Search

Microbes are increasingly central to visions of sustainable and healthy futures, including in farming movements such as regenerative agriculture. In social science and environmental humanities scholarship, (re)connecting with microbes is seen as a way to challenge, conceptually and practically, the very ontology of human-nature separation which underpins the destruction and violence in human relations with other living beings and with environments. The crux of this onto-ethical potential is a shift towards relational modes of knowing microbes, rooted in localised, proximate, and sensuous practice, and expressed in embodied expertise. This paper engages critically with this promise by calling attention to persistence of calculability to people's self-governance within current microbiopolitics. Through a case study of regenerative agriculture in the United Kingdom, I argue that while embodied expertise of soil microbes is seen as crucial to soil health-oriented farming, it is also dismissed as an insufficient in guiding farmers and shaping future practice, including by farmers themselves. Regenerative agriculture continues to function within "farming by numbers", an agri-biopolitical regime in which farmers' and advisors' subjectivity is that of calculating managers situated in calculable environments. As a result, calculability acts as a 'break' on the development of alternative microbial onto-ethics, and regenerative agriculture practitioners look for ways to bring soil microbes into the realm of calculability (e.g., through metagenomics). Consequently, the way microbes are being incorporated into future agri-environmental relations reinforces rather than threatens existing structures of biopolitical power. Overall, I argue that human-microbe research, potentially due to its empirical focus on alternative practices, has underplayed the importance of calculability to people's self-governance in relations with microbes. The struggle for a new microbiopolitics, especially in agriculture and environmental management, will require addressing the continued importance of calculability, and a creative and socially relevant experimentation with alternative forms of expertise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An extensive, publicly available dataset is presented—the LAR Broccoli dataset—which contains 20,000 manually annotated images of broccoli heads captured from a moving tractor at an organic farm in the UK. The dataset contains images of the same row of broccoli heads recorded at 30 frames per second (fps) with three different cameras. Two off-the-shelf, relatively low-cost depth-sensing cameras were used, with the tractor moving at a speed of around 1 km/h, in addition to a webcam, with the tractor moving twice as fast. The utility of the dataset is demonstrated in four ways. First, three different state-of-the-art detector models were trained on the dataset, achieving an overall mean Average Precision (mAP) score of over 95% for the best-performing detector. The results validate the utility of the dataset for the standard task of in-field broccoli head recognition. Second, experiments with transfer learning were conducted, initialised with a smaller pre-trained broccoli detection model, and refined with the LAR Broccoli dataset. Third, we assessed the advantages of transfer learning not only using mAP but also according to time and space requirements for training models, which provides a proxy metric for energy efficiency, a practical consideration for real-world model training. Fourth, the cross-camera generalisation among the three camera systems was compared. The results highlight that testing and training detector models using different camera systems can lead to reduced performance, unless the training set also includes some images captured in the same manner as those in the test set. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many countries, political and environmental pressures are currently combining to generate a perfect storm of circumstances that is reducing food availability, increasing food costs and thereby reducing the availability of food to many. The UK is currently considering new national food and land management policies, and attention is also being given to legislation to address diet-related health issues. Many now argue for a revolution in UK farming practices to reduce their impact on the natural environment. The UK is not alone in facing these and other challenges. Both the contribution of agriculture to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the effects of climate change on food production are issues receiving worldwide attention. Regenerative agricultural practices can result in greater C capture, reduced GHG emissions, enhanced soil quality and enhanced biodiversity. However, it is questioned if such farming systems will be productive enough to feed a growing population with the food required for social and health benefits. To fully exploit the impact of new plant science in farmer fields, it is imperative to effectively link science to farming practices and conduct a broader conversation around the food revolution with social scientists and with the general public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable soil management is essential to prevent agricultural soil degradation and maintain food production and core soil-based ecosystem services. Regenerative agriculture, one approach to sustainable soil management, is rapidly gaining traction in UK farming and policy. However, it is unclear what farmers themselves consider to be sustainable soil management practices, and how these relate to the principles of regenerative agriculture. Further, there is little insight into how sustainable soil management is currently promoted in agricultural knowledge and innovation services (AKIS). To address these knowledge gaps, we undertook the first national-scale survey of sustainable soil management practices in the United Kingdom and complemented it with targeted interviews. We found high levels of awareness (>60%) and uptake (>30%) of most sustainable soil management practices among mixed and arable farmers. Importantly, 92% of respondents considered themselves to be practising sustainable soil management. However, our analysis shows that farmers combine practices in different ways. Not all these combinations correspond to the full set of regenerative agriculture principles of reduced soil disturbance, soil cover and crop diversity. To better understand the relationship between existing sustainable soil management practices in the United Kingdom and regenerative agriculture principles, we derive a "regenerative agriculture score" by allocating individual practices among the principles of regenerative agriculture. Farmers who self-report that they are managing soil sustainably tend to score more highly across all five principles. We further find that sustainable soil management messaging is fragmented and that few AKIS networks have sustainable soil management as their primary concern. Overall, our study finds that there are multiple understandings of sustainable soil management among UK farmers and land managers and that they do not correspond to regenerative agriculture principles in a straightforward way. This diversity and variety in sustainable soil management needs to be taken into account in future policy and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic wheat production systems have lower yields compared with intensive conventional production and often do not achieve the grain protein content and quality thresholds set by millers and bakers. In contrast, organic