Collaboration and innovation at the BOFIN West Inspiration Day
BOFIN founder Tom Allen-Stevens hosted the second BOFIN Inspiration Day of the year, welcoming attendees from across farming, environment, research and policy.
The Oxfordshire farm provided the ideal backdrop for discussions ranging from natural flood management and landscape recovery to farmer-led research and sustainable slug control.
Hosted jointly with the Ock Catchment Farmer Cluster, the day began with an introduction to the cluster’s ambitious Landscape Recovery bid, one of the largest applications submitted to date. Attendees also heard about Oxfordshire’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy before heading into the field to explore natural flood management practices currently in place at Wicklesham Lodge Farm.
Back at the “marquee of marvel”, Professor Keith Walters (Harper Adams University) shared results from the SLIMERS project, which concludes this summer.
Keith outlined how the project’s slug patch prediction model was developed using three years of farmer-collected Slug Sleuth data, highlighting the crucial role farmers played in building the maps and improving understanding of slug pressure in commercial fields.
A key theme throughout the session was the value of farmer-led innovation, with Keith stressing that farmers are best placed to drive practical agricultural research and real-world innovation.
For more visit www.slimers.co.uk