The Event

On the 8^th March (International Women’s Day) a broad range of representatives and members of the local community, including small holders and farmers, gathered in Buchlyvie Village Hall to watch the film Six Inches of Soil. This is a documentary film made in the UK, following the journey of three regenerative farmers, each doing things quite differently, but all guided by the desire to tend to the soil, promote healthy ecosystems, and run a successful and resilient business.  The film shows the ups and downs, the challenges and successes and the barriers and opportunities faced by the three farming families.

Afterwards we heard from Kate Sankey, a local organic and regenerative farmer with a small herd of Shetland cattle, and Cath Preston, a local environmental consultant and Trustee of Carse of Stirling Partnership and Treelink Stirling. Jenny MacGillivray introduced the event and facilitated the discussion. As Farm Walk Facilitator, Jenny also introduced the new Upper Forth Farmer and Land Manager Network which aims to bring farmers and land managers together to meet, collaborate and discuss issues concerning them. The Network is able to organise social events, farm walks and webinars relating to topics of interest to farmers and land managers.

An excellent discussion followed and it was clear that everyone there was able to relate a lot of the themes seen in the film to their local context, and were very interested to find out about ways to support good farming practices locally.

Some of the standout moments in the film for the audience were:

• The farmers in the film were able to achieve a better work-life balance – the practices they were adopting were labour-saving, as well as better for the animals, soil, and environment
• Seasonality of market gardening and low incomes can make it very hard to survive
• The farmers in the film who were experimenting with new techniques were new entrants or young farmers
• The unpredictability of market prices for produce made it hard for farmers to try out new approaches and crops
• Importance of customer demand for organic/regenerative produce

A collection of books relating to food, farming and climate change was available to borrow. A nourishing table of food was provided by the Coffee Kiln, Buchlyvie.

Our thanks go to everyone who attended!