Project Updates

Project

Updates

LEAF is involved in a range of projects with our farmers, industry partners, and researchers across Europe. This work adds further depth and understanding to our core activities as we continue to drive more sustainable farming. We will be providing regular updates on our projects in the IFM Quarterly, members E-news and at our events, if you would like to know more or would like to be involved in our work please contact rebecca.davis@leafuk.org who can put you in touch with the relevant person.

Horizon 2020:

Agri Capture CO₂

This 3-year project has now been officially launched and is in the throes of developing and organising resources and interactive events for stakeholders, including farmers, businesses, and other interested bodies. Our 6 case studies have submitted their baseline data for analysis and to support the development of AgriCaptureCO2’s suite of services; Explore, Quantify, Verify, and Support.

Look out for events you can be a part of, and contact rebecca.davis@leafuk.org for more information or to get involved.

Envision

LEAF is currently working with the University of Reading as part of ‘Envision’ looking to develop innovative solutions through Earth Observation to support sustainable farming monitoring. We would like to speak to any farmers about their opinions on the use of remote monitoring and farm inspections.

Please contact Georgios Pexas g.pexas@reading.ac.uk if you are available to participate in an interview.

IPM Works

Working with partners across Europe, planning for the first demonstration events is underway. LEAF has contributed its experiences of running a national network of demonstration sites and helped gather views from other experts including the AHDB Monitor Farms and Teagasc BETTER Farms. We are now leading on the design of feedback forms and protocols for gathering feedback from demonstration events to inform ongoing improvements over the life of the project. The collaborative UK demonstration ‘hub’ will be focussed on Scotland and Coordinated by LEAF Innovation Centre, The James Hutton Institute.

SolACE

After SolACE’s most recent Annual Meeting held in June, all partners from 14 different countries across Europe were brought together, to share results from the last year of project work and to formulate an action plan for the remainder of the project which concludes next Spring. LEAF’s involvement has been around presenting and sharing findings from the 2020/21 phase of the project, focusing on potato trials in the East and North-East of England that measure the effects of irrigation and microbial inoculant on potato crop growth and yields. This year, we are working with partners from Newcastle University, to replicate these trials. In addition, we are co-leading the knowledge exchange and dissemination element of the project. After speaking to all partners, we have set our activities for the remainder of the project, which will consist of videos, policy briefs and practice abstracts. More to follow towards the end of the project.

Nature Based Solutions to Climate Change

Our group of ten farmers have completed a farm carbon footprint tool. This has provided the farmers with a baseline measurement to understand their own and their farms’ impact on climate change and presented an opportunity for measuring further improvement. Furthermore, our farmers are able to project the environmental impacts of various different scenarios using the tool, for example, understand the impacts of changing a particular practice or growing a different crop. All participating farmers have been set up with their own bespoke adviser, who have been visiting them over the last couple of months to develop an action plan to mitigate climate change using naturebased farming approaches. We have also come together as a group for a workshop to share and discuss results. The Sus-Ag project by the SusAg consortium, made up of LEAF, Sustainable Food Trust, and Hummingbird Technologies is in its final quarter after having a project extension of 3 months. The project partners have completed content development for 9 categories, plus a hidden category on climate change mitigation. The categories are as follows:

• Business Management • Human Capital • Biodiversity • Soil Management • Crop Health • Animal Husbandry • Resource Use • Water Management • Social Capital

Within each category, there are subcategories with questions that collect qualitative and quantitative data that is then scored using the new scoring system designed by the consortium, based upon existing assessments (eg, LEAF Sustainable Farming Review, and the SFT Sustainability Assessment).

The project is now looking at collecting feedback on the current content from users (primarily farmers at this stage) to ensure usability and relevance. Additionally, we have finalised brand voice and brand identity which is assisting in the design aspects of the tool and online dashboard. For further information please contact rebecca.davis@leafuk.org.

Penwith Partnership

We have visited participating farmers and given guidance on LEAF Sustainable Farming Review completion and held a group tour to the world leading daffodil facilities at Varfell Farms, which we hope to launch as a LEAF Demonstration Farm by the end of the project.

Project participants created some great self-filmed footage which has been stitched together into a fabulous video showing a snapshot of Penwith spring farming, with music composed by a local A-Level student. Take a look below: