Webinars

“I have watched some of your webinars and find them a helpful development,

as they do not require a strong broadband connection” – Rural Hub member

MAKING ENERGY YOUR BUSINESS – THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

Recorded in November 2022

There are so many challenges for agricultural businesses to keep afloat given the current energy situation.  This webinar, organised by Warwickshire County Council, invited NFU and Rural Hub Business Supporter NFU Energy to provide an insight to better understand the challenges for agricultural businesses whilst also providing some useful strategies to help to keep your energy costs down. If you are a Warwickshire farmer, have a farm shop, glamping site or any other related agricultural business – this session is for you.   Topics covered include:

• Challenges businesses are facing
• What does the energy cap mean for them
• Tips & hints – practical ways to reduce usage
• Energy Audits
• Renewable Options

George Bostock of Warwickshire NFU also spoke about the support available from the farming help charities.

Watch a 60-minute recording of the webinar on YouTube.

An energy webinar specifically for the tourism, retail, leisure and hospitality sector is also available.  Watch the 1 hour 25-minute webinar on YouTube

PLANNING FOR CHANGE – HOW TO NAVIGATE FARMING SUPPORT SCHEMES IN 2023

Recorded in July 2022

Join Farming Advice Service and The Anderson Centre, to explore the options available to farm businesses in 2023.

Using a case study farm scenario, we are talked through the thought processes and decisions that a business could take and provides professional recommendations of the best options for the specific business example.  Including: BPS delinked payments in 2

023 Exit scheme Countryside Stewardship 2023 Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) Local Nature Recovery Landscape Recovery Future Farming Resilience Fund.

Visit this link to watch the webinar. 

CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE AND SUSTAINABLE FARMING INITIATIVE

Recorded on Tuesday 23 November 2021

As the agricultural industry changes, conservation agriculture may provide us with a chance to reduce costs, improve soil health and develop a sustainable farming system to maintain, or possibly increase, farm profitability and food security whilst supporting wider biodiversity and protecting natural resources.

The 5-year Conservation Agriculture and Sustainable Farming Initiative, which is a European partner-led project examining the entire cereals-based rotation on a field scale, has now entered into its final year. In this webinar we explored some of the outcomes on agronomy, soil health, productivity and profitability and what it could mean on a practical level for growers, and the opportunities there may be for adoption of the Conservation Agriculture principles within government policy and Regenerative Agriculture.

Our presenters were Belinda Bailey, Sustainable Farming Manager with Syngenta and Dr Nathan Morris from NIAB.

Watch the 1 hour webinar on YouTube on this link.

Healthy Hedges 

Megan Gimber and Ian Wight of the People’s Trust for Endangered Species recorded on 20 January 2022 (57 mins)

Hedges are a man-made man-managed habitat and it’s thanks to centuries of farming that we have the wonderful network of hedges that we see today.  But they’ll only survive with similar care and consideration going forward.

Our webinar starts with a talk from Key Habitats Officer Megan Gimber, covering the multiple values of our hedgerows, a bit about their history, condition and their lifecycle, before looking a bit deeper into the various ways we can manage hedgerows so we can get the most from them in the long term.  Dormouse officer Ian White will add some context from the point of view of Dormice, a species dependent on hedgerows, and which has seen some worrying declines.  Finally, you will hear about the Healthy Hedgerows app, which is a free tool available to help make decisions about hedge management at the farm scale.

Watch the webinar on YouTube

Natural capital in a nutshell: what it is it, what’s it worth and what can I do with it?

Recording of a Webinar by Wright Hassall solicitor’s agricultural department in January 2022

The term ‘Natural capital’ is widely used in connection with farming’s role in environmental improvement, sustainability, biodiversity net gain, and climate change. But do we really understand what natural capital is, what it is worth and what you can do with it? The speakers at this event demystified how you can measure it, what it is worth and, most importantly, how you can factor it into your business plans by making a more informed decision about how to make the most of ELMS and other opportunities.

