In November 2022 we met up with around 70 of our fellow advisors who work through our umbrella organisation, the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group. The FWAG Association sits on the Defra Stakeholder Group so provides us with a valuable line to early information on policy and grant funding streams, and also gives us a mechanism to feed back to Defra with our ‘on the ground’ experience.
This year’s learning was based around regenerative agriculture, and we were fortunate in visiting one of England’s most experienced practitioners, Tim Parton, farm manager at Brewood Park Farm and winner of FW’s Farm Innovator of the Year 2020. Tim gave us a fascinating insight into his journey into ‘biological’ farming, which over the past 15 years has allowed the farm to slash chemical inputs whilst maintaining yields.
Tim’s innovations include modifying a John Deere direct seed drill with a front-end crimper roller to deal with the previous crop’s trash, and an inoculation system to deliver brewed microbes to the seed bed. The results achieved even to a visual inspection of soils are remarkable, and provide powerful evidence of what can be achieved when soil biology functions optimally.
We highly recommend visiting Brewood Park Farm if you get the chance, but the next best thing is to listen to Tim talk about his approach to farming in this Future Farming podcast https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2022/02/02/future-farming-podcast-tim-parton-on-nitrogen-fixing-bacteria-and-nutrient-dense-food/
