Agricology Blog

Agricology at the Oxford Real Farming Conference 2020

Jen Clements explores whether uncertainties surrounding the agricultural environment present an opportunity to shape the future of the Cornish agri-environment

Siwan Howatson discusses the best time to utilise lime for soil pH and grassland productivity

Intercropping has been shown to be beneficial for pest, disease and weed management, preventing lodging, improving water quality, soil fertility and biodiversity as well as increasing resilience to climatic and agronomic shocks. Much of the innovation is happening in farmer’s fields and on-farm trials are an important step towards enhancing understanding of the benefits and […]

For those living in parts of the south and east of England, the switch from summer to autumn came very suddenly three weeks into September, when unusually dry and warm weather changed to a deluge of rain which has continued up to now (mid-October). Places further north and west had more rain during the summer […]

Dr Alastair Leake (Director of Policy & the Allerton Project for the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust) talks about why it’s important to consider using unproductive farm land to sow a winter mix of bird food. He stresses the importance in relation to helping the farmland bird index to recover, and gives a little advice […]

Dr Alastair Leake (Director of Policy & the Allerton Project for the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust) discusses why they are trialling taking an arable field out of crop production and have sown it with mixed species leys (filmed during September 2019). He explains they’re growing a traditional grass and clover mix alongside a mix […]

At the Wageningen Soil Conference in August 2019 we listened to many brilliant talks on the latest soil science; some of which were incredibly relevant to farmers. We want to share what we learnt with the Agricology community! Building short-term vs long-term carbon – it’s all down to the microorganisms We have all heard of […]

Richard Smith of Daylesford Organic Farms talks about grass leys and how they put them into stubble, and undersowing grass leys into cereal crops. He explains how they’ve sown the grass seed on a farm they’ve just taken on – where they’ve had to lightly cultivate the topsoil due to not being able to go […]

The end of the Second World War saw an increase in the need for food. It’s also the period where antibiotics first became available to doctors and veterinarians to treat bacterial infections. As farmers, we reacted to this call to arms and set about feeding our people. Stocking rates increased as we took animals from […]

Can plants still be used as veterinary treatment of animals or is this old tittle-tattle? That is the question we want to help answer. It’s not just about recording old practices before it is lost (although that IS important), but also attempting to help make farming a little more sustainable and, potentially, reduce the excessive […]

This year will be the first that neonicotinoid seed dressings will no longer be routinely applied to cereal crops following their ban last year. This no doubt will be making many farmers rather nervous and reaching for a few cans of pyrethroid. Unfortunately, resistance to these products by the aphids is on the increase and […]