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Author: Marie Nydal

Study tour to the Groundswell Festival in England

Written by Marie Nydal on . Posted in News, Uncategorized. No Comments on Study tour to the Groundswell Festival in England

Studytour to Groundswell England

June 24th to June 28th 2024

Again this year, Agrovi and Danish Farmers Abroad organize a study tour to England, where we focus on agriculture according to regenerative principles and agriculture in England after Brexit.

Regenerative practices improve the health of the soil, provides the best conditions for carbon storage, improves the soil’s water balance, and reduces the need for synthetic inputs, while there are fewer machine and labour costs.

It is a large part of Agrovi’s DNA to help build knowledge about cultivation practices within regenerative agriculture, to inform about the benefits and how to work with the challenges in the system.

We therefore invite you on a 3-day study tour about regenerative agriculture, which is both about practice directly in the field and about the development of methods, machinery and crop varieties.

The trip is organized in collaboration with Danish Farmers Abroad, which gives us the opportunity to choose a 5-day version of the study trip, where the first days are supplemented with a political angle “agriculture in England after Brexit”.

Practicalities

The price pr. person is 4.995 DKK + VAT for 3 days or 6.995 DKK + VAT for 5 days and includes:

  • Hotel shared twin room 2 or 4 nights
  • Bus transport Stansted-all visits and hotels – Stansted
  • All meals except during the day at Groundswell

It is possible to reserve single room (an extra fee applies).

The Groundswell ticket must be purchased individually online before travelling. All participants will receive a group discount code.

Registration as soon as possible and no later than May 10th

Program

  • Monday June 24th

    12:00 // We meet at Stansted Airport for lunch.

    13:00 // Bus to Pretoria Energy, approx. 1 hour drive

    14:00 // Pretoria Energy: 21 mW biogas plant working on extruded straw

    18.30 // Dinner in Stamford. We’re staying at The Crown Hotel, Stamford

  • Tuesday June 25th

    08:20 // Departure from hotel, driving time 5 min

    08:30 // Alltech and The Anderssons Centre
    Alltech Crop Science develops i.a. biostimulants, while Alltech E-CO2 works with measuring the CO2 footprint of the individual agricultural company and reducing the footprint. The Anderssons Center is one of the UK’s leading agricultural advice centres.

    • Patrick Charlton, VP for Alltech Europe: Introduction
    • Andrew Linscott from Alltech Crop Science: “Biostimulants use on various crops”
    • Will Streatfield from Alltech E- CO2: “Carbon audit – financial prospects for UK agriculture, how policy and trade have evolved post Brexit, and an outlook for the arable and pig productions”
    • James Webster from The Anderssons Centre“Financial prospects for UK agriculture, how policy and trade have evolved post Brexit, and an outlook for the arable and pig sectors”

    12:00 // Lunch

    13:00 // Leaving for James Dyson Farming, about 1 hour drive

    14:00 // James Dyson Farming:
    Behind the scenes of Dyson Farming with James Dyson (youtube.com)

    ”It’s all about science and mechanics and experimenting”

    14,500 hectares of high-tech large-scale agriculture In harmony with nature. 1,600 hectares are flower fallow, 400 km of hedges, 15 km of stone dykes, and forest. The soil is cultivated with regenerative methods, i.a. grazing with sheep and cattle. A biogas plant produces electricity and heat. The heat is used to heat 5.7 hectares of greenhouses with unsprayed strawberries, which are looked after by robots.

    16:30 // Departure to hotel near Stansted airport, driving time approx. 2 hours

    19:00 // Dinner

  • Wednesday, June 26th

    08:30 // Leaving Stansted Airport by bus headed at Groundswell.

    • We’re spending the whole day at Groundswell the Regenerative Agriculture Festival.
      Groundswell is a practical show aimed at anyone who wants to understand the farmer’s core asset, the soil, and make better informed decisions. It is a two-day event featuring talks, forums and discussions from leading international soil health experts, experienced arable and livestock farmers, agricultural policy experts, direct-drill demonstrations and AgTech innovators.

  • Thursday, June 27th

    • Thriplow Farms, David Walston III:
      Thriplow Farms is a 900 hectares farm located just south of Cambridge, UK. We grow a variety of crops such as wheat, oilseed rape, peas, beans, oats, & grass. Techniques like no-till, companion cropping, bi-cropping and mob grazing mean that we are not just trying to farm sustainably – but to actively regenerate the quality and productivity of our soils.
      David Walston is a Nuffield scholar (2015).
    • Claydon Drills:
      We visit the factory as well as Jaff Claydon’s 350-hectare farm. The Claydons have been working with soil health for decades, in cooperation with NIAB, Harper Adams University and others.

    Dinner, drinks and socialicing at The Beeswing Kettering

  • Friday, June 28th

    • Allerton Project:
      The Allerton Project researches the effects of different farming methods on wildlife and the environment, sharing results of our research through advisory and educational activities. This is undertaken on our 320-hectare demonstration farm based in Leicestershire, United Kingdom.
    • NIAB Innovation Farm:
      NIAB Innovation Farm is a pioneering UK knowledge transfer platform, a unique physical showcase of agricultural and horticultural activity with particular focus on plant genetic improvement, delivered in partnership with academics and industry to utilise, develop or produce plant-derived or plant-based materials.

    16.30     Driving back to Stansted Airport  

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