On Your Farm

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On Your Farm: New ventures at Goldsland Farm

New ventures at Goldsland Farm

BBC Radio 4 - On Your Farm, New ventures at Goldsland Farm

Verity Sharp meets Abi Reader, Deputy President of NFU Cymru.

Verity Sharp visits the Deputy President of NFU Cymru, Abi Reader, at her farm near Cardiff.

Abi Reader is a well-known figure in the farming community, frequently in the media especially in her current role as Deputy President of NFU Cymru.  She's also a third generation farmer at Goldsland Farm in Glamorganshire, where daily life goes on apace with a 200-strong dairy herd, sheep, beef cattle and 120 acres of arable land. Like many however, Abi’s current focus is on making the farm future-proof. Emissions and inputs need reducing and new markets need to be explored. To that end, Abi is getting into agroforestry – growing trees and intercropping them with a plant species new to UK farms, called sida. Sida is perennial, produces high protein forage that could potentially replace soya and has woody stems which are good for turning into nitrogen-fixing biochar. Alongside these pioneering endeavours, Abi also finds herself erecting a polytunnel in an attempt to start growing vegetables for her local community – something she’s not entirely sure she’s going to enjoy! She's also a fierce advocate for the upcoming generation, and on the day Verity Sharp visits Goldsland Farm, she meets the young farmers Abi has currently taken under her wing.

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