The newsletter of LEAF: Linking Environment And Farming

Autumn / Winter 2010

Letter

Inside • Zero Tillage • The LEAF Green Box • LEAF Goes Swedish! • LEAF Membership - what are the benefits? • Let Nature Feed Your Senses • And lots more!

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There has been much change at LEAF in the past six months and as always, with change, comes opportunity. Last year, we set out our plans to strengthen our core activities focusing on what we know we are good at - developing and promoting sustainable farming practices and gaining better public understanding

about how our food is produced. To this end, we have focused our work in four key areas - technical know-how; demonstration and communication; market opportunities and political engagement.

We are working hard to strengthen our technical activities and I am delighted to welcome Kathryn Mitchell to the LEAF team. Kathryn’s main focus will be increasing our Demonstration Farm network, organizing technical events and developing the Sustainable Innovation Network.

We have also been very active in strengthening our industry partnerships and ensuring our member’s views are heard on a number of key industry groups including the Campaign for the Farmed Environment, Tried and Tested and the Water Framework Directive.

Increasing public understanding of food and farming remains one of LEAF’s core objectives. This year’s Open Farm Sunday was our most successful yet – with 420 farms opening up, welcoming some 184,000 members of the public out onto farms all over the UK. Likewise, the Let Nature Feed Your Senses project is doing some amazing work with disabled and disengaged groups to connect them with food and nature. Together with our Speak Out initiative, Virtual Farm Walk and Farm Information Boards, we are making a real difference to people’s understanding of farming and how their food is grown.

Thank you to all of you who attended our members events over the last few months and hope you will also join us in London for our Presidents Event on the 16th November.

As always, thank you for your continued support.

From the Chief Executive

Mark Price, Managing Director of Waitrose will give the key note speech on the values of Waitrose and why LEAF Marque helps bring them alive, at this year’s President’s Event.

The event is always a great opportunity for LEAF members to get together and share ideas, hear from speakers from across the industry and enjoy a delicious lunch!

Our other speakers include LEAF Marque producer, Jake Freestone from Overbury Farms who will explain how he is making the most of LEAF membership to grow his business; Linda Munqao from Oserian – a Kenyan based flower company, will share some of her experiences of how LEAF Marque is helping to inspire African farmers; Geoff Squire from SCRI will highlight some of the key findings from research comparing conventional, integrated and organic farming systems and Janet Dwyer, Professor of Rural Policy at CCRI will summarise the main findings from a recent research project assessing the benefits to farmers of LEAF membership.

The event will take place on Tuesday 16th November 2010 at The Crypt on the Green, St James, Clerkenwell, London, starting at 10am and finishing after lunch. We hope you will be able to join us and look forward to seeing you there. To book your place, please call the LEAF office tel: 024 7641 3911 or email justine.hards@leafuk.org

LEAF President’s Event 2010 come and join us!

Mark Price, Managing Director of Waitrose

Caroline Drummond, LEAF Chief Executive

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Dr Dave Roberts is LEAF’s new Scottish Chairman, he takes over the role from Edward Baxter, who has been leading our activities across the border since 2001.

Dave, who is Head of SAC’s (Scottish Agricultural College) Dairy Research Centre at Crichton, Dumfries and

President of the British Grassland Society, has been involved with LEAF for many years, representing SAC as an Innovation Centre and, more recently, as a Trustee.

LEAF Chief Executive, Caroline Drummond said:“We are delighted that Dave will be taking on this role. Edward Baxter, who will still be one of our Demonstration Farmers, leaves an amazing legacy. He has worked incredibly hard to raise the profile of LEAF in Scotland as well as help us engage constructively with Scottish Government, leading academics and representatives from the farming, conservation and business communities. Dave’s experience in the livestock sector is particularly timely as LEAF looks to build on its technical activities in this area through the establishment of our Sustainable Innovation Network.” Dave added: “LEAF has achieved much in Scotland with a growing number of Demonstration Farms and Innovation Centres, as well as a significant number of farmers completing the LEAF Audit, taking part in Open Farm Sunday and becoming LEAF Marque accredited. However, there is still a long way to go. As Chairman of LEAF Scotland, I want to build on these successes and help raise the profile of LEAF even further so that Scottish farmers can realise the many benefits of being involved with LEAF.”A very warm welcome to Dave from us all at LEAF.

