EISA, the European Initiative for Sustainable Development in Agriculture, just published the organisation’s Annual Report 2015. This report highlights activities of EISA on the European level as well as key projects and activities of the seven national EISA members in their respective countries. In addition, the report provides brief information on the Associate Members of EISA and their main fields of work. Read more …
Author Archives: Andreas Frangenberg
Dairy Pasture Management in Integrated Farming
Integrated Farming Topic Sheet no 7 / 2016
As a consequence of the globalisation of the milk market and resulting price volatility, the European dairy sector faces enormous challenges. In addition to these economic developments, there are also growing environmental and societal challenges: the preservation of the abiotic resources soil, air and water, and the protection of nature and biodiversity as biotic resources receive growing public attention. Innovative dairy production systems including effective pasture management as characterised in the Integrated Farming (IF) Framework helps dairy farmers to improve the sustainability of their businesses. Read more…
LEAF in 2015: Annual Review published
2015 has been another very positive year for LEAF. New LEAF Demonstration Farms and Innovation Centres have been opened to add to the outstanding network that has been developed and improved over the years. At the Annual Conference in November, Professor Dame Anne Glover spoke eloquently about the urgent need to continue funding new science for the industry, and most importantly to encourage its adoption in practice. In 2015, also Open Farm Sunday broke all records with attendance and the whole agricultural industry owes a debt of gratitude to all the participating farmers and their numerous helpers for the way in which they portray the good messages about British food and farming. Read more …
Soil Health: Getting the most out of your land for forages and grasses
Presentation by David Lobb, University of Manitoba,
at the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association, CFGA,
on November 18th, 2015, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan:
“I am going to begin with the Take Home Message: Soil and
soil management are important:”
Read more …
(photo: © David Lobb)
A few twists and turns on the road to soil health
Article by David Lobb, University of Manitoba,
published in the July–August 2015 volume of Crops & Soils magazine:
“The United Nations (UN) has declared 2015
as the International Year of Soils (IYS) in an effort to raise
awareness and promote the sustainability of our limited
soil resources (www.fao.org/globalsoilpartnership/
iys-2015). A major focus of this effort is soil health:”
Read more …
(photo: © David Lobb)
Protecting resources whilst using them efficiently: ‘Soils a solid ground for life’ also in Integrated Farming
December 2015
EISA Topic Sheets on “Soil Biodiversity and Integrated Farming” and “Soil Protection in Integrated Farming” published during the 2015 International Year of Soils
EISA (Brussels): Protecting/managing soils as equally precious and limited natural resource is one of the key elements of Integrated Farming. In order to further raise the awareness for Integrated Farming as a holistic approach to sustainable farm management, and… Read more
(Photo: © G. Odinga / Agro-Barbele 2012)
LEAF calls on farmers to ‘Share Your Story’ on Open Farm Sunday 2016
December 2015
LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) has announced an exciting new campaign to inspire and encourage more farmers to open their gates for next year’s Open Farm Sunday on the 5th June 2016. ‘Share Your Story’ will call on all farmers to get involved to share their story – from how crops are grown, animals cared for, to how they manage our countryside. Read more …
The North Wyke site of Rothamsted Research launched as a LEAF Innovation Centre: a centre of Excellence for sustainable farming
Dezember 2015
A new LEAF Innovation Centre has been launched by LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming), the leading organisation promoting sustainable farming. The North Wyke site of Rothamsted Research in Okehampton, Devon becomes the latest site to join LEAF’s network of Innovation Centres. Read more …
Precision Agriculture as tool to increase efficiency in Integrated Farming (focus: arable)
December 2015
Integrated Farming Topic Sheet no 6 / 2015
Integrated Farming (IF) is about continuous development, thus allowing farmers to permanently improving the efficiency and value of all managed resources. It is about attention to detail and adopting innovative practices to deliver sustainable agriculture. And this is exactly where Precision Agriculture comes into play. Ever since the first GPS devices and N-sensors were available for arable … Read more
(Photo: © Case IH)
Land in hand in municipalities
November 2015
Step by step towards more floral diversity
A diverse supply of blossoms, evenly spread throughout the year to the greatest possible extent, is what every beekeeper is likely to desire for his bees. Getting closer to this objective can be achieved via the own municipality, by managing land in hand – that is available almost everywhere – in an ecologically meaningful manner.
Land in hand is defined as open space areas in agricultural landscapes and residential areas neither used by agriculture nor nature conservation. Read more …