Event
The Resilient Farm Roadshow – Scotland
Join ADHB and Agricology in Scotland for the first event of the Resilient Farm Roadshow series. This roadshow is designed to equip farmers with the practical tools and knowledge they need to build a more resilient farm business, creating a space for learning, discussion, and collaboration.
We’ll be at the James Hutton Institute to hear from keynote speaker Stephen Briggs as he shares his tools for ensuring farm resilience, both now and in the future. Stephen will be joined by Balbirnie Home Farm Manager David Aglen, Research Scientist Cathy Hawes and Agronomist Andrew Christie from the James Hutton Institute.
Scotland speakers
Stephen Briggs is a first-generation organic farmer at Whitehall Farm in Cambridgeshire. He holds an MSc in soil science, is a senior partner at independent organic consultancy, Abacus Agriculture, head of technical development at Innovation for Agriculture and deputy chair of the AHDB board.
Stephen has been providing farm business consultancy throughout the UK and internationally for over 20 years and has delivered agronomic and environmental advice and training to many UK farmers. He is an advocate for sustainable and resilient farming practices and has been trialling and championing Agroforestry having completed his Nuffield in 2012 exploring the use of agroforestry as a tool to increase farm production. Whitehall Farm is also a living lab for the Climate Farm Demo project.
David Aglen is the Farm Manager at Balbirnie Home Farms, a 1,200-ha mixed farming operation in Fife, Scotland. He is leading efforts to improve soil health through minimal cultivation and smarter rotations; including root crops, vegetables, grasses, and forage – to safeguard soil structure. David champions cover crops, soil biology metrics like earthworm counts, and soil respiration testing to enhance biodiversity, reduce erosion, cut carbon footprints, and make farming both productive and regenerative.
Cathy Hawes and Andrew Christie will be sharing research and agronomy findings from the James Hutton Institute’s Centre for Sustainable Cropping long-term experiment where they’ve gathered data over the past 15 years to quantify the effect of regenerative cropping on indicators of biodiversity, soil and crop yields. Cathy Hawes says “we are looking forward to the opportunity to highlight what works and what doesn’t and discuss strategies and ideas for overcoming barriers for growers.”
What this event will deliver
- Region-specific solutions: this event features a regional expert who will share details of how they future proof their farming business
- Shape future AHDB research: Questions raised at these events will be fed into AHDB’s research and knowledge exchange strategy
- Networking: Connect with other like-minded farmers and industry peers
Lunch will be provided.
This roadshow is a collaboration between Agricology and AHDB, a statutory levy board, funded by farmers, growers and others in the supply chain to help the industry succeed in a rapidly changing world.
BASIS & NRoSo points are available.
