06

Helen Browning on the early days of IF

Co-operation and co-innovation

18

CONTENTS 

The Soil Association is a membership charity campaigning for planet-friendly food and farming. We believe in the connection between soil, food, the health of people and the health of the planet. Founded in 1946, we drafted the world’s first organic standards 30 years ago and by joining us you can support the transformation of the UK’s food culture, give your beliefs a voice and become part of the solution.

Memorable moments from the last decade

42 27 NEWS FEATURES TECHNICAL

Raising poultry on home grown feed

6 OPINION

Helen Browning on 10 years of innovative farming 8 FARMER AND GROWER BOARD

Tom Rigby on the role of the board and building natural solutions together 9 NEWS ROUND-UP

An update on Ukraine, grazing ewes on red clover, cultivating margins for solitary bees and new funding for the Organic Research Centre 12 MARKET NEWS

Growth in the global organic market and the latest Organic Market Report 27 INNOVATIVE FARMERS

A timeline of key events over the last 10 years of Innovative Farmers

16 SHINING A LIGHT ON INNOVATION

Some of our most memorable field labs 18 A CULTURE OF CO-INNOVATION

The key take out messages from the LIAISON project 22 AGRICULTURAL DIVERSITY

Field labs that have looked at species and varietal diversity 32 FOREST LABS

Why forest labs could help achieve better management of forests 50 WHY WE’RE PLANTING FEWER TREES AT EASTBROOK

The reasons why it’s sometimes better to plant fewer trees 54 SCALING UP FIELD LAB OUTCOMES

How field labs could change the way we farm

34 IMPROVED DAIRY ANIMAL HEALTH

A look at two dairy field labs 36 WHY FARMER-LED RESEARCH WORKS

Interview with Iain Tolhurst and Andy Dibben 40 IS INTERCROPPING THE WAY FORWARD?

The successes of the intercropping field labs 42 SUCCESSFUL ORGANIC REGENERATIVE POULTRY

Tips on managing a resilient poultry enterprise 44 RESEARCH

Lambing, pasture management and wireworms 48 RESOURCES

Some of the many videos and other resources available online from the Soil Association and Innovative Farmers

The Soil Association magazine for farmers and growers

SPRING 2022 ISSUE 139

Celebrating 10 wonderful years of

INNOVATIVE FARMERS

Farmer-led research answers the big questions from farmers and growers

PLUS Co-innovation / Forest labs / Intercropping / Regenerative poultry

Market news / Research / Innovative Farmers / Technical advice

ISSUE 139 SPRING 2022

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 To receive every issue of Organic Farming Magazine go to www. soilassociation.org/ organic-farming-mag