Carbon Calling is holding its fourth conference on Tuesday 24th to Thursday 26th June at Sleastonhow, Kirkby Thore and Cannerheugh Farm, both near Penrith, Cumbria.
The conference is run and organised by farmers and features many speakers from a broad range of sectors. This year, half of the speakers on the lineup are women.
Carbon Calling CIC aims to empower livestock farmers in the UK to develop their systems to ensure they are profitable, environmentally aware and improving well-being.
Headline speaker this year, Jules Matthews, will be the highlight of Wednesday. Jules is an agroecological farmer, educator and coach – she was Nicole Masters’ (Integrity Soils) coach and she helped to establish Mangaroa Farms near Wellington, New Zealand, where regenerative principles guide the farming practice for a market garden, livestock production and community engagement.
Matthews works with the Quorum Sense Farmer Network in NZ and Integrity Soils. Along with this she also runs a 400-ha beef and lamb finishing operation and is part of the advisory team for Massey University’s 7-year regenerative research programme.
Matthews will talk about how to restore the microbial bridge in soil and people, linking nutrient dense products to people, providing the NZ perspective on uptake of regenerative farming and how to drive change on farm.
The conference is also welcoming Dr David Unwin, award-winning GP, known for pioneering the low-carb approach in the UK.
For the past few years Unwin has been a UK Royal College of General Practitioners expert clinical advisor on diabetes. He joins the Wednesday session on Eating for Health. This session will focus on the health benefits of a more sustainable diet and discuss the role that farmers and supply chains have in ensuring accessibility.
Carbon Calling cofounder, Liz Genever, said, “We want to create a space where farmers are comfortable to share experiences, knowledge and failures, and to build their support network. Curiosity and openness is what we want people to bring to the conference, and we will provide the opportunity to meet with a range of people. Running over three days this year, we’re really excited to see what comes out of it.”
Other programme highlights include Tuesday’s focus sessions, which will explore themes of local supply chains and regenerative systems.
The morning will be led by Nicola MacPhail from Gen-I, who will share insights from a recent project with Food Futures, focusing on how to build resilient, localised supply networks. This will be followed by an interactive session featuring speakers from organisations based in the north of England, including Vista Veg, Northumberland County Council, Westmorland Family, and H&H.
In the afternoon, the focus will shift to building regenerative systems at scale. Speakers from the Wild Hare Group, Ruumi, and Lake District Farmers will present their perspectives and the day will conclude with a panel discussion featuring representatives from across the supply chain.
Thursday is about keeping ‘curious’ and will be a great opportunity to visit Cannerheugh Farm, run by regenerative farmers Nic and Paul Renison.
There are ample opportunities to enjoy the bar and locally produced food each day. The conference also offers camping tickets for people who want to stay and enjoy live music.
Day or whole event tickets now on sale from the Carbon Calling website