Meet Ben Adams, one of our Journey to Net Zero competition winners
We hear from Ben Adams, one of the School of Sustainable Food and Farming Journey to Net Zero competition winners, about how he plans to use his funding to research intercropping on his Oxfordshire farm and how Sandy will allow him to accurately measure changes to his natural capital, enabling him to understand which combinations of crops allow for the greatest efficiency and profit.
Trinity AgTech is proud to sponsor the School of Sustainable Food and Farming’s Journey to Net Zero competition. The competition seeks to support farmers as they research systems or processes which can positively affect the way that farmers produce food while protecting the environment.
We speak to Ben Adams, one of the four winners who are using Trinity AgTech’s Sandy to measure the effect of their projects on their farm’s natural capital.
Intercropping to minimise inputs and maximise outputs
Farmer Ben Adams cultivates 380ha of combinable arable crops, with a diversification business processing and selling firewood during the winter.
A champion of innovation and maximising production through field trials, his Journey to Net Zero project focusses on finding the value of intercropping at a larger scale on his farm. Already an avid fan of field trials, Ben hopes to expand the small area of land currently set aside on his farm to 16ha through the funding provided. The three-year project will trial a range of crop combinations to see how best to maximise yield and quality while monitoring any issues with pests, weeds or disease.
Using Sandy to evaluate the success of these trials will allow Ben to view his farm through a new lens by speeding up the learning process of finding what works best for his land.
Building natural capital while reducing emissions
Ben’s interest in regenerative farming was sparked as a way to protect his margins in the face of rising prices and reduce his reliance on artificial inputs, like imported fertiliser. All of Ben’s proposed crop mixtures therefore combine legumes, such as beans and peas with cash crops, such as barley, oats and oilseed rape to fix nitrogen.
He hopes that the intercropping will lead to greater diversity both within the crop itself and on the farm as a whole. Moving away from monoculture will increase the soil quality, while also providing more resources for pollinators which can in turn attract other wildlife like birds.
How do you plan to use Trinity AgTech’s Sandy?
Through his work as a farm consultant, Ben is used to evaluating what statistics he has had available, however, he is aware of the limitations of a spreadsheet to provide detailed analytics. Despite not having used any dedicated natural capital software before, Ben is hoping that Sandy will provide greater insight and analysis into his trials while quantifying any unexpected benefits for his farm’s natural capital. With an ISO-accredited super standard, Sandy uses the most credible analytics and reporting data on the market.
“I’m hoping that the intercropping will lead to increased biodiversity within the two fields, particularly pollinators and farmland birds. Sandy should provide me with an evolving picture of how the changes I’m making are impacting the biodiversity on the entire farm in real-time,” he says.
Although he has an outline view of his planned crop rotations, Ben is looking forward to using Sandy’s unique scenario planning software to map out the most effective crop mix for his farm. Unlike first generation tools, Sandy’s artificial intelligence will enable Ben to test and refine different management scenarios to focus on the areas that will ultimately boost profitability and sustainability across his business.
We are excited to see how Ben’s project develops and thanks to Sandy’s integration with third-party software, the onboarding process for Ben should be quick and easy with minimal data entry.
“I’m hoping that Sandy will give me more insight and the potential for more analysis – along with the ability to quantify any unexpected benefits that might pop up. Through the cover crop and the trials, the increase in biodiversity should be massive, given that everything will be flowering at the same time. It will be interesting to calculate the amount of carbon sequestered over the course of the trial too,” he says.
Follow the winner’s journeys
Trinity Global Farm Pioneers is the knowledge exchange provider for the competition, and we have created a dedicated public Caravel on the platform to follow the winners’ journeys.
To join the Caravel, users will first need to register for a free account with Global Farm Pioneers. From here you will be able to interact with the winners, ask them questions, and stay updated as they share their on-farm experiences.