On 25 June, the sun came out. Finally. Just in time for a team of dedicated staff from the RSPB to head off to Lannock Manor Farm to set up our show stand for Groundswell - the regenerative agriculture festival. Offering a huge range of talks, activities and demonstrations from hundreds of experts and exhibitors, the event has grown from humble beginnings to become one of the more prominent agriculture events in the show calendar. It is a magnet for farmers looking to share their passion and dedication to farming in a way that protects and enhances life in the soil, and to learn from others.
RSPB staff at Groundswell Image: Ben Andrew, RSPB
Resilience is Fertile
With the backdrop of a looming General Election the following week, this year’s event was buzzing with debate and conversation around what farmers can do to create more sustainable and resilient businesses for the future. Soil is a key focus of the regenerative farming movement – without healthy soils we cannot continue to grow and produce food and other resources from our agricultural land. But it is also important to remember that nature and biodiversity also have a significant role to play above the soil, and there is a real need to ensure that habitats above the ground are also considered as farmers plan their approach to managing their land.
Visitors to the RSPB stand at Groundswell came with a variety of questions and experiences to share. Image: Cherry Boorer, RSPB
Along with our Farm Wildlife partners, the RSPB stand showcased the ways in which farmers can incorporate 10% habitat for wildlife into their management plans and why this is important. By adopting the Farm Wildlife ‘6 key actions’ farmers can ensure that they are making space for nature to thrive across the farm as demonstrated by RSPB Hope Farm and through the Fair to Nature scheme.
Why did you choose to farm in a more nature-friendly way?
Visitors to the RSPB stand were offered advice on how to implement the various options for delivering the 6 key actions, and many made new connections or reaffirmed existing ones with the various project teams on the stand.
As well as sharing advice and information about how to support nature on their farms, we also asked farmers about their motivations for nature-friendly farming with the following results (you can also see the results here):
Standing room only
As well as hosting visitors to our stand, we also led two early morning bird walks which were well-attended each day, provided guest speakers for various panels and ran a session chaired by RSPB Chief Executive Beccy Speight asking: ‘What do we want to see in the first 100 days of the new government to support nature-friendly farming?’ The session took place in front of a large audience on the main stage in the big top and convened a panel of respected farming voices chaired by Beccy. They covered many issues including supporting new entrants, Land Use Frameworks, diets, and the need to adequately fund farming transitions and ensure new agri-environment schemes are a success. As well as being very well attended, the conversation highlighted several of our key farming policy asks and facilitated a varied discussion between panellists and audience members alike.
Early morning bird walk at Groundswell 2024. Image: Shelley Eden, RSPB
Head of Sustainable Land Use Policy in England, Alice Groom, spoke on a panel exploring ‘’ELMs - Where Are We Now, and Where Do We Need to Be?’’ alongside Martin Lines (NFFN), Vicki Hird (The Wildlife Trusts), and James Robinson (NFFN). With standing-room only, this was clearly a subject that lots of show-goers were interested in hearing more about. The panel discussion set out what steps must be taken to improve ELMs in England. Cirl Bunting recovery was used to illustrate that we know what works when it comes to agri-environment schemes, and that we must make sure we learn these lessons and work with farmers to benefit nature.
Audience for ELMS panel discussion at Groundswell. Image: Cherry Boorer, RSPB
Over two days, we engaged with hundreds of people and had the opportunity to listen to passionate and committed people who are determined to create a more sustainable future for farming. If you stopped by to say hello, thanks for coming to talk to us. Those of us who attended took a great deal from our conversations, and were inspired by the innovation, passion and commitment of the people we talked and listened to.
We’re already looking forward to next year's event which takes place 2-3 July 2025. Hope to see you there!