Natural Capital

This session is chaired by Jeremy Moody, Secretary & Advisor, The Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV)

Using your natural capital to deliver for the environment and farming through ELMs, external schemes and the ATP
Richard Bramley, Chair of NFU Environment Forum

ELMs is the focus of Defra’s future farming policy. In this session, Richard will discuss the opportunities to use your natural capital to deliver public goods in ELMs and the existing Countryside Stewardship scheme, alongside emerging environmental markets.

Beyond the farm gate: how regenerative agriculture can diversify your income
Franco Costantini, Managing Director, Control Union UK

Franco will discuss about how regenerative agriculture can open up income streams for farms which might otherwise have been inaccessible. Whether you are interested in monetising the natural capital you are creating, or in benefitting from carbon credits, he will discuss how to generate income streams from these sources in addition to those gained from the sale of your produce.

Click here to download Franco’s presentation.

The role of Agroforestry in climate change mitigation
Colin Tosh, Senior Agroforestry Researcher, Organic Research Centre

Planting trees in and around fields can protect crops and livestock from extremes of heat, cold, wind and water and provide an extra timber or fruit crop. Very likely it can also augment pest and disease control through the provision of beneficial organism. The mechanisms through which agroforestry provides these ecosystems services will be presented and some of the experiments and models used to investigate these effects presented. Agroforestry can also increase carbon storage on the farm both above and below ground. The extent of agroforestry carbon sequestration and the potential for an agroforestry carbon code to allow the purchasing of agroforestry carbon credits will be covered.

Click here to download Colin’s presentation.

Understanding the opportunities natural capital offers landowners
Alex Watts, Senior Surveyor, Fisher German

Alex will introduce what natural capital is and explore the opportunities that it might offer to landowners in terms of carbon, biodiversity net gain and nitrate and phosphate offsetting. He will also talk about the new platform which Fisher German have designed and launched to help landowners understand what schemes might be out there for them to embrace on their land holdings.

Click here to download Alex’s presentation.

Carbon Farming

This session is chaired by Susan Twining, Chief Land Use Policy Adviser, CLA

Understanding your carbon footprint and ways to reduce it
Julian Bell, Principal Consultant and Team Leader, Agrecalc | SAC Consulting

With practical ideas on how to reduce farm greenhouse gas emissions, we’ll look at how different farm enterprises contribute to your overall footprint. Learn how to identify your strengths and weaknesses, and how to assess the impact of mitigation measures you might deploy on your carbon footprint and the operational efficiency of your farm business.

Click here to download Julian’s presentation.

Developing the farm soil carbon code
Professor Nicola Cannon, Associate Professor of Agriculture, Royal Agricultural University

An outline of the factors to consider when piloting sites for carbon sequestration and data requirements to predict carbon sequestration.

Click here to download Nicola’s presentation.

Gaining carbon payments from soil improving farming techniques
Thomas Gent, UK Country Manager and Head of Certificates, Agreena

Thomas Gent is the 4th generation on his family farm. He chose to join the Agreena carbon program as a farmer a year ago. Thomas will share insights into why he made this decision what it has meant for his farm and how carbon trading could work for your farm.

Click here to download Thomas’ presentation.

Agricultural Waste & Outputs - Where's the value?

Join this session, chaired by Tina Benfield, Technical Manager, Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) to understand how you can make the most of your waste and outputs, including straw, compost and digestate.

Current waste streams and outputs and their potential value to agriculture
Becky Wheeler, Business Development Director, 4R Group

The presentation will provide a brief overview of the organic waste streams commonly used by farmers as soil conditioners and alternative sources of fertiliser. The potential value for each will be presented, and how new payment schemes, farm assurance, sustainability and the dynamic fertiliser market provides opportunities for using these materials in UK agriculture.

Click here to download Becky’s presentation.

A look at the benefits and associated rules of spreading organic materials on your land
Phil Jarvis, Chair, Albanwise Farming and Environment

Regenerative farming and government approaches will have to address farm profitability, carbon and biodiversity.
Phil’s presentation will cover:
• The benefits of organic matter to soil in livestock and cropping systems
• Farming Rules for Water – The challenges and solution!!
• The Future- Research and Technology

Click here to download Phil’s presentation.

Benefits of Slurry Acidification
Quentin Kelly-Edwards, Acidification Sales, Linton & Robinson Environmental

Slurry acidification is a technology primarily developed to reduce ammonia emissions in intensive livestock production, which is one of the major contributors to agricultural pollution. Methane and other GHG emissions are also reduced. It was first introduced in Denmark to help reverse the eutrophication of the Baltic Sea. Due to its success, the practice has been widely accepted and has been adopted in other countries throughout Europe.

Small amounts of concentrated sulphuric acid are added to slurry under controlled conditions, to reduce the pH of the slurry. By reducing the pH below 6, the equilibrium is shifted, over 99% of the volatile NH3 is converted to NH4+ and as it is stabilised in the liquid fraction, prevents emissions.
The result is an increase in air quality, the health and performance of animals in intensive facilities and to the environment. The additional nitrogen and sulphur in the slurry are of benefit to the farmer when treated slurry is applied to the soil, improving plant health, increasing crop yields and considerably reducing dependence on chemical fertilisers. By reducing methane & carbon dioxide emissions, carbon is sequestrated to the soil adding increasing financial return as carbon offset.

Click here to download Quentin’s presentation.

Sustainable Architecture

This session is chaired by Michael Collins, RIBA, RIAS, Sustainable Accredited Architect, Michael Collins Architect LLP

What is a sustainable building?
James York, Architect and Passivhaus Designer

James will be looking at some of the key parameters of sustainability and how these can apply to homes and buildings. He will discuss passive and active means of reducing energy use and carbon emissions, reducing embodied carbon, the circular economy and material selection and reuse.

A focus on the modern methods of construction and the choices of nature-based building materials
Neil Turner, UK Technical Sales Manager, Ecological Building Systems

The presentation will focus on the types of commercially available insulation types and their benefits (performance and ecological credentials). How these materials are designed into timber frame wall, roof and floor structures will then be discussed and finally some examples of factory produced timber panel projects will be shown

Click here to download Neil’s presentation