SFT Podcast: Land use in the UK – can we do it all?

How can we make the land we have in the UK work best for nature, for people and for producing food?

Our final episode recorded in our Podcast Tent at Groundswell this year, focused on a contentious yet hugely important topic: land use. Simply, do we have enough land in this country to do everything? To produce food, to support nature, to generate energy, to store carbon, to build housing, to maintain community spaces – the list goes on.

The SFT's Stuart Oates is joined by our CEO and organic dairy farmer, Patrick Holden, journalist and presenter of Countryfile and BBC Radio 4's Rare Earth, Tom Heap, and organic mixed farmer and Nuffield scholar, Dave Oates – they discuss whether or not crop rotations and rotational grazing offers the solution to doing it all, how 'agrihood' initiatives across the world are successfully integrating food growth and productive green spaces into residential areas, and ask how can regulation and government policies better support multifunctional land use?

Find more SFT podcasts, featuring some of the most exciting names in food and farming, at our main podcast page. Keep up to date with news, policy updates and more by subscribing to our monthly newsletter or follow us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

This conversation was recorded in the SFT Podcast Tent at Groundswell in July 2026, sponsored by The Rothschild Foundation. To listen to more podcasts recorded live at this year's festival, click here.

 

Timestamps

0:00: Welcome + who's on the podcast + initial thoughts

02:26: The challenges of land use and food production

05:21: Balancing nature and demand for food

08:27: The role of diets and consumer behaviour

11:48: Is animal agriculture a good use of land?

14:39: Innovative approaches to land use

17:45: Integrating agriculture with community development

21:39: Organic vs regenerative

24:07: Balancing productivity and environmental targets

28:43: Regulation and measurement in agriculture

29:43: Integrating solar and agrivoltaics

32:03: Community ownership

36:05: The future of biofuels and land use policy

39:33: What's one change you'd make to land use in the UK?