Building cross-country connections – a Sustainable Farm Networks summer

As farmers across the land move through an early harvest and an unsettling grass shortage, it is more evident than ever how crucial it is to pioneer, progress and power up agricultural approaches which support sustainable, resilient farms.

In this guest blog, Lucy Bates, Sustainable Farm Networks Project Manager, looks back over a busy few months.

Despite the heat, it’s been a cool summer so far for the Sustainable Farm Networks which now constitutes 36 member networks representing thousands of demonstration farms between them.

Over June and July I travelled with Harper Adams University colleagues to three of the four corners of the UK, soaking up the atmosphere and building connections at Groundswell, the Royal Highland and Royal Welsh shows - with an early September trip to the Fields Good festival in Northern Ireland coming up.

Across all these events, a striking theme has been the recognition of the value and power of farmer led research, peer-to-peer learning and the value of networks, all of which are driving principles behind the SFN, and evident across its growing membership.

In Scotland we heard announcements on new support for peer mentoring and capital investment in sustainability focussed kit. I took the opportunity while north of the border to spend time with members of inspiring farmer co-operatives through SFN members SAOS, and the research institutes delivering real world practical solutions under the SEFARI Gateway programme.

Wales was fresh with the news of a speedier than anticipated transition to a Sustainable Farming Scheme, which includes a learning requirement supported by SFN members Farming Connect, and evolving collaborative on-farm R&D options.

Groundswell was bubbling with innovation and communication as ever- but with the growing sense that this is being valued by policy makers as well as practitioners.

I can’t wait to hear an update on the NI Soil Nutrient Health Scheme and see for myself how farmers such as those represented in the SFN by Agrisearch Beacon Farms, ARC Zero and the GrowIN network are taking forwards the vision of more sustainable food and farming across the water.

The SFN brings together stewards of diverse demo farm networks through quarterly meetings and regular updates to share experiences and pool resources. We are mapping the spread of network’s members, and it is truly inspiring to see how far and wide they now reach.

Next steps are turning this geographical snapshot into a functional tool for identifying common ground across sectors and themes, working on a portal to share findings, and delivering a unique skill sharing course for the stewards themselves.

Keep an eye out through for what promises to be a genuinely collaborative season coming up. We and our member networks work with established knowledge exchange hubs Agricology and Farm PEP to post updates and events- and we publish a quarterly ‘Snapshot’ newsletter to showcase the great work happening across the SFN.

And if you are a demonstration farm network not yet involved- get in touch and get on the map!