Farm Gate

This programme is the last in our series of impromptu in-the-field podcasts, recorded at Groundswell 2025. In this episode we discuss memorable sessions, what we've taken away from the regenerative farming festival. ffinlo Costain is joined by Joe Stanley (Allerton Project) - Jez Fredenburgh (journalist) - and Rowan Phillimore (Gaia Foundation).

This programme is part of our series of impromptu in-the-field podcasts, recorded at Groundswell 2025. In this episode we The Wildlife Trusts' new vision for the future of farming in England. ffinlo Costain is joined by Vicki Hird (Strategic lead on agriculture, The Wildlife Trusts).

This programme is part of our series of impromptu in-the-field podcasts, recorded at Groundswell 2025. In this episode we discuss water's role in restoring the land and managing climate extremes. ffinlo Costain is joined by Didi Pershouse (Land and Leadership initiative and author of Ecology of Care) - and Nick Viney (Landscape Reimagineer).

This programme is part of our series of impromptu in-the-field podcasts, recorded at Groundswell 2025. In this episode we discuss how to finish beef cattle on grass. ffinlo Costain is joined by Johnnie Balfour (Pasture for Life; Balbirnie Home Farms) and Kate Martin (Treway Farm).

This programme is part of our series of impromptu in-the-field podcasts, recorded at Groundswell 2025. In this episode we ask what role food companies play in supporting and accelerating growth in regenerative food and farming systems? ffinlo Costain is joined by Øistein Thorsen (FAI Farms) - Emma Keller (Nestlé) - and Harriet O'Regan (Arla).

This programme is part of our series of impromptu in-the-field podcasts, recorded at Groundswell 2025. In this episode we discuss funding for innovation in regenerative and agroecological funding. We look back on Innovative Farmers - and discuss the new ADOPT fund. ffinlo Costain is joined by Helen Browning (Soil Association) and Prof Tom MacMillan (Royal Agricultural University).

This programme is part of our series of impromptu in-the-field podcasts, recorded at Groundswell 2025. In this episode we discuss how to regenerate the soil and the microbiome - and how food growing and eating are interconnected. ffinlo Costain is joined by Dr Lucy Williamson and John Pawsey.

This programme is part of our series of impromptu in-the-field podcasts, recorded at Groundswell 2025. In this episode, we discuss opportunities for young people in regenerative food and farming - and the Emergent Generation network. ffinlo Costain is joined by Becky Grove, founder of Emergent Generation), and network members: Amy Chapple, Tristan Leslie and Melissa Walker.

This programme is part of our series of impromptu in-the-field podcasts, recorded at Groundswell 2025. In this episode we discuss whether farming can ever escape its glyphosate dependency? ffinlo Costain is joined by Ian Wilkinson (FarmED) - Prof Andy Neal (Rothamsted) - and Tim Parton (Intelligent Farming)

This is the first of our impromptu in-the-field podcasts, recorded at Groundswell 2025. In this programme we discuss the role and unique perspectives of women in regenerative farming. ffinlo Costain is joined by Nikki Yoxall - Claire Beaumont - and Nick Viney.

Farm Gate and 8point9.com's monthly discussion programme. Regulars, ffinlo Costain (8point9.com) and Joe Stanley (GWCT Allerton Project), are joined by Ben Raskin, Head of Agroforestry at the Soil Association. They discuss: Agroforestry The spending review Fossil fuels and food systems Keeping up with climate change And drainage To watch this podcast instead, search FarmGatepodcast on YouTube.

Venture capitalists need to be able spot a good investment - but to do that they need a remarkable understanding of the market in which they operate. Christopher Ramsay and Simon Evill are the brains behind Pelican Ag, a venture capital company right at the heart of the regenerative agriculture movement - here they provide insight into the key themes and trends that are shaping the next phase of m...

Groundswell is the essential ticket in the UK's regenerative farming calendar. We're previewing what's on - talking to brilliant speakers - and getting their panel recommendations. ffinlo Costain is joined by: Nikki Yoxall - Regenerative farmer and advocate, Julia Kirby-Smith, Executive Director of the Better Food Traders network, Kate Russell, Chief Operating Officer at Tellus Natural Capital, an...