With the Coalition Government finding their feet and generally facing cautious approval that at last things are being done, we in LEAF have wasted no time

in welcoming the new agricultural team at DEFRA and highlighting what a key role LEAF plays in profitable and environmentally responsible land management.

However, it is also really important that the whole body of MPs, of all parties, should be aware of the issues that concern us as farmers. I have just recently started an “Agricultural Surgery” for our local MP.

About a dozen farmers – including some LEAF members – sat around my dining room table with our newly elected Member for a sandwich and a two hour discussion. Topics ranged from renewable energy – which he particularly requested our feedback on – to badger control, supermarket ombudsman, affordable rural housing and Open Farm Sunday. He found it very useful and has requested that we repeat the formula on a quarterly basis. Our strength at LEAF is to bring together views in a practical way to develop approaches that ensure the development of the rural economy and enhances our environmental assets.

LEAF is keen to roll this initiative out across the country – stimulating informed discussion with our parliamentary representatives as well as raising the profile of what we as an organization achieve. Why not have a go ? If you are interested then please get in touch.

The Chairman’s Hot TopicLEAF Chairman, Stephen Fell, urges LEAF members to get political!

New Chairman for LEAF Scotland

Stephen Fell, LEAF Chairman

Dave Roberts, LEAF Scottish Chairman

Dr Alastair Leake, Head of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s Allerton Project talks about the benefits of Zero Tillage…

As part of our soil management and crop cultivations research, we

have been looking at how tillage operations affect both the infiltration and runoff characteristics of rainfall. Perhaps, unsurprisingly, ploughed soils appear to absorb rainfall initially better than those soils cultivated using minimum or non-inversion tillage. But once the plough layer is saturated by rainfall, absorption is being restricted in permeating the deeper soil layers by the compacted ‘plough pan’ which causes run-off, often with more soil particles than in min-tilled soils.

In the UK the amount of land cultivated by min-till jumped by nearly 40% between 1999 and 2006, accounting for just under half the cultivated land-mass. Farmers have been keen to reduce establishment costs, cultivate more land during good weather windows and hopefully benefit from improved yields as a consequence. Most winter rape is established using a single pass system and this has encouraged people to re-visit one pass establishment for other crops and revisit zero till. Initially, popular in the 1970’s when it was known as direct drilling, problems with slot closure, slugs, compaction and the ban on straw burning, saw the popularity of the technique wane. Yet we continue to hear of vast acreages in the America’s, north and south, which are successfully and reliably cropping, year after year using zero till crop establishment.

Given the previous history in the UK, it is possible that advances in machinery, i.e. better slot closure drills,

low ground pressure tyres and tracked vehicles, better straw choppers and herbicides, could mean that these problems can be overcome? Are yields maintained? Is there substance to the claims made about improvement to soil and nutrient loss and biodiversity? We have begun to look at a few of these aspects on a heavy land farm where zero till has been in practice for seven years. Taking three fields and pairing with three ploughed fields nearby, at the same point in the rotation, we found that surface compaction in the zero tilled fields was so great that the needle of the penetrometer went off the scale, while the ploughed fields showed little resistance all the way to the plough pan at 20cm.

However, counting earthworm middens we recorded over 12 individual middens per m2 in the zero till and just 0.27/m2 in the ploughed. Is it possible that this large earthworm population and its associated soil burrows could mitigate the compaction and inevitable runoff? We don’t know the answer to that yet, but we know how to do the test, it’s called ‘Scientifically Applied Rain’ or rainfall simulation – a sort of outdoor shower arrangement which applies a known volume of water over a known area in a given time. The runoff and soil wash is recorded and the balance between that applied and that with run off gives you the absorption volume. We plan to do further studies to properly evaluate the overall effect, positive or otherwise, of lower cap for zero-till.

Zero Tillagedoes the earth still move for you?!

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Dr Alastair Leake, Head of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s Allerton Project

LEAF Green Box Case Study: Herbfresh

LEAF members Herbfresh, talk about how they are using the LEAF Green Box and what impact it is having on their business.LEAF members, Herbfresh was established in 2006 and the partners have long standing experience in the fresh produce

industry. Herbfresh is based in Surrey and Berkshire and specialises in the production of English field scale culinary herbs and crops such as Spinach, Cavelo Nero, Pak Choi and Tender Stem Broccoli. Herbfresh supply leading retailers, food service, onward processors and the wholesale sectors on a year round basis.

The company is always looking for ways to protect and encourage flora and fauna in and around its growing sites. Thus enriching the local environment for the local communities wherever possible. The Green Box really assists the company in building up a picture of what’s happening out and about on the farms, and one of the benefits of the recording system is that its online and very easy to navigate.

Hugh Bulloch the Crop Manager and Agronomist at Herbfresh says: “With everything that goes on in any progressive and focussed growing business like ours, an easy to use tool that can assist me monitor the environment and help the business focus on techniques to aid continual improvement is welcome. As a Manager, I cannot go back to the office constantly in a busy day, so being able to record wildlife in my field notes book and then input the data through the LEAF website later on is a great help.”

“The LEAF Green Box will really help us to demonstrate that the way we farm is having a positive impact on the environment. And it’s also a great way of identifying areas where we can make improvements. Even though we are in the early stages of using the Green Box, I would definitely encourage other farmers and growers to start using it as it acts as a very useful indicator tool as to what’s going on around locally.

The Green BoxWhat’s inside?What does it do?The LEAF Green Box helps farmers carry out simple recording and monitoring of the environment. It is divided into four sections – Biodiversity, Soil, Water and Air (currently under development).

Who is it aimed at?The LEAF Green Box is for everyone – farmers and non-farmers who have an interest in nature and want to record what is going on around them.

Why use the LEAF Green Box? • Get to know the wildlife that has made your farm their home• Collect information to help halt the decline of important species• Helps farmers to identify areas of improvement and highlight key sites for targeted action to gain the biggest improvements• Fits in well with the CFE requirements - farmers finding voluntary solutions for themselves • See the rewards that can come from managing your land in an environmentally sensitive way and so help to demonstrate the benefits of Integrated Farm Management • Helps to identify and then reduce your environmental impact • Using the The LEAF Green Box is great way of involving the local community and encouraging them to take part in the monitoring. They will love to know about all the wildlife and how best to protect it as well as looking after the soil and water.

How much does it cost?LEAF members get free access to the Green Box as part of their membership. For non-LEAF members, there is a charge of £50 per year. To join LEAF on-line go to www.leafuk.org

www.leafuk.org/greenbox

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Lucy Wiggins, Sales and Procurement Manager at Herbfresh gets to grips with the LEAF Green Box

EISA representatives look at farming in southern Sweden

LEAF Board Member, Patrick Wrixon talks about the recent EISA Farmers Exchange visit to Sweden.

The European Initiative on Sustainable Agriculture (EISA) Farmer Exchange took place in Sweden on the 20th and 21st September this year. Representatives of six EU member states were welcomed by their Swedish hosts, namely Christer Nilsson, Lars Torner and Sven Norup and were given a wonderfully organised introduction to farming in southern Sweden. Seventeen pilot farms engaging in Integrated Farm Management (IFM) techniques have been selected as demonstration and trial units. These principles of a holistic balance and protection of resources are fostered and promoted by the organisation Odling i Balans. The focus of the trip was to study the EISA Framework - a voluntary pan-European LEAF audit and see how it might be developed from the experience of the Swedish pilot farms.

The group was taken to three of these farms where coffee and cakes were always the highlight of a warm welcome! Per Norup, the chairman of Odling i Balans, farms in Knislinge where nutrient and pesticide (interestingly including glyphosate) leaching into groundwater presents problems on their sandy soils. Buffer zones around water courses, targeted nutrient application and the development of a biological seed treatment are all used to attempt to mitigate the problems. Production and use of bio-fuel from rape and production of bio-gas contribute to the diversification on this farm.

Two further farms were included in the programme, interspersed with dinner aboard a ferry, generously sponsored by Yara. This novel restaurant meant that we went to Denmark three times that evening! One of the farms was a dairy unit supplying milk for the production of Adelost Wanas blue cheese, sold exclusively in Ikea stores world wide.

The problems arising from being a high rainfall area were manifest but some interesting slurry pumping systems were helping to avoid serious soil compaction issues.

Our third host farmer, Ebbe Persson, demonstrated how the use of autumn sown cover crops was an important part of the rotation on his arable and sugar beet land, helping to reduce run off and improve soil structure.

The exchange concluded with the EISA General Assembly at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences at Alnarp where a comprehensive discussion was held on the development of the EISA Framework and on the business of the organisation itself.

Our grateful thanks from LEAF to all those involved in arranging this event and in providing the opportunity to strengthen a European understanding of Integrated Farm Management.

LEAF Goes Swedish!

Odling i Balans board member, Christer Nilsson, shows off Ebbe Persson’s sugar beet crop

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LEAF Members Events 2010What will a sustainable farming enterprise look like in 2020? And is your business ready?

These were some of the questions addressed at our membership events that have taken place over the last few weeks in Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Devon and Yorkshire. Each event was aimed at a particular farm-ing sector from dairy to horticulture and topics ranged from food security to animal husbandry. Guest speak-ers talked on a range of topical farming issues includ-ing meeting climate change targets, adapting dairy businesses for change and how farmers can meet the challenge of producing more food.

“It has been great to meet with some of our members at these events, listen to their views and update them on our latest activities” said Caroline Drummond, “our

members are at the very core of LEAF and these events provided us with a way of bringing them together and discussing with them the latest thinking in some of the key issues facing farmers over the next ten years – global food shortages, climate change and water management.”

Our thanks to everyone who came along, all our guest speakers and our host farmers – Matt Naylor, David Felce, Andrew Baker and Robert Rook. Thank you also to Eblex for kindly supporting our Devon and Yorkshire events. We are planning an exciting programme of member’s events in 2011 so keep a look out for one near you - we look forward to seeing you!

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LEAF Membership – what are the benefits?

LEAF has commissioned a new research project to help quantify the economic, environmental and social benefits of being a LEAF farmer member.

We all know that being a member of LEAF brings many benefits both financial and environmental – helping farmers save money, improve biodiversity as well as giving them marketing advantages. But what are the real benefits of being a LEAF member and how

can we measure them? And is every type of farm getting the same benefits?

These are some of the questions we are addressing in a specially commissioned research project, being carried out by CCRI (The Countryside and Community Research Institute) on our behalf. The work will aim to quantify the benefits of LEAF membership for all types of farm – from arable and dairy, right through to lowland sheep and beef farms. It will also include case studies of LEAF members, who are involved with us in different ways – as LEAF Audit users, LEAF Marque accredited farmers or as straightforward members.

Commenting on the study, Caroline Drummond said: “This study will build on the work we carried out some years ago with TSB Agriculture and Andersons. It is critical, that as LEAF moves forward, we are able to back up the claims we are making about the economic and environmental benefits of LEAF membership and Integrated Farming. Farmers will always look to the bottom line. They need hard evidence of what LEAF delivers to their businesses. The outcomes of this study will form the basis of all our activities as we look to grow membership in 2011 and beyond.”

Thank you to everyone who is taking part in this study – a summary of the report will be available by the end of November.

LEAF Members get together at David Felce’s farm in Cambridgeshire

A new research study will look at the benefits of LEAF farmer membership

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Kathryn Mitchell, LEAF’s IFM Development Co-ordinator

Let Nature Feed Your Senses – first annual conference

On the 29th November, Let Nature Feed Your Senses will be hosting it’s first annual conference in London.

Delegates will discover ways in which stronger,

more meaningful connections to food, farming and nature can change lives, create positive and lasting memories and foster a continuing interest in the natural world. The conference will be opened by Dr William Bird, Natural England’s Strategic Health Advisor, who will focus on the benefits of the natural

environment for physical and mental health. Other speakers include Let Nature Feed Your Senses hosts who will share a selection of special moments of engagement and insights from recent visits. Workshop sessions will be based on the themes DRAW, PLAY and STORY. Please get in touch with James or Carol in the LEAF office for more details tel: 024 7641 3911 or email carol.cartwright@leafuk.org – we look forward to seeing you there!

LEAF Team Grows Kathryn Mitchell joins the LEAF team as our new IFM Development Co-ordinator to help push forward our demonstration and technical activities.

Kathryn, who joined us in July, joins a growing team at the LEAF head office. Kathryn has a strong rural background, having lived and worked on a large estate in the North Cotswolds. Since graduating last year in Biological Natural Sciences from Cambridge University, Kathryn has worked for Cumulus Consultants - a specialist rural consultancy working in the land and environment sector.

Commenting on her appointment, LEAF’s Chief Executive, Caroline Drummond said:

“We are delighted to welcome Kathryn to the LEAF Team. She joins us at a particularly exciting time, as we refresh our nationwide network of LEAF Demonstration Farms and develop a number of innovative new projects to bring together farmers, researchers and industry partners. Kathryn will play a key role in developing LEAF’s technical activities and resources to push forward the uptake of Integrated Farm Management (IFM) both here in the UK and overseas.”

Kathryn Mitchell added:

“I am really enjoying being part of the LEAF Team and working on a range of exciting projects. Meeting the great people who are integral to LEAF and it’s work is inspiring. I look forward to working with them to deliver some exciting new initiatives for LEAF members, as well as help develop some of LEAF’s technical IFM tools.”

Kathryn is based at the LEAF Head office, tel: 024 7641 3911 email: kathryn.mitchell@leafuk.org

Dr William Bird, Natural England’s Strategic Health Advisor will open the LNFYS conference

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We all have a love for our local countryside, for its traditions and seasonal rhythms, habitats and wildlife. Well, imagine the satisfaction of sharing your passion and helping a group of farm visitors connect to the natural world for the first time!

Over the last year, 1800 disabled or disengaged people have participated in Let Nature Feed Your Senses visits across England. The impact of a high quality sensory rich visit on confidence and well-being is a joy to behold. Have a look at videos and photos from visits for yourself on the project’s website, www.letnaturefeedyoursenses.org

One of the project’s key targets is to engage local volunteers to help host farmers encourage a love of nature amongst visitors. Would you be willing to take part in one or two visits a year on local farms, to

share your passion with first time visitors? Your travel expenses will be reimbursed by the project, and free training is offered. Visits typically last two or three hours. No matter where in the country you are, we would love you to be involved! Please e-mail james.taylor@leafuk.org or call the LEAF office for more details.

Let Nature Feed Your Senses Needs You!

LEAF on the Look Out for New Demo’ FarmsDo you farm with environmental care? Are you interested in telling others about what you do?

Then why not consider becoming a LEAF Demonstration Farmer? As part of our work to refresh our nationwide network of farms, we are on the look out for new farmers to join us who have a passion

for farming with nature. Our Demonstration Farms are at the heart of what we do – they are working, commercial farms, demonstrating the practical applications of Integrated Farming. Each year, they host around 6-8 visits to a wide range of groups including farmers, MP’s, journalists and students as well as to environmental, conservation and consumer groups.

We’re looking for enthusiastic and committed farmers who are great communicators and really want to show people what they are doing to produce our food and look after the environment. Your farm doesn’t need to be a ‘show case’ farm – we are looking for ‘real’ farms where Integrated Farming is being carried out by inspiring farmers.

If you are interested in finding out more or just want an informal chat, we would love to hear from you. Please call Kathryn Mitchell tel: 024 7641 3911 or email kathryn.mitchell@leafuk.org

A visitor enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of the farm

The Bennett family - our Cornish Demonstration Farmers

Welcome to our Regional Chairmen!

North West Thomas OstleBased in Cumbria, Thomas and his wife Isabelle, farm 250 hectares, producing high quality beef and lamb, as well as a variety of arable crops.

West Midlands Robert KynastonBased in Shropshire, Rob farms 98 hectare mixed farm producing arable crops and grazing for a dairy herd.

East Midlands Andy GuyAndy is a long-standing LEAF Member and involved in Open Farm Sunday and Let Nature Feed Your Senses.

East of England Andrew NottageBased in Duxford, Cambridge, Andrew Nottage farms over 800 hectares producing a variety of conventional and organic vegetables.

South East Ian WallerBased in the Chiltern Hills, Buckinghamshire, Ian farms 486 hectares of high quality crops, including wheat for Warburtons.

South West Jeremy PadfieldJeremy is based in Stratton on the Fosse, near Bath, he farms a 409 hectare arable farm.

North East Ian BrownBased in Northumberland, Ian was one of LEAF’s first Demonstration Farmers. He is now a consultant on sustainability issues, the founding director of a gourmet food business and manager of a rural business park near Alnwick. Ian also sits on a number of government committees at a national and local level.

Scotland Dave RobertsDave is Head of SAC’s (Scottish Agricultural College) Dairy Research Centre at Crichton, Dumfries and President of the British Grassland Society. Dave has been involved with LEAF for many years, representing SAC as an Innovation Centre and, more recently, as a Trustee.

Vacancies We still have a Regional Chairman position vacant in Yorkshire and Humber. If you would like to know more about the role, please contactkathryn.mitchell@leafuk.org

LEAF Demonstration Farmer Summer Event The LEAF Demonstration Farmer Summer Event took place this year in Manchester. It was great to meet up with some of our farmers and hear their news and everyone’s sense of enthusiasm made the event very special.

The two day event included a tour of a recently opened Morrison’s store led by David Evans, Head of Agriculture, followed by a lively discussion about the provenance and labelling of Morrison’s products and their involvement with the agricultural industry.

We also visited one of Kellogg’s manufacturing plants and met with their European Environmental Strategy Manager, Richard Burkinshaw who talked about some of the sustainability issues facing Kellogg’s with regards to the environment, agriculture and the food industry. We were then given a brilliant tour of the Manchester Kellogg’s factory where we saw Frosties being made!

It was a busy two days and farmers really valued the opportunity to get together and share ideas and experiences. It also enabled us to update them on all things LEAF and hear their views on a whole range of issues including organic farming, CAP reform and large scale livestock units as well as discuss some of our ideas and plans for next year.

A big thank you to everyone who joined us in Manchester. Plans are already underway for our winter LEAF Demonstration Farmer event which will be held in London on the 16th and 17th November.

www.leafuk.org

LEAF Demonstration Farmers visit the Manchester

Kellogg’s factory

The benefits of LEAF farming principles are being seen by farmers across the globe. Some 39 countries in Europe, Middle East, South America and North America are adopting LEAF’s Integrated Farming practices, getting LEAF Marque certified and seeing their farming businesses flourish.

For the past year, we have been involved in a fantastic project with sub-Saharan Arican farmers to help them increase the long term prosperity of their businesses by adopting IFM and eventually becoming LEAF Marque accredited. Together with Waitrose, four of their suppliers and communications specialists WRENmedia, we have been privileged to work closely with three pilot groups of Kenyan farmers – some 80 small scale farmers in total, with as little as one-eighth of an acre each, introducing them to the IFM approach and helping them work towards producing LEAF Marque quality produce.

We have made two visits to Kenya this year, getting to know the farmers, their families and their communities and carrying out IFM training.

“The reaction from the farmers has been really positive”, explained Anthony Goggin, “they have really embraced Integrated Farming and are already beginning to see their production costs reduce, which is having some amazing knock on benefits with money saved being invested back into their communities for schools and healthcare. We really hope the project will deliver a brighter future for small-scale African

farmers with better farming systems and improved rural livelihoods.”

A key part of the project is to bring the story of LEAF in Africa back to the UK – to highlight the similarities and challenges faced by UK and African farmers. WRENmedia have produced some great podcasts and videos which are available on the LEAF and Waitrose websites – please have a look at www.leafuk.org/leaf/consumers/theLEAFmarquecons/whoproducesit/meettheproducers/Africa.eb and learn more about our work in Africa.

