Centre for Alternative Technology outside of Machynlleth
23rd September 2021 at 13.00-17.00
We will hear how Dyfi Grain Collective are working together with the Meirionnydd Vintage Clwb to share arable machinery to produce wheat for local consumption.
Mach Veg Box, part of the Mach Maethlon Coop, will also discuss how their collective of growers are running a subscription box scheme and sharing packing, distribution and marketing systems.
Small to medium-scale horticulture and arable producers in Wales face challenges in accessing appropriate and affordable machinery and infrastructure, particularly for processing. The Landworkers’ Alliance Cymru, Sustainable Places Research Institute, and Seed Sovereignty Programme UK & Ireland are organising regional gatherings to help farmers to work together to address these challenges through cooperation.
These regional gatherings follow an online panel and discussion, ‘Cooperatising Resources in Welsh Arable and Horticulture’, as part of the Ffres! Veg Festival where we identified some of the key challenges faces each sector and some potential cooperative solution.
The purpose of these regional events is to make these solutions a reality by cooperating on the local level to look at what resources we have, where they are, and what we need. We will then take the first steps in creating an action plan to set up cooperative solutions whether it’s applying for funding, organising a system for machinery sharing, or beginning to establish a processing hub.