Agroforestry Show, Wiltshire farmer, STUART ROGERS, and JEMMA MORGAN from the Farm Carbon Toolkit, discuss the carbon impact of integrating agroforestry into farm systems. Rogers extols the benefits of trees but recognises the carbon accounting challenges they can present, while Morgan cons...

RICHARD THOMAS (a farmer from North Herefordshire) and LOTTIE ALVES (Nature Friendly Farming Network) dig into what agroforestry means to them and search for the common ground between farming and forestry. What are the challenges and opportunities? How can one system support the other? This is the third of six impromptu in-the-field podcasts recorded at the Agroforestry Show 2025.

CLAIRE WHITTLE and BEN RASKIN join FFINLO COSTAIN in-the-field at the Agroforestry Show. We don't know what the world will look like in 2050, but we do know that our temperatures and weather will be more extreme. How will farms, landscapes and livestock need to change to become more resilient? How will agroforestry help farmers maintain food and fibre production - and profitability? This is th...

Defra Secretary of State, Steve Reed, has been catapulted into the Dept of Housing, Communities and Local Government - Farming minister, Dan Zeichner, is out - and instead, in come Emma Reynolds and Angela Eagle. Is there an opportunity for farmers in the chaos? Could this Defra defenestration offer light at the end of a dark tunnel? With Labour struggling in the polls, what does Kier Starmer'...

👩‍🌾 🚜 Can community-facing farm enterprises be more successful? CHARLOTTE HOLLINS (Fordhall Community Land Initiative) and JON THORNES (South Ormsby Estate) join FFINLO COSTAIN to discuss the benefits of welcoming people and communities onto farms - as shareholders, businesses and for pleasure. 👩‍🌾 What are the benefits of community-facing agriculture? 🦋 What are the options? 🌿 What will th...

The UK Agroforestry Show takes place at Woodoaks Farm in Hertfordshire on the 10th and 11th of September - and in this programme, FFINLO COSTAIN is joined by BEN RASKIN from the Soil Association - by CAROLINE HARRISON, Technical Policy Manager at the Institute of Chartered Foresters - by TOM KEMP, the director of Working Woodlands Cornwall CIC - and by JOHN PAWSEY, from Shimpling Park Farm. They d...

FFINLO COSTAIN (8point9.com) and JOE STANLEY (GWCT Allerton Project), are joined by TOM PYCRAFT (Ark Summit), who's producing Land Alive at The Dairy Show this October 1st. This time: 🚜 Harvest 2025 🌱 Is BNG report good news for farmers? 🐄 Land Alive at The Dairy Show 🌿 AI and biotech aims for climate resilient crops 🐑 Helping farmers tackle liver fluke Find out more about Land Alive at T...

This is a new series on the Farm Gate podcast channel that we’re calling Nature Friendly Farm Gate. In this series, FFINLO COSTAIN will be joined by MARTIN LINES (Chief Executive of the Nature Friendly Farm Network). The pair will reflect on food and farming policy landscape in each of the four UK nations, and we'll find out about the ups and downs of Martin's farm business in Cambridgeshire. This...

FFINLO COSTAIN talks to ANDY CATO, who as one half of Groove Armada, gave us classic dance anthems such as I See you Baby and At The River - but who gave it all up to farm regeneratively in France, and who now, back in Britain, is the face and founder of Wildfarmed bread. A 'steward of complexity,' who has risen to become an icon of agroecological farming. Key moments: * Cato's time with the Grime...

Towards the end of last year, the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales made a recommendation to Welsh Government: nature should have a voice in decisions about flood policy and infrastructure. Today we ask, why? How? And what difference would it make - if nature had a voice? ffinlo Costain is joined by Dr David Clubb, Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales, and Eurig Sal...

Can removing the preference for on-site biodiversity net gain (BNG) delivery accelerate market growth and nature recovery? As the government considers the future of the BNG policy, new research has identified opportunities to strengthen delivery, accelerate market growth and achieve greater benefits for nature, developers and communities. FFINLO COSTAIN joined by the report's lead author, DAVI...

Wheat from the Chaff is Farm Gate and 8point9.com's monthly discussion programme. Regulars, ffinlo Costain (8point9.com) and Joe Stanley (GWCT Allerton Project), are joined by Nikki Yoxall, Technical Director at Pasture for Life, and Rhys Evans, NFFN Cymru's Sustainable Farming Lead. This time: 🌳 The new Welsh Sustainable Farming Scheme 🌱 A new capital fund for agroecology in Scotland 🐑...

A farmers' jury has found that carbon tunnel vision is alienating many farmers and slowing action to address the nature crisis. ffinlo Costain is joined by Dr Amy Jackson (University of Nottingham), Adrian Ivory (Strathisla Farms in Perthshire), and Liz Warner (Green Shoots Farm Consultancy). Key moments: * The motivation behind the farmers’ jury * Key takeaways * Views on net zero and how it&...

ffinlo Costain's guest today is John Kempf - an Amish farmer, entrepreneur and host of The Regenerative Agriculture Podcast. We discover what makes Kempf tick - who is he - what are his personal values? How does being Amish influence his view of the world - and what does he really think of Bobby Kennedy? QUESTIONS INCLUDE: What was Kempf's 'aha' moment? How has being part of the Amish community sh...