Hi Guys and Gals. I am sitting on a panel of farmers for the above event, which has been called in order to gather information from the wider farming community as to what research we all deem would be useful/necessary to us. Its a chance for us to make our challenges, needs and desires made known. There is plenty of these so if anyone on here thinks of something useful or relevant please post it in the comments and I can raise it at the meeting. Or even better if you plan on attending the conference yourself you can raise it there. Lets get a conversation going here to discuss what we each feel is important to the sustainability of our farms.
One big thing coming down the line that I feel quite strongly about is the potential for a serious lack of both farm vets and veterinary products such as wormers and medicines. Do we need to look into animal resistance and resilience to parasite and disease burdens?
Hi jonny how did this event go? I was booked to attend but something came up on the farm.
My asks would be:
Economics and scale - something similar to the MSO work but at an industry or landscape scale - there is a point at which the system is both profitable and environmentally sustainable - what does that look like for local food, energy and fibre
Many more alternative crops - growing quinoa, lentils, carlin peas, beans etc at field scale
Smaller scale and more adaptable harvesting and processing machinery
Traceability
Productive crops that can support biodiversity
Also important not to repeat research that has already been done - I think millions of pounds are currently being wasted replicating existing work.
Final point - the results of research need to get onto farms in a useful way - once the research papers are published there needs to be a next step to turn the knowledge into something practical and useful on a farm.
I’d love to see more research on slurry bugs and openness to what strains of bacteria work best. Also what is nutrient difference at the end of the process.
Maybe also research on farmyard manure composting. Different methods such as a roof/ cover makes, adding woodchip if it’s more manure than straw, windrows over a midden, Bokashi method of ensiling, etc.