production methods were reported to result in higher concentrations of nutritionally desirable micronutrients and lower concentrations of the toxic metal Cd in wheat grain and wholegrain flour. However, although N-availability and variety characteristics are known to affect both gain yields and bread-making quality, the exact reasons for the yield gap and differences in grain processing and nutritional quality between organic and conventional spring wheat production in the UK are poorly understood. The overall aim of this study was therefore to determine to what extent changes in variety choice and fertilization regimes may reduce the yield gap and improve processing quality without affecting nutritional quality in organic spring wheat production. To achieve this aim, we compared crop health, yield, grain processing, and nutritional quality parameters in spring wheat produced using (i) six contrasting spring wheat varieties grown with a standard fertilization regime and (ii) one variety widely used by organic farmers (Paragon) with nine different fertilization regimes in (iii) three UK sites/farms with contrasting pedoclimatic conditions. Significant differences in foliar disease severity, grain yield, and quality parameters were detected between six contrasting spring wheat varieties when grown under organic management regimes. Specifically, the varieties Paragon and Tybalt were identified as the best-performing varieties with respect to foliar disease resistance and grain yield under organic farming conditions and also produced high processing and nutritional quality across the three UK sites. However, the highest grain yields were obtained by Paragon at the Gilchester site and Tybalt at the Sheepdrove and Courtyard sites, while the highest protein contents were produced by Tybalt at the Gilchester site and Paragon at the Sheepdrove and Courtyard sites, which suggests that there is a need for site-specific wheat variety selection in the UK organic sector. Although organic fertilizer input type and level also affected wheat performance, differences between fertilization regimes were smaller than those observed between the five contrasting varieties, which suggests that improvements in spring wheat breeding/selection have a greater potential for increasing crop yield and quality in the organic sector compared with changes to fertilization practices. Overall, results suggest it is feasible to breed/select spring wheat varieties that combine high protein, vitamin E, and micronutrients with low toxic metal (Cd, Pb) concentrations when produced under organic farming conditions. These findings also support the hypothesis that differences in variety choice by organic and conventional farmers have contributed to the differences in nutritional quality between organic and conventional wheat products reported in previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United Kingdom, woodland planting and soil and crop management are being promoted as approaches to tackling flooding. Although evidence is limited, it is thought tree planting and regenerative agriculture practices such as crop–herbal ley pasture rotations increase infiltration, soil water storage and evapotranspiration, potentially reducing flooding. A process‐based soil–water–vegetation model was coupled with a semi‐distributed groundwater model to explore the impact of these interventions on peak and low flows in a large, groundwater‐dominated catchment. Land use change and management were found to have limited potential to reduce flooding in this setting. Herbal ley–crop rotations produced a <1% reduction in flow for return periods >2 years, and levels of woodland planting judged to be the realistic maximum produced reductions of 0.2%–2.6%, depending on tree species. Broadscale spruce planting was the only scenario to produce significant reductions in peak flow (16.0%–24.7% at return periods 1–15 years); however, the level of spruce planting required to achieve these reductions was estimated to reduce Q95 flow by ~39%, which would likely have negative implications for water security and ecological river flows. The impact of land‐based natural flood management interventions for flood prevention in large, permeable catchments should not be overstated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, many countries have introduced policies that promote sustainable agricultural practices, such as reducing synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and promoting diversified crop rotation. While such management changes might represent an opportunity for the agricultural sector to mitigate the impacts of climate change through carbon (C) sequestration in soils, there are still uncertainties due to the scarcity of reliable long-term data to prove this assumption. In this study, we applied the DayCent model using empirical data from a farm-scale study and an experimental trial study at Nafferton farm in the UK, to assess the long-term effects of contrasting agricultural systems (conventional vs. organic), grazing regimes (non-grazed vs. grazed), arable systems with ley phases, mineral vs. compost fertility sources and conventional vs. organic crop rotation on soil C stocks (0–0.20 m depth). The simulations showed that grazing and higher ley time proportions can increase soil C stocks for a period of at least 30 years, regardless of the agricultural system used (average increase in rates of 0.25 ± 0.02 Mg ha−1 yr−1). Compost fertiliser promoted soil C accumulation for the same period (average increase in rates of 0.3 Mg ha−1 yr−1), but its magnitude was dependent on the choice of crops in the rotation. However, ley time proportions higher than 40% of the full crop rotation did not improve soil C accumulation further. We conclude that the DayCent model can be used to identify the quantity of and the effective period for which management practices can be used to target mitigation efforts, but the balance between sustainability and productivity aspects warrants further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Milk and beef derived from pasture-based systems have been characterized by higher nutritional values and a lower environmental footprint than their equivalents obtained via indoor systems. However, intensification of pasture-based production can have adverse impacts on biodiversity and the environment. To date, studies on pro-environmental diversification options leading to improvement of environmental performance of pasture-based dairy and beef production have rarely been synthesized. The present study sought to review current on-farm pro-environmental measures with the potential for enhancing biodiversity status and/or reducing the environmental impacts of pasture-based agriculture. Literature on farmer attitudes toward these measures was also reviewed to identify potential obstacles and opportunities for transitioning to pro-environmental agriculture. A systematic search of published research from high-income island countries characterized by oceanic temperate climate with a high dependence on pasture-based agriculture--the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and New Zealand, was conducted. Thirty studies that assessed the impact of pro-environmental measures, eight 'attitudinal' studies of dairy and beef farmers and one study covering both aspects were identified. Inductive thematical analysis was subsequently undertaken. Environmentally sensitive management practices such as hedgerows and field margins management, mixed grazing (where two or more herbivorous animals graze the same land), rare livestock breeds, multispecies swards, organic farming and agroforestry