Transforming Tomorrow The Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business

Paul and Jan have finally made it to the farm!


Continuing the series with Lake District Farmers, we are on Cartmel Fell, in South Cumbria, to meet Fiona Daley, who along with her husband Dave owns and runs Hodge Hill Farm.


Fiona and Dave have a small herd of Belted Galloway cows and are members of the LDF network. LDF Head of Purpose and Sustainability Phil Scott joins everyone in the barn – where a newborn calf came into the world only a day earlier – to discuss key sustainability issues.


They discuss why Dave and Fiona returned to farming seven years ago with a determination to do things differently; the significance of regenerative farming, wildlife and nature – and of sharing best practices across farms; good genetics and health in breeding; the process of maturing cows slowly for market; and the wince-inducing difference between a bull and a steer.


And we even get to talk farming numbers, as it turns out Fiona is a qualified accountant.

Dr Laura Giles, the Knowledge Transfer Partnership Associate working with Lake District Farmers, comes in to join Jan and Paul to discuss her work – and tell us what her role means and how it operates.


Laura is working with LDF to understand how livestock farmers in the Lake District can work towards Net Zero meat production (the project is not making wild claims of Net Zero meat). This takes in soil science, farming practice, and even accounting – to Jan’s delight.


Discover the unique challenges facing farmers in the Lake District relating to the landscape and soil; find out how farmers are cooperating with Laura’s research; and learn the differences between Net Zero, Carbon Neutral and Carbon Positive.


Watch a film showcasing some of the work taking place on the KTP here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZmmOGboCbE

Jan and Paul are back at the Lake District Farmers’ base in Ulverston to talk with Phil Scott, Head of Purpose and Sustainability at LDF, about the organisation’s sustainability ambitions.


As seagulls and buzzards circle, they look at how LDF think about sustainability in their own operations, the operations of the farmers in their networks, and the overall impact of their work. Phil explains it is more than carbon offsetting, but rather the efforts reflect engagement with their communities, proper discussions with farmers around their practices and biodiversity, and a real understanding of the natural environment of the Lake District.


Plus what are the general attitudes in farming towards sustainability, and we look at the key issue of how eating meat can fit into a sustainable lifestyle.

Professors Jess Davies and John Quinton, from Lancaster Environment Centre, bring their expertise in soil into the studio. 


From the many different types of soil to its carbon storage properties – there is more carbon in soil than in the Earth’s atmosphere – and how human activity has changed soils over the centuries, there is much to explore. 


With a focus the work being done with the Lake District Farmers, Jess and John tell Jan and Paul, what effects do farmers have on their land – and how they have affected it over the past centuries – and what might happen in the future. Using science, they can advise on the best path forward. 


Plus, a bonus mention of Pliny the Elder! 


Find out more about the Sustainable Soils research group in Lancaster Environment Centre here: https://wp.lancs.ac.uk/sustainable-soils/ 

We start our new series of episodes looking at meat farming in the UK’s Lake District by meeting the Lake District Farmers organisation. 


Jan and Paul travel to Ulverston – or Oolverston as Jan would have it – to meet LDF Head of Purpose and Sustainability Phil Scott and find all about the organisation and its work with farmers across the county of Cumbria. 


LDF work with a network of around 50 farmers who have native breed cattle, sheep, and pigs to process and selling high-quality meat. But how do they work together? How does this network benefit the farmers involved? Why do top chefs in London want their products? Why are they working with Lancaster University – and how? And what are the challenges facing the Lake District’s fell farmers? 

Over the next six weeks on Transforming Tomorrow, we will be taking a deep dive into the Towards Net Zero Meat Production project.


This is a collaboration between Lancaster University - including the Pentland Centre - and the Lake District Farmers organisation.


Jan and Paul will be speaking to experts in Lancaster, the Lake District Farmers, and farmers in Cumbria (on their farms) to find our more.


Take a sneak peek here.