The Fenland SOIL Farmer’s Dialogue’s core aim is to ‘To keep the Fenlands in production, ensuring continued food security for the United Kingdom while maintaining acceptable greenhouse gas emissions.’
Acting as both a facilitator and a forum, the workstream creates a trusted space for open discussion, shared learning, and collective problem‑solving. Through this dialogue, farmers can directly influence research, trials, and national policy.
Farmers involved can contribute to:
1. Practical, Evidence‑Led Land Management: Guiding and interpreting on‑farm trials so that research on Fenland soils are evidence based, measurable and practical for day‑to‑day farming.
2. Climate, Peat and Productivity: Supporting the development of a trusted greenhouse gas evidence base and exploring land‑use options that balance productive agriculture with emissions reduction on peat soils.
3. Nature‑Based Systems: Shaping opportunities for nature‑based solutions that enhance biodiversity, water management, and ecosystem services in collaboration with farming.
4. A Strong, Collective Farmer Voice: Strengthening an evidence‑based farmer voice that engages meaningfully with researchers, policymakers, and funders, ensuring Fenland‑specific challenges are understood and acted upon.
5. Collaboration and Knowledge Exchange: Building a culture of trust, openness, and collaboration across farmers, advisors, and partners to accelerate shared learning.
6. Influence on National Strategy: Providing grounded, real‑world insight directly to the Lowland Agricultural Peat Task Force (LAPTF), ensuring national decisions reflect the realities of farming in the Fens.
To fill the existing gaps in the data and literature to inform policy on emissions going forward by improving estimates of emissions.
To facilitate the learning of sustainable farming practices between Fenland Farmers.
To allow farmers the opportunity to influence policy in dialogue with government.
To work on community outreach to educate the non-farming population of the Fens about our industry and to help change negative perceptions.
To create updated maps on the extent and condition of Fenland soils.
To open a dialogue with those responsible for managing our water, both in terms of supply and drainage.
To create space for nature within farming systems in the Fens.
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