Agricology Blog

On 12 February I attended the annual BASE-UK conference in Newcastle. The day was filled with a range of inspiring and informative talks that covered topics including living mulches, on-farm research, strip till in horticulture and building on-farm resilience.

While there is lots of information to be found if you look in the right places or speak to the right people, there is a need to pool it together and make it more accessible. This is what this book by Andy Dibben and Ben Raskin does so brilliantly...

Come along to ‘The Study’ at Groundswell, where a varied and stimulating range of talks combining science, education and farming await...

Oper8 is a three year EU horizon project bringing together farmers, researchers and academics to share alternative weed control solutions.

Phil Sumption blogs on an online conference in Germany focusing on new approaches for organic plant health care.

Matt Smee reports back from attending an event intended to help make steps towards a practical incarnation of RASE’s 2022 report 'Farm of the Future: Journey to Net Zero.'

Agricology's Farm Engagement Officer Matt Smee reflects on his experience of the ORFC (2023) and its contribution to helping build a resilient, equitable and sustainable farming system...

"We set out to create some easy to follow but detailed resources that would help farmers, growers and other land managers to increase their use of nature-based Integrated Pest Management (IPM) - no matter where on this journey they currently are. This blog highlights what’s in these resources, and where people can go to find them."

Reducing tillage and chemical inputs can be beneficial for soil and the environment, so could a permanent clover understorey acting as a 'living mulch', moving towards a perennial soil cover, offer a practical solution to reducing inputs and having more sustainable cropping systems?

In 1992 I started my career as a newly fledged post-doc working on the Integrated Farming Systems project and so have been intrigued to see the rising interest in regenerative agriculture. But what is it, and is it any different to integrated farming that has been promoted by organisations such as LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) since its establishment 1991?

Mulching trees is one great way to give them a good start and ensure they remain alive. Traditionally mulches have been seen to provide two main benefits; weed control, moisture retention. My belief is that in the medium term improving the soil health around a tree is also a crucial component.

For a long time, the pursuit of effective agricultural weed management tools and strategies was framed as ‘the war on weeds.’