Come to Transition Live 2025

Don’t miss your chance to visit Farmers Weekly’s Transition Live event on 8 May in Yorkshire.

The event, at the University of Leeds’ mixed arable and pig farm, is part of our Transition initiative, which aims to explain the complex production, policy and environmental issues facing British farmers.

The day will start with a keynote address, followed by talks and panel discussions. Speakers will include farmers, researchers, policymakers and industry specialists, who will cover three key areas:

• Food production
• Environment
• Business

There will be opportunities to put questions to the industry experts, compare notes with other farmers, share ideas and talk to Leeds researchers about their work.

See also: Listen to our Transition podcasts

Host farm

Central to the event is the chance to take part in informative farm walks around Spen Farm.

The research work is embedded in a 317ha commercial farm that is run under a regenerative agriculture policy.

The regen research compares conventional management including ploughing and inorganic fertiliser applications, with different combinations of min-till, mixed crop varieties, planting understoreys/living mulches and rotations including herbal leys.

Spen then captures data using cutting-edge technology such as soil moisture sensors, imaging techniques and a network of carbon dioxide monitoring flux towers.

The towers are continuously measuring emissions and the data tracks when the carbon dioxide is taken up or released.

The results are combined with weather statistics and input and offtake data from the farm’s outdoor pig unit, arable land and permanent pasture to establish what factors alter carbon balances.

Prof Pippa Chapman of the University of Leeds explains that Transition Live visitors will be able to see the regenerative agricultural trial for themselves on one of two scheduled farm walks.

The second walk will cover the farm’s biomass trial, a joint initiative between Leeds and York universities run by Niab which evaluates renewable crop management, including willow, poplar, eucalyptus and miscanthus.

Pippa says the trial is aimed at potential growers, so is all about the practical elements of growing biomass. 

© Leeds University

Speaker insights

Food production

Sustainable livestock systems

Ellie Lovell, Farmers Weekly 2024 Young Farmer of the Year and finance director for Tack Farm, Worcestershire

Ellie oversees the 486ha arable, beef and 800-head dairy farm’s 15 full-time staff.

Above all farms must be profitable – if they are not profitable they cannot begin to be sustainable, says Ellie.

To be profitable they need government support and for it to understand that without that backing, its environmental aims will be unachievable, she says.

We must do our bit too. We need to concentrate on the efficiency factors that cut emissions and lead to profitability – good cow health and welfare, well-planned feeding regimes and breeding programmes that exploit genetics to maximise returns.

Environment

Trees and livestock do mix – making silvopasture work

Farmer Andy Gray Elston Farm, Copplestone, Devon

Devon farmer Andy Gray will explain the multiple benefits of silvopasture – integrating trees and grazing livestock.

Andy’s 65ha Elston Farm runs sustainable farming research projects investigating silvopasture, animal health and welfare, net zero, soil health and soil carbon.

Andy will set the scene for the panel discussion by explaining the successes of the silvopasture enterprises at Elston Farm, where using trees has improved production, particularly with the beef herd.

Business

Innovative forms of finance

Phil Jarvis, land and estates director, Albanwise Farming

Albanwise Farming produces cereals, pulses, oilseed rape and sugar beet from its farmed land in Norfolk and Yorkshire.

Its natural capital assets are managed through a separate division called Albanwise Environment, which aims to maximise the potential of the estate’s environmental features.

The estate was an early adopter of stewardship schemes including Sustainable Farming Incentive options, explains Phil.

He plans to open the discussion session by urging farmers and policymakers to work together to understand how funding schemes can better support the environment and food production.

Innovation hub

In partnership with UK Agri-Tech Centre, the Innovation Hub will draw together farmers, specialists and researchers to discuss innovative ideas and look at how they could be turned into real-life solutions.

The Hub is a meeting space where you can grab a coffee and croissant at the start of the day and meet field experts.

The experts will be there throughout the event to offer practical advice and key skills on the latest ideas and technological research.

It will also showcase the latest innovations and Agri-tech resources that are shaping the future of agriculture for your farm business.

Expert panellist insight

The event also boasts a hugely experienced set of panellists who will add to the speaker’s outlook and answer questions from the audiences.

Renewables

Jonathan Scurlock, NFU chief adviser on renewables and climate change

Jonathan is keen to explain there is good reason to be upbeat about on-farm renewable energy.

The biomethane sector is getting a big wake-up call because gas networks are increasingly interested in investing in it.

Previously, an influential renewable energy taskforce favoured hydrogen but the safety issues with the gas mean methane is now of greater interest to the supply sector.

Methane is the same gas as used in mains systems now, but in a low-carbon form, so there is no need for expensive network upgrades.

Meanwhile aviation is also looking in farming’s direction for biofuel because there is a finite supply of cooking oil – the currently favoured base for renewable supplies.

Some optimism could be directed towards wind power, with the government suggesting changes may be made to planning laws, possibly through permitted development rights.

A change could enable farms to site bigger turbines without planning wrangles.

Succession

Richard Taylor, Strutt & Parker director, north of England

Richard will offer advice on the possible forms of business structure to be considered when deciding on how succession plans are drawn up, and the potential pitfalls.

In most cases succession has related to the timing and degree of responsibility given to, or required from, the next generation in the management of the business, says Richard.

With the government’s proposed alteration to business property relief and agricultural property relief, the focus is not just on the perceived capability of the next generation who will take over the running of the farm.

Instead the focus is more on how soon an equity share should be considered if inheritance tax costs are to be reduced on the death of older members of the business, he explains.