Attending Groundswell?

The Groundswell Festival is gaining popularity each year, offering farmers, growers, and anyone interested in food and the environment a platform to explore regenerative farming practices.

The CLA will again be attending Groundswell on both days (stand DF E30) and will be hosting round table meetings, speakers and a breakfast!

Find out the details below:

A look at the latest developments in government and the market that influences the environmental funding opportunities for regenerative farming and nature-based projects.

Covering back to basics on types of funding available (government, offsetting, corporate/supply chain and charity); an update on latest policy changes; an update on the private sector market opportunities, including soil carbon; routes to market for farming businesses; the risks and realities of different funding options and contracts and real life experience and examples.

Chaired by: CLA

Speakers: Susan Twining, CLA Chief Land Use Policy Adviser, Helen Avery, Green Finance Institute, Alex Begg, Wendling Beck and Ivan De Klee, Nattergal.

Professor John Gilliland, a leading expert in sustainable agricultural land management and policy, as well as an adviser to the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB) and a member of the Food Data Transparency Partnership, will join the CLA for a round table discussion on land sparing versus land sharing.

He will lead a discussion on the importance of baselining for individual businesses and for government, and how we can achieve the right balance, for food security, nature recovery and climate action.

Lord Leicester and renowned conservationist and author Jake Fiennes will talk about how they have transformed Holkham Estate into a thriving haven for wildlife, while boosting socio-economic success.

Bring your own lunch and savour a complimentary glass of locally handcrafted Apple Cottage cider.

Book your place.

Farming on protected sites such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) can be subject to many restrictions, yet only 38% of SSSIs are in favorable condition.

Our panel will share their experience of using regenerative farming to sustain farming incomes, enhance the environment and help meet the UK’s 30by30 commitment, on in-hand farms and working with farming tenants.

We will also discuss whether the ‘designation’ model for protection is fit for purpose, and how it could be improved.

Chaired by: CLA

Speakers: John Cresswell, Northumberland, College Valley SSSI, Annette McDonald Tatton Estate, Cheshire (22 farms, lots of small SSSIs) and Ben McCarthy, National Trust

Start your day off the right way - Join us for breakfast rolls with fresh tea and coffee on the CLA stand DF E30.

Take the opportunity to network and hear from CLA President, Victoria Vyvyan who will give an update on the latest challenges and opportunities within the sector.

Vicky Robinson will also be joining us as our guest speaker. Vicky’s career combines her passion for farming and the environment.

She spent 22 years at Natural England delivering agri-environment policy, including Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Land Management Schemes, before becoming Technical Director at Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF).

Vicky is now Head of Sustainability at Agricultural Industries Confederation, leading the trade association’s sustainability work.

A 2019 Nuffield Scholar, Vicky sits on the advisory group of Agricology, steering groups of two farmer clusters and is a trustee of Wild Oxfordshire and The Frank Parkinson Agricultural Trust.

This session examines how to develop positive landlord-tenant relationships. Come and pick up tips on how to start conversations about future business plans (including environmental schemes), contracts, and much more.

Chaired by: CLA

Speakers: Mark Cunliffe-Lister, Swinton Estate and Ed Staveley, tenant of Swinton Estate

After a year of Labour in power, what’s worked - and what hasn’t - for those pushing for better food and farming? This session brings together leading farmers and political thinkers to explore how farming voices can cut through the noise and build a stronger movement for change. Taking lessons from the inheritance tax uproar, the SFI reset and cuts to Defra spending, the panel will explore how farmers, businesses and campaigners can work together to tell a more powerful story in a time of tight budgets, climate crisis and global instability. Farming can be central to a fairer, healthier, more resilient future—we need to start talking differently.

Our CLA Policy and Advice teams will be available on the stand to discuss a range of matters with you throughout the two days.

There will be other events and roundtables on the CLA stand over the two days, which will be updated on this page in due course.

Please note: To access the CLA events listed you will need to have purchased an admission ticket for the Groundswell.

For more information or to book into breakfast, click here or call the Midlands office on 01785 337010, or alternatively email midlands@cla.org.uk.