(L-R) Harriet CherryDr Nikki Yoxall, Adel Jones and Olivia Midgley discuss how farmers can balance food production with environmental delivery and actually get paid for both.
In this special edition of the Farmers Guardian podcast, filmed and recorded at Groundswell, an expert panel of three farmers explored one of the biggest questions facing agriculture today: how regenerative farming can become a profitable business model while continuing to produce food.
The discussion examined whether nature recovery should be rewarded through environmental payments or whether the benefits of regenerative farming already strengthen farm businesses through healthier soils, lower input costs and greater resilience.
Adel Jones, a regenerative farming consultant and former executive director of the Sustainable Food Trust, said providing for nature should be the focus on-farm, which then provided a framework to look at where value is created, where it is lost and how farmers can capture more of it.
Dr Nikki Yoxall, Nuffield scholar and Pasture for Life technical director, said that rather than waiting for others to pay, nature already contributes to the bottom line and farmers need to recognise that first.
Harriet Cherry, Groundswell director and Wildfarmed agricultural relationship manager, talked about innovative finance models, including partnerships between farmers and the banking sector, and asked whether supply chains, retailers and brands were doing enough to reward those delivering environmental outcomes.
From the practical realities of implementing regenerative farming to tackling greenwashing and ‘regenwashing' and the growing commercial appeal of ‘regen', the conversation highlighted where farmers can extract value in the supply chain.
The episode was hosted at Groundswell as part of Farmers Guardian's 100 Women campaign, which shines a spotlight on the women spearheading change in agriculture and driving the sector forward.
