With housemartins wheeling around and contented cattle in the fields on a fine day in June life looks good at Cannerheugh Farm at Renwick near Penrith.
Nic Renison, whose family farm a location with spectacular views towards the fells, is a co-founder of Carbon Calling, an event championing regenerative farming which takes place this week.
Far from admiring the distant views it’s matters closer to hand – the land on which the family’s herd of 70 Aberdeen angus – which concerns her and is the reason why she believes the event matters.
“It’s grown steadily and we have got local support as well as people who join us from a longer way away,” Nic told Business Crack.
She and co-founded Liz Genever were inspired by the Groundswell Agricultural festival which provides a forum for farmers, growers and anyone interested in food production and the environment to learn more about regenerative farming systems. A Cumbrian version, focusing on pasture and livestock, was developed.
To Nic, regenerative farming is about looking after and nurturing the soil and as we talk 70 head of cattle are fertilising the grass they consume.
“We use a system called rotational grazing where all the cows are in one group and they go round the farm in a mob,” Nic explains. “They’ll graze a paddock and then might not come back there for maybe up to 90 day so there are long rest periods to allow flowers to seed.”
She adds there’s also a move to bring biodiversity back onto the farm using the cows themselves: “We managed to get some species rich hay two years ago. We rolled the bales out, fed it to the cows, and that seed is now taking so we have clover, yellow rattle etc which is good to see.”
Charting how initiatives like this are working when it comes to wildlife is also underway.
A nature-tech company is helping land managers track biodiversity through birdsong using remote acoustic monitoring devices.
“This morning I posted the listening devices back to Chirrup who are going to monitor it,” Nic said. “I know we’ve got lots of curlew, which is great and they’re nesting, but there are birds we won’t have. It’s going to be really interesting to get a true data set and then we can build on it.”
She added: “There are five different types of owls in this country and they’re all here and they’re all breeding. So that’s great to know but they need a food source and I think as land managers, it’s really up to us to not only produce really good food, but also to look after the wildlife.”
Carbon Calling is not just about wildlife and restoration. Supply chain collaborations is the theme of the opening day with guest speakers including Nabil Subuh from the Westmorland Family and Maria Benjamin of Dodgson Wood.
Over three days it is hoped the event will see more debate across the industry and in an area that organisers hope could soon be leading the way.
“It’s very much an event of knowledge sharing, building connections and bringing people together to build that network,” Nic said.
