ReGenAg Chat (Liz Genever and Nic Renison)

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to the other two founders of Carbon Calling - Tim Nicolson and Reno. It is an opportunity to hear from Tim, who is the host farmer of Carbon Calling, and what he has found out already from the trial plots and what will be seen on the day. Plus various blatant plugs for his cactus tree guards.

Reno spoke through what Nic and him are up to on the farm, and their plans for 2022.

Liz and Nic highlighted the speakers that have been booked for the conference, plus some of the ideas for the workshops. Tickets are available to purchase after this chat - https://buytickets.at/carboncalling/653331

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - talked to Ian Bell, who is a Certified Soil Food Web Lab-Tech and working towards being a Soil Food Web consultant. He is the founder of Northern Soil Regen, which works with farmers to improve their soil biology through different compost techniques and inoculations. They are developing novel techniques for applications. He has also trained with the Holistic Management International and is interested in mixing farming systems.

He will be running a workshop at Carbon Calling and will welcome farmers to bring soil or compost samples to look at the life in them.

He was joined by his mentor, Tanja Dekker from the Netherlands, who is a soil food web consultant working with community projects and dairy farmers. 

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Greg Judy, a regenerative rancher from Missouri.

He is the headline speaker for the Carbon Calling conference in Cumbria on Saturday 25th June and will be running a workshop on Sunday 26th June.

On this regen chat he will be introducing us to his and his wife's system of cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens and mushrooms on rented and owned land in Missouri. They use rotational grazing and their animals are 100% pasture fed. There is a big focus on biodiversity and wildlife.

We will also talk through what he will be talking about at Carbon Calling.

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Professor Derrick Moot (researcher from New Zealand) and Dave Cross (mixed farmer from Norfolk).

Professor Derrick Moot from Lincoln University (NZ) led the work on dryland pasture production that Doug Avery applied on to his farm. He has done a lot of work on lucerne and high legume pastures. See https://drylandpastures.com/. Derrick also talked through his attitudes towards regenerative agriculture.

Dave Cross farms with his dad in north Norfolk and has been using lucerne and high legume pastures for the last three seasons. He will discuss his experiences with the crops. He was involved in an Innovative Farmers field lab on grazing lucerne - https://www.innovativefarmers.org/field-lab?id=2a12e37b-4a5d-ea11-8181-005056ad0bd4

They will be highlighting the pros and cons of the options for dryland production.

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Dan Carne (Woodmeadow Trust) and Dr Nigel Kendall (University of Nottingham) about the benefits of trees within all grazing systems.

Dan Carne is the director of the Woodmeadow Trust, which is aiming to set up a network of woodmeadows in every parish. He will talking about the benefits of trees from a biodiversity perspective and how to set up systems from their experiences with their flagship site. See https://www.woodmeadowtrust.org.uk/home.

Dr Nigel Kendall is a lecturer in nutrition at Nottingham's vet school and also runs their diagnostic lab. He has become interested in the mineral profile of trees and how they can support livestock production. See https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/vet/people/nigel.kendall

They highlighted mainly the pros and very few cons of trees in grazing systems.

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Emily Padfield, David Cornforth and Fergus Henderson about their grazing systems.

Emily Padfield is part of a farming couple from Warwickshire. She is currently doing a Nuffield Scholarship - The mob-grazed flerd: improving soil, biodiversity and farm incomes. She has recently visited Allan Savoury's Africa Centre For Holistic Management.

Fergus Henderson and David Cornforth farm near one another in Kent and have been practising tall grass grazing for over ten years. They will be talking through what they have learnt over the dry seasons down in the south-east.

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Stuart Johnson, who is a mixed farmer from Northumberland.

Stuart, alongside his dad and brother, is in the process of changing their farming methods using the principles of regenerative farming. They have been mob grazing their Stabiliser cattle and Innovis sheep, and they will talk through the impact on performance. They are also using compost teas, direct drilling, herbal and high legume leys and diverse winter forage crops.

He was one of the speaker at the recent event - Farming Forward - that Nic did with The Farming Network

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Russ Carrington, who is a farmer and consultant from Herefordshire.

Russ was pivotal in the early days of setting up Pasture For Life. After 10 years there and working with regenerative livestock farmers across the UK and Ireland, Russ joined the Knepp team to establish a new regenerative farming business adjacent to the rewilding project. The aim of this new business is to investigate how a joined-up approach between different land management techniques can aid nature recovery on a landscape scale.

After a couple of years on this project - https://knepp.co.uk/2023/01/regenerative-farm-moves-into-its-next-phase-alongside-knepps-rewilding/ - he is heading back to his orchards in Herefordshire and the next adventure.