were identified as primary themes studied under the auspices of pro-environmental diversification, while forestry, bioenergy crops and organic farming were the main themes identified within attitudinal research studies. Findings suggest that environmentally sensitive practices have varied effects on biodiversity. Mixed grazing was found to improve livestock production, while studies of organic farming reported multiple positive impacts on biodiversity and animal welfare. Effect of multispecies swards on methane emissions and urinary nitrogen extraction were found to be inconsistent. Attitudinal research suggests that the main barrier to implementing afforestation is its lack of attractiveness compared to 'traditional' farming and that organic farmer decisions regarding agricultural management practices might be less profit-oriented and influenced by ecological beliefs to a greater extent than decisions of conventional farmers. The results of this study confirm that pro-environmental diversification inherently encompasses multiple scientific disciplines; however, previous study designs and outcomes were found to be fragmented and narrowly focused. Considering the urgency and importance of climate and biodiversity crises, pro-environmental diversification of pasture-based dairy and beef production has rarely been holistically approached and remains understudied. The development of practical, sustainable solutions for farming based on circular economy and respect to nature and additional strategies to increase farmer and consumer environmental awareness should be prioritized by policymakers, advisory and scientific bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anxieties around the relationship between livestock agriculture and the environmental crisis are driving sustained discussions about the place of beef and dairy farming in a sustainable food system. Proposed solutions range from 'clean‐cow' sustainable intensification to 'no‐cow', animal free futures, both of which encourage a disruptive break with past practice. This paper reviews the alternative proposition of regenerative agriculture that naturalises beef and dairy production by invoking the past to justify future, nature‐based solutions. Drawing on fieldwork in the UK, it first introduces two of the most prominent strands to this green rebranding of cattle: the naturalisation of ruminant methane emissions and the optimisation of soil carbon sequestration via the use of ruminant grazing animals. Subsequent thematic analysis outlines the three political strategies of post‐pastoral storytelling, political ecological baselining and a probiotic model of bovine biopolitics that perform this naturalisation. The conclusion assesses the potential and the risks of this approach to grounding the geographies and the temporalities of agricultural transition in the Anthropocene: an epoch in which time is out of joint and natures are multiple and non‐analogue, such that they provide slippery and contested grounds for political solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food innovations can create novel nutritious food, improve agricultural sustainability, and increase the agri-food industry's market profits. Our study proposes a consensus definition of food innovations and forecasts food innovations that will be available to consumers in the next five years by using a Delphi study. Thirteen experts aged 35 to 85 from the US and the UK researching or working in agriculture and nutrition, public health, the agri-food industry, or food policy participated in three rounds of this Delphi study. The experts were chosen using the snowball sampling method. This study followed the implementation and data analysis guidelines popularized by the Rand Corporation. The consensus definition for food innovations (with 76.9% agreement) was that 'food innovations aid in the development, production, or transportation of new food products, processes, or technology to promote human health, food security, or environmental sustainability'. The specific food innovations, which had over 69% agreement, are ranked as (1) plant-based meat alternatives, (2) personalized nutrition, (3) natural foods, (4) new genetically modified organisms, (5) regenerative agriculture, (6) urban agriculture, (7) packing innovations, (8) alternative flours, (9) improving shelf life, (10) supply chain technologies, (11) improved soil health, and (12) technology for traceability. The food innovation definition and identified specific food innovations could further connect the agricultural value chain to develop novel nutritious foods and improve agricultural sustainability. Agri-food industry specialists, practitioners, researchers, and policymakers can advance food innovation development and research pinpointing the specific food innovations along the agricultural value chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheat yields in organic production are significantly lower than those achieved in conventional farming systems and in Northern Europe organic farmers also struggle to achieve the processing quality levels demanded by millers and bakers, especially in winter-wheat crops. Here, we report the findings of a 3-year pilot study which investigated the potential of increasing grain yields and both standard processing (e.g., grain protein levels and specific weights) and selected nutritional (tocopherol and tocotrienol isomers) quality parameters via (i) changes in the management of clover crops grown before wheat (Rhizobium seed inoculation, application of greenwaste compost to clover swards) and (ii) use of new varieties developed in both the UK and continental Europe. Results indicate that the use of compost amendment to preceding clover swards significantly increased the grain protein levels in the three winter-wheat, but not the four spring-wheat varieties, and also significantly increases grain yields in one winter-wheat variety (Greina). In contrast, the use of Rhizobium-inoculation was found to significantly reduce protein concentrations in the winter-, but not spring wheat varieties, and had no significant effect on grain yields in both winter and spring wheat. However, analysis of variance detected significant interactions between Rhizobium seed inocula in clover pre-crops and (a) compost application for grain specific weights in winter-wheat and grain hardness in spring wheat crops and (b) variety for grain protein content in spring wheat crops. No significant effect of clover pre-crop management on tocopherol and tocotrienol isomer profiles could be detected, although significant differences between varieties were detected in both winter and spring wheat. Results of this pilot study need to be confirmed in future trials, but indicate that both (a) changes in clover-management practices and (b) the selections of wheat varieties that are more suitable for organic farming systems has the potential to increase grain yield and allow organic farmers to more frequently achieve baking or milling grade quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheat yields have plateaued in the UK over the last 25 years, during which time most arable land has been annually cropped continuously with short rotations dominated by cereals. Arable intensification has depleted soil organic matter and biology, including mycorrhizas, which are affected by tillage, herbicides, and crop genotype. Here, we test whether winter wheat yields, mycorrhization, and shoot health can be improved simply by adopting less intensive tillage and adding commercial mycorrhizal inoculum to long-term arable fields, or if 3-year grass-clover leys followed