This year’s Oxford Real Farming Conference offered a powerful space to reflect on one of the most fundamental elements of biodynamic farming: water. From the perspective of the Biodynamic Land Trust, our session Water Is Life brought together farmers and local practitioners to explore how farming systems shape water quality, flow and vitality across landscapes.
A central theme was the importance of slowing the flow of water. With 94% of UK farms still using chemical inputs, the consequences for soil structure, water retention and pollution are stark. Areas of conversation ranged from the role of dung beetles, biodynamic preparations and fungal networks in creating porous, living soils, to the urgent need to build soil organic matter so landscapes can hold water during floods and release it slowly in times of drought.
We spoke about experience as a form of knowledge in its own right. Farmers’ lived experience of moving through their farmed landscapes as an observational instrument that can identify and connect with the energetic and qualitative aspects of water often missed by scientific measurement alone. Yet measurement still matters. Water is natural capital, and initiatives such as the Global Farm Metric – a framework developed by the Sustainable Food Trust is helping to make visible the negative impacts of farming in the mismanagement from manure, the overuse and misuse of pesticides, nitrates and phosphates and the wider monetary costs these aspects of pollution have on degrading our ecosystems. Farming should be rewarded for delivering clean water, biodiversity enhancement and habitat restoration and more.
The session also highlighted the importance of farming clusters. Collaborative groups, such as the Pevensey Farmers Group working within an SSSI, show how collective action with water companies can improve water quality, restore wetlands and support wildlife. Lapwing was an example of a bird species whose decline is closely linked to drought and habitat loss. Without clusters, farmers are too often isolated, unable to share learning or influence outcomes at landscape scale. We also touched on the need to rethink legal frameworks for natural resources, including the idea of recognising water as a legal person.
Alongside these reflections, we also say goodbye to Amber Lawes-Johnson, our Communications and Development Officer, who has been with the Land Trust for four years while completing her PhD. Amber has been a much appreciated and invaluable part of the team, and we are excited to see her move into her new role as Senior Social Science Consultant at ADAS.
Words from Amber:
“Working with the land trust has opened my eyes to the structural challenges that need support in local food systems. I’ve had the pleasure of working with many inspiring individuals who have shown me that incremental change is possible through collaboration, shared learning and patience – I carry those lessons with me into my next chapter.”
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