Building English Shelterbelt Trials for productivity
Building English Shelterbelt Trials for Productivity (BEST) is an ADOPT-funded, farmer-led trial investigating the benefits to livestock systems from the presence of improved hedgerow/windbreaks.
ADOPT Resilient Uplands
ORC will work with Gowbarrow Hall Farm in Cumbria to adapt and demonstrate an upland agroforestry model that integrates fruit and nut trees into cattle grazing systems to improve farm resilience, biodiversity and water management.
Wakelyns – accelerating the adoption of agroforestry to tackle the nature and climate crises
In this project ORC are working with the pioneering Wakelyns in Suffolk to achieve significant impact in the adoption of agroforestry at scale.
Farming the Future: Networks of supply for agroforestry products
This project as part of a wider body of work funded by Farming the Future addresses market access barriers in agroforestry
Living Mulch Farming System
The project explores Living Mulches, a promising arable farming system in which a legume understorey is sown under an arable crop and kept in situ for multiple years. The impacts of mulch species on crop performance, weeds and soil will be assessed.
Farmer Action for Tree Resilience
The ‘Farmer Action for Tree Resilience’ project aims to understand what drives or limits farmers in managing tree health and resilience on their land.
Bridging the Gap: Financial Modelling
Researchers from the ORC and the University of Portsmouth have been commissioned to undertake an economic evaluation of 10 pilot studies participating in Sustain’s Bridging the Gap programme.
GreenGrass
The GreenGrass project will work with conventional dairy farmers who are striving to minimise their carbon footprint and improve efficiency through reduced use of N fertilisers.
Plants not Plastic
Investigating the value of natural protection from browsable shrubs to establish new trees as wood pasture.
Feed the Soil: A research and knowledge exchange hub for novel organic waste management strategies to build healthy soils and healthy crops
The Feed the Soil project will build the knowledge base and develop practical advice for UK land managers on the best way to compost organic wastes and apply it (or its products) to produce a biologically active product to feed the soil.
Agroforestry ELMS Test on advice and guidance
Building on the recently completed Agroforestry Test 106, this project led by the Woodland Trust will develop different advice and guidance offers to farmers embarking on agroforestry and test their effectiveness in supporting successful design of agroforestry systems
Importance of Hedgerows as Wildlife Corridors
This project aims to prove that connecting patches of woodlands together by hedgerows has a beneficial effect on the woodland ecology by providing a migratory bridge for species from one area to another.
Marketing of Organics
The Marketing of Organics Project is a three-year ORC research programme, looking to identify clearer routes to growth in organic food supply chains and a better understanding of consumer perceptions of organic produce.
LIVESEEDING
LIVESEEDING aims to foster the growth of the organic sector and transition towards more sustainable local food systems by delivering high quality organic seed of diverse cultivars adjusted to organic farming for a wide range of crops.
Public Goods Tool
The Public Goods Tool was designed to capture data about farm practices and represent the sustainability and produce of public goods. The PG Tool offers a simple way of visualising the state of a farm in relation to 12 indicators