direct drilling is more effective for biological regeneration of soil with reduced N fertiliser. We report a trial of mycorrhization, ear pathology, and yield performance of the parents and four double haploid lines from the Avalon x Cadenza winter wheat population in a long-term arable field that is divided into replicated treatment plots. These plots comprised wheat lines grown using ploughing or disc cultivation for 3 years, half of which received annual additions of commercial arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) inoculum, compared to 3-year mown grass-clover ley plots treated with glyphosate and direct-drilled. All plots annually received 35 kg of N ha−1 fertiliser without fungicides. The wheat lines did not differ in mycorrhization, which averaged only 34% and 40% of root length colonised (RLC) in the ploughed and disc-cultivated plots, respectively, and decreased with inoculation. In the ley, RLC increased to 52%. Two wheat lines were very susceptible to a sooty ear mould, which was lowest in the ley, and highest with disc cultivation. AM inoculation reduced ear infections by >50% in the susceptible lines. In the ley, yields ranged from 7.2 to 8.3 t ha−1, achieving 92 to 106% of UK average wheat yield in 2018 (7.8 t ha−1) but using only 25% of average N fertiliser. Yields with ploughing and disc cultivation averaged only 3.9 and 3.4 t ha−1, respectively, with AM inoculum reducing yields from 4.3 to 3.5 t ha−1 in ploughed plots, with no effect of disc cultivation. The findings reveal multiple benefits of reintegrating legume-rich leys into arable rotations as part of a strategy to regenerate soil quality and wheat crop health, reduce dependence on nitrogen fertilisers, enhance mycorrhization, and achieve good yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A method is now available to quantify the number of pesticide residues and relative pesticide dietary risks in individual servings of food. The Dietary Risk Index (DRI) system combines the results of United States and United Kingdom pesticide residue testing programs with data on food serving sizes and each pesticide's chronic Reference Dose or Acceptable Daily Intake. Chronic DRI values are a ratio: the amount of residue in a serving of food relative to the maximum amount allowed by regulators. Results: The DRI system generates individual sample tables reporting the number of residues detected and individual pesticide and aggregate-pesticide DRI values in specific, individual samples of food. It is the first such system to do so worldwide. Output tables produce accurate estimates of real-world dietary risks based on current toxicology data and exposure benchmarks set by regulators. System outputs allow assessment of the distribution of pesticide-dietary risks across foods and pesticides and demonstrate that dietary risk levels are highly skewed. A large number of samples pose moderate, low, or very-low risks, and relatively few samples pose high or very-high risks. Conclusions: The DRI system provides the food industry, regulators and analysts with a simple, accessible online tool to assess pesticide dietary-risk levels by food, by pesticide, as a function of country of origin, and on food grown on conventional versus organic farms. DRI system output tables show that the number of residues in a sample of food is a consistently poor indicator of dietary risk levels. By identifying the relatively small number of high-risk samples, efforts to mitigate pesticide dietary risks can be targeted where the most worrisome risks are. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yield gaps between organic and conventional agriculture raise concerns about future agricultural systems which should reduce external inputs and face an unpredictable climate. In the UK, the performance gap is especially severe for wheat that, as a result, has a small and shrinking organic acreage. In organic wheat production, most determinants of crop performance are managed at a rotation level, which leaves cultivar choice as the major decision on a seasonal basis. Yet, conventionally generated cultivar recommendations might be inappropriate to organic farms. Furthermore, uncertainty about field-scale crop performance hinders positive developments of the supply chain of organic grains and seeds. Here, we present a field-scale evaluation of winter wheat cultivars, integrated with an agronomic crop performance survey, across a network of organic farms. The relation between crop performance and climatic patterns is explored, to capitalise past growing seasons in cultivar and management decisions on-farm. Grain yield and grain protein content were linked by a dual relation, positive across environments and negative across cultivars. Feed-grade cultivars showed a relatively high yield (4.5–5.5 t/ha) but low protein (8.5–9.3%), whereas breadmaking and historic cultivars showed higher protein (10.4–11.1%) and lower yields (3.5–4.0 t/ha). Historic phenotypes showed better weed suppressive ability than modern ones, without trade-offs with yield or quality. Multiple regressions showed that weed abundance at wheat anthesis was the main yield predictor. The effects of two different post-emergence weed management strategies were observed. Farms relying on interrow hoeing showed lower weed abundance, but a higher relative abundance of the dominant species than that of those relying on spring tine harrowing. Future wheat breeding and cultivar testing should account for crop-weed relations, weed management strategies and their effects on nutrient use efficiency. Further data collection can inform plant breeding on critical traits for low-input farming and shed light on cultivar-environment-management interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apart from the major health impact, Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) has impacted almost all sectors across the world. One of them is food, Fruit and Vegetable Markets (FVM). Lockdown implementation had different impacts in different countries, like Canada and the United Kingdom (UK) where they have logistics and supply chain of food, fruits and vegetable items and noted a shift in supply from food service to the retail channel, although the fresh food supply remains unaffected. A similar trend was seen in the metro cities of India, where online shopping has increased. In the food supply sector, both retailers and farmers had to face difficulty in storing, transporting, and selling of the goods and had to bear losses due to increased wastage. Although with an increased demand, organic farming has increased but still increased expenditure, less yield, and selling of the products are the major challenges in front of them. Food, fruit and vegetable wastes have considerably reduced at the food supply due to the obvious impact of lockdown on food supplies, however, a shortage of cold storages and supply chain at the farmer level in developing countries has resulted in more wastage. Developed countries reported increased illegal dumping of wastes in the rural areas and the stoppage of the recycling services due to the lockdown. Also, a shift in the habits of the consumer due to health and food-related issues has been seen throughout the world resulting in reduced waste generation at the consumer level. Despite all this, agricultural producer and the retail industry appears to be best placed to weather the storm. The major challenges related to the industry are sustainability in the food chain and maintaining smooth logistics and necessary precautionary measures in the event of health crises in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: