Following on from the huge success of BioFarm in 2019 and 2018, National Organic Training Skillnet (NOTS) will deliver an event jam-packed with some of the most exciting speakers from the worlds of regenerative, biological and organic agriculture.
“BioFarm 2020” – Ireland’s biological farming conference – has been confirmed as an online/interactive event in light of current Covid-19 restrictions. The conference will take place across five days, from Monday to Friday, November 9-13, from 3:00pm to 8:00pm.
International speakers will include Allan Savory; Gabe Brown; Greg Judy; Dr. Christine Jones; John Kempf; Chris Trump; Timothy Njakasi; Hamish Bielski; Richard Perkins; Professor James White; Bruno Follador; Nicole Masters and more.
Irish-based speakers include Jim Cronin; Tom Fouhy; Dr. Fiona Brennan; Klaus Laitenberger; Dr. Jim McAdam; the DANÚ Group; BASE Group and more.
More than 20 high-profile speakers have been confirmed for BioFarm 2020 from November 9-13
Interactive livestreaming and Q&A sessions
Each day, there will be a blend of live-streamed presentations from experts, roundtable in-person panel discussions, and interactive question and answer (Q&A) sessions. There will be multiple Q&A opportunities for conference “delegates” to converse with the speakers via the interactive livestreaming system that will be in place.
Conference organiser Sean McGloin is particularly excited about the high-quality lineup of speakers.
“The Covid situation has provided us with an opportunity to attract a ‘who’s-who’ of biological and regenerative agriculture. Even though the overseas speakers will be beaming in from around the world, we will have at least 15 minutes at the end of each presentation where delegates can ask questions,” said the NOTS network manager.
We will spread out the speakers as best we can across the five days, and we will cover as many aspects of biological, regenerative and organic farming as we can.
“We see these practices as the future of farming in Ireland, and hopefully we can inspire farmers in Ireland to get on board with these methods. Everything is on the table in agriculture at the moment, especially from a climate change mitigation standpoint. The experts, academics, and farmers at BioFarm 2020 are at the forefront of this thinking.”
Dr. Christine Jones speaking at last year’s BioFarm. She is back to speak (interactively) at BioFarm 2020
Speaker highlights
Dr. Christine Jones had even the most doubtful delegates rummaging for a pen to take notes last year, with her clear and straight-talking message that diversity is the key to everything when it comes to soil health, building soil carbon and ecology as a whole. Her depth of knowledge and accessible delivery made her a focal point last year, and a must-see this year.
Greg Judy is a mob-grazing guru, managing predominantly cattle and sheep over 1,600 areas of pasture and woodland pasture in Missouri, US. Working from holistic management principles, his methods are relevant and adaptive to our climate. His wealth of knowledge and experience around adaptive grazing management is rarely matched.
In the world of no-till arable cropping, Gabe Brown needs no introduction: His success, innovation and his role in progressing the regenerative movement in the US and worldwide is legendary.
Allan Savory is the visionary behind holistic management, and his work laid the foundation of much work the animal-based regenerative thinking.
Nicole Masters is a social ecologist and a systems thinker. She is also the wonderful author of For the Love of Soil. Hailing from New Zealand, her deep understanding of soil and practical approaches to improve it are inspiring.
From Ridgedale Permaculture farm, Richard Perkins’ influence has spread worldwide. His candid YouTube channel chronicles him taking permaculture and holistic management ideas from the conceptual into the practical working of his very profitable small farm and no-dig market garden in the harsh Swedish growing environment.
Dr. James White’s cutting-edge research studies how plants cultivate endophytic microbes so they can extract nutrients from them. He is exploring some of the little-understood pathways of how soil, plants and microbes interact.
With Jim Cronin’s intimate knowledge of soil, compost and market gardening, his influence and teaching have had a major effect on the growth of organic horticulture in Ireland. He is also the winner of this year’s Farming for Nature Awards.
Full schedule for BioFarm 2020 – all ticket holders will have lifetime access to all presentations
All access 5-day tickets – €50
Participants who buy the full, all-access tickets will have exclusive access to all five days of the conference. You can tune in live, or watch back the recordings of the presentations at a later date.
To get your all-access five-day tickets for just €50, please visit: www.nots.ie.
NOTS is co-funded by Skillnet Ireland and network companies. Skillnet Ireland is funded from the National Training Fund through the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.
