If farmers are going to improve biodiversity on their land, they need to be able to measure it. Emerging technologies offer new promise for monitoring this in ways that are more affordable and comprehensive than ever before, addressing a major barrier to management and improvement. In this episode, Tom and Emily explore some of these innovations.

They ask:

Why do we need to monitor biodiversity levels on farm?

Why do traditional monitoring techniques sometimes fall short?

What technologies can help identify on-farm species abundance and diversity, and how do these technologies differ in the strengths and use cases?

What are the main obstacles to farmer adoption of new biodiversity monitoring tools, and what support do they have available to them?

Guests:

• Sophie Alexander - Farmer, Hemsworth Farm
• Tom Ludwig - Sales Manager (Onshore Industries), Nature Metrics
• Ross Robertson - Head of Mixed Farming (Agri-Tech), Agri-EPI Centre
• Marianna Herold - CEO, NatureBound

Links and resources:

Monitoring biodiversity 24/7 Project at Hemsworth Farm case study video.

Hemsworth Farm Soil Association profile.

Learn more about the Agri-EPI Centre

Learn about the UK Agri-Tech Centres

Biodiversity Agri-Tech we work with:

Listen to our episode with Pollenize here or learn more about them here.

Listen to our episode with AgriSound here or learn more about them here.

Learn more about Chirrip and DawnChorus here.

Learn more about NatureMetrics

Learn more about NatureBound

Thanks to Cofruition for consulting on and producing the show.