The IF approach is:
- Farmers meet in small groups to test and develop new tools and techniques in practical ‘field labs’.
- The network matches each group with a co-ordinator and a researcher. They offer professional support, and help the group access the research funding.
- The co-ordinator shares the group’s learning through the IF website where groups can track their progress and compare notes.
Innovative Farmers is part of the Duchy Future Farming Programme, funded by the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation. The network is backed by a team from LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming), Innovation for Agriculture, the Organic Research Centre and the Soil Association, and supported by Waitrose. The Steering Group for IF is chaired by Charles Godfray (Oxford University) and NFU are represented on this group.
IF has a similar approach to European Innovation Partnerships, see here.
For a farmer, membership costs £240 plus VAT per year. Alternatively, an organisation can sponsor up to 24 farmers for £2,000. Each group can get up to £10,000 research funding per field lab.
The current range of subjects being looked at by IF includes:
Using Diverse Species Mixes:
- Multi-species leys for sheep
Improving Soils:
- Good green manures
- Improving soil health and organic matter using cover crops in a shared rotation
- Cultivating soil health using reduced tillage
- Improving soil biology in tillage and grassland management
- Soil analysis – its use and interpretation
- Alternative methods of terminating cover crops
Reducing Feather Pecking In Hens
- Investigating different light conditions in hen housing
- Improving gut health in hens
Managing Rushes in Grassland
- Managing rushes without chemicals
Improving Disease Resistance in Potatoes
- Using mesh covers to help prevent potato blight
- Assessing blight resistant potato varieties
Managing Weeds without Herbicides
- Allelopathy in action: Buckwheat for couch control
- Cultural methods to control Black Grass
- Controlling creeping thistle
Maximising Potential of the Understory in Orchards
- Management requirements for Shropshire sheep In fruit orchards
Crop Varieties for Low-Input Systems
- Growing heritage wheat varieties for thatching
- Growing Quinoa organically in the UK
Improving Feed Efficiency in Livestock
Reducing Antibiotic Use in Dairy Production
- Improving the targeting of Mastitis treatments
Testing Bio-Inoculants and Stimulants
- Sea water-based plant nutrients
- Using compost teas on crops
Developing New Feed Crops for Livestock
- Feeding sprouted cereals and pulses to livestock
Details on all of these Field Labs can be found on the IF Website: https://www.innovativefarmers.org/