Join agroforestry expert Steve Gabriel for a morning lecture and afternoon farm walk looking at the 'Promise and Practice of Silvopasture.' 

The concept of silvopasture challenges our notions of both modern agriculture and land use, integrating trees, animals, and forages in a whole-system approach to farming. Such a system not only can help to regenerate farmland, but also provides an economical livelihood and even the ability to farm extensively while buffering the effects of a changing climate: increased rainfall, longer droughts, and more intense storm events.

During this lecture and farm walk, Steve Gabriel will demonstrate the benefits and approaches to integrating trees, livestock, and forages into one farm system, while building soil health and resiliency on the land.

Steve’s lecture will be followed by a pub lunch at Helen Browning’s Royal Oak Pub, followed by a pasture walk on Helen Browning's agroforestry plot, exploring the ways different site qualities inform tree selection, layout, and rotational grazing practices.

About Steve Gabriel:

Steve Gabriel, author of Silvopasture and Farming the Woods (with Ken Mudge), is an ecologist, educator, and a forest farmer who has lived most of his life in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Steve passionately pursues work to reconnect people to the forested landscape and see the value of trees and forests for a truly regenerative future. He is Agroforestry Extension Specialist for the Cornell Small Farm Program and co-owns Wellspring Forest Farm & School with his wife Elizabeth, where they produce mushrooms, maple syrup, duck eggs, pastured lamb, and elderberry extract, all from forest-based systems.

A copy of Steve's book entitled Silvopasture will also be available to purchase with a special 30% discount.

Agenda

11.00 Arrival and refreshments

11.30 The Promise and Practice of Silvopasture - Growing Trees in Grazing Systems - Steve Gabriel

12.30 Hearty lunch and refreshments

13.30 Agroforestry plot tour

15.30 Departure

This event is kindly supported by the Woodland Trust and Chelsea Green Publishing

Venue:

Helen Browning's Royal Oak

Cues Lane, Bisopstone, SN6 8PP

For more information click here for the booking page.

Challenge Sheep is tracking 9,000 replacements from a range of English sheep farms over seven years to understand how flock performance can be improved. The project aims to generate new knowledge and highlight existing information on managing ewe replacements.

As part of the Challenge Sheep project, each participating farm will be hosting discussion groups. Led by the farm consultant and participating farmer, the fourth round of events will be held this winter. This discussion groups, run by Nicky Robinson and will focus on topics such as:

• Scanning results
• Barren ewe checks
• Feeding during pregnancy
• Preparing for lambing

Attendees are encouraged to bring scanning results, scanning weights and BCS from their own flock.

To attend the meeting you will need to book. Please email [email protected]

Venue: The Lamb Inn, Lyme Road, Axminster, Devon, EX13 5BE

For more information please click here.

Cranfield University in collaboration with Rothamsted Research, NIAB, Newcastle University and University of East Anglia have received funding from Defra to cooperate in a multidisciplinary project entitled Knowledge gaps and research priorities to optimise the use of organic amendments for sustainable intensification of UK agricultural systems. As part of this project, two workshops will be organised in East Anglia and South West to cover the arable and livestock areas respectively. It is recognised that the processes and challenges are different for the two sectors, but there are also opportunities for overlaps in knowledge and opportunities, which can be optimised.

The overall goal of the project is to identify knowledge gaps that are limiting the efficient and effective use of organic amendments in UK agriculture and to rank and prioritise these gaps. The proposed project will devise a comprehensive and ambitious action plan to strengthen the evidence base, giving farmers and policy makers more confidence in the use of these materials in restoring and conserving the health of agricultural soils that underpin UK agribusinesses.

This is an invitation to farmers, policy makers, researchers, waste management companies, fertiliser companies and researchers to attend the workshop free of charge. Participants to this workshop are invited to share their practical experiences of using organic amendments in the arable sector. They are expected to benefit from interaction with others in the sector and gain new insights to opportunities that could become available in the near future. They can also influence in prioritising knowledge exchange activities and new research if needed to further advance use of organic amendments in the arable sector. There will also be discussions on possible interactions with the livestock sector to full embrace the circular economy approach. BASIS point are guaranteed for those who need to collect them.

For more information please click here.