Will’s World: My eureka moment is eco app for farmers
© Richard Stanton I’ve had another one of my bright ideas. Like the rest of them, I’ve no idea if it’s already been done by someone else, is pure genius or (more likely) absolute nonsense.
But I’m going to share it with you anyway, so please bear with me.
I was driving the tractor the other day, and on the radio they were talking about the rise of online dating.
Seems it’s the way most couples meet these days, whether in the hopes of finding a long-term relationship, or something more temporary.
See also: Privately funded natural capital schemes: What to consider
About the author
Internet dating wasn’t a thing during my misspent youth in the 1990s and early 2000s.
So explaining to my numerous daughters that the present Mrs Evans and I first met by actually talking to each other at a YFC dance, prompts the usual sort of incredulous response when I talk of anything from our younger days: “Ewww, that’s so weird!”
Finding ‘the one’
That aside, it got me thinking about the whole concept of matching services.
As I’d already been ruminating that day on the new environmental schemes and what we could do on the farm, given the right level of support, the two thoughts collided and I had my eureka moment.
What if there was a straightforward app that linked up farmers with private finance for environmental projects on their farms?
No middleman creaming a large percentage to operate it, or governments overcomplicating it with needless bureaucracy, just a not-for-profit way of hooking us up.
How it would work is that I’d create a profile. “Will Evans, mixed farmer, Wrexham” – that type of thing.
I’d add a photo of me where I’m not squinting into the sun and looking about 20 years older than I am, like I do in the dreadful ones FW insists on using for this page.
Then I’d simply add what I’m looking for, and how it would benefit nature on our farm.
It could be a very basic ask – a few hundred metres of hedge plants, with stock-proof fencing for both sides and a few trees to go in at every 10m or so.
Or it could be far more ambitious: double fencing for every existing hedge that doesn’t have it, some trees for several awkward corners, fencing and solar pumps so I could keep cattle out of watercourses, and financial support for an agroforestry project I’ve started looking into.
Happily ever after
I can post pictures and videos explaining it all properly, its potential environmental impacts, and the prices of what each action would cost individually, or as a total project. Then just ask who’s willing to support.
In return, whether you’re a large-scale construction company, a multinational airline, a football club, an environmentally conscious local small business, or even a supermarket chain, you can help to offset your emissions by supporting a family farm to improve their biodiversity, as well as sequester more carbon.
There’s also the bonus of being able to bring clients to see the work that you’ve paid for, and being able to prove to your customers that you’re doing something positive for the planet, as well as rural communities.
Who knows, you might even enjoy the whole thing, too.
On a stressful day in the office you could hop onto Google Earth and have a quick look at the improvements, or even give me a call to see what bird or insect species I’ve seen that week.
So, what do we all think? Swipe right for yes, left for no.