Daisy Wood: Farmers must remain centre stage at Groundswell

While some are gearing up to queue for overpriced falafel at a festival, farmers are readying themselves for the busiest time of the year.

But it doesn’t have to be all work and no play. We have our own kind of headline act: Groundswell.

The UK’s regen agriculture festival is the Glastonbury of the agri-calendar – buzzy, forward-thinking, and packed with discussions that aim to reshape the way we farm.

See also: Daisy Wood – seeing how others farm is a great investment

About the author

Daisy Wood

Daisy Wood grew up in a farming family in Gloucestershire and studied an Environmental Science degree at the University of Exeter. After a spell with Leaf (Linking Environment and Farming), she now works as a knowledge transfer manager for Waitrose and the University of Reading. Her work focuses on applying scientific knowledge in regenerative agriculture.

Read more articles by Daisy Wood

But despite the name, it hasn’t always felt like farmers are the ones making the noise.

The two-day event attracts nearly 10,000 people for talks, demos and field trials.

You’ll find everyone from Defra officials and AHDB advisers to seed companies, ag-tech startups, food retailers, charities and eco-minded investors.

There’s genuine energy and a sense that things are shifting for the better. Yet it has often felt light on actual farmers.

Without boots on the ground, there’s a risk these ideas aren’t always rooted in the day-to-day reality of growing food.

But last year felt different. Farmer attendance was up, and so was farmer input. Conversations felt grounded.

Practical questions were flying, peer-to-peer learning was happening, and the vibe was less theory, more field.

A standout moment for me was an AHDB session on seed-bed weed management discussing how to work with weeds, not against them.

It looked at building a strategy using every tool in the box, including mechanical options, and acknowledged the increasingly tricky job of weed control as the choice of sprays dries up.

It was technical, honest and useful.

It reminded me of what Groundswell can be: a place for fresh thinking and practical action. A platform where all parts of the farming world meet.

But for that to work, farmers need to show up – not just to listen, but to lead. 

So do come this year. Bring your boots, your experience, your questions and curiosity.

Because the farming voice shouldn’t be a side note, it should be centre stage.

And if we’re not in the room when the big decisions are being made, we risk being the last to hear the encore.