Agricology Blog

As part of #OrganicSeptember campaign, Daylesford Organic have been running a ‘Future of Food’ series, featuring interviews with thought leaders in the food, ecology and agriculture industries.

Can you make land both a productive farm and also good for bumblebees? This is a question that has been occupying the minds of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, the University of Exeter and landowners and managers round the Fowey Valley in Cornwall.

Ploughing has received bad press in some organic farming circles due to the higher fuel requirements and the fact that it buries soil organisms and green material at too great a depth. The perennial questions are: should we plough and if so how deep?

There is huge potential for farmers to be incentivised and rewarded for protecting and sequestering carbon in their soils. Government initiatives and carbon offsetting schemes in the private sector provide promising funding avenues for farmers who adopt agroecological practices that promote soil health and increase soil carbon.

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.

Agricology has been awarded a DEFRA ELM Test in partnership with the University of Reading to research how effective videos and podcasts are as tools to learn about farming practices. As part of this study we are conducting a survey for farmers to understand their preferences and experiences of using these tools.

Why do we eat lamb, throw away wool and wear plastic? Why are food and fibre systems not generally considered within the same systems and conversations? When they are, why are fibres generally only considered by-products of food production?

Jez Taylor, head of the diverse Daylesford market garden, talks to us about managing the greenfly on the roses they supply to the florists.

Wildflower meadows are an intrinsic part of our natural heritage and have been in decline over the last century. The rich flora and fauna provide an abundance of colour, a buzz of insects, and support a multitude of native species from butterflies to migrating birds and other wildlife.

We are all dependent on healthy, vibrant ecosystems, and farming with nature that uses practices to give back to the land for future generations is part of this solution.

There are many farmers - conventional, organic and those in-between - successfully reducing or using low levels of antibiotics and they are using many different methods.

Tim speaks to Colin Tudge and Ruth West, co-founders of The Campaign for Real Farming and organisers of the annual Oxford Real Farming Conference.