Innovation for Agriculture

🌱 Last week, we had an incredible day at Norton Court Farm for Debbie Wilkinson's Climate Farm Demo event. The event centered on Debbie's research with the Royal Agricultural University, exploring the potential of a slurry-free dairy farm through bokashi composting. Sessions delved deep into bokashi’s benefits and challenges. While early trials have shown promising results in healthier maize crops, more research is essential. The day also highlighted the power of systems thinking for resilience. From soil health to flood preparation, and even building social support networks among farmers, the focus was on creating sustainable and robust systems to tackle future challenges together. 🤝🌿 A huge thanks to Debbie and the RAU team for your contributions to this insightful day. 

Soil management is a key focus on Middle Trelan Farm, as it supports forage production, cow health and farm profitability. In this video, Soil Farmer of the Year competition runner up Ben Richards shares how he is moving from a bacterial soil to a fungal soil and introducing trees to provide forage for cows, enhance natural drainage and create conditions for fungi to thrive. Watch the video to find out more 👇 #SoilFarmerOfTheYear #FarmCaseStudy Farm Carbon Toolkit

🌍🌿 Session #2 at the #ClimateFarmDemo focused on an essential topic: What drives #GHG emissions on EU farms? The session aimed to deepen participants' understanding of the farm practices and activities that both increase and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across various farming systems. By examining different systems, participants gained insight into how emissions vary and learned to identify activities that generate or store GHGs like carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane. Facilitated by John Greaney (Teagasc), Anaïs L'Hôte' (Institut de l'Elevage (idele), and Elena Bortolazzo (CRPA - Centro Ricerche Produzioni Animali ), the session also featured Arran Redman (Innovation for Agriculture), who presented a GHG audit using the same tool (Farm Carbon Calculator) applied on farms to be visited. Arran explained the structure and content of the tool and introduced grazing system along with other key measures chosen to reduce GHG emissions. Participants then delved deeper into the discussion through group work, analyzing the GHG audit reports for two Slovenian farms that would be visited later in the afternoon. Copies of the audit reports were provided, allowing participants to focus on identifying specific practices and activities that either increase or reduce GHG emissions. This hands-on session fostered collaborative learning as participants worked together to understand the impact of different farming activities on emissions and explored practical solutions for reducing them.! 🌱 #Sustainability #ClimateAction #FarmingInnovations

🌱 Cultivating climate resilience: Perspectives from arable, beef, and horticulture 🌍 📅 Friday, 8th November, 2024 🕕 6pm 💻 Online via Zoom Join us for a dynamic webinar to hear speakers from three farms on how they're building resilience into their farming systems to tackle climate-related challenges. Speakers include: 🌾 Tracy Russell & David Newman from Bucksum on resilient horticulture 🌿 Laura Awdry from Trendeal Vean Farm on forage-focused farming 🐄 Andrew Court from Cotes Lodge Farm on regenerative arable and beef practices Register today to join live on 8th November 👇

Farmers who’ve joined our fully funded study tours often highlight the benefits of exploring novel, accessible solutions for their farms. 🚜 They’ve also reported that the discussions during these tours offer valuable insights into land management and farming practices, as well as an opportunity to openly share challenges with peers. This November, join us in Yorkshire or Hampshire as part of the Royal Agricultural Society of England’s Farm of the Future events. It’s the perfect opportunity to meet fellow farmers, share experiences, and explore new ideas. Find out more & book: https://lnkd.in/e7PnG2NF #IfA10Years #FarmInnovation #StudyTours

In addition to farm walks, study tours and demonstration events, Innovation for agriculture also facilitates a number of farmer action groups. Farmers who’ve being part of our action groups say they provide a unique chance to explore practical, innovative solutions for their farm businesses. From seeing diverse farming practices to discussing challenges in a non-pressured setting, participants have reported developing a better understanding of land management and gaining valuable insights for their farms 🌱 #IfA10Years #FarmInnovation #ActionGroups 

The delivery of fully funded farm study tours is one of the activities which we are most proud of at Innovation for Agriculture. A study tour visits several farm businesses in an area to see novel approaches, technologies and practices in action. They aim to showcase a mix of solutions that can be readily adopted by a farm business here and now, as well as food for thought for the future as technologies become more readily available. We are delivering more study tours in Yorkshire and Hampshire in November 2024, which will be part of the Royal Agricultural Society of England Farm of the Future events. Find out more and how to book a place https://lnkd.in/e7PnG2NF #IfA10Years #FarmInnovation #StudyTours 

Today we're celebrating 10 years of Innovation for agriculture 🎉 Over the past decade, Innovation for Agriculture has enabled thousands of farmers to discover new ideas, technologies and practical strategies to build resilient and sustainable businesses. Our work has included the delivery of hundreds of farm walks, demonstration events and study tours that have brought farmers together to see different technologies and approaches in practice. We have also contributed to several international projects, which have enabled the sharing of ideas, knowledge and practices across borders, to the benefit of the global agricultural community. Thank you to all who have been part of the journey so far and here's to the next ten years! #IfA10Years #FarmInnovation #AgriTech Royal Agricultural Society of England H2020_FAIRshare DECIDE H2020 DISARM Project NEFERTITI H2020 Climate Farm Demo

Last week, Megan Dunn and Arran Redman from Innovation for Agriculture had a fantastic day at Boycefield Farm, hosted by Billy Lewis and Farm Carbon Toolkit. The farm walk was packed with insights, with Becky Wilson and Niels Corfield leading a demonstration on in-field soil assessments and why soil health matters. Farmers Billy Lewis, Tom Burge, and Dan Smith discussed the benefits of rotational grazing. The afternoon session covered the financial and environmental impacts of regenerative agriculture, highlighting how managing carbon emissions can increase both climate and financial resilience. The day wrapped up with Andrew Brewer winning Carbon Farmer of the Year. The event showed how farmers are finding ways to reduce their carbon footprint while sustaining their businesses.

This week marked the first in-person Calf Action Network event, which took place at the University of Reading.   It was fantastic to bring together such an enthusiastic group of calf rearers, farmers, vets, vet-techs, nutritionists, researchers, and other industry professionals.   We held a workshop focused on identifying key challenges, knowledge gaps and research priorities. Followed by an informative farm walk looking at the calf rearing, dairy and research systems in place at the university’s farm   Moving forward, the Calf Action Network will build on this workshop to continue its work focusing on promoting applied research, calf-specific training, CPD and engagement for sharing knowledge between anyone who works with calves. Can’t wait to see what comes next!   #CalfActionNetwork #CalfRearing #CalfHealth #CalfWelfare