For some in the farming industry Groundswell is agricultures equivalent of Glastonbury - a vast melding of ideals, from regenerative farming concepts, to meditation tents and everywhere in between.
It is maybe not what the bowler hatted stewards of more traditional shows would aspire to, but Groundswell has a strong and engaged following, as reported throughout the magazine.
But whether it is Groundswell, the Royal Highland Show, the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV) conference, or even the recent Alltech One event in the USA, all of which appear in this weeks Íæż½ã½ã, a defining theme of this years events so far has been climate change, its wider context and farmings role in trying to mitigate its impact.
I was pleased to be a speaker at the CAAV conference and it was fascinating to hear about the technical challenges many in the land agency profession are having when it comes to calculating carbon, or the practical implications some land managers are facing in relation to the changing climates impact on their farm tenants and wider business concerns.
As Knowsley Estate manager Jason Jordan points out on page 19, some of the animals in their safari park now stay indoors longer because of the higher rainfall they are seeing. Not good if you have paid more than 65 for a family of four to get in.
What is also striking is that there is little consensus around exactly how agriculture can play a role. There is clearly growing frustration in the NFU that there is no universal carbon calculator which can be used as the basis for carbon accreditation in England. Without that fundamental basis it makes life very hard for carbon to be treated as the tradable commodity many perceive it to be.
How carbon is calculated and who benefits has been described at other venues as akin to the wild West, with little formal regulation and many dashing to make money while they can. So while there is no doubting farmings key role in this critical area, just what that looks like and how it is defined is still open to unhelpful interpretation.
And finally...
The social value of livestock markets is a relevant in Australia as it is here in the UK, according to a new report. Check out this weeks Global Ag View for more.