European tarnished plant bug, Lygus rugulipennis (Heteroptera: Miridae), is a polyphagous pest damaging a range of arable and horticultural crops. Management is reliant upon chemical insecticides for control. These studies developed a synthetic semiochemical push–pull control strategy to reduce numbers of L. rugulipennis and subsequent fruit damage in UK strawberry crops. Using a series of small field experiments and testing in commercial strawberry crops we explored the efficacy of hexyl butyrate (HB) as the push element and female sex pheromone combined with phenylacetaldehyde as the pull element. RESULTS: HB dispensers placed 1.0, 3.5, 5.0 and 7.0 m from all‐green Unitraps baited with L. rugulipennis female sex pheromone significantly reduced male catches by 99%, 54%, 44% and 20% compared with untreated control, respectively. Subsequently, in commercial crops, HB dispensers at 2‐m intervals along the crop row (the push) combined with a perimeter pull reduced numbers of adult and nymph L. rugulipennis by up to 80% in organic strawberry crops compared with the untreated control. Finally, the push–pull system halved fruit damage (8%) compared with untreated areas (16%) in conventional crops. In organic strawberry crops, 90% of untreated strawberries had some mirid damage compared with only 41–51% in push–pull‐treated areas. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a push–pull approach using synthetic semiochemicals giving a significant reduction in crop damage by mirids and paves the way for non‐pesticide control of a range of mirid species on multiple crops. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the organic conversion process has been much studied, farm-level transitions to agroecosystems are less well understood. What transition pathways do they take? How can (or does) farmers' learning help to make such changes? What support measures can (or do) facilitate such learning? To answer such questions, a UK study identified farmers undergoing an agroecological transition and compared their practices with two prevalent models. As regards the Efficiency – Substitution – Redesign (ESR) model, our case-study farms had all three changes, but they were rarely sequential; agroecosystem redesign did not follow from Efficiency or Substitution measures, which readily provide endpoints rather than transitional stages. As regards the 'trigger events' model – Trigger, Active Assessment and Implementation – the three stages were often overlapping; triggers arose only when farmers' interpreted difficulties or opportunities as grounds to implement changes, which they had generally considered beforehand. More fundamentally, case-study farmers were unlearning conventional expectations by undergoing cognitive and affective shifts. Together those two models (ESR and trigger events) can provide heuristic devices for identifying farmers' agroecological trajectories in their diverse forms. Going further, better models of farmers' learning and action will be necessary for facilitating agroecological transitions and guiding relevant support measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transformation creates space to consider the profound changes necessary for society to pursue just and sustainable social-ecological systems. Transformation involves profound and complex change, yet there are few empirical studies that analyze transformation across multiple spheres of a social-ecological system. This article aims to address this gap by applying a resilience lens to analyze transformation as a component of UK farmers' conversions of farmland from conventional to organic status. Transformation is identified as profound shifts in farmer understanding and management of soil fertility. The analysis finds that these transformations involve interplay between changes and scalar processes across political, practical, and personal spheres of transformation. Changes in the political sphere contradictorily drive, enable, and constrain transformation across political, practical, and personal spheres. We conclude that the empirical resilience analysis of transformation across spheres of a social-ecological system generates insights into the critical processes and changes necessary for society to pursue sustainable futures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within agri-food scholarship, longstanding debates have focused on the empirical applicability and conceptual utility of differing agricultural paradigms. These have often dovetailed with considerations around the future of agriculture in countries such as the UK given a shift in emphasis away from the central tenets of a high-input, yield-oriented productivism. Alternative diagnoses, particularly in notions of a post-productivist paradigm, have proven influential in capturing broad changes in the restructuring of agricultural activity. Whilst debates around the characterisation of these paradigms continue, they highlight distinct contestations in broader (and shifting) questions around what agriculture should be 'for', e.g. whether environmental 'goods' should be valued more highly than material production. Situating our paper within these ongoing debates, we draw on farmer perspectives in examining the adoption of regenerative agricultural practices in two farmer clusters in the East and South-West of England respectively. As a diverse array of practices which appear favourably positioned in a post-Brexit policy environment, we explore the ways in which regenerative agriculture can be understood as seeking to reconcile productivist and post-productivist tendencies. Drawing attention to the tensions, contradictions and uncertainties at play in these farmer perspectives, we highlight: the environmental and emotional appeal of regenerative agriculture compared to its adoption for more pragmatic (economic) reasons; the parallels and differences between regenerative agriculture and organic production; and the multiple sources of trusted information drawn upon by farmers in an uncertain policy environment. We conclude the paper by reflecting on the need to better contextualise and conceptualise contemporary interest in regenerative agriculture within longer theoretical lineages, in which the voice of farmers themselves must be central. • The paper presents the results of in-depth interviews with members of two farmer clusters regarding the adoption of regenerative farming practices in the UK • The results are situated within theoretical debates about the transition from productivism to post-productivism • Farmers discuss the emotional appeal of regenerative farming and other (environmental and economic) motivations for adopting regenerative practices • Comparisons with organic farming are discussed including the potential benefits of certification and the risks of corporate capture • Uncertainties in the policy environment, the volatile costs of agricultural inputs and the geopolitical situation in Ukraine were all mentioned as factors affecting the uptake of regenerative farming in the UK, prompting a need for reliable information from trusted sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pioneer Health Centre, based in South London before and after the Second World War, remains a source of interest for advocates of a positive approach to health promotion in contrast with the treatment of those already ill. Its closure in 1950 for lack of funds has been blamed on the then recently established National Health Service, but this article argues that such an explanation is over-simplified and ignores a number of other factors. The Centre had struggled financially during the 1930s and tried to gain