Alison Holt, Director, Natural Capital Solutions 
Alison is a scientist with particular expertise in natural capital and biodiversity assessment. Alison explains how to assess and value natural capital using a variety of modelling tools.

Sebastian Graff-Baker, Partner, Andersons Midlands 
Seb advises farmers and growers with crop, livestock and non-farming enterprises. He discussed how natural capital and biodiversity net gain could provide a valuable income stream for farmers and how the National Register of land for biodiversity credits will work.

View the webinar on this link to YouTube

An interview with Thomas Maynard, Manager at Home Farm, Hatton Estate

Winner of the Forsyth Lapwing Trophy for 2019

Recorded on Thursday 13 August 2020
8 minutes in duration
Kindly filmed by the award sponsors, Syngenta

Due to the coronavirus pandemic we were unable to hold a farm walk and barbeque on the farm that won the Forsyth Lapwing Trophy for 2019; Home Farm, Hatton Estate.  The award recognises the successful integration of commercial agriculture with conservation on a Warwickshire farm.  Fortunately the award sponsors, Syngenta, were on hand to film an interview with the Farm Manager, Thomas Maynard, and provide some aerial shots of part of the farm.  This short video explains why Thomas was selected as the winner of the award for 2019.  Our thanks go to Belinda Bailey, UK Sustainable Farming Manager at Syngenta, for acting as interviewer, Joe Bagshaw of Syngenta for acting as producer, director and editor and Thomas Maynard for sparing the time to be interviewed.  The video is available to view on the Rural Hub’s YouTube channel.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS AND SUCCESSION PLANNING

Recorded on Thursday 9 July 2020

45 minutes in duration

Organised with our business supporter, Lodders solicitors 

The most common model for a farming business is a partnership.  However, as most farming businesses are family enterprises the need for a formal partnership document is often overlooked.  In this webinar, chaired by Henry Lucas of the Rural Hub:

John Rouse, Partner and estate planning specialist at Lodders discusses the importance of considering the futures prospects of your farming business and how the next generation is going to form part of that plan;

James Spreckley, head of their Agricultural Law team, discusses the benefits of a properly drawn up partnership agreement and why they should not be overlooked in modern day agriculture.

Following their presentations John and James answer a range of questions.  Thanks go to Lodders for organising and recording the webinar.

RENEWABLE ENERGY SOLUTIONS 

Recorded on 18 August 2020
52 minutes in duration
Lodders Solicitors LLP/Roadnight Taylor 

Expert speakers, Alastair Frew, partner in Lodders’ Real Estate and Renewables teams, and Hugh Taylor, CEO of the independent power and energy consultancy, Roadnight Taylor, offer useful pointers covering a variety of renewable energy solutions; from solar farms to battery storage units, AD plants to wind turbines, and the building of gas reserve generators.  The talks provide insights and advice on a range of renewable energy legal issues, the implications of installing them and the crucial connection between your land and the National Grid.

Other webinars from Lodders

Lodders organise webinars on a variety of subjects which would be of interest to farmers, landowners and business owners.  Recordings of webinars are available on the following subjects:

Family Investment Companies – an acceptable alternative to Trusts?

How can you solve a right of way dispute?

The Biodiversity Jigsaw

Visit this page for a full list of recordings of webinars organised in 2021 and 2020.

Webinars from Championing the Farmed Environment

CFE is a partnership of agricultural, environmental and governmental bodies, promoting good environmental management through productive farming practices.  They have recorded a series of virtual workshops on the following subjects:

Hedges for Pollinators and Carbon
Climate Resilient Farming
Environmental Seed Mixes and IPM
An Introduction to Farm Carbon Calculators
Trees, Carbon and Climate Change
Soils, Water, Wildlife and Profit

Please visit this page to view the webinars which vary in length from 50 minutes to 1 hour 10 minutes.