Join Mick Jones, local farmer and engineer, as he shows how biochar has helped him:

• Improve soil health

• Increase crop yields

• Reduce the need to use expensive fertilisers

• Improve water quality

Plan for the day:

10:00 - Arrival (tea & coffee)

10:30 - Welcome, safety briefing, introduction and brief outline of Grassland Communities Project (Ifan Davies & Mathew Plumb)

10:45 - Explanation of biochar processing, including coppiced hedges, chipped timber, biochar plant, raw biochar, evidence of grass and tree growth, plant diversity and water filtration.

12:00 - Hog Roast!

1:00 - Guided farm walk

3:30 - (tea & coffee) Departure

About your host

Mick Jones has developed commercial-scale biochar production, which has unlocked new opportunities for widespread commercial suitability, resulting in the replacement of chemical fertiliser use on his farm.

The farm has a circular system where timber grown on the farm is chipped, passed through the biochar plant, mixed with the cattle bedding and spread on the fields, while the subsequent crop is harvested for winter cattle feed. This system, which has now been replicated elsewhere, provides enough energy from the biochar plant to create a surplus of electricity, giving a carbon-negative electricity production system.

https://www.woodtekbiochar.com/

This is a collaborative event between Nature Friendly Farming Network, Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust and Woodtek Engineering.