Farming For Change

In this Episode James and Ben sit down with Denver, the founder of Dadspace to discuss mental health amongst men. An Episode where Ben admits to a situation at home that is in need of management to keep a family business 'happy'.

In the latest episode, Ben heads to Loddington to visit James and have a general catch up/moan about agriculture on our farms, in general and across the world.

In this episode, James and Ben are joined by Ed Kerr and Craig Lappin-Smith - a banker and restaurateur respectively, and joint co-founders of Herd - a project to promote regenerative farming through fractional ownership of farmland. 

Up for discussion - why food should be front and centre of nature recovery, why rewilding may not be all it's cracked up to be and why James isn't cut out for goat-herding...

In this episode, James and Ben are joined by Oliver Scott, the Farms Director at Mawley Hall in Shropshire, to discuss 'agflation', the importance of diversity in farming and the financial viability of moving away from the status quo.

In this episode, James and Ben are joined by Will Shotton from Tibico Fermentary  to talk about all things gut health, ultra-processed food and the impact of modern day farming on our microbiomes.  

Join Ben and I as we reunite after a significant hiatus to catch up on the latest happenings at Townsend Farm. We discuss the rapid changes in the farming landscape that have occurred since our last episode, touching on the evolving state of agriculture, the complexities surrounding the Sustainable Farming Initiative (SFI) and inheritance tax, as well as the broader political climate affecting farmers today. 

Ben and James are joined by Antony Yousefian, partner at The First Thirty, a company that's aim is to regenerate 30m hectares by 2030. We cover a lot of ground in this one - vertical farming, quantifying the ecological footprint, biodiversity net gain and the role of AI in agriculture. 

Links mentioned:

• https://www.tft.vc/ - The First Thirty website
• https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/60f02799e90e0764d2837899/Dasgupta_Response__web_July.pdf - The Economics of Biodiversity: The
  Dasgupta Review

In this episode, Ben and James chat with Townsend Farm's summer intern about biodiversity, French agroecology, composting and how to dig a circle. Make sure to check Loddington Farm's Instagram page to see the stunning silo in all its glory...

In this episode, Ben and James chat to Marion Regan, fourth generation 'guvnor' of Hugh Lowe Farms in Kent, about robots, Wimbledon, lacewings and how they continue to grow soft fruit sustainably in an increasingly unpredictable social, economic and environmental climate. 

In this episode, James and Ben talk to Andy Cato from Wildfarmed about the company's mission to fix food to fix the planet, and how he believes we can farm in nature's image while comfortably feeding everyone. Inspiring stuff!