Groundswell 2025: Closing the loop at a festival of firsts
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This was my first time at Groundswell; a change from the more traditional farming events in the UK agricultural calendar.
It's a scary realisation, but it's been ten years since I began training to become an agronomist and farming consultant. This week, however, has reminded me of the dramatic progress the farming industry has made in such a short time.
Back in 2015, sustainability felt like a concept largely ungrappled with on a large scale within farming — at least from my perspective on the ground. The Entry Level Stewardship scheme had just transitioned to an expanded Countryside Stewardship (CS) program under the Rural Development Programme for England (2014–2020), with the first new CS agreements beginning in January 2016. At that time, funding for environmental goods and services came predominantly, if not solely, from the government (and the EU), and the private sector's role was still in its infancy.
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Over the past decade, not only has the UK sidestepped out of the Common Agricultural Policy, but also the principles of regenerative agriculture, and other more sustainable farming practices, have begun to enter the mainstream. The lessons learned from pioneers are now being adopted across an increasing number of hectares - and increasing every year.
In 2016, I had the opportunity to work on an organic goat dairy farm in the Gers region of southern France. It was one of the best things I could have done before starting my career in what was then a largely conventional farming role as an agronomist in the East of England. My time on that farm fascinated me and helped to shape my view of what good farming looks like; I witnessed a more ecological approach to farming, characterised by genuine care and consideration for the land and livestock, working with nature rather than against it.
Interestingly, some evenings, a distant "boom boom" of music would drift up the valley from the basement of the nearby farm. That neighbour was Andy Cato of Groove Armada, later the co-founder of Wildfarmed, one of the pioneers of regenerative practices in the region, and recipient of the 2020 Laureate Nationale for innovations in agroecology for that work. Fast forward ten years, and I found myself dancing to his music with thousands of others from across the agricultural and sustainability sectors (in 2019, Groundswell welcomed 1,900 attendees, this year it was more than 10,000), enjoying his DJing together under one tent roof. I've never experienced an agricultural event like Groundswell — the smiles and shared hope of such a diverse group of people, all united by a common goal to leave agriculture in a better situation than we found it. That, I think, is pretty damn cool.
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In a world of constant change, risk, and uncertainty, it feels good to be part of a group genuinely trying to do the right thing. Even better, they're willing to collaborate and share learnings, accelerating change far faster than if we tried to go it alone.
This theme of scalable collaboration was my overarching take-home message from the event. For a long time, the agri-supply chain has waited to see what downstream players needed in terms of decarbonisation and sustainability strategies, often held back by an ever-evolving policy and regulatory landscape.
It feels like the winds have now shifted. Farmers are empowered to work together, and with companies they choose, to quantify the impact of their transition towards more sustainable practices. Robust methodologies, credible calculation approaches, models, measurements, technologies, frameworks, and third-party verification are bringing the necessary credibility. This is enabling those dependent on farms for both food and ecosystem services (which, yes, happens to be all of us on earth) to scale these efforts and, more importantly, ensures that those farmers making the investment into future-proofing our agricultural landscapes are getting compensated for doing the right thing.
It was a pleasure to have attended Groundswell with my colleagues, clients, friends, and university alumni – a brilliant reminder of why I'm so proud to work in the agriculture sector, merging boundaries across tech, innovation and farming, for the future of our planet. I can't wait to be there again next year.
After obtaining his BSc in Agriculture with Agronomy at Newcastle University, Tom began his career in agronomy at Hutchinsons, advising farmers across the UK. He moved on to Strutt & Parker, followed by Trinity AgTech, where he managed and advised on the farming interests of clients, supporting national teams with technical advice relating to agronomy and farm technology, and providing agricultural domain expertise to product & development teams. Tom's wealth of experience led him to Agreena, emigrating to Denmark to join the team as Programme Advisory Lead. After two years leading this function, Tom was promoted to Commercial Delivery Lead, combining his agricultural, technical and sales expertise to take Agreena's supply chain and Scope 3 decarbonisation offerings to the market.
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