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Anna de la Vega, founder of Urban Worm.

The Urban Worm CIC is a social enterprise dedicated to raising the potential for vermiculture to provide solutions for regenerative organic waste management and agriculture. 

Anna has worked with a broad spectrum of industries from Wagamamas to the military encouraging and implementing the use of vermicomposts to help business become more circular.

Anna spoke about how to set up a wormery on farm and how to gain the benefits from vermicast on farm.

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to James Robinson, dairy farmer from Cumbria, and Neil Heseltine, beef and sheep farmer from North Yorkshire.

Both James and Neil are part of the Nature Friendly Farming Network and will talk through what they are doing on their farms to make space for nature while producing milk and meat.

https://www.nffn.org.uk/nffn-farmer-case-study-neil-heseltine-hill-top-farm-malham-north-yorkshire/

https://www.nffn.org.uk/rethink-farming-james-robinson/

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Dr Donna Udall from the Centre of Agroecology, Water and Resilience at Coventry University about biochar. They also talked about attitudes to scientists within the regenerative movement and the need to look at how we are educating the next generation.

Biochar is a specific type of charcoal that is produced when biomass is burnt with very little oxygen.

Donna has been researching the benefits of biochar in UK and other temperate soils, plus tropical soils. She will talk us through how it is made, how it can lock down carbon and potential benefits for soils in the UK. She will also highlight some negatives of biochar and its potential impact on yield.

Donna comes from a beef and sheep family farm in mid Wales.

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Andrew and Sally Hatton. They are first generation farmers in Nidderdale, who have brought back seasonal cheese making back to the area. They are milking Northern Dairy Shorthorn alongside producing beef and some lamb. They are also focusing on regenerating their meadows. See https://www.stonebeckcheese.co.uk for more details

They will be speaking at Carbon Calling Cumbria in September. Tickets are on sale now - https://www.tickettailor.com/events/carboncalling/91357

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Jaime Elizondo. He is the headline speaker for Carbon Calling conference in September.

He is a real rancher with over 30 years of experience on regenerating the land and significantly improving profits in his own ranches and with students in many different environments. His passion is helping ranchers regenerate their land the fastest while reaching maximum profitability! For information, see https://www.rwranching.com/

He will be speaking at Carbon Calling Cumbria in September. Tickets are on sale now - https://www.tickettailor.com/events/carboncalling/913577

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Bruce Thompson again. He is a speaker at the Carbon Calling conference in September. We last spoke to him in May 2020 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBcsc8gJamM&ab_channel=CarbonCalling).

Bruce Thompson runs dairy farm in Ballyfin, County Laois. The farm which was traditionally a mixed farm is now a commercial dairy farm with a herd of 320 cows. In line with the Teagasc dairy roadmap, Bruce operates a grass based, high efficiency production system. We also loves dung beetles and has done a Nuffield Scholarship and various projects on how to farm alongside them, and he also encourages other farmers to change practices. See https://www.farmingfornature.ie/nominees/bruce-thompson-2/ for more info.

He will be speaking at Carbon Calling Cumbria in September. Tickets are on sale now - https://www.tickettailor.com/events/carboncalling/913577

Michael Blanche spoke to Nikki Yoxall (head of research at Pasture for Life and regenerative farmer), Amy Hughes (podcaster and AHDB engagement lead for beef and lamb), Claire Writtle (regenerative consultant and vet) and Sarah Langford (author, lawyer and farmer) about their experiences within the agriculture sectors and being in leadership roles.

This is the first session from this year's Carbon Calling conference, which is held in Tim and Emma's shed near Penrith. 

This session is chaired by Martin Lines from Nature Friendly Farming Network, and features Sarah Langford (author of Rooted) and Matt Swarbrick (Henbant Permaculture). There were talking about the importance of communicating outside farming, and ensuring people connect to the land.

In this session, Bruce Thompson (dairy farmer and Nuffield Scholar) talked about helping other dairy farmers connect with different approaches, particularly around sustainable parasite control. We also heard from Stuart Johnson (mixed farmer, Northumberland) about how is has changed the practices on his farm to respect nature and himself

Jaime Elizondo from Real Wealth Ranching goes through the key points of his grazing approach

In this session we spoke to Broomhouse Farm about connecting people with farming, Sally & Andrew Hatton about making cheese again in Nidderdale , and Sara Grady  about making British pasture leather a success.

