Farmers and scientists have vast potential to unlock sustainability benefits for the environment and for agricultural profitability if they work ever closer together, according to the new leadership team at the helm of the Farmer Scientist Network.

Land-based academics Dr Dave George and Professor Jonathan Leake have been appointed as the new Chair and Vice Chair of the Farmer Scientist Network, a group supported by farming charity the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.

The Network works with the Yorkshire Agricultural Society to advise policymakers in the UK and beyond on issues such as farming practices, food security, sustainable productivity and the ways in which new science and technology can solve problems and underpin innovation in agriculture, and Dave and Jonathan believe now is an exciting time to grasp pressing agricultural challenges.

New Farmer Scientist Network Chair, Dr Dave George of Newcastle University’s School of Natural and Environmental Sciences has specialist knowledge in the use of biopesticides and precision agriculture technology and is passionate about driving forward future farming systems to benefit food production.

Dave said: “There is a realisation across the board that we cannot address the sustainability challenges we are all facing without working with the farming sector.

“One of the most interesting things is how we get the right balance to use land to produce nutritional food and to promote natural capital. Farmers need to be able to continue to farm, to produce food in the right way and in the right place, and so it is about exploring trade-offs in an industry where it isn’t one-size-fits-all.”

Vice Chair, Jonathan Leake is Professor of Plant-Soil Interactions at the University of Sheffield’s School of Biosciences, whose areas of interest include soil health, regenerative agriculture, the use of leys in arable rotations to regenerate beneficial soil organisms, carbon sequestration, soil structure, and the use of minimal tillage.

Jonathan said: “We are at a very exciting place in farming and science where there is a lot of unrealised potential to link them together.

“Scientists need to be better informed about farming’s challenges and farmers need a better understanding of the ways in which science can help to make their farms more sustainable, environmentally and economically.”

The Farmer Scientist Network, guided by its new leadership team, will now work with the Yorkshire Agricultural Society to effect positive innovation in the industry by working with the crop and livestock sectors.

Regenerative Agriculture is a key current focus of the Farmer Scientist Network. Through a series of events, farmers are being offered opportunities to learn about regenerative techniques that are being adopted to drive farming profitability and productively in harmony with the environment.

The Farmer Scientist Network will also be hosting a brand-new Innovation Zone at the 164th Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate, Tuesday 11th July-Friday14th July. More details will be announced soon.

● The Farmer Scientist Network (FSN) aims to work with the crop and livestock sectors to find new ways in which science and technology can find solutions and underpin innovation in agriculture.

● The FSN works with the Yorkshire Agricultural Society to advise policymakers in the UK and beyond on issues such as farming practices, food security, sustainable productivity and the ways in which new science and technology can solve problems and underpin innovation in agriculture.

● The Network’s goal is sustainable productivity, encouraging and supporting the changes that are urgently needed to bring innovation into farming.

● Registered charity, Yorkshire Agricultural Society (YAS) supports and promotes the farming industry through health care, business, education and funding scientific research into rural affairs.

Visit yas.co.uk/fsn for more information about the Farmer Scientist Network.