Nafferton Ecological Farming Group

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Min -till or No-till and green manures - are you using them?
NEFG is a prtner in an EU project called TILMAN-ORG, to help organic farmers make best use of min-till and no-till techniques with green manures. We would like to speak to organic farmers and growers who are/ have been using them to find out what works and what doesn't work for them. We need to do this in February and March 2012 in order to shape the rest of the research project. Please download the attached short questionnaire if you are an organic farmer or grower, complete and return it to us by email or post. Thank you.
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Breeding dairy cows for longevity
You are invited to attend one of the meetings sponsored by Defra and organised by ADAS for dairy farmers, herdsmen and those associated with dairy farming. The meetings are being held accross England and details of the event near to you are on the attached list.
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Outwintering – An option for your farm? 8 February 2012
Outwintering – An option for your farm? Local farmers and specialists speak about their experience. You are invited to a free workshop at Nafferton Ecological Farming Group,Nafferton Farm, Stocksfield, Northumberland, NE43 7XD, 8 February 2012, 11:00 to 15:00, Lunch provided. Places limited - please book ASAP. See the attached details of speakers.
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Reducing N losses from agriculture - New web tool launched
The N-TOOLBOX project, which is run by the Nafferton Ecological Farming Group, has launched a web-based tool to help farmers identify the best strategies they can use on their farm to reduce losses of N to water. The tool is based on the newly published: Innovative and cost-effective technologies to reduce N losses to water from agriculture in the EU: a catalogue of farm level strategies. The web-tool takes users through a list of simple questions so that they can identify the best subset of strategies to use on their own farm. The catalogue is designed to be used across the EU, but still aims to provide practical, farm-level solutions to the challenge of reducing N pollution of water. To try out the tool clicking on 'Details' link below.
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Research on Vitamins in Organic and Non-organic Foods
A study by researchers at the University of Newcastle School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development reports that fruit and vegetables grown without artificial fertilisers are richer in most of the beneficial substances called secondary metabolites and vitamin C.
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Organic Cumbria
Cumbria Organics and Anna Gray have produced an updated leaflet for consumers interested in finding organic food in Cumbria. The leaflet lists Cumbria Organics members selling their organic produce direct to the customer and and provides useful information about what organic farming means. To order a printed copy, email:info@cumbriaorganics.org
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Biodiversity on organic farms
Organic Centre Wales and the Organic Research Centre Elm Farm has published a review of the literature assessing the effects of organic farming practices on biodiversity.
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Choosing organic milk could offset effects of climate change
Wetter, cooler summers can have a detrimental effect on the milk we drink, according to new research published by Newcastle University. Researchers found milk collected during a particularly poor UK summer and the following winter had significantly higher saturated fat content and far less beneficial fatty acids than in a more ‘normal’ year. But they also discovered that switching to organic milk could help overcome these problems. Organic supermarket milk showed higher levels of nutritionally beneficial fatty acids compared with ‘ordinary’ milk regardless of the time of year or weather conditions The web address for the abstract is: http://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(10)00670-3/abstract
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Symposium on Ethical Consideration in Livestock Breeding
The first symposium of the LowInputBreeds project focusing on Ethical Consideration in Livestock Breeding, takes place March 15 and 16, 2011 in Wageningen, The Netherlands. Further information can be found at this link below
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Research on Soil Microbe Ecosystems and Farming Practices
Farming practices have a significant impact on the diversity of beneficial microbial fungi known to play important roles in crop productivity, soil recovery and maintenance of healthy ecosystems, according to new research published in the journal Environmental Microbiology. The conclusions could have important implications for the way humans manage the agricultural landscape and tackle food security issues.
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The Nafferton Ecological Farming Group (NEFG) is a research unit within the School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development at Newcastle University.

NEFG researchers focus on low-input and organic approaches to crop and livestock management, and are based at Nafferton, one of the university's research farms.

This website shares useful information from the research group and from other sources, with those who are interested in organic and sustainable farming methods.

NEFG Market Places

Where can I buy organic food?