Congratulations Iain Tolhurst MBE!

Agricology is delighted to hear the news that Iain Tolhurst (Tolly) has been recognised in today’s King’s Birthday Honours list with the award of Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to organic horticulture.

Tolly has said that “Unless knowledge is shared it has little value to anybody except perhaps the practitioner” (ORC Bulletin No 118 Winter/spring 2015) and that sets him apart, his relentless enthusiasm to share his knowledge with others. He has been involved in countless research projects including; Farm System health in Practice and WOOdchip for Fertile Soils (WOOFS). He has also said that: “I farm biodiversity with food as a by-product.” Research by Agricarbon has shown that soils at Tolhurst Organic are maintaining or slightly increasing carbon levels whilst growing 14 tonnes per hectare of food per year of vegetable crops. The average weight of carbon in their soils is equivalent to 80 tonnes or 12.5 mature oak trees per hectare (See: Sustaining our soils: Getting the balance right).

Visit Tolly’s Farmer profile for examples of ‘Sustainability in practice’ and ‘motivations.’ Hear him talk on ‘all things woodchip’ and ‘Farm system health’: https://agricology.co.uk/farmer-profiles/iain-tolhurst-tolly/