ReGenAg Chat

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Sophie Throup from Morrisons and Thomas Gent from Gentle Farming about the increased focus on regenerative farming by companies and whether it is genuine or spin. They also discussed what they saw at Groundswell on the 22 and 23 of June.

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - talk to Michael Blanche from the infamous Pasture Pod and renowned Scottish grazer and guru. This is a follow-up to the one in December, where there were technical issues - they got to Michael owning his own sheep. They discuss all sorts, including his thoughts on regen, first generation farmers and how to make a good podcast.

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Michael Blanche from the infamous Pasture Pod and renowned Scottish grazer and guru. There was major technical issues and this will be repeated in January. 

 Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Lynn Cassells from Lynbreck Croft about her experiences of being a first generation farmer and how they are stacking enterprises to work with their land. Lynn spoke about the development of Egg and Little Mountain Meat Clubs, the challenges of bees and the importance of sticking with your values.

Some sound issues at the beginning.

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - will be talking to Tim Downes - organic dairy and beef farmer from Shropshire - and Sarah Appleby - dairy farmer and cheese maker from Shropshire - about their experiences of dairy farming. Their focus on soil, grass, preventative health schemes and genetics is fundamental to making their systems work. They are brother and sister, who parents have a strong influence on their values and farming ethos. We will be also be discussing the tricky third generation of farming farms. 

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - will be talking to Andrea Walker - organic beef and sheep farmer from Scotland - and Poppy Frater - livestock consultant - about their experiences of regenerative farming, particularly mob grazing systems, and setting up farms for next spring. We will discuss the variety of roles for women in farming, the use of the she pronoun when discussing farmers and the value of role models to encourage the next generation.

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - will be talking to Yann Le Du - consultant and retired researcher and farmer - and Rich Thomas - mixed farmer from Herefordshire - about their experiences of working with sheep on herbal and diverse swards and tall grass grazing systems. A significant number of the approaches for regenerative agriculture are focused on beef cattle, so we are keen to explore how and where sheep fit.

Yann was an applied grassland researcher for ten years, then a sheep and beef farmer for 32 years. He has been involved in regenerative approaches, particularly herbal leys, for nearly ten years ago. He is now a grassland consultant. 

Rich farms with his parents in Herefordshire. He is just starting to bring regenerative approaches to the farm and is currently trialling the best approaches when grazing sheep and cattle together. He is aiming to reduce his inputs further, but his mother hates the weeds. 

Nic and Liz will be talking to Ally Houston, chef and food entrepreneur, (paleocanteen.co.uk) and Dr Tony Butler, a retired GP with an interest in metabolic health, about how red meat can have a positive impact on human health. They will be talking about the science behind paleo diets – eating like people living in the Palaeolithic (stone) age – and how it can help improve physical and mental health. There will be a discussion on how to tackle the current negative view of red meat and how doctors need to be part of this. They will be highlighting how to get farmers and health practitioners to work together to ensure a greater understanding of production systems and the value of regenerative agriculture for health and well being.

Liz Genever and Nicola Renison (co-founders of Carbon Calling) chatted to Jaime Elizondo, a regenerative rancher and adviser about his work with ranches and farms all over the world. He talked about how not to kill mycorrhizae and the importance of mineral nutrition for livestock and the soil's micro-organisms. We talked about non-selective grazing and the advantages over selective grazing, plus the need to select the right type of animals for these systems.
 
 Jaime can be contacted by WhatsApp on +1 832 776-0886 or [email protected].

As it was originally recorded as part of a live chat , you can watch the videos at the Carbon Calling YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpAZBnLhaLk2LKbA2_2ncBg
 
Thank you to Fiona Lovatt of Flock Health Limited for running the live chats.

Liz Genever and Nicola Renison (co-founders of Carbon Calling) chatted to Ceri and Darren Mann from British Scarabs (@BScarabs on Twitter) and Bruce Thompson (@friesian_man on Twitter, dairy farmer from Ireland) about their love of dung beetles.

CerI and Darren are heavily involved in educating people, identification and conserving dung beetles. They run a Facebook group - British Scarabs - where people can share sitings. Resources can be found at https://britishscarabs.org.  

Bruce is currently researching how dung beetles are an important part of sustainable parasite control through a Nuffield Scholarship - https://nuffield.ie/scholar/bruce-thompson. 

As it was originally recorded as part of a live chat - email [email protected] if you are interested in future ones) - you can watch the videos at the Carbon Calling YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpAZBnLhaLk2LKbA2_2ncBg

Thank you to AHDB for organising and running the live chats