Round-up – March 2025
This is our round-up for March 2025. Please note that this page is not updated, so deadlines may have passed and links may no longer work. To receive future newsletters, please join our network.
News
Webinar: Power in the food system – how to shift it for citizens, farmers and nature
Thursday 20th March, 3:00pm (due to popular demand, we’ll be going until 4.30pm if needed)
Based on last week’s talked-about Paying the Price report by the FFCC, and its earlier report The False Economy of Big Food, the report authors and researchers will explore the ins and outs of power in our food system – who holds it, what is its impact, and what can be done about it.
The reports come off the back of the FFCC’s pioneering work, The Food Conversation, a project talking with citizens around the country about the kind of food system they want: A key conclusion was that citizens are frustrated with the extreme imbalance of power and profit in the food system, and want political leaders to bring radical change.
Charlie Taverner and Mhairi Brown will explain why questions of power and profit need to rise up the political agenda.
Briefing: Alternative proteins – what’s in it for farmers & land use?
Livestock production and alternative proteins are likely to sit side-by-side in the coming years, with alternative products taking greater market share than currently. But what might this mean for farmers? And what potential might this present to use more land for carbon sequestration and other needs?
A few months ago we held a really lively webinar on this topic with Tom MacMillan (RAU), Lydia Collas (Green Alliance), and Stuart Roberts (livestock farmer & former NFU vice president). Our excellent freelance writer, Nina Pullman, has written this up into a briefing.
Why carbon markets aren’t a good model for investing in nature recovery
If you missed our webinar on natural capital markets, you can now watch the video. Oxford University economist Prof Alex Teytelboym set out a new approach to scaling investment in nature recovery. Alex explained why existing market designs such as carbon and Biodiversity Net Gain are not sufficient to scale investment in nature, and used an innovative case study to demonstrate how a different, auction-based approach, could scale and enable investment. Alex was in conversation with Emily Norton, AFN Network+ Policy Champion, and natural capital markets expert.
Webinar: Climate Change Committee 7th Carbon Budget – hear straight from the committee
The CCC team will be ready to take your questions. Look out for an email soon with a finalised date and a sign-up link from Jez.
News from the wider agri-food sector
Contribute to a POSTnote on regenerative agriculture
The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) is a research and knowledge exchange service based in the UK Parliament. They are publishing a POSTnote that will summarise the challenges and benefits of using regenerative agriculture practices to address issues such as agricultural GHG emissions. They are accepting stakeholder contributions until 6 April 2025.
Free policy engagement resources
UKRI (NERC and ESRC) have commissioned a set of free resources as part of their ‘Policy Engagement’ training programme, delivered by the Institute for Methods Innovation, Fast Track Impact and Walcott Communications Limited.
Funding
Knowledge gaps in peatland management
The Greenhouse Gas Removal (GGR) Peat Demonstrator is funding small projects (up to £75k) to address key knowledge gaps in our understanding of the management of peatland and other wetlands for Carbon sequestration and GGR in the UK. Themes of particular interest include:
- Water management in peatlands managed for GGR within lowland agricultural landscapes
- Biomass production for carbon capture via peat GGR
- Methods for methane suppression
- Turning research into practice
- Spatial assessment
- Multiple interventions
Deadline: 31 March 2025
Perennial biomass crops and their role in greenhouse gas removal
As part of the Perennial Biomass Crops for Greenhouse Gas Removal (PBC4GGR) project, funding is available for projects that aim to fill knowledge gaps in the sphere of perennial biomass crops and their role in greenhouse gas removal. This final call has a total budget of £250k (100% fEC) and intends to award 2-3 projects.
Deadline: 17 April 2025
Events
LEAP conference
Tuesday 8th April 2025, Oxford
LEAP will once again welcome researchers working on aspects of meat and dairy production and consumption to consider its effects on population health, the economy, society and the environment. The last few tickets are available for this year’s event, so please book quickly.
Webinar: Exploring the Value of the Farm Treescape through Whole Farm Tree Planning
Wednesday 30th April 2025 6:00-7:30pm
Organised by the Soil Association, this webinar will hear from Anna Biesty, farmer at Deepdale Farm in North Norfolk, about her experience as a pilot project farmer on the Whole Farm Treescape project. Deepdale Farm is an organic arable farm focusing on natural fertility building and soil health, exploring agroecological principles such as the integration of trees and livestock.
BES Symposium 2025: Nature, Farming and Food: How we value our land
19–20 June 2025, University of Oxford
Evidence and data about what we eat, where and how it’s grown are some of the most contested scientific debates in the public sphere. This year’s British Ecological Society Symposium will tackle the debates and their politics head-on. It will ask how claims made about the impact of food on land and ecosystems differ when voiced by farmers, corporations or ecologists, and ask how we can work together to create the best evidence. The call for presentations is open until the end of March.
Groundswell
2-3 July 2025, Lannock Farm, Hertfordshire
The Groundswell Festival provides a forum for farmers, growers, or anyone interested in food production and the environment to learn about the theory and practical applications of regenerative farming systems. The AFN Network+ will again be having a stand, with a variety of sessions throughout the two days. Tickets for this year’s event are now on sale.
Save the Date: Agroforestry Show 2025
10-11 September 2025, Maple Cross, Hertfordshire
Vacancy
Percy Fellow, Newcastle University
The Percy Fellow will be appointed to the Centre for Rural Economy (CRE). The CRE is a University research centre, specialising in multidisciplinary applied social science and policy research working towards the achievement of sustainable development in rural areas, including farming. They co-host the National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise (NICRE) and are committed to engage with and disseminate the findings of their research to a wide range of stakeholders, including policy makers and practitioners.
Deadline: 6 April 2025
