The right advice at the right time

Farmers are masters of the 'juggle,' and Sophie Gregory is certainly no stranger to that. Running a thriving organic dairy in Dorset, she manages between 360-400 cows alongside arable and beef, all while starting a Nuffield this year and contributing to the Arla sustainability board. To say she's busy is an understatement.

Sophie's energy is contagious. She and her partner are first-generation farmers, a stark contrast to her previous life as an accountant. However, her love for numbers persists, and Home Farm is no stranger to measurement and baselining. Through Sophie's work on the Arla sustainability board, the farm already boasts six years of carbon profiling.

When Arla approached her to trial Exchange on the farm, Sophie was eager. "I need to make sure we are sustainable on the bottom line, but also having a positive impact on the environment and the community we farm in. The fact that Exchange brings together a broad range of metrics so that you can start to see how they interplay was crucial."

Holistic farm data measurement

Exchange spent a day at Home Farm, with a technician collecting ground-truthed data like soil cores, hedgerow assessments, and bird surveys. Will Campbell-Clause, an Exchange Farming Advisor, also visited the farm to truly understand its operations. He sat down with Sophie to run through some Exchange questionnaires and carbon calculator inputs. These various data sets, combined with remote sensing data, generate an online dashboard showing how each of the six indicators scores.

Covering animal welfare, biodiversity, carbon, soil health, and social aspects, there were areas that the farm hadn't explored before. "Birds were a nice surprise," says Sophie. "We knew we had good variety on the farm but hadn't given it enough time to delve into the details of what we have. My partner and I both have the Merlin app, but we haven't spent enough time out there."

Sophie continues, "As a tenant, that was really quantifiable data that I could give to my landlord. They could see that we were looking after the environment the farm is in because it is providing a habitat for this diversity."

Bespoke farming advice

The quality of farming advice was a game-changer for Sophie. "Our advisor. Will was incredibly engaging and brings an out-of-the-box view to the farm. While he knows farming inside out, he comes from a different background and really understands the importance of good food. He delved into the details of our payments and whether we are maximizing them."

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Getting the farm's carbon footprint down is a long-term objective. Will and Sophie discussed how agroforestry could be trialled on some sections of the farm, likely funded within SFI in 2024.

Will comments “This approach brings multiple benefits, including reducing the farm's carbon balance over time and providing potential second income streams from land while still being able to graze within a silvo-pastoral scheme. The positive impact on the dairy herd, including shade and protection once the trees are large enough, as well as foraging opportunities, is substantial. There will also be benefits to soil organic matter through leaf fall and nutrient cycling, with more significant carbon sequestration in the trees”

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