Liz Genever and Nic Renison - co-founders of Carbon Calling CIC - catch-up with themselves and then have a  chat with the legend of Gabe Brown, US rancher and founder of Understanding Ag.

In this session we spoke to Broomhouse Farm about connecting people with farming, Sally & Andrew Hatton about making cheese again in Nidderdale , and Sara Grady  about making British pasture leather a success.

Jaime Elizondo from Real Wealth Ranching goes through the key points of his grazing approach

In this session, Bruce Thompson (dairy farmer and Nuffield Scholar) talked about helping other dairy farmers connect with different approaches, particularly around sustainable parasite control. We also heard from Stuart Johnson (mixed farmer, Northumberland) about how is has changed the practices on his farm to respect nature and himself

This is the first session from this year's Carbon Calling conference, which is held in Tim and Emma's shed near Penrith. This session is chaired by Martin Lines from Nature Friendly Farming Network, and features Sarah Langford (author of Rooted) and Matt Swarbrick (Henbant Permaculture). There were talking about the importance of communicating outside farming, and ensuring people connect to the land.

Michael Blanche spoke to Nikki Yoxall (head of research at Pasture for Life and regenerative farmer), Amy Hughes (podcaster and AHDB engagement lead for beef and lamb), Claire Writtle (regenerative consultant and vet) and Sarah Langford (author, lawyer and farmer) about their experiences within the agriculture sectors and being in leadership roles.

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Bruce Thompson again. He is a speaker at the Carbon Calling conference in September. We last spoke to him in May 2020 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBcsc8gJamM&ab_channel=CarbonCalling).Bruce Thompson runs dairy farm in Ballyfin, County Laois. The farm which was traditionally a mixed farm is now a commercial dairy farm with a herd of 320 cows. In line with the Teagasc dairy roadmap, Bruce operates a grass based, high efficiency production system. We also loves dung beetles and has done a Nuffield Scholarship and various projects on how to farm alongside them, and he also encourages other farmers to change practices. See https://www.farmingfornature.ie/nominees/bruce-thompson-2/ for more info.He will be speaking at Carbon Calling Cumbria in September. Tickets are on sale now - https://www.tickettailor.com/events/carboncalling/913577

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Jaime Elizondo. He is the headline speaker for Carbon Calling conference in September.He is a real rancher with over 30 years of experience on regenerating the land and significantly improving profits in his own ranches and with students in many different environments. His passion is helping ranchers regenerate their land the fastest while reaching maximum profitability! For information, see https://www.rwranching.com/He will be speaking at Carbon Calling Cumbria in September. Tickets are on sale now - https://www.tickettailor.com/events/carboncalling/913577

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Andrew and Sally Hatton. They are first generation farmers in Nidderdale, who have brought back seasonal cheese making back to the area. They are milking Northern Dairy Shorthorn alongside producing beef and some lamb. They are also focusing on regenerating their meadows. See https://www.stonebeckcheese.co.uk for more detailsThey will be speaking at Carbon Calling Cumbria in September. Tickets are on sale now - https://www.tickettailor.com/events/carboncalling/91357

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Dr Donna Udall from the Centre of Agroecology, Water and Resilience at Coventry University about biochar. They also talked about attitudes to scientists within the regenerative movement and the need to look at how we are educating the next generation.Biochar is a specific type of charcoal that is produced when biomass is burnt with very little oxygen.Donna has been researching the benefits of biochar in UK and other temperate soils, plus tropical soils. She will talk us through how it is made, how it can lock down carbon and potential benefits for soils in the UK. She will also highlight some negatives of biochar and its potential impact on yield.Donna comes from a beef and sheep family farm in mid Wales.

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to James Robinson, dairy farmer from Cumbria, and Neil Heseltine, beef and sheep farmer from North Yorkshire.Both James and Neil are part of the Nature Friendly Farming Network and will talk through what they are doing on their farms to make space for nature while producing milk and meat.https://www.nffn.org.uk/nffn-farmer-case-study-neil-heseltine-hill-top-farm-malham-north-yorkshire/https://www.nffn.org.uk/rethink-farming-james-robinson/

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Anna de la Vega, founder of Urban Worm.The Urban Worm CIC is a social enterprise dedicated to raising the potential for vermiculture to provide solutions for regenerative organic waste management and agriculture. Anna has worked with a broad spectrum of industries from Wagamamas to the military encouraging and implementing the use of vermicomposts to help business become more circular.Anna spoke about how to set up a wormery on farm and how to gain the benefits from vermicast on farm.

