The renowned Oxford Real Farming Conference (ORFC) is always a great way to kick off the new year, informing, inspiring and provoking many thoughts. Cotswold Seeds have been proud sponsors for many years and FarmED Founder, Ian Wilkinson, has participated in many sessions over the years.
2021 is of course a very different year, and ORFC have responded to restrictions by going global. The FarmED curated panel discussion was the first session on the first day, chaired by our Head of Regen Ag, Jonty Brunyee, and it was wonderful to see that 4000 people joined in from around the world!
We are looking forward to our next session next Tuesday. If you’re not able to watch live, all the sessions are being recorded and ticket holders will be able to watch them later, on demand.
Rotation, Rotation, Rotation: Using Diverse Crops to Build Soil Health (Thursday, 7 January, 13:00 - 14:00.)
Diverse crop rotations are key to a successful agroecological and regenerative food system. Innovative farmers and growers across the globe are using a range of strategies and crop mixtures to build soil health, reduce pests and weed burdens, and enhance natural capital. In this session, curated by the FarmED team, you will be introduced to the key principles of rotation and hear about the diverse cropping systems at the Rodale Institute (Pennsylvania, USA) and FarmED. An open discussion and Q&A will follow.
Joining Jonty and Ian are Jeff Tkach, Chief Impact Officer for the Rodale Institute, where he is responsible for expanding the institute’s global influence in healing people and the planet by unlocking the transformational power of regenerative organic agriculture. He leads the development and execution of the Institute’s core strategies, overseeing opportunities for partnership and co-investment that drive positive outcomes for Rodale’s philanthropic and programmatic initiatives. Dr Nicola Cannon is Associate Professor of Agriculture at the Royal Agricultural University with a specialism in low-input and organic farming systems focusing on the field of agronomy.
From Soil Health to Gut Health (Tuesday, 12 January (19:00 - 20:00)
How can we heal ourselves and the planet? Soil health and gut health are inextricably linked by the food we grow and eat so maybe the solution is right under our feet and within us. Join Dr Sally Bell, GP and functional medicine practitioner, in conversion with Alexis Sinclair, Food and Nutrition Coordinator at FarmED. Hear about Sally’s journey, the Five Foundations, and her focus on the gut biome, soil health and regenerative food and farming.
Both sessions offer a great opportunity to learn more about the work at FarmED.
https://orfc.org.uk