LEAF Open Farm Sunday 12 June 2011 Make a note in your diary. SCRI will again host LEAF Open Farm Sunday at the Mylnefield site. This year we shall put on exhibits for both farming interests and the public. Check the links below for more on LEAF OFS countrywide.

PURE research grant on integrated pest management

The EU-funded PURE research project kicks off this month for a period 2011-2014 that will see a Europe-wide, multi-disciplinary research group bring about major developments in integrated pest mangement (IPM) as a contribution to food security and reducing the environmental footprint.  'Pest' includes diseases, weeds and insect pests. The aim is to achieve substantial reductions in chemical pesticides by targeting crops such as vine, wheat, maize and vegetables that rely heavily on chemical control. PURE will examine all existing information on IPM, fill some gaps with new data, and use modelling and decision support tools to provide IPM solutions that will be tested on cropping systems across Europe. The Institute is one of 14 academic and research partners in PURE and will contribute expertise and field work in IPM, ecological engineering, and the crops wheat and field vegetables. Emerging results will be applied and evaluated on the new research platform at Balruddery farm. For further information on the build up to PURE, see - Integrated Pest Management in Europe. Contacts: Nick Birch and Graham Begg.

VESS Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure meeting Denmark

The Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure (VESS) is a useful, practical aid developed by Bruce Ball of the Scottish Agricultural College and collaborators in Aberdeen, Denmark and Brazil. "This simple, quick soil test describes soil quality by comparing a spadeful of soil with a reference chart which shows the different types and qualities of soil structures. The test, shown in detail on colour charts provided (example right), involves digging-out a slice of soil, laying it down on the ground or on a table, pulling it apart by hand and breaking or crushing some of the aggregates which are created. The quality of the structure is estimated from how easily it breaks up, the shape and size of the aggregates, the pores and the roots inside the aggregates and by comparison with the photographs in the chart." You can find out more at the VESS web site. For its use as an indicator of the state of arable soil in Scotland, see the Comment page.

This and other estimates of assessing soil quality will be looked at at a meeting on the Applications of Visual Soil Evaluation on 16 and 17 May 2011 at the Research Centre Flakkeberg, Denmark, followed by a Knowledge Transfer day on 18 May for advisers, farmers and policy makers (check this link for information). 

LEAF Open Farm Sunday 2011 Kicks Off

The latest monthly LEAF E-brief for January 2011 announces the following. "The Open Farm Sunday website is now open for registrations! Just go to the Open Farm Sunday web site to get involved in this year’s event on the 12 June. Resources will soon be available to order on line and we’ll also be running free OFS workshops all over the country starting in March to help host farmers get geared up for the big day – dates will be announced shortly. We’re still on the look out for sponsors so if you’d like to get involved, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact annabel.shackleton@leafuk.org to find out more."

This E-brief also has information on the LEAF audit - now live, technical days, the LEAF marque, food labelling, CAP reform discussions, and various farming / environment seminars and events. For information on joining LEAF, email enquiries@leaf.org or see the LEAF website.

LEAF visit to Covent Garden Market 17 November 2010

A very early start saw a band of LEAF people make a 6.30 am tour of the flower and vegetable market at Covent Garden. We heard about the changing fortunes of the Market as the big retailers moved towards sourcing their own produce directly, but also about the consequent development of strong networks that have arisen, linking producers, including LEAF marque farmers, to Market traders and individual outlets such as hotels and restaurants. We also heard that the Market is being revitalised and is planning to move to new premises.

LEAF Winter Event 16 November 2010

In the afternoon following the President's Event, LEAF staff and LEAF farmers held discussions on a range of topics including LEAF tools, demonstration and communication, marketing opportunities and political influence. Geoff Squire reports ' At this, my first attendance at a LEAF Winter Event, I was impressed by the commitment, passion and expert knowledge of the farmers and LEAF staff - there was much to learn from the experiences of different farming sectors and informed discussions on how to move LEAF forward.'

At the evening dinner, at Clerkenwell Kitchens, the group were joined by Professor Judy Buttriss from the British Nutrition Foundation, who gave an excellent short talk that touched on topics of obesity and malnourishment, dietary requirements and intake, key nutritional components, food wastage and the general challenges facing sustainable diets. A lively and vigorous debate followed during and after the meal. Geoff Squire says 'Thanks to LEAF for the invitation to take part in the Winter Event. I came back with many ideas as to how the LEAF Innovation Centre should develop both at SCRI now and in 2011 as part of the James Hutton Institute'.

LEAF President's Event 16 November 2010

The LEAF President's Event of 2011, hosted by Baroness Hazel Byford, OBE, and with a keynote speech from Mark Price, Managing Director of Waitrose, was held at the Crypt on the Green, St James Clerkenwell, London - a great venue with a very receptive and questioning audience. A range of other speakers gave presentations on LEAF-related matters, including Geoff Squire from SCRI, who spoke about the choices facing farming if it is to be sustainable. A summary of his talk with be posted here.  

Cabbage aphids, a parasitic wasp and mummified aphids containing the wasp's larvae (all magnified): parasitic wasps are important in natural pest control and should be encouraged in farmland. These and other insects were on display at LEAF Open farm Sunday in 2010 (see below).

LEAF Open Farm Sunday 13 June 2010

Open Farm Sunday is an annual LEAF event which gives the public the chance to visit a working farm and find out more about farming in the UK. SCRI again opened its doors for the event on 13 June 2010 and more than 600 people took the opportunity to visit.

The SCRI Open Farm Sunday event in 2011 aimed mainly to be a fun day for families and judging by the many happy smiles as visitors young and old enjoyed tractor rides and many other activities it was a big success.

Visitors could take trips round the working farm at SCRI by tractor or on foot where scientists explained more about the research being carried out at the site.

The Living Field garden and study centre also welcomed visitors inside to a range of practical activities including collecting and identifying mini-beasts, working with plant dyes and dyestuffs and finding the plant with most revolting smell. There was also a strong, underlying scientific emphasis on the role of insects in farmland. Follow the link to read more on the Living Field exhibits.

To find a farm near you that is taking part visit the Open Farm Sunday website.

Plants on the Institute's Mylnefield farm at Open Farm Sunday 2010: left, bladder campion; centre, red clover and other legumes in the Living Field meadow; and right, the blue flower spike of the viper's bugloss. Plant biodiversity such as this supports the farmland food web and can be encouraged without reducing yield. 

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Contact for this page: Geoff Squire