What are weeds? What can they tell us about our soils? Do they have any other benefits?
7th Jun 2021
The Centre for Agroecology Water and Resilience and the Organic Research Centre are looking to recruit farmers near Shropshire (16th June) for a participatory study on the use of bioindicators in arable farming systems. Bioindicators…
Posted in News, News and events
Read More
Agroforestry for the transition towards sustainability and bioeconomy
3rd Jun 2021
The fifth European conference on agroforestry, EURAF 2020, was held online recently (17th - 19th May 2021) and ORC was represented by Colin Tosh, Will Simonson and Lindsay Whistance. This conference was postponed in 2020…
Read More
Could living mulch be the ‘holy grail’ of arable farming?
27th May 2021
A team of six farmers is trialling growing a living mulch under cash crops – if they’re successful, they say the practice could eliminate the need for artificial inputs, cut costs and boost productivity. The…
Posted in News, News and events
Read More
Organic Agriculture at the Heart of Agroecological Transition - call for submissions
27th May 2021
ORC's Ambrogio Costanzo is a guest co-editor of a forthcoming special issue of Agronomy entitled Organic Agriculture at the Heart of Agroecological Transition. The deadline for manuscript submissions is 15 September 2021. "Agroecological transition is…
Read More
Cereals 2021: A Healthier Path to Profits
27th May 2021
Cereals 2021 returns to Lincolnshire on Wed 30 June & Thurs 1 July 2021. Amongst many interesting workshops and demonstrations, ORC's Lucy MacLennan will be chairing the It's all about Biology session on Thursday 1st July…
Read More
A clear option space for expanding organic agriculture despite nitrogen limits - new INRAE led study
27th May 2021
A new INRAE led study has been published looking into a clear option space for expanding organic agriculture despite nitrogen limits. Recognising that one of the limits of widespread organic farming is the limited nitrogen…
Read More
European database for organic seeds
27th May 2021
The European database for organic seed has been developed within the EU project LIVESEED. Its objective is to create more transparency for the EU member states and for seed suppliers regarding available offers of organic…
Posted in News, News and events
Read More
New GM field trial consultation - help oppose the planting of experimental GM wheat
27th May 2021
Rothamsted Research has applied for permission to plant a field trial of GM Wheat and a statutory public consultation is now open. Field trials always carry a risk of escape and wheat is a staple food in…
Read More
Regenerative Agriculture: Farming with Benefits
17th May 2021
A new book Regenerative Agriculture: Farming with Benefits by Marianne Landzettel is reviewed by ORC's Senior Agroforestry Researcher Colin Tosh. I approached the book with a few misgivings. The cover said ‘textbook’ while the text…
Read More
Ten minutes with Lisa Arguile
22nd Apr 2021
What is your job role at the ORC? Sustainability Researcher How long have you worked at the ORC? Just over two and a half years Where are you from/ where are you based? I grew…
Read More
Silvopasture field lab on Farming Today
22nd Apr 2021
BBC Farming Today visited Andy Gray one of the farmers participating in the new Innovative Farmers Silvopasture field lab. " A field lab being run by Innovative Farmers - a not-for-profit group which links up…
Posted in News, News and events
Read More
InfoHub on intercropping launched
20th Apr 2021
A new DIVERSify legacy website http://plant-teams.org/ has been launched. It includes the Farmer Guide ‘InfoHub’ “for practical information on intercropping agronomy, resilience and ecosystem service provision, on-farm experiences and innovations” and a Policy Toolbox that…
Read More
Making hedgerows pay their way: the economics of harvesting field boundary hedges for bioenergy
20th Apr 2021
A new paper on our hedgerow work as part of the SustainFARM project has been accepted for publication in Agroforestry Systems and is now online: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10457-021-00631-9 Smith J, Westaway S, Mullender S. et al. (2021) Making…
Read More
The organic route to a resilient future
9th Apr 2021
An article by ORC's Head of Research Will Simonson has been included in the March/April edition of e-law, published by UKELA (United Kingdom Environmental Law Association) as part of an issue focusing on the Agriculture…
Read More
New paper on managing understoreys in agroforestry to promote natural enemies
31st Mar 2021
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…
Posted in News, News and events
Read More
Ten minutes with Colin Tosh
29th Mar 2021
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…
Read More
Our response to the Defra public consultation on Genome editing
25th Mar 2021
ORC submitted responses to Defra's Consultation on future of gene editing both as part of the English Organic Forum and as an organisation. As a member of the English Organic Forum (EOF), the Organic Research…
Posted in News, News and events
Read More
Mark Measures is retiring from ORC
24th Mar 2021
Mark Measures ponders some wheat 1995 Mark Measures has been at the forefront of organic farming in the UK for nearly 40 years and has been involved with Elm Farm/Organic Research Centre for most of…
Posted in News, News and events
Read More
Exploring the potential for videos and podcasts as knowledge exchange tools in the future ELM schemes
23rd Mar 2021
The Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes represent a significant shift in agri-environment scheme delivery in England. Currently, it is envisaged that land managers will construct their own land management plans, possibly with some advisory support…
Posted in News, News and events
Read More
Measuring the Economic Performance of Small Ruminant Farms Using Balanced Scorecard and Importance-Performance Analysis: A European Case Study
18th Mar 2021
A new paper arising from the EU Horizon 2020-funded iSAGE project, co-authored by ORC's Stefano Orsini has been published in Sustainability Abstract Given the increasing complexity of the agro-food sector, the analysis of financial performance…
Read More
European Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Red Meat Labelling Attributes
23rd Feb 2021
New paper co-authored by ORC's Stefano Orsini is published in Animals. Given the decrease in red meat consumption in the last decade, it is crucial for red meat producers to understand consumer preferences. This international…
Read More
New ORC podcast to celebrate 40 years of organic research
22nd Feb 2021
For forty years the ORC has been pushing the boundaries of research and development of practical and sustainable organic farming methods in the UK. Last month we announced a dedicated 40th anniversary page had been…
Posted in News, News and events
Read More
Farmers and researchers are teaming up in the first ever farmer-led study into the benefits of agroforestry
22nd Feb 2021
Farmers in the UK, for the first time, are getting the chance to co-design research to determine the benefits of integrating more trees on their farms. A farmer-led agroforestry project launching this month will spend…
Posted in News, News and events
Read More