Groundswell 2025

Groundswell 2025 was an inspirational, energising and enjoyable day. I booked too late to be able to get a camping ticket, so i attended for one day; it wasn’t enough.

I arrived at about 11 am. After a little bit of mooching, a friendly face dragged me into the big top, the rumours were correct, Prince William was speaking. After HRH i saw Gabe Brown’s presentation where he laid down the fundamentals of Regenerative systems. I was interested in his point about species diversity. In our situation herbal leys do seem to have worked well, species diversity in a sward has meant that they have stayed productive in dry times where a sward of just grass might have struggled.

There were several really interesting stands on show, of course a visit was made to The Stabiliser Cattle Company to see Ursula and Derek. I was also intrigued by some of the technology on display which was using artificial intelligence to monitor biodiversity. Could this technology be deployed where we graze; might it quantify the benefits of large ruminants to biodiversity; could that benefit be monetised and optimised?

Groundswell is a really social event, I learnt a lot by talking to people in the food and drink area, it was easy to bump into familiar faces, the excitement and positivity of the event is infectious.

Andy Cato’s DJ set at the end of the day topped it off, that did mean i did not leave the site until 12 am, i then hunted in the dark for my car for 20 minutes, set off and got home and to sleep at the crack of dawn. It was an awesome day though, i will be aiming to go for two days next year, i certainly didn’t see it all in one!