Farming with Pollinators

Our landscape is our home and our larder, but it is also home to hundreds of species of pollinators. These insects are vital to the balance of our ecosystems and the sustainability of our food supply chain, but they need our help!

Farmers and land stewards are at the forefront of these efforts, and luckily there are a number of tools and goverment support at your disposal to support pollinators in the farming landscape. 

On this course we'll take a look at how you can play your role in protecting pollinators by providing corridors, refuges, pollen, nectar and prey. We'll consider the benefits and challenges of using pollinator mixes at scale as well as other pollinator supporting practices such as pollinator strips, wildflower margins, agroforestry, diverse leys and cover crops to understand how we, as stewards of the land, can support the pollinators who support us.  You’ll also have an opportunity to learn about what government subsidy schemes are available to help you to have a bigger impact on your local flora and fauna, and ultimately your soil health and the food chain.

After completing this course you will be able to:

• Understand which insects are beneficial for different crops and to how to attract them
• Understand the benefits of crop diversification for pollinators through practices such as diverse leys, cover crops and agroforestry
• Appreciate the differences between pollinator mixes, including lifespan, costs, provenance and availability
• Understand the practicalities of sowing and managing pollinator mixes at scale
• Identify government schemes and policy that can support farmers and land managers to contribute to biodiversity delivery recovery

We'll take a walk around FarmED to observe the various pollinator supporting features such as wildflower margins, flowering forage crops such as sainfoin, herbal leys, agroforestry, and beetle banks. We'll also be joined by a guest speaker to learn more about the relationship between pollinators and plants (to be announced shortly).

Who is this course for?

This course has been designed for farmers, growers, graziers, sheperds and other land-stewards and land owners who want to adapt their farming practices to benefit pollinators. It is also suitable for ecologists, farm advisors, council representatives, and anyone else who looking to find a way to support pollinators at scale in farming landscapes.

Please arrive from 9.30 for refreshments and check-ins. The course will begin promptly at 10am.

About the facilitators

Paul Totterdell is General Manager at Cotswold Seeds and also one of FarmED's beekeepers.

Edd Colbert if FarmED's program coordinator and leads on our agroforestry work.

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Ticket Prices

Tickets include refreshments and a seasonal lunch from the FarmED Kitchen.

Delivery of our mission is a collective effort and our values embrace   inclusivity and diversity. We don’t want price to be a barrier to   anyone visiting FarmED or attending our events. Read more about our tiered pricing policy here.

If cost is a barrier to you attending, then please do ask us for financial support. The FarmED Bursary offers free or subsidised places   to those that will benefit most.

More Information and Booking

For more information please email sophie@farm-ed.co.uk

Your booking is safe. If we cannot run any element of the training face to face due to Covid restrictions, you will be refunded or you can switch to an alternative date.