Farm Gate

Today we have two interviews, followed by a fantastic discussion about regenerative agriculture and the use of glyphosate. INTERVIEW 1: The Food, Farming and Countryside Commission has unveiled research, which shows that the British public reject “nanny state” excuses and instead overwhelmingly back state intervention to tackle our health, climate and nature crises. Dr Courtney Scott is the Director of Policy and Research at the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission – ffinlo Costain asks her whether politicians are more interested in the so-called “nanny state” than citizens? INTERVIEW 2: The Global Terrorism Index 2023 shows that the ten countries most impacted by terrorism are also experiencing poverty, weak governance and conflict. Food and water scarcity - in part linked to climate change - act as a threat multiplier, accelerating instability. David Wells is an independent global security consultant and former head of research and analysis for the Counter-Terrorism Directorate of the United Nations. ffinlo asks him how climate change is affecting terrorist recruitment globally? DISCUSSION: This week's debate on 8point9.com has been centred on whether glyphosate is critical to regenerative farming. There are plenty of passionate farmers on both sides of this argument - but we invited Attila Kökény, a regenerative agriculture consultant from Hungary, and Marcus Link from New Foundation Farms to address this question in a series of articles. In this programme the debate becomes a conversation.

Discussion - Is low carbon beef an out-of-date answer to the wrong question? Interviews with Jo Raven from FAIRR, Professor Imke de Boer from Wageningen University & Research, and Dr Michelle Cain from Cranfield University.

ffinlo Costain, the Editor-in-Chief of 8point9.com, is joined by Jamie Evans-Freke from Knight Frank and Gabriel Connor-Streich from Greenshank Environmental. The discussion is on nutrient neutrality - and what on earth happened in the UK Parliament this week when the government tried to scrap existing rules and force through a new, under-considered system, using an amendment to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. Well - spoiler alert - they failed - but why, what next and how did the markets react?

In part one we hear three interviews. With: David McCulloch from Tilhill on the urgent need to increase productive UK forestry for wood Niamh Carr from The James Hutton Institute on proposals for a green hydrogen powered farm And Stéphanie Mielnik from the Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute about the risk to investors if they buy bonds from companies with links to illegal deforestation.

This episode of 8.9 Newsweek features interviews with Professor Sir Dieter Helm, and Sofía Condés, Head of Investor Outreach at the FAIRR Initiative.

Welcome to News Week from 8point9.com - I'm ffinlo Costain. We've got two great interviews for you, each about really important subjects. Now, you may noticed that the normal Farm Gate podcast has become a little more intermittent while we've been getting 8.9 hectares up and running - please do stay subscribed as we have some fantastic interviews and discussions planned for the coming weeks and months. But - to make life easy - our News Week programme and Farm Gate will both be available for you on the same channel. THIS WEEK - Glastir Organic funding - Patrick Holden - and nutrient neutrality - Dr Gabriel Connor-Streich. MORE NEWS AT 8point9.com

This is the audio version of a webinar in which the chief executives of RSPB, Soil Association and Nature Friendly Farming Network discuss the Consensus for Food, Farming and Nature - hosted by Farm Gate, which is now part of 8point9.com Panellists: Helen Browning - Chief Executive, Soil Association Beccy Speight - Chief Executive, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Martin Lines - Chief Executive, Nature Friendly Farming Network Panel chair - ffinlo Costain, Editor, 8point9.com Find out more about the Consensus - https://www.foodfarmingnature.org/ Poll results from webinar 1. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Ecological security is essential for food production, human wellbeing & prosperity Results: 100% agreement with 91% Strongly Agree and 9% Agree 2. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: New technology will have the most important role in helping the agriculture sector meet net zero Results: 5% strongly agree 19%agree 32% neutral 32% disagree 12% strongly disagree 3. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: The UK Government has overlooked the link between food and a resilient society Results: 66% Strongly agree 24% agree 7% neutral 4% disagree

An investigation by Lighthouse Reports has targeted the powerful European farming lobby group, Copa-Cogeca, which they say “is losing legitimacy even as it stymies the EU’s green agenda and hoovers up public funds.” In this programme we'll explore issues raised by the Lighthouse Reports investigation - and think about the legitimacy and the policy role of the National Farmers' Union, the largest farmers' organisation in the United Kingdom. ffinlo Costain is by Thin Lei Win, a co-author of the report - and by Jimmy Woodrow, the executive director of Pasture for Life in the UK.

ffinlo Costain talks to Chris Smaje about his new book, Saying NO to a farm-free future. Smaje's response to George Monbiot's Regenesis is a well-mannered treatise that outlines coolly and specifically why the Guardian columnist's prescription for the food system is just completely wrong. Smaje, an academic, farmer and author of A Small Farm Future, is one of the few voices to publicly challenge Monbiot on the future of food and farming (and the restoration of nature). Responding to Monbiot’s portrayal of an urban, high-energy, industrially manufactured food future as the answer to our current crises, and its unchallenged acceptance within the environmental discourse, Smaje was compelled to challenge Monbiot’s evidence and conclusions. At the same time, Smaje presents his powerful counterargument – a low-carbon agrarian localism that puts power in the hands of local communities, not high-tech corporates. Saying NO to a farm-free future is a defence of agroecological, small-scale farming and a robust critique of an industrialized future, and is released in the UK on the 28th of June. Farm Gate is now part of the 8point9.com news channel.

In this panel session we discuss a new report, Natural Capital: what farmers and policy makers need to know, which seeks to understand how new and emerging markets in natural capital fit into a changing landscape for farmers. The report was commissioned by the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission – it was written by Professor Fergus Lyon and Dr Amy Burnett from Middlesex University – and it was supported by the Prince’s Countryside Fund. ffinlo Costain, Chief Editor of 8point9.com, is joined by: Professor Fergus Lyon – author of the report – and director of the Centre for Enterprise, Environment and Development Research at Middlesex University. Lucy Bates -co-lead for the Farming Transition Programme at the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission. And Charlie Davis, a partner at Sylvestris Land Management, a land and rural business consultancy specialising in environmental land management.