farming Archives - Page 10 of 11 - Agricultural and Rural Convention

Ireland | More Organic Producers Would Improve Farming’s Overall Sustainability

May 14, 2018 Oliver Moore

With Ireland edging towards reopening its organic farming scheme – closed since 2015 to new entrants, and closed in 2014 for a year too too – the context of organic farming within the overall agri-food sector is worth exploring. What would it mean for Irish agriculture in general to have a bigger, more vibrant organic sector? Particular attention is paid to the public goods of biodiversity and water quality. […]

#SoilMatters Part 5 | Stuart Meikle on Soil, Ruminants & Sustainable Food

May 7, 2018 Stuart Meikle

“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. […]

A Message to CAP Bureaucrats & Vested Interests from a Man in Muddy Boots

April 19, 2018 Kieran Sullivan

Kieran Sullivan is a part-time sheep farmer in south-east Ireland. How does CAP relate to his way of farming and his plans? Pillar 1 Pillar 2, bureaucracy and vested interests all play a part in his story. […]

Democratising AgTech? Agriculture and the Digital Commons | Part 1

March 25, 2018 ARC

AgTech is being mainstreamed. Can Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) be a way to make it accessible to all? In this 2-part piece, Gabriel Ash explores agricultural knowledge and the digital commons. […]

Could Results-Based Payments Help Finland’s Most Endangered Farmlands?

March 13, 2018 Traci Birge

Traci Birge argues that the best way to conserve the biodiversity and other values of traditional rural biotopes is through appropriate grazing and fodder collection. A results-based model, especially a progressive payment model that gives farmers new goals to aim for in their management, might work. […]

Germany – 20% organic by 2030?

March 4, 2018 ARC

Germany has a new coalition government, and it has set some ambitious targets in the food and farming sphere – especially for organic farming. Oliver Moore has more. […]

What’s so important about the middle? Cooperative action and values for family farm viability.

February 26, 2018 ARC

Through the co-operative, Values-Based Supply Chain model, family farms can increase revenue, resulting in enhanced viability, sustainability and resilience. This in turn can help to preserve the pivotal contribution of family farms to rural economy, society and environment. […]

Milking the Farmer – from Ireland to Romania

February 8, 2018 Stuart Meikle

What are the viability and sustainability issues with milk in two parts of Europe quite far from each other – Ireland and Romania? Stuart Miekle has spent many years in both places, working with dairy farmers. Here he gives his perspective. […]

A Nitrogen Tax for Agriculture?

January 30, 2018 Stuart Meikle

After the recent suggestion that there should be a tax levied on GHG emissions from agriculture, will a proposal to tax nitrogen fertilizers be next? Stuart Miekle outlines the pros and cons. […]

Digital Revolution in Agriculture: Fitting for Agroecology?

January 15, 2018 ARC

There is lots of hype about digitisation in farming. There are important questions too, about ownership and power. What role for agroecology and the commons in this context? Vassilis Gkisakis and colleagues explored this topic at the Agroecology Europe forum in October. Here they outline their discussions. […]

Agroecology | A Tale of Two Continents

January 15, 2018 Carmen Schwartz

Agroecology is commonly understood as a science, a movement, and a practice, jointly transforming agroecosystems to less fossil fuel dependent, more autonomous and more resilient farming systems. Agroecologic practices and research have evolved and are being applied around the globe. What unites these movements, what separates them? How is it different in Europe compared to Latin America? Is there a universal approach to agroecology? […]

4 Instruments, 1 Pillar & a Move to Food – EEB on CAP

September 12, 2017 ARC

Four new policy instruments have been proposed by the EEB – the European Environmental Bureau – for a future CAP. These instruments are put forward for use in the areas of ecosystems, rural development, healthy food and sustainable farming. […]

Meet Paul-Gildas Dréno : stress-free organic dairy farmer

September 11, 2017 Oliver Moore

Farms have to be viable economically to survive and indeed thrive. Nevertheless, as the years pass, it’s worth thinking about how the farming life is lived. Stress, workload, debt – how do these impact on wellbeing? […]

Who is UK’s new Ag Minister? Say Hello to Michael Gove

June 20, 2017 ARC

Michael Gove has taken over in the UK ministry which covers agricultural, food, rural affairs and the environment. He was central to the Brexit push and has links to US Neocons including the Tea Party – so he doesn’t seem too keen on environmental regulations. By Miles King. […]

What will the Paris Agreement Mean for Farming & Food?

December 16, 2015 ARC

The Paris agreement reached Saturday 12 December at the COP negotiations has been hailed as historic. Is it? And what will it mean for farming and food? […]