JERSEY’S farming industry and sustainable land use will be the focus of a two-day event starting today.
Before the gates to Le Tâcheron Farm open for the Regen festival, the JEP spoke to the manager of a 5,000-acre estate in Scotland who is due to speak at the event about innovative land use.
Sam Parsons explained that Balcaskie Estate is not just a farm, but also hosts renewable-energy projects, a food market and even a pub.
He added that the estate, just outside St Andrews, had embraced organic and regenerative farming practices, focusing on the importance of soil health and sustainable land use.
“It’s about thinking like an earthworm,” he said. “You need to influence the soil positively to produce something valuable.”
By inviting people to pitch land-use ideas, Mr Parsons said he hoped to turn employees into entrepreneurs who could take ownership of their projects.
He said that this initiative was particularly important in light of what he labelled Scotland’s restrictive land laws, which make traditional tenancies difficult to obtain.
Speaking about the event, Mr Parsons said he viewed Regen as an important opportunity to address similar challenges in Jersey.
Having first visited the Island on a farm study tour, he noticed the significant portion of Jersey’s land dedicated to just two crops – potatoes and grass for dairy.
This limited land use, he said, mirrors broader agricultural challenges seen across the world but on a smaller, more intense scale.
“An island the size of Jersey is like a magnifying glass on the rest of the world,” Mr Parsons said.
“They don’t have the scale to put in the processing facilities to grow more varied crops, and then without the processing facilities, you’re entirely reliant on ferries and export and additional costs. It’s a bit like Scotland on steroids.”
He added that he hoped the event would spur new ideas for diversifying land use in the Island.
“There’s got to be an open discussion,” he said. “A place like Jersey, where everyone’s relatively close, makes it easier for farmers, policymakers and the public to have productive conversations. If it’s a policymaker, I’m pretty sure you could knock on their door or go see them,” he added.
Regen Gathering is open to farmers and growers, and anyone interested in learning about what they eat and how it’s grown.
Mr Parsons was due to speak at the event at 10.45am on Friday. Regen runs over two days, with the site opening at 8.30am and closing at 10pm.
Tickets, which are free, are available here.
