Its Earth Day Monday 22nd and to celebrate we’ve selected our twenty favourite, most appropriate, most thought-provoking and compelling reads to get in the mood. From rewilding to climate change, pesticides bans to the role of livestock in climate-friendly farming, and a gripping personal account of front line action in the Paris COP 21 climate change talks….it’s all here! […]
Kieran Sullivan, our Man in Muddy Boots, is keen to regenerate the soil on his sheep farm in Ireland. Here he reports on his journey to understanding the soil and implementing some measures to improve soil health. This is no small feat, he finds out. […]
We are back in Greece on Mazi Farm with Tash Foote who talks us through the thinking behind the farm design. […]
What were the most popular stories we published in 2018? While we tend to specialise in CAP and agri-food policy matters in the EU institutions – someone has to, right? – soil, agtech, agroecology, food sovereignty, milk and letters from the farm have proven to be popular. […]
A UK supermarket chain’s anti-palm oil advert has been banned, it’s focus habitat destruction caused by deforestation deemed too political for public television. Stuart Meikle reports on the past and present global obsession with palm oil and whether a plea to changing Western food habits is really the way forward. […]
The starkness of the IPCC’s most recent climate change warnings – of 12 year window before runaway impacts – has focused the minds of many. What role – if any – for livestock in this brave new herd? […]
Agroforestry could play an important role in mitigating climate change because it sequesters more atmospheric carbon in plant parts and soil than conventional farming, report researchers. […]
We return to Chiara Garini’s agroecological farm in Italy’s Trento Province to see how she has been getting on. In this letter, she tells us of the importance of paying attention to the soil and the soul. […]
Here we summarise and provide links to all eight contributions to the soil matters article series. From soil and the city to no till, humus and technical articles from soil scientists, there is much in here to cause wonder, controversy and, it is hoped, greater understanding. […]
Interested in reducing the GHG emissions from producing our food? Better nutrition and health and lower healthcare costs? Reducing the pollution from our food production systems? Then read what Stuart Miekle has to say about how a soil focused farming benefits these and other aspects of society. […]
Stuart Meikle focuses on three main areas: society, farming and transitioning – all to soil-focused farming. The transition section includes seven suggestions for new farm support mechanisms. These suggestions focus on both payments and practices. […]
Roy Neilson and Blair McKenzie of the James Hutton Institute start with the consideration – what do we want from our soil? They move from here on a fascinating journey into the difference between soil texture and structure, into soil management, organic matter, and the impact of different practices on soil. […]
“A sustainable food system is not about reducing animal-product consumption so to ‘free-up’ land for direct-for-human-food plants: rather, it is about using the land now used for feeds for shipping to animals confined elsewhere, for grazing livestock – be they ruminants, pigs or poultry.” Stuart Meikle outlines his position. […]
When we change how land is used, it doesn’t just impact on this one area. Italian trio Riccardo Scalenghe, Francesco Malucelli and Mario Catizzone examine soil matters in the Emilia-Romagna Plain, Italy, and help us understand what is truly lost when we loose soil without thinking about all the impacts. […]
The role of farming in climate change mitigation is controversial and fraught. The UN COP (Conference of Parties) Climate Change has tentatively introduced soil and carbon sequestration into its workings, via 4 pour 1000. However the role of particular agronomic practices involving livestock is under special scrutiny. Does livestock release more than it sequesters, or does the farming model matter? What about deep carbon storage? And how will policy makers work with new research and 4p1000? […]
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