Optimal Carrying Capacity - In Conversation With Kate Still
This third episode of the new Agricology podcast season features Kate Still from the Soil Association’s Farming and Land Use team. Kate comes to the conversation with a whole farm approach in mind and the need to balance what farms can support to create healthy animals, healthy farmers and a healthy farm bank balance with as few inputs as possible. Her quiet wisdom comes across as she considers strategies and approaches to optimising rather than maximising livestock production. We discuss the highlights from some of the Innovative Farmers field labs Kate’s been involved with, which have looked into strategies including the use of herbal leys, winter forage options and transitioning to new grazing systems. We speak about the challenges of getting new grazing strategies ‘right,’ having the infrastructure to make rotational grazing happen, and training staff to be able to do this. Show notes: Read about the field labs Kate mentions, the University of Reading diverse forage programme, and the work of New Zealand Advisor John King here: https://tinyurl.com/5dr8kv75