Liz Genever and Nic Renison - co-founders of Carbon Calling CIC - catch-up with themselves and then have a  chat with the legend of Gabe Brown, US rancher and founder of Understanding Ag. 

This episode is sponsored by Cactus Tree Guards - https://cactustreeguards.co.uk/ - for all your tree protection needs.

Liz Genever and Nic Renison - co-founders of Carbon Calling CIC - catch-up and then chat with Stuart Johnson, who is farmer from Northumberland and provided some UK context to the information we heard from Gabe in the last episode. 

This episode is sponsored by Cactus Tree Guards - https://cactustreeguards.co.uk/ - for all your tree protection needs.

Carbon Calling conference is happening on Saturday the 3rd of August 2024 with more details on carboncalling.farm.

Liz Genever and Nic Renison - co-founders of Carbon Calling CIC - catch-up and then chat with Jack Bobo, who is the Director of the University of Nottingham Food Systems Institute. We talked about all sorts, including regenerative production at scale and how we need to think holistically when it comes to provide food for a growing population.

See here for more info on Jack.

This episode is sponsored by Cactus Tree Guards - https://cactustreeguards.co.uk/ - for all your tree protection needs.

Carbon Calling conference is happening on Saturday the 3rd of August 2024 with more details on carboncalling.farm

Liz Genever and Nic Renison - co-founders of Carbon Calling CIC - chat to Allen Williams - headliner at the upcoming conference - about why people need to come and see him in a few weeks.

In the chat we talk about the documentary Roots so Deep and Allen's TED Talk - First Heal the Soil, and the Understanding Ag's 6-3-4 approach. 

See here for more info on Allen.

Carbon Calling conference is happening on Saturday the 3rd of August 2024 with more details on carboncalling.farm. Tickets are available here.

Liz Genever and Nic Renison - co-founders of Carbon Calling CIC - chat to Vic Ballantyne - speaker at this year's conference. She spoke about her farming system and diversified business, plus why she loved last year's Carbon Calling.

Liz meant Michael Aspel btw and Vic meant Agri-Environment Climate Scheme. 

In the chat we talk about session 3 at last year's Carbon Calling chaired by Michael Blanche, with Nikki Yoxall, Sarah Langford, Claire Whittle and Amy Hughes. Click here to see a recording.

Vic mentioned Sheep Stock Club. If you are unfamiliar with the concept, more details here. Click for more details on Trevor Cook.

See here for more info on Vic and her B&B website.

Carbon Calling conference is happening on Saturday the 3rd of August 2024 with more details on carboncalling.farm. Tickets are available here.

Liz Genever and Nic Renison - co-founders of Carbon Calling CIC - catch-up and then chat with Francis Dunne, who is an independent grass and forage seed specialist. We talked about herbal leys and the importance of understanding what the objective of the ley in when making decisions. Francis shared his experience of getting seeds to grow. We also briefly debated cultivations vs glyphosate.

This episode is sponsored by Cactus Tree Guards - https://cactustreeguards.co.uk/ - for all your tree protection needs.

Carbon Calling conference is happening on Saturday the 3rd of August 2024 with more details on carboncalling.farm

Liz Genever and Nic Renison - co-founders of Carbon Calling CIC - catch-up and then chat with Rose Ferraby, who is an archaeologist and artist. We talked about what considering the past can help us plan the future of land use, plus how to engage people with wider conversations about land.  Expect a collage session at the next Carbon Calling.

This episode is sponsored by Cactus Tree Guards - https://cactustreeguards.co.uk/ - for all your tree protection needs.

Liz Genever and Nic Renison - co-founders of Carbon Calling CIC - catch-up and then chat with Dr Sally Bell, who is a doctor who specialises in women's health. She is a massive advocate for good food alongside spending time in nature, breathwork and managing stress levels. We talked about the similarities between conventional ag thinking and how doctors are managing chronic health issues.

This is the first of a series of podcasts focusing on food, health and getting regenerative approaches to more people. 

This episode is sponsored by Cactus Tree Guards - https://cactustreeguards.co.uk/ - for all your tree protection needs.

Liz Genever and Nic Renison - co-founders of Carbon Calling CIC - catch-up and then chat with Dr David Unwin, who is a GP who specialises in using diet to reduce risk of type 2 diabetes.  He has reversed his Type 2 diabetes (driven by his love of biscuits as a way of dealing with stress) through diet. He talks through how his patients have reversed their diabetes and use the app Freshwell to plan meals. His son is a butcher - https://roastmutton.co.uk/ -  and he grows his own meat and food.

This is the second of a series of podcasts focusing on food, health and getting regenerative approaches to more people. 