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Russ Carrington, who is a farmer and consultant from Herefordshire.Russ was pivotal in the early days of setting up Pasture For Life. After 10 years there and working with regenerative livestock farmers across the UK and Ireland, Russ joined the Knepp team to establish a new regenerative farming business adjacent to the rewilding project. The aim of this new business is to investigate how a joined-up approach between different land management techniques can aid nature recovery on a landscape scale.After a couple of years on this project - https://knepp.co.uk/2023/01/regenerative-farm-moves-into-its-next-phase-alongside-knepps-rewilding/ - he is heading back to his orchards in Herefordshire and the next adventure.

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Stuart Johnson, who is a mixed farmer from Northumberland.Stuart, alongside his dad and brother, is in the process of changing their farming methods using the principles of regenerative farming. They have been mob grazing their Stabiliser cattle and Innovis sheep, and they will talk through the impact on performance. They are also using compost teas, direct drilling, herbal and high legume leys and diverse winter forage crops.He was one of the speaker at the recent event - Farming Forward - that Nic did with The Farming Network

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Emily Padfield, David Cornforth and Fergus Henderson about their grazing systems.Emily Padfield is part of a farming couple from Warwickshire. She is currently doing a Nuffield Scholarship - The mob-grazed flerd: improving soil, biodiversity and farm incomes. She has recently visited Allan Savoury's Africa Centre For Holistic Management.Fergus Henderson and David Cornforth farm near one another in Kent and have been practising tall grass grazing for over ten years. They will be talking through what they have learnt over the dry seasons down in the south-east.

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Dan Carne (Woodmeadow Trust) and Dr Nigel Kendall (University of Nottingham) about the benefits of trees within all grazing systems.Dan Carne is the director of the Woodmeadow Trust, which is aiming to set up a network of woodmeadows in every parish. He will talking about the benefits of trees from a biodiversity perspective and how to set up systems from their experiences with their flagship site. See https://www.woodmeadowtrust.org.uk/home.Dr Nigel Kendall is a lecturer in nutrition at Nottingham's vet school and also runs their diagnostic lab. He has become interested in the mineral profile of trees and how they can support livestock production. See https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/vet/people/nigel.kendallThey highlighted mainly the pros and very few cons of trees in grazing systems.

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Professor Derrick Moot (researcher from New Zealand) and Dave Cross (mixed farmer from Norfolk).Professor Derrick Moot from Lincoln University (NZ) led the work on dryland pasture production that Doug Avery applied on to his farm. He has done a lot of work on lucerne and high legume pastures. See https://drylandpastures.com/. Derrick also talked through his attitudes towards regenerative agriculture.Dave Cross farms with his dad in north Norfolk and has been using lucerne and high legume pastures for the last three seasons. He will discuss his experiences with the crops. He was involved in an Innovative Farmers field lab on grazing lucerne - https://www.innovativefarmers.org/field-lab?id=2a12e37b-4a5d-ea11-8181-005056ad0bd4They will be highlighting the pros and cons of the options for dryland production.

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to Greg Judy, a regenerative rancher from Missouri.He is the headline speaker for the Carbon Calling conference in Cumbria on Saturday 25th June and will be running a workshop on Sunday 26th June.On this regen chat he will be introducing us to his and his wife's system of cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens and mushrooms on rented and owned land in Missouri. They use rotational grazing and their animals are 100% pasture fed. There is a big focus on biodiversity and wildlife.We will also talk through what he will be talking about at Carbon Calling.

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - talked to Ian Bell, who is a Certified Soil Food Web Lab-Tech and working towards being a Soil Food Web consultant. He is the founder of Northern Soil Regen, which works with farmers to improve their soil biology through different compost techniques and inoculations. They are developing novel techniques for applications. He has also trained with the Holistic Management International and is interested in mixing farming systems.He will be running a workshop at Carbon Calling and will welcome farmers to bring soil or compost samples to look at the life in them.He was joined by his mentor, Tanja Dekker from the Netherlands, who is a soil food web consultant working with community projects and dairy farmers.

Nic Renison and Liz Genever - two of the founders of Carbon Calling - spoke to the other two founders of Carbon Calling - Tim Nicolson and Reno. It is an opportunity to hear from Tim, who is the host farmer of Carbon Calling, and what he has found out already from the trial plots and what will be seen on the day. Plus various blatant plugs for his cactus tree guards.Reno spoke through what Nic and him are up to on the farm, and their plans for 2022.Liz and Nic highlighted the speakers that have been booked for the conference, plus some of the ideas for the workshops. Tickets are available to purchase after this chat - https://buytickets.at/carboncalling/653331