Regenerative agriculture trailblazer and British musician Andy Cato will be the headline act at New Zealand’s biggest arable farming event this month.
Keynote speaker at the Foundation for Arable Research’s CROPS 2022, Cato is more widely known as one half of the electronic music duo Groove Armada.
More than 500 farmers and industry representatives are expected at FAR’s Chertsey arable research site, near Ashburton, for the annual arable farming event on November 23.
Cato, who has been a mixed arable and livestock farmer for the past 15 years, has gained a new following for his work trying to find a more restorative and sustainable way of growing food.
In recent years he co-founded Wildfarmed, a farming philosophy that prioritises soil health and biodiversity to grow crops without the use of herbicides, fungicides and pesticides.
He is the first Englishman to be awarded the Chevalier de L’Ordre du Mérite Agricole – the French equivalent of a knighthood for services to agriculture.
Cato’s original 100-hectare farm in Gascony, where his farming journey began, was recognised as the most innovative farm in France when awarded the prestigious Lauréat National de l›Agro-Ecologie 2020.
Back on British soil after being awarded a 20-year tenure of a 295ha farm in Oxfordshire last year, Cato is on a mission to take what he’s learned and through the Wildfarmed project help facilitate change for farmers by creating a consumer led market for food grown in regenerating landscapes.
Wildfarmed produces stoneground flour made from a diverse variety of wheat grown alongside a variety of plants, grasses, and legumes.
Working with 42 farmers and more than 250 bakers and restaurants the company is creating a market for grains based on the quality of the crops and soil, while influencing retailers, bakers, chefs and eaters to see value in choosing local grains produced this way.
United Kingdom retail chain Marks & Spencer recently launched a range of Wildfarmed loaves into 500 of its stores.
In his keynote address at CROPS 2022, Cato will be sharing his farming story and insights from the UK grains sector.
In NZ, cropping farmers supply the grains and seeds for much of NZ’s bread, pasta, beer and oils as well as providing stock feed to the $20 billion livestock industry.
Since its inception in 2002, CROPS has become a must-do on the agriculture calendar for growers, providing an opportunity for industry members to enjoy a day away from the farm, taking the time to make important social connections as well as looking to the future of their business.
At CROPS 2022, FAR researchers will speak on topical arable issues including tools for nitrogen management decisions, grass weed management in crops, herbicide resistant seed lines and sensor technology.
Each speaker will present twice throughout the course of the day so that participants can attend as many talks as possible.
Onsite, growers can check out the latest in machinery, cultivar, agrichemical and other product exhibits and demonstrations.
Other static exhibits include drone fly pits near the clover trial site, a method of breeding alternative crop pollinators to bees.
At the FAR tent, farmers can get advice on ProductionWise and E-Check.
For more information on the event go to: far.org.nz