This episode is sponsored by Cactus Tree Guards - https://cactustreeguards.co.uk/ - for all your tree protection needs.

Liz Genever and Nic Renison - co-founders of Carbon Calling CIC - chat with Dominie Fearn is the founder of The Wild Hare Group and has a passion about nutritious food and its link to soil health. Determined to find a way to produce fresh convenience foods using nutritious, natural and fully-traceable ingredients, she set on her way to producing fresh, nutritious, sustainable ready meals – and the Wild Hare was born.

This is the third and last one in a series of podcasts focusing on food, health and getting regenerative approaches to more people. 

This episode is sponsored by Cactus Tree Guards - https://cactustreeguards.co.uk/ - for all your tree protection needs.

Liz Genever and Nic Renison - co-founders of Carbon Calling CIC - chat with Holly Silvester who is a commercial organic vegetable and seed grower, and Future Resilience Seed Coordinator for The Gaia Foundation Seed Sovereignty Programme. She is incredibly passionate about empowering farmers and growers to come together to improve crops specifically adapted to local areas, soils and local markets. 

The Gaia Foundation Seed Sovereignty Programme are having a seed swapping event later in the year. See https://www.seedsovereignty.info/events/upcoming-events/ for more info. 

This is the first of a series of three podcasts were we talk to "disrupters" - people who want to do things differently and challenege the status quo. 

This episode is sponsored by Cactus Tree Guards - https://cactustreeguards.co.uk/ - for all your tree protection needs.

Liz Genever and Nic Renison - co-founders of Carbon Calling CIC - chat with James (JJ) Edwards who is first generation sheep and cattle farmer. They talk about all sorts - mental health, the challenge of having sheep hours apart, conservation grazing, Carbon Calling conference and acknowledging our privilege. 

This is the second of a series of three podcasts were we talk to "disrupters" - people who want to do things differently and challenge the status quo. 

This episode is sponsored by Cactus Tree Guards - https://cactustreeguards.co.uk/ - for all your tree protection needs.

This could be the start of greatness... You can judge that!

Liz Genever and Nicola Renison (co-founders of Carbon Calling) have "interviewed" James Evans (organic beef and sheep farmer from Shropshire) and Sam Vincent (dairy, beef and pig farmer from Dorset) about their journeys into regenerative agriculture. Then there were asked questions from the listeners via the friendly leprechaun.

As it was originally recorded as part of a live chat - every other Tuesday (email nicola.renison@ahdb.org.uk if you are interested) - you can watch the videos at the Carbon Calling YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpAZBnLhaLk2LKbA2_2ncBg

We were aiming for entertaining and educational. Just to warn you, we may have done neither. 

Thank you to AHDB for organising and running the live chats.

We are back and we still need to buy some editing software!

Liz Genever and Nicola Renison (co-founders of Carbon Calling) chatted to Ed White (beef and egg farmer from Somerset, slowfarming.co.uk) and Andy Rumming (beef farmer from Wiltshire, andyrummingsbeef.co.uk) about their approaches to business. Then there were asked questions from the listeners via the friendly leprechaun.

As it was originally recorded as part of a live chat - every other Tuesday (email nicola.renison@ahdb.org.uk if you are interested) - 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.

Liz Genever and Nicola Renison (co-founders of Carbon Calling) chatted to Mike Powley (beef and arable farmer from Yorkshire) and Andrew and Bob Brewster (organic beef farmers from Angus, mobgrazing.co.uk) about their approaches to improving soil health through no till techniques, pasture cropping and mob grazing. Then there were asked questions from the listeners via the friendly leprechaun.

As it was originally recorded as part of a live chat - every other Tuesday (email nicola.renison@ahdb.org.uk if you are interested) - 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.

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 nicola.renison@ahdb.org.uk 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

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 fcedemexico@hotmail.com.

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.

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.

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 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 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 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 - talked to Jon and Nick Francis from Paddock Farm. They set up their business from an interest in food and aiming to produce the best pork without compromise. They now sell fresh pork, beef, eggs and vegetables to high-end restaurants and gastropubs, and through their own butcher's shop. Have a look at https://www.paddock.fm/ or https://www.instagram.com/paddock.farm/

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - talk to two farmers from Weardale - William Emerson and Tom Vickers, who are around 18 months into their regen journey. They will share how they became interested in changing their farming practices and how some of their family and friends think they have joined a cult. We will talk through how they are aiming to make the most of their farm's resources and their plans to deal with reducing subsidy levels.

William will also talk about his recent trip to see Greg Judy - one of the speakers at Carbon Calling in June 2022.