We are very grateful to DFID’s Food Retail Industry Challenge Fund (FRICH), for supporting this work.

www.leafuk.org

LEAF Members Come Out on Top at Farmers Weekly AwardsLEAF members won two of the award categories at this year’s Farmers Weekly Awards. Husband and wife team, Peter and Hilary Cochran, who run their farm shop business at Knowes in East Lothian, were named as Local Food Farmers of the Year. They were recognised for their passion for farming, their commitment to growing local food and the sense of community attached to their farm shop.

Andrew Rees scooped the Young Farmer of the Year Award. 31 year old Andrew successfully runs Gaulby Lodge Farm in Kings Norton, Leicestershire, in partnership with his father. His industry leadership, knowledge and enthusiasm helped him to stand out.

“On behalf of the LEAF team, we would like to congratulate Andrew, Peter and Hilary on their achievements” said LEAF Chief Executive, Caroline Drummond. They are excellent ambassadors for LEAF as well as the farming industry. Their commitment to running profitable farming businesses alongside environmental care and community involvement is exemplary I would also like to pay tribute to all the LEAF members who came runners up in many of the categories.”

A Helping Hand for African Farmers

A winning team - Peter and Hilary Cochran with all the team at Knowes Farm Shop, East Lothian

Kenyan pineapple growers are flying the LEAF flag

Over a hundred host farmers, sponsors and others from the food and farming industry gathered in London to celebrate the achievements of the most successful Open Farm Sunday in its five-year history.

Felicity Finch, who plays Ruth Archer in the popular BBC radio show, joined a line-up of speakers who spelled out this year’s highlights and discussed how to make Open Farm Sunday 2011 even better. Other speakers included host farmer, Simon Pain from Billow Farm in Gloucestershire who shared his experiences of the day and explained how OFS has helped raise the profile of his business. It was also good to hear from two of our principal sponsors – Natural England and Dairy Crest who highlighted why they got involved and the benefits of being an OFS sponsor. Tina Lucy,

who went along to an OFS event in Hampshire, also shared with us some of her highlights and memories of the day.

As a momento of the day, everyone was presented with an OFS rosette which we hope will be proudly displayed for all to see. And don’t worry if you could not get to the event, we will be sending all our host farmers and sponsors a rosette in the post!

We’ve now looked at all the feedback from host farmers and visitors and an amazing 184, 000 people visited a farm on the 13th June and some 420 farms all over the UK opened their gates on the day. We’ve pulled together all your responses and produced a ‘Sharing Successes’ booklet, setting out the key results with a small selection of some of your amazing pictures. All our members, host farmers and sponsors will receive a copy, but if you’d like more, please call the LEAF office.

Finally, our thanks again for getting involved in this year’s Open Farm Sunday – we really couldn’t do it without you! Hope you’ll do it all again next year on the 12th June – you’ll be able to register your event from early January at www.farmsunday.org

Sharing the Successes of Open Farm Sunday!!

Open Farm Sunday 2010Sharing Successes

www.farmsunday.org

• What people thought• Key successes• The visitors• The host farmers• Successes shared• Thank You

The LEAF Team have been getting a taste of life ‘at the top’ and swapping shoes with key Defra staff.

Over the last few weeks, some of the LEAF team have been taking part in the ‘Day In the Life’ initiative where staff in central government and the voluntary sector step into each others shoes for a day and learn about how ‘the

LEAF Swaps Shoes With Defra!

other side’ operates. Caroline, Anthony and Kathryn have all ‘swapped shoes’ with staff at Defra - Martin Brasher, Head of Wildlife, Habitats and Biodiversity Division, Anna Sanders and Katie Dick – both from Defra’s Food Policy Unit.

“This was a great opportunity for some of the LEAF team to get a real insight into Defra’s wide ranging responsibilities and its day to day running as well as share experiences with some of their key staff and understand the challenges they face. I think we both gained a lot” commented Caroline Drummond, LEAF Chief Executive.

A big thanks to Martin Brasher, Anna Sanders and Katie Dick at Defra for making us feel so welcome!

LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming), The National Agricultural Centre, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire CV8 2LG

Tel: 024 7641 3911 Fax: 024 7641 3636 Email: enquiries@leafuk.org Web: www.leafuk.org