Search Results for: trees

Shortening food chains in metropolitan areas – examples from London, Berlin, Rotterdam and Milan

Presentation at 8th Organic producers' Conference: Intensive sustainability or sustainable intensification - which way forward for organic farming?

Elm Farm: Planning and developing agroforestry at a farm scale

Woodland Trust Research Briefing

Agroforestry in the Uplands - a new short film

The Soil Association have just released a new short film Agroforestry in the Uplands which focuses on why trees and hedgerows on upland farms are good for livestock, the environment, biodiversity, soil health and the bottom line. Three farmers, from Perthshire in Scotland, Brecon in Wales and Dartmoor in England, tell us what they’ve done, why it makes sense and how they got started. One of the farms included is part of the Innovative Farmers ...

Ten minutes with Lubna Arif-Schmidt

Would you like to get to know the ORC staff, learn more about what they are working on at the moment and find out what inspired them to pursue a career in organic research? To help celebrate our 40th anniversary year and throughout 2021 we will be releasing short ‘ten minutes with’ interviews to let you do just that! What is your job role at the ORC? Supporter Engagement Manager How long have you worked ...

Agroforestry Design Masterclass (2 Day Intensive)

Looking to integrate trees into your farming business this coming planting season but don’t know which trees to plant, how many, or where? Unsure about fencing, or how to market your tree products? Discover the answers to these questions and more. In this two-day intensive workshop run by FarmEd you will be guided through an intuitive agroforestry design process by some of the UK’s leading agroforestry practitioners, receive 1:1 advice in clinic sessions, and walk ...

Flocks and foliage

Presentation at 10th Organic Producers' Conference. Common ground: agroecology, food sovereignty and organic farming in practice

New paper on managing understoreys in agroforestry to promote natural enemies

A new open access paper ‘Management to Promote Flowering Understoreys Benefits Natural Enemy Diversity, Aphid Suppression and Income in an Agroforestry System,’ co-authored by Jo Smith (now ex ORC) with the University of Reading and Lund University in Sweden, has been published in Agronomy. Abstract Agroforestry systems, where productive trees are integrated into agricultural land, can deliver benefits to biodiversity, natural pest control, and pollination, but the effects are highly variable. Recent advances in our ...

Agroforestry letter to Defra

26 organisations call for Defra to back agroforestry

Agroforestry and the Basic Payment Scheme

ORC welcomes the recognition by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) of the benefits of agroforestry with new guidance on how agroforestry can be compatible with the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). This is a major breakthrough and the result of many years of lobbying by ORC, the Woodland Trust, the Soil Association, Abacus Agriculture and others. When the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) was introduced, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) stated that grazed woodland was no longer ...

Organic at the heart: Developing an agroecological food and farming network in Northern England

Virtual workshop run as part of the Northern Real Farming Conference. Hosted by the Organic Research Centre team. One of the key components of a transition to agroecological food and farming systems is the need to move away from input-intensive systems and towards knowledge-intensive systems. Agroecology must cover everything from food production to the protection of healthy socioeconomic relationships. This session aims to bring together interested parties from across the food and farming sector who ...