Leveraging Natural Capital Hub at this year’s CropTec aims to guide visitors on making more from their farm

The CropTec Show will host a new series of Knowledge Hubs where visitors can listen to expert speakers review topics that are critical to the industry. Among these will be the Natural Capital Hub, sponsored by Trinity Agtech, which will discuss a range of methods through which farmers can capitalise further on their farm.

“It would be easy to be pessimistic about the state of the industry. There’s huge volatility and uncertainty, but there are also reasons to be optimistic,” comments Anna Woodley, Director of Business Development at Agtech. “Trinity Natural Capital Group are partnering with CropTec on the Natural Capital Knowledge Hub because we see the untapped potential of understanding and utilising farm resources.”

With the loss of the Basic Payments System (BPS), some farmers are looking to carbon as a commodity as a method of mitigating their reducing income. This Knowledge Hub will answer common questions around audits and trading, such as the role of additionality and the difference between carbon brokers and marketplaces. Furthermore, a discussion around benefiting from biodiversity co-benefits, which are attached to carbon credits to evidence broader environmental benefits, will be had.

“Many of us are confused by carbon and we want to relieve that confusion, but we also want to caution against carbon tunnel vision,” continues Anna. “Biodiversity, water protection, nutrient use efficiency, provenance, and on-farm optimisation – there are numerous opportunities, and we want to help farmers explore them.”

Joining Anna as speakers on the stand will be Dr Emily Pope, Director of Knowledge Exchange at Global Farm Pioneers; Michael Kavanagh, Farm Manager and Co-Founder at Green Farm Collective; and Juan Palomares, Managing Director at Trinity Agtech.

Many groups across the industry are delivering great ideas and projects with regards to farm sustainability and profitability. The agenda will kick off with Michael, a 2022 Farm Manager of the Year finalist, who will be sharing his experience of delivering initiatives focused on this on farm.

Moving beyond a carbon-centric view to a more holistic mindset of natural capital is fast becoming the best way to get results – knowing how to leverage your natural capital to create multiple income streams will be discussed in the ‘Avoiding Carbon Tunnel Vision’ session. Lastly, the trading of high-quality carbon + biodiversity co-benefits as the route to higher incomes will be discussed, with an exploration of scientific credibility, environmental co-benefits and trading platforms.

The Natural Capital Hub can be found on the Trinity Agtech stand at CropTec, which will be held at the East of England Showground in Peterborough on 23 and 24th November. Free ticket registration and additional details about the 2022 Knowledge Hubs can be found at www.croptecshow.com.