From a farming family in South Devon, James studied Agriculture at Seale-Hayne. There an abandoned Bettinson drill ignited his interest in no-till systems. James’ career in agriculture began on large scale arable enterprises on Romney Marsh, before moving into junior farm management positions on fruit, vegetable and arable enterprises in North Kent. In 2006 he moved into the advisory sector joining FWAG in Berks, Bucks & Oxon. There he specialised in soil and water management, gaining FACTS & the BASIS Certificate in Crop Protection.

Leaving FWAG in 2009 James moved into waste recycling to land holding the position of company agronomist at N-Virocycle and more recently has closely managed 3 Anaerobic Digestion facilities for an investment management company.

Since completing FACTS James has gone on to study nutrient interactions in the soil in more depth, in particular, cation exchange and the role of pH and soil carbon in plant nutrient availability. James believes that ‘nutritional agronomy’ will become ever more important as farmers look to produce crops with increasingly tighter margins & regulation.

James in a member of the BASIS Professional Register and the Institute of Agricultural Engineers.