support from the Medical Research Council. The Council appeared interested in the Centre before the war, but was less sympathetic in the 1940s. Around the time of its closure and afterwards, the Centre was also involved in negotiations with London County Council; these failed because the Centre's directors would not accept the changes which the Council would have needed to make. Unpublished documents reveal that the Centre's directors were uncompromising and that their approach to the situation antagonised their colleagues. Changes in medical science also worked against the Centre. The success of sulphonamide drugs appeared to render preventive medicine less significant, while the development of statistical techniques cast doubt on the Centre's experimental methods. The Centre was at the heart of the nascent organic farming movement, which opposed the rapid growth of chemical cultivation. But what might be termed 'chemical triumphalism' was on the march in both medicine and agriculture, and the Centre was out of tune with the mood of the times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay uses the example of the Chinese tree peony, a flower much desired by British gardeners at the start of the nineteenth century as well as a flower much reproduced in horticultural periodicals and on consumer commodities, to explain the era's interconnected understanding of the process of cultivation. Organic cultivations, foreign and domestic, were not separated from social and personal cultivations in verbal and visual discourse but rather mutually reinforced each other. Following these connections helps explain the ever-growing estrangement between nineteenth-century subjects and the nature that surrounded them in terms that connect environmental, aesthetic, and literary history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) is the world's most important berry. Around 9.2 million tonnes of strawberries were produced worldwide in 2021 over approximately 395,844 hectares distributed across almost all continents. However, industrial farming approaches, which include the application of high volumes of pesticides, have placed the fruit on the list of foods most contaminated by pesticide residues. Such management negatively affects food security and environmental sustainability. Agroecology is proposed as a holistic alternative to solve this problem, and within this, some practices associated with homeopathy and biodynamic farming involve the application of highdynamized dilutions as alternatives to chemical pesticides. Research indicates that the use of highdynamized dilutions holds the potential to promote crop vitality through building natural equilibrium and resilience of agricultural systems. The objective of this research was to explore the extent to which high-dynamized dilutions can increase the sustainability of commercial strawberry production as well as understand the challenges and benefits of using high-dynamized dilutions in agriculture. To do this, natural and social science methods are combined in a multidisciplinary approach that was developed simultaneously in Brazil and the UK. Results of controlled trials demonstrated that the use of high-dynamized dilutions of Phosphorus 12CH, Sulphur 12 CH, and Kali Carbonicum 12CH positively influenced crop production, pest disease levels, and plant vigor in strawberry plants. In addition, data collected from a web survey and interviews with farmers, researchers, and advisors who work with homeopathy, evidenced the role of homeopathy and biodynamic farming as transformative tools regarding ecological awareness and ecological education, helping to advance the concept of the agriculture organism and subtle aspects of life into agricultural research and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Sustainable intensification is being achieved by innovative farmers in Britain. [•] Sustainable intensification is driven by the desire to raise income and cut costs. [•] Biodiversity enhancement is seen by farmers as a cost, to be borne by public payments. [•] Sustainable intensification can be indicated using farmers’ own data but the metrics need to be refined. [•] Research is needed to capture the impacts of innovations such as zero tillage. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We review and implement a reversible jump approach to Bayesian model averaging for the Probit model with uncertain regressors. Two applications are investigated. The first is the adoption of organic systems in UK farming, and the second is the influence of farm and farmer characteristics on the use of a computer on the farm. While there is a correspondence between the conclusions we would obtain with and without model averaging results, we find important differences, particularly in smaller samples. Concerning the adoption of an organic system, we find that attitudes to the sustainability of the current system along with the ability of organic farms alone to satisfy society's needs for food are influential. Additionally, the source of management information used by the farmer has a significant impact. Regarding the adoption of computers, we confirm the findings of previous work that the level of education affects uptake and that age is a factor determining adoption. We also find that dairy and organic farms are more likely to use a computer. The physical size of the farm is positively associated with the probability of computer use while net farm income has a limited impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper analyses organic farming entry decisions using a piece-wise linear depiction of policy. Our goal is to ascertain, from the available but limited information, whether Danish and UK policy measures toward organic agriculture have affected participation. Despite considerable interest in the growth of organic farming there has been little systematic analysis of it, although it is commonly believed that enhanced income levels have played a part. Whilst analyses of organic farming policy have provided extensive reviews of instruments applied, generally speaking, the spirit of those enquiries takes as datum that organic policies have had the desired impacts. Yet such conjectures remain mostly untested. Hence, there is a need to examine systematically if there exist relationships between the introduction of organic farming policies and the growth of organic farming, and whether particular policy measures are more effective than others. Here, we take a first step in this endeavor by undertaking an econometric analysis of the relationship between 14 organic farming policy measures and participation rates in Denmark and the UK during 1989–2007. Using two response variables – the numbers of farmers converted to organic production and the total land area under organic practice – we implement a simple, Bayesian methodology and evaluate the stepwise-linear impacts of policy. Extensions for future work are discussed. Six policy measures in the two study countries were found to be significant influences on participation, five of them direct supply-side instruments. For the UK, all of the policies are annual subsidies for organic farmers once conversion was complete. For Denmark, the policies are the introduction of organic subsidies for non-dairy farms, the extension of subsidies beyond 1997 and support for the costs of marketing services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both interest-group and public-policy scholars accept that groups are important to policy formulation and implementation because they hold valuable capacities. However, the literature has not dealt with whether, and how, groups develop capacities. In this article, we examine the question of group capacity development by focusing on the adaption of specific groups to evolving policy contexts. Taking the example of organic farm policy we look at the impact that divergent policy strategies aimed at growing this infant industry sector have had on the way related industry groups have evolved in four countries. This comparative study supports our argument that policy strategy is one key force in shaping the capacities that groups develop over time. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper analyses the different activities within the value chain of organic cotton production in India to understand where, and how, value is added at each stage. Transforming a cotton crop into a textile and then into a final item of clothing involves many stages of processing, using many skills and technologies. We examine the activities and the prices achieved at each stage of this chain, from the farming of the cotton crop to its eventual sale in clothes'' retailers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The numbers of organic dairy farms are increasing in the United Kingdom and in other parts of the world. On organic farms, the use of veterinary medicines is restricted. Because of this, there is concern that cow health is poorer on these farms. As udder health is primarily maintained by the use of antimicrobials, the effect of organic status on mastitis and somatic cell counts (SCC) is important to investigate. The aim of this study was therefore to determine whether the organic status and other management factors affect SCC. A group of 80 dairy farms was used in the study: 40 organic farms and 40 nonorganic farms. The farms were recruited in pairs, and each organic:nonorganic pair was matched for herd size, housing type, genetic merit for milk production and geographical location. Somatic cell count data were extracted from national databases for a standard year (2004), and analyzed using stepwise logistic regression models. The organic status of the farm did not appear in the final model, indicating no major influence of organic status on SCC. There were, however, several effects of management on SCC. Somatic cell counts were lower on farms where the udders were not cleaned or cleaned only when dirty. Somatic cell counts were also lower on farms that kept cows in larger management groups and where the majority, but not all cases of mastitis are treated with antimicrobials. It can be concluded that the control measures used on the organic farms in this study are at least as effective as those used on nonorganic farms in controlling SCC. Other management factors are influential and attention to these factors will allow farmers to reduce SCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents information on the Organic Concept Orchard, a project that integrates farming, technology, marketing and supermarkets to produce quality fruit crop of English apples. It explains that the idea about this project started with Sainsbury's Concept Orchard in collaboration with OrchardWorld Ltd. and HE Hall & Son with the objective of designing a high-yielding system that matched establishment to organic conversion period and fast-track certifid organic apples onto supermarket shelfs.

This study aimed to compare the prevalence of lameness on organic and non-organic dairy farms in the United Kingdom (UK) and to assess which cow and farm factors influenced lameness levels. Forty organic and 40 non-organic dairy farms across the UK were repeatedly visited over a 2.5 year period. On each visit all milking cows were locomotion scored, and information about farm housing, management and husbandry practices was recorded on-farm. Over the whole study, the mean herd lameness prevalence was 16.2%, 16.3% and 19.3% in the autumn, winter and spring observation periods, respectively. Lameness prevalence was lower (P = 0.012) on organic farms compared to non-organic farms. Numerous specific factors were found to significantly influence the prevalence of lameness. This study provided evidence that organic management reduced herd lameness. It supported previous research which suggested that lameness is a serious problem on many farms in the UK and further emphasised the multi-factorial aetiology of lameness problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The connections between the British organic movement and the radical Right in the 1930s and 1940s are now well documented. One major reason for this convergence is what the philosopher John Macmurray termed 'the organic analogy': the interpretation of human life and society in purely biological terms. This article outlines Macmurray's critique of the analogy; it summarises his reasons for believing that it led in practice to racialist totalitarianism, and shows how some of the organic pioneers used the analogy to support their views on the importance of kinship for national identity. That Macmurray, though on the Left, was part of a wider network that drew him into the company of organicists is demonstrated through examining his links with various people and organisations. The article also shows how Macmurray influenced the young poet Robert Waller, who later became the Soil Association's editorial secretary and promoted a philosophy of 'human ecology' which would go beyond the organic analogy. It concludes by suggesting that the issues that Macmurray and Waller raised are of continuing relevance for the organic movement and environmentalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of international scholarship on the contemporary transformation of organic food and farming has been a rather narrow preoccupation with the ‘conventionalisation thesis’ that describes a process whereby the structure and ideology of the expanding organic sector is seen increasingly to resemble that of the conventional food and farming sector that it has traditionally opposed. This study seeks to contribute to this literature by examining the role of the UK government in shaping the British organic sector since 1980, when it first began to engage seriously with organic farming. It draws on the analysis of a wide range of government and organic movement publications for the period 1980–2006, as well as a programme of semi-structured interviews with key organic policy actors during this time frame. By analysing the way in which the UK government has discursively constructed three separate story-lines about organics, this study argues that the effects of government action on British organic food and farming are best described as a process of containment. Further, it posits the need to move on from the rather reductionist focus offered by the conventionalisation thesis to more nuanced approaches to the transformation of contemporary food and farming that account for different geographical contexts, and the particular roles of different actors actively constructing what ‘organics’ is. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study describes the self‐reported health and well-being status of field and packhouse workers in UK vegetable horticulture, and tests the null hypothesis that there is no difference in the self-reported health of workers on organic and conventional horticultural farms. The majority of those sampled were migrant workers (93%) from Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and the Ukraine. More than 95% of the respondents were aged 18-34 and recruited through university agricultural faculties in East European or employed via UK agencies. The health of 605 farm workers (395 males and 210 females) was measured through the use of four standard health instruments. Farm workers'' health was significantly poorer than published national norms for three different health instruments (Short Form 36, EuroQol EQ‐5D and the Visual Analogue Scale). There were no significant differences in the health status of farm workers between conventional and organic farms for any of these three instruments. However, organic farm workers scored higher on a fourth health instrument the Short Depression Happiness Scale (SDHS) indicating that workers on organic farms were happier than their counterparts working on conventional farms. Multiple regression analysis suggested that the difference in the SDHS score for organic and conventional farms is closely related to the range and number of tasks the workers performed each day. These findings suggest that a great deal of improvement in the self-reported health of farmers will need to occur before organic farms meet the requirements of the ‘Principle of Health’ as described by IFOAM. Ensuring that farm workers have a varied range of tasks could be a cost effective means of improving self-reported health status in both organic and conventional farming systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper explores the financial implications of converting to organic farming in Great Britain through a case study of farmers considering conversion in 2002. Most study farmers were motivated to convert for financial, not ideological or life-style reasons; organic meat production was the most common planned enterprise, although those choosing to produce milk, vegetables and cereals were also studied in depth. At the time of study, organic beef and sheep meat production was particularly profitable. It was found that, in these product sectors, a large improvement in Family Farm Income would result if organic production was introduced on the case study farms. With few exceptions, a fall in Family Farm Income during the conversion period would not be an obstacle to farmers changing to organic methods. Fixed cost changes would also not deter conversion but expensive investment in new livestock and appropriate buildings would be required by some of those businesses studied. These findings are, however, dependent upon the price premia assumptions used and, whilst these premia have dropped slightly since the time of study, this would lessen the financial shortfall during the conversion period. There is also the possibility that reversion to conventional agricultural production might occur, perhaps at a faster rate than the original conversion process that was taking place around the turn of the century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In organic systems, farmers, advisors, researchers, and even policy makers, often cite weeds as one of the major constraints to production. This despite the enormous amount of formal research, both conventional and organic, that has been undertaken on weed management. In addition to this a large body of informal knowledge based on farmer experience also exists. In this context this paper explores farmer perspectives on organic weed management in the UK. The results presented are from semi-structured interviews with organic farmers about their attitude to weeds, their weed management strategies including information on changes in their weed flora over time and their success and failures. The work was done as part of a larger project that is taking a participatory approach to research on organic weed management in which perceptions and attitudes are important when setting research priorities and agendas. As part of this approach, information has also been collated on where farmers turn to find information on weeds and how they would like to see research results relayed to them. Their priorities for research are also listed and the implications for weed research programmes are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

There has been particular interest in ‘alternative’ food over the last 10 years, with many policymakers and researchers throughout the Minority World following a growing number of consumers and producers in supporting organic farming and a host of ‘alternative’ food networks. To date, there has been a tendency for theory and policy to emerge somewhat divorced from the grounded practices and experiences of producer-suppliers themselves within these networks. Urging a shift from ‘alternativity’ to ‘sustainability’ as a more critical and valuable tool to analyse food networks, this paper draws upon in-depth ethnographic research with small-scale producer-supplier case studies in south Wales and southern Ontario. In so doing it explores often overlooked voices and stories within sustainable food discourses. Focusing on the value of farmer-led understandings and responses, the paper highlights important implications for policymakers and consumers and outlines future research on sustainable food networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During a 12-mo longitudinal study, bulk-tank milk was collected each month from organic (n = 17) and conventional (n = 19) dairy farms in the United Kingdom. All milk samples were analyzed for fatty acid (FA) content, with the farming system type, herd production level, and nutritional factors affecting the FA composition investigated by use of mixed model analyses. Models were constructed for saturated fatty acids, the ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) to monounsaturated fatty acids, total n-3 FA, total n-6 FA, conjugated linoleic acid, and vaccenic acid. The ratio of n-6:n-3 FA in both organic and conventional milk was also compared. Organic milk had a higher proportion of PUFA to monounsaturated fatty acids and of n-3 FA than conventional milk, and contained a consistently lower n-6:n-3 FA ratio (which is considered beneficial) compared with conventional milk. There was no difference between organic and conventional milk with respect to the proportion of conjugated linoleic acid or vaccenic acid. A number of factors other than farming system were identified which affected milk FA content including month of year, herd average milk yield, breed type, use of a total mixed ration, and access to fresh grazing. Thus, organic dairy farms in the United Kingdom produce milk with a higher PUFA content, particularly n-3 FA, throughout the year. However, knowledge of the effects of season, access to fresh grazing, or use of specific silage types could be used by producers to enhance the content of beneficial FA in milk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following a slow start in the early 1990s, the conversion to, and diffusion of, organic farming across UK agriculture has been impressive even by European standards. Between 1996 and 2000, for example, organic land in the UK showed a nine-fold increase. And correspondingly, the retail value of organic foods grew by a factor of four. From a distance, these impressive growth figures appear to accentuate the popular discourse of a very bright future for organic farming in the UK. But lurking behind this seemingly successful method of combating declining farm-gate prices whilst addressing issues of food safety, animal welfare and environmental quality, is growing evidence that the evolution of organic supply chains in the UK might be entering a phase characterised by the traditional farm-gate price-squeeze, so long an important feature of conventional agriculture. The objective of this paper, therefore, is to illuminate this emerging negative trend in UK organics, and to offer some suggestions for future public policy-making. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]