Can large carnivores become an asset rather than a liability for livestock farmers? Could there be a net benefit for farmers sharing their landscapes? ...And were wolves really single-handedly responsible for changing the shape of the rivers in Yellowstone National Park? ffinlo Costain meets Jonny Hanson, Nuffield Scholar, and author of Living with Lynx, Sharing landscapes with big cats, wolves an...

This is the third episode in our series: Filling the Funding Gap, in which we discuss how particular natural capital markets work and whether they can help farmers to bridge the gap between public payments and the real costs of transition towards resilient and regenerative food production. ffinlo Costain is joined by two experts from Regenerate Outcomes: Matt Jordon, Chief Scientific Officer and T...

Farm Gate Leaders - Episode 3 - ffinlo Costain (editor, 8point9.com) is joined by the film-maker and self-described “wrangler of scientists”, Peter Byck, who's also a professor of practice at Arizona State University. Byck is the director and producer of Carbon Cowboys and Roots So Deep, and before that, Carbon Nation. He has a gift for storytelling; for breaking down complex science and giving it...

Reports indicate that funding for nature-friendly farming in England is due to be slashed in the UK spending review, taking place on the 11th of June. What's likely to happen? What does it mean? And what can farmers do about it? ffinlo Costain is joined by Martin Lines, Chief Executive of the Nature Friendly Farming Network - by Julia Aglionby, Executive Director of the Foundation for Common Land...

ffinlo Costain (8point9.com) and Joe Stanley (GWCT Allerton Project) discuss: Net zero reports from The Tony Blair Institute and the AFN Network+ UK climate change preparedness UK Government 'retakes' the decision to scrap SFI 2024 Anaerobic digestion And those reports - by FAI and SFT - that were damned by Monbiot.

This is the final programme in our Filling The Funding Gap series - and I'm investigating the role of insurance. We'll look at how extreme weather is driving farm losses and ask what can be done to mitigate the risks - and we'll consider the role of insurance in supporting different kinds of natural capital market. ffinlo Costain is joined by Rory Gibson, regional director for Howden I...

Whether a farmer wants to continue working exclusively to produce food, or plans to integrate natural capital income streams within their business, access to finance for investment may be needed. We ask how farmers and other land managers can benefit from access to finance - what that finance might be used to fund - how to get it - and what strings might be attached? ffinlo Costain speaks to - Jam...

George Monbiot - the Guardian columnist with a penchant for lab-based protein and a farm-free future - recently wrote a scathing article damning two important livestock reports. The first was a report into three years of research into AMP grazing from FAI Farms, the Oxfordshire-based farm and food system consultancy - the second, Grazing Livestock, was by the Sustainable Food Trust. ffinlo Costain...

It's a very long time since bears, wolves and lynx hunted freely across the Scottish landscape - but the reintroduction of these large carnivores has been a topic of noisy debate pretty much since I can remember. Today, we're asking whether Scotland can make room for the lynx. Hugh Webster from Scotland: The Big Picture believes that integration is possible - while Cora Cooper, an Ayrshire...

In this programme we discuss ways in which tenant farmers can take advantage of natural capital income streams - as well addressing some of the barriers and challenges to market entry. ffinlo Costain is joined by George Dunn, Chief Executive of the Tenant Farmers' Association - and by Lucy Jenner, a director at Savills, and Head of their Natural Capital Consultancy. This is the ninth episode i...

ffinlo Costain (8point9.com) and Joe Stanley (GWCT Allerton Project) discuss: The UK Government’s farm profitability review The UK Nature Market Accelerator The importance of historic maps Restoring farmland in Ukraine And a report by anonymous whistleblowers, calling for investor and creditor action to address the nature crisis.

8point9 editor, ffinlo Costain, is joined by Tim Coates, a co-founder of Oxbury Bank, which launched in 2021 as the only UK bank dedicated exclusively to the rural economy. In Farm Gate Leaders, ffinlo talks to someone who's played a defining role in our food and farming system - someone who's helping to deliver lasting and progressive change.