Dorset swans mean vaccinate now
The time has come for preventive vaccination of UK outdoor poultry (Jan 2008)
GM Foods: The Answer? Or Just Empty Promises?
A thoughtful paper on GM science and policy
Any lessons learned from Surrey FMD?
The Government has accepted all 26 of the main recommendations made by Sir Iain Anderson on the response to the Surrey 2007 outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease
Organic Cereals project latest
A look at on-going organic cereals projects
News cash for bees
A boost in funding from Defra to help safeguard the nation’s bees and to deliver more research into their health has been announced by the Environment Secretary Hilary Benn
Organic Holidays
Following the quite heated discussions just prior to Christmas over the floated notion of “Organic Holidays” or “Organic Lay-bys” some clarification of the Organic Research Centre stance on the issue is perhaps necessary
Movement or market?
An impressive gathering of farmers, producers and advisers (over 180 in total) assembled at the Organic Research Centre Producer Conference 2009 at Harper Adams University in Shropshire – January 6th and 7th – to discuss a range of technical and policy matters
The end of pesticides in the EU?
MEPs have voted in the European Parliament to tighten the EU rules on pesticide use…
Real Bread Campaign:
A national campaign for Real Bread in the UK has been launched by the environment alliance Sustain, of which the Organic Research Centre (ORC) is a member
Open Gate for small growers:
SA looks at light touch regime for growers.
Promoting FREE advice service:
Natural England promotes FREE advice service.
Europe's pesticide cocktail in food:
PAN report on shocking levels of pesticide residue in EU food.
Barbarians at the gate:
Comment from ORC on idea of organic holidays
EU sustainable farming road map:
New EU organic road map.
Oats and soya worries:
Some batches of organic oats being sold in the UK have been found to contain one or both of the pesticide ingredients chlormequat and glyphosate
New edition of OFMH 2009
The eighth edition of the Organic Farm Management Handbook comes out in challenging times
New superbug worries
New calls for limits on livestock antibiotic use.
Feeding the World Conference success
The QE2 Conference Centre in Westminster (November 12th 2008) saw over 130 delegates and speakers in hot debate about the failure of GM crop technology to deliver anything on the promises of twenty years ago. In stark contrast speaker after speaker pointed to agro-ecological approaches (including organic agriculture) as extremely attractive sustainable farming and food options, especially in a world fast running out of oil.
Slow down on biofuels
The introduction of biofuels into the UK transport and industry sectors should be slowed down, says a new report from the Government’s Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA).
Taking the pulse of organic animal health
ORC Organic Animal Health Colloquium
Fight back on GM trade in Brazil
Brazilian farmers and traders launch non-GM crop body
The long arm of GM contamination
Fears of serious, long distance contamination of organic farms by GM crops appear top be borne out by an incident in central France