Paul Baker

Paul is on a mixed 340 acres farm, mainly tenanted, near Cullompton. He has a mix of conventional arable, organic arable, Heifer rearing and duck rearing.

Over the last 10 years, the farming system has been constantly evolving with the aim to be more resilient and profitable for the future. They have focused on being more precise and efficient with inputs and exploring biological options.

This year all crops have been planted as mixed crops or with a companion to increase diversity. Diverse cover crops open the door to livestock integration.
Experimentation is at the heart of the farming system, which means that Paul is always looking forward to the next challenge.

Kits Campbell

Kits is a PhD researcher at the University of Nottingham, focusing on how different land-management systems can support long-term soil health. Her research examines how systems under reduced tillage, conventional tillage and herbal leys affect soil structure and the communities of microbes that drive key soil functions. By combining field studies with detailed laboratory analysis, she aims to understand which management approaches best support resilient, productive soils. Her work is designed to start conversations with farmers based on clear, evidence-based insights that can support profitable and sustainable decisions on the ground.

John Cherry

John Cherry farms one of the Groundswell host farms, a mixed farm of 1250 acres, with a single suckler beef herd and followers mob-grazing permanent pasture and herbal leys and experimental no-till establishment on the rest of the arable land. He is currently helping set up Groundschool, the educational wing of Groundswell, at Irongate Farm on the other side of the village.

Professor Peter Falloon

Pete is the Met Office’s Science Lead – Food Security, and leads the Met Office’s Climate Service for Defra on Food, Farming and Natural Environment. He has nearly 30 years of experience in the impacts of climate and land use change on food systems and the environment. Pete has been at the Met Office Hadley Centre since 2004 and led the Climate Impacts Modelling team from 2009-2019. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and of the Royal Meteorological Society, a contributing author to the UK’s Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) and was a member of the Global Food Security Programme’s Programme Coordination Group board from 2013-2023. Pete is also Professor of Climate Resilient Food Systems at the University of Bristol, Sustainability Director for Food Drink Devon CIC and an Honorary Associate at the Walker Institute

Tamara Giltsoff

Tamara is a co-founder of the Place Finance Lab, a European centre for place-based financial innovation dedicated to the transformation of agri-food and fibre economies, incubated at Climate KIC. She is also a Strategy Associate at Soil Association Exchange where she recently led the ‘Banking for Change’ farmer report, supported by British Business Bank. The work has resulted in three UK banks launching flexible transition finance products, in 2025, to support the transition to regenerative systems.

Tamara previously served as Senior Associate at The Good Economy, leading work with institutional investors on place-based impact investing and natural capital.

Annie Landless

Annie farms at Ampney Brook Farm in the Cotswolds, a 600-acre mixed regenerative organic farm producing heritage & population grains, Pasture for Life beef, woodland pork, and no-dig vegetables. She sees the farm as a whole ecosystem; working with nature (and cows) to build soil biology and grow resilient crops. She is experimenting with different crop rotations, genetically diverse bread making wheats and intercropping with beans.

Tom Martin

Tom Martin – Better known online as Farmer Tom – is a sixth-generation arable and regenerative farmer from Cambridgeshire, growing combinable crops and grazing sheep on diverse leys. A former business consultant and film executive with Universal Pictures, he returned to the family farm and now blends practical farming with a knack for storytelling and communication. Tom founded the award-winning Farmer Time initiative, which pairs farmers with school classes for regular video calls, connecting tens of thousands of children with food, farming and the countryside in the UK and overseas.
As “Farmer Tom” on social media and a regular speaker at events such as Groundswell and Food on the Edge, he champions regenerative practices, soil health and honest
conversations about the future of profitable, nature-friendly farming – themes at the heart of Rootstock

Will Mayor

Professor Jim McAdam

Dr Lindsay Whistance

With a background in farming, Lindsay has a PhD in dairy cow behaviour and welfare and now works with all major species of land-based livestock. Key focus areas include behaviour, welfare, human-animal-relationships, and ecologically resilient systems which promote ‘a life worth living’. Current research includes investigating the role of trees in microclimate buffering (e.g., shade and shelter), body maintenance benefits and the nutritional/medicinal opportunities from browse as well as methods of processing tree fodder.

Session Chairs

Martin Lines
NFFN Chief Executive

Dr Jennifer Rowntree,
University of Plymouth

Prof Andy Neal
The Centre for Dynamic Soils

Prof Matt Lobley,
University of Exeter

Other Speakers

Welcome:
Henry Studholme
DCAA

Wrap Up:
Prof Michael Winter
University of Exeter

Martin Lines

Prof Matt Lobley

Matt is Professor of Rural Resource Management and Director of the Centre for Rural Policy Research. He is a rural social scientist drawing primarily on the disciplines of Geography and Rural Sociology and has spent the last 35 years conducting research for a variety of government, private sector  and third sector clients. Matt’s research broadly addresses three key themes: i) agri-environmental management; ii) historical and contemporary agricultural change and restructuring; iii) the farm as a family business (including the well-being and mental health of farm family members)

Dr Jennifer Rowntree

Jennifer is an Associate Professor of Ecological Genetics at the University of Plymouth and Deputy Director of the newly established Centre of Research excellence in Intelligent and Sustainable Productive Systems (CRISPS), which aims to address the challenge of sustainably feeding a global population. For her research, she is currently working to develop integrated tools to assess soil health and determine soil biota and function in productive systems.