Following business and a meal our guest speaker was local farmer Ian Brown, who gave a most interesting talk about his family business and the way it has changed - and continues to change. 

He divided up his talk to firstly discuss his current crops of strawberries and flax and then to discuss the effects of climate change and to consider a possible future.

It was very interesting to learn just how different strawberry farming now is. Not so Long ago the crop was grown in soil with a variety of fertilisers. Today planting is entirely in raised containers, using coir as growing medium and with water and feed constantly and carefully metered and provided. Only biological fungicides and pest controls are used and, together with improved varieties, the growing season has been extended from 6 to 16 weeks. What was also clear is that the fruits must be of perfect appearance in order to sell to supermarkets and then the public.

Flax production is being driven by environmental pressures, requiring far less water than cotton and being a crop that absorbs a lot of carbon. There is also a move away from traditional ploughing as this actually releases significant amounts of carbon to the atmosphere. Climate change means that we also now see extended periods of dry - or wet weather in the East Neuk.

Speculating about the future in farming Ian said that we already see autonomous tractors - no driver needed. Drones are in use for agronomy and for spraying. Ultraviolet light is replacing chemicals in the control of mildew and the changes based on the power of AI is not far away.

In closing Ian commented on the way that distributor and supermarket pricing practices are impacting on farming. The danger he sees is that this could lead to the loss of farming for our own food security and supply.

This was a talk that led to many questions and following this an enthusiastic vote of thabks was proposed by Tony Lodge.