Info, news & debate

Soil management


Cows in a meadow

Groundswell: an agricultural show for no-till, organic farming with cover crops and grass-fed animals

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A groundswell of farmers around the world are working out how to farm in a more ecologically-friendly way. One of the farmers leading the farming revolution in the UK is John Cherry, who has set up a 2-day conference on his farm in Hertfordshire, 28th and 29th of June.

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Farm Hack Cover Crop Roller Open Source Agriculture

Farm Hack : growing innovative open-source agriculture

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In response to the pervasive reach of the global agro-industrial complex, growing numbers of farmers across the world are coming together as co-operative organisations to promote and protect small-scale organic food production and environmental stewardship. We take a look below at some of the groups promoting open source agriculture with farmer driven technologies, spearheaded by the

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If ‘agroecology’ is such a good idea, how can we get the planning system to promote it?

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The planning system doesn’t currently differentiate between different types of agriculture, and maybe it should. The type of agriculture we prefer could be labelled ‘agroecology’ – but the problem is how to define it and how to get the planning system to recognise it, let alone promote it.

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Why do organic farmers have to pay for certification rather than farmers who use toxic chemicals?

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It’s always more expensive to do the right thing isn’t it? Like taking the train instead of driving or flying, or buying recycled products, organic food or natural building materials. If you want to do the environmentally-friendly or socially-just thing, it’s going to cost you more money. That can’t be right, can it?

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desertification

Can constantly-moving livestock help prevent desertification?

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Desertification is the process whereby grasslands slowly turn into deserts, and suggesting that we can help reverse this process with livestock sounds counter-intuitive, especially as livestock is usually named as one of the major contributors to desertification. In the video below, Allan Savory, who has spent a lifetime studying and working towards poverty eradication and wildlife conservation,

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chickentractor

How a ‘chicken tractor’ can clear and improve soil, as well as getting rid of pests

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My vegetable field has some problems. It’s not that vegetables don’t grow there; over two seasons I’ve had some notable successes, it’s just that there’s verdant weed growth throughout, more slugs than you can shake a stick at, and the soil needs improving

Read more about How a ‘chicken tractor’ can clear and improve soil, as well as getting rid of pests