- Grosvenor Farms Arable Manager Charlie Steer NSch 2019 has published his Nuffield Farming report titled ‘The Circular Farm’, sponsored by the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust
Charlie travelled to Canada, the USA, Ireland, Denmark and around the UK, as well as meeting virtually with experts in the Netherlands, Finland, Norway and Australia. He explored the scope of circular farming systems, focusing on how this could eliminate waste and losses as well as reduce inputs.
“The foundation of the Circular Economy is the belief that there is no such thing as waste – this is represented by the Three ‘R’s’ of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle,” said Charlie. “This concept could become a vital part of modern food production helping to transform our systems of farming and food production to eliminate waste, better circulate resources and regenerate the natural world.”
Charlie identified that soil is central to the transition to circular farming and suggested that any circular farming system should focus on building functioning and well-managed soil. He also explored some examples of innovative projects in Canada, the USA, Ireland, and Holland which are demonstrating methods of circular farming.
He encourages farmers to adopt a designed systems approach by thinking circular, embracing complexity and diversity, and being open to opportunities and collaboration: “Knowledge exchange is an important part of building success for these multifaceted interconnected systems.”
Charlie also called for policy makers to emulate the Dutch policy of adopting a zero-waste strategy in conjunction with climate change adaption and mitigation. To achieve this, he suggests supporting the farming community in a holistic way to adopt Circular Farming through financial support and the removal of barriers to innovative solutions.
Charlie Yorke, Farming Propositions Manager at NFU Mutual, commented: “The NFU Mutual Trust is very proud have supported Charlie’s Nuffield Scholarship. Sharing knowledge is so important for our industry, and it’s great to see Charlie’s report has been published to help raise awareness and understanding of circular farming.”
The report is now available on the Nuffield Farming website at www.nuffieldscholar.org/reports or can be downloaded directly at .
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