Farm Gate

As the impacts of climate change deepen, what will happen to food and farming systems in the UK and around the world? And do we need greater food independence and food sovereignty in the UK?Today, ffinlo Costain is joined by Kirsty Lewis, Applied Climate Science Fellow at the Met Office - by Vicki Hird, Strategic Lead on Agriculture at The Wildlife Trusts - by Honor Eldridge, Author of The Future of Food Policy in the UK - and by Lucy Noad, a beef and dairy farmer from Woodhouse Farm in Wiltshire.* This programme draws on conversations that took place at the UK's Conference on Food & National Security, which was co-produced by Ark and Farm Gate. Our sponsors were Howden, Savills and Saffrey - and our founding patron was Marian Boswall.

For more than a decade, nature markets have promised wadges of new cash for farmers, promising them financial security as they work to bridge the regenerative transition and restore natural infrastructure. But while many land managers are ready to supply carbon or nature credits, the demand simply hasn't scaled, and the market that does exist is hard to navigate. So, where are we now, and what's the future for nature markets?ffinlo Costain is joined by Luke Baldwin, Chief Executive of Nature Broking - Lucy Jenner, Head of Natural Capital Consultancy at Savills - and Alastair Grizzell, former Head of Nat Cap at Zora Ecosystems, and now Commercial Director at Ark Intelligence & Events.

Huskvac - the UK’s only licensed lungworm vaccine - will be discontinued after 2027. The British Cattle Veterinary Association says that this announcement comes at precisely the wrong moment, when UK cattle farming is increasingly adopting Integrated Parasite Management, of which Huskvac is a cornerstone. ffinlo Costain is joined by Rob Howe from Farm Beneficials and Helen Rogers from Friars Moor Livestock Health.

UK governments spend around £4 billion a year on farming and nature, but we need a further £4-10 billion a year just to hit our nature and environment targets. Meanwhile, £11 trillion is managed by the UK's investment industry, and the gap is a rounding error by comparison. So how do we get more of that capital flowing into nature recovery and agroecological food and farming systems?ffinlo Costain is joined by Isabelle Cadignan, Co-Lead on Climate Risk & Resilience at Howden Insurance Brokers - by Annabel Ross, Director of Capital Markets Sustainability for Lloyds Banking Group - by Eoin Murray, the Chief Investment Officer at Rebalance Earth - and by Tom Pycraft, the founder of Ark Events.

ffinlo Costain (8point9) talks to Martin Lines (Nature Friendly Farming Network). Martin has been with the Conservatives in Birmingham, lobbying MPs and activists on behalf of food, farming and nature. The pair discuss:A more confident Conservative party?Plans to abolish Natural England and the Environment Agency"Fewer rules" versus environmental outcomesDo the Tories have a new policy on SFI?More development, less emphasis nature?Anti-solar, anti stacking? Net zero and carbon marketsInheritance tax