Groundswell 2026: What’s New, What’s Useful, What’s Next?

As part of the Ceres Innovation Group, we’re sharing monthly reflections on the innovations, technologies and ideas shaping agriculture. The aim isn’t simply to highlight new products, but to explore where they may add value in practical farming systems and where further evidence is needed before widespread adoption. This month, we reflect on our takeaways from Groundswell – the Regenerative Farming ‘Conference’ (with a touch of Festival!).

Using Energy Flows to Understand Soil Health

One of the more novel research perspectives at Groundswell explored whether energy flow through soil fauna could provide a more functional measure of soil health. The work, part of a PhD project, is measuring the energy moving through all soil fauna within a defined volume of soil across different stages of a regenerative rotation, including heritage cereals and herbal leys of varying ages, and comparing this with a conventional system. Early findings suggest that all stages of the regenerative rotation showed higher overall energy flow than the conventional comparison, indicating greater biological activity and potentially a more active soil food web.

There was also discussion around whether older herbal leys continue to deliver the same level of benefit, with four-year leys showing less distinction from the conventional system. This raises useful questions around optimum ley length and how biological activity changes through time within regenerative rotations.

The full paper is not yet published, but the direction of travel is encouraging. If key indicator organisms can be identified, particularly groups such as springtails that appear to correlate strongly with energy flow, this could support more practical ways of assessing soil biological function. There may also be a link with emerging AI-based soil fauna identification tools (e.g. Antonie), which could make this sort of biological monitoring more accessible and scalable for farmers and advisers in future.

Farm Data, Value & Control

Another strong theme was the growing importance of farm data, not just as a management tool, but as a commercial asset. A panel discussion involving farmers, a technology entrepreneur and a remote sensing specialist highlighted both the opportunity and the risk. Farms are already generating large volumes of data, from yield maps and input records to environmental monitoring, but much of this remains fragmented, difficult to interpret or underused. The challenge is not only collecting data, but turning it into insight that helps farmers make better decisions and capture more value from what they produce.

Ownership and control were central to the discussion. Speakers warned that data can be used against farmers if it is extracted without fair return or wider context, with examples given of harvest data being used to influence commodity markets. At the same time, good data could help farmers demonstrate the quality, provenance, nutritional value and environmental outcomes associated with their produce. As markets become more interested in biodiverse, nutrient-dense and lower-impact food, the ability to evidence those claims may become increasingly important.

The discussion also pointed towards the next stage of digital agriculture: more joined-up systems that reduce the burden on farmers rather than adding another platform to manage. Agentic AI tools, able to draw together separate datasets and generate usable analysis, were highlighted as one possible route. Bioacoustics was another example, with bird sound monitoring being used to demonstrate environmental outcomes. For the Innovation Group, this reinforces a familiar message: technology will only be adopted where it is useful, trusted and able to work within the practical realities of farming businesses. The opportunity for agri-tech is therefore not just to produce more data, but to help farmers understand, own and act on it – a topic we’ve highlighted in one of our previous blogs.

Financing Regenerative Agriculture

One of the most thought-provoking discussions at Groundswell centred on a question that sits at the heart of regenerative agriculture: who pays for the transition? While much of the debate around regen farming has focused on principles and practices, this session brought forward practical examples showing how the economics can work when risk and reward are shared across the supply chain. Speakers highlighted emerging models where farmers are rewarded for outcomes such as carbon reduction and improved environmental performance, not through complex schemes, but through supply chain partnerships, private finance and outcome-based markets that create value beyond the farm gate.

A recurring theme was that farming remains a business first and foremost. Soil health, biodiversity and carbon all have a place, but only if they contribute to a more resilient and profitable farming system. Examples ranged from supply chains paying premiums for crops produced under regenerative systems to financial institutions recognising the value of resilient soils that reduce risk and improve long-term business stability. The message was clear: regenerative agriculture will scale not through ideology, but through commercial models that deliver value throughout the chain. Encouragingly, the conversation has moved beyond theory, with real-world examples beginning to show how farmers, processors, retailers and financiers can all benefit from the transition. You can also listen to our latest Ceres podcast episode with Louise Penn – Can Regenerative Agriculture Stand up to the Evidence?

Stay Connected with the Innovation Group

As Groundswell helps to link up Regenerative Agriculture with robotics, AI, and soil diagnostics, the same questions continue to apply:

1. Does it solve a genuine farming challenge?
2. Does it fit within existing workflows where relevant?
3. Can it generate value that exceeds its cost?

These are precisely the questions that the Ceres Innovation Group was established to explore. As new technologies emerge, our focus remains on helping bridge the gap between innovation and practical on-farm adoption through evaluation, demonstration and knowledge exchange.

We will continue to share insights from across the industry, highlighting not just the newest innovations, but the technologies most likely to deliver meaningful value in commercial farming systems.

If you are a farmer or an innovative ag-tech company interested in getting involved, please contact us here.