🌱 Groundswell 2025: Must-See Sessions + A Quick History
Hey everyone
Groundswell is almost here again and if you’ve never been, think of it as more than just another farm show. It’s two days in a field where the best conversations happen under canvas tents, leaning on fence posts, and over a pint with people who care about the future of farming, food and the land under our boots.
A little history: Groundswell started back in 2015 on the Cherry family’s farm in Hertfordshire. Back then it was a small, hopeful experiment a place to swap ideas about soil health, no-till kit and cover crops at a time when many thought ‘regen ag’ was a fringe idea. Since then, it’s grown into one of the UK’s leading gatherings for regenerative farmers, growers, researchers, and anyone keen to rethink how we look after our soils and our communities. It’s not about flashy tech or the biggest machines — it’s about learning, sharing, and doing the small things that add up to real change.
📌 Where to find me
I’ll be at Groundswell 2025 from the evening of Day 2 and all day on Day 3. If you’re around, come say hi — bumping into people is half the point. Here’s where you’ll officially find me:
🎤 Speaking: Making Regenerative Agriculture the ‘No Brainer’ Business Model
📅 3rd July 2025
⏰ 1:00–1:55 PM
📍 Speaker’s Corner
“Farmers should be rewarded for delivering climate, nature and social benefits — but how do we measure and manage this ‘third income stream’? Join us as we explore how it can really work.” @susfoodtrust
🎙️ AgriLeader Circle LIVE! with @ahdb_dairy
📅 2nd July, 6:30 PM
📍 Stand C40 or tune in live on Instagram
With Ana Reynolds, Ben Andrews, Ed Horton & Tom Martin — honest conversations about what leadership in dairy looks like when the ground keeps shifting.
🎧 Live Podcast Recording: Sustainable School of Food & Farming
📅 Thursday, 3rd July
⏰ 2:15 PM
I’ll also be taking part in a live podcast with the Sustainable School of Food & Farming, chatting alongside others about what putting regenerative ideas into practice really looks like on the ground the good bits, the tough bits, and the lessons we’re still learning as we go. If you’re curious, come along, listen in and join the conversation afterwards it should be a good one.
🌿 Other sessions you shouldn’t miss
Groundswell is packed with smart folk doing thoughtful work. Here are a few of my personal picks:
🌿 @betweenthewoodsandthewater — with T and other soul sisters Gaining Ground
📅 2nd July, 5:30–6:25 PM, Grass Tent
🐄 @thecowcalfcontactconsultant Anna Bowen & @cothelstone_micro_dairy Phyllida Warmington — Rethinking Dairy for Animals, People & the Planet
📅 3rd July, 11:00–11:55 AM, Speaker’s Corner
🐞 @dr_dowhittle Claire Whittle — Dung Beetle Safari
📅 2nd July, 11:00–11:55 AM & 3rd July, 12:00–12:55 PM
Leading Positive Change in Regen Ag (3rd July, 3:00–3:55 PM)
The Cheat Code Session (3rd July, 4:30–5:25 PM)
🌳 @jrfromstrickley James Robinson — Hedgerow Safari
📅 2nd July, 1:00–1:55 PM & 3rd July, 12:00–12:55 PM
🌍 @sarahlangfordwrites — Exploring Shifting Baselines
How each generation forgets the scale of nature’s loss — and how baseline tools can help us hold onto what’s left and rebuild.
📅 3rd July, 11:00–11:55 AM, Workshop Tent
🍏 @findcider & @ripe__cider — Cider Stand
🍻 @oxburybank & @px_farms — Pub
🌾 Our neighbours @timwilliams_farms with the Land Gardeners — always worth a stop for good ideas and good chat.
🧭 At the end of the week…
Don’t worry — plenty of farming is still happening at the end of the week too! Three lines of cows 🐄 will be dried off on Friday, with 70 beef cows heading (organically) to Frome Market for the organic sale — not something we normally do, but we’re hoping a good number will draw the right crowd. Plus, 25 more are off to Sedgemoor. It never stops, does it?
✨ One last thing
You can plan your days to the minute, but the real magic at Groundswell is what you don’t plan: the chat you overhear at the coffee truck, a conversation by a hedge, a scribbled note that changes how you see your farm when you get home. Those chance moments remind you why you keep going.
If you’re going, drop me a comment or come say hi — I’d love to catch up and hear what you’re working on. Maybe I’ll see you in the cider tent or by the hedge, notebook in one hand, coffee (or pint) in the other.
See you there 🌾✨
Soph