AHDB Monitor Farm

Knowledge Exchange in Agriculture in the UK is diverse, with many organisations involved. That is part of the reason for creating Farm-PEP, to help provide connections to what many percieve as a fragmented landscape.

Through Farm-PEP we aim to connect across the resources, platforms, media, organisations and initiatives that provide knowledge exchange across agriculture.

It is becoming increasingly recognised that the most effective form of knowledge exchange comes from peer-peer learning, so share here what works for you.

 

The below Topics list various sources of Knowledge Exchange:

Useful websites

Farming Press & newsletters

Events

Social Media

Podcasts & Video

Networks & Communities

International

Related Organisations

Content below is from across the PEP community and is not necessarily endorsed by Stewards or by PEP

Connected Content

Science for Sustainable Agriculture aims to ensure the positive contribution of scientific innovation in agriculture and food production is recognised in public life and policy making.

Innovative Farmers was established in 2012 by the Soil Association with the aim of bringing scientific rigour to on-farm trials co-designed by farmers and researchers. With a focus on sustainability and resilience, groups come together on discrete topics and on-farm trials addressing the topics that matter to them.

Farm-PEP aims to bring together all the sources of useful knowledge for Agriculture, whether from academic science, applied research projects, industry trials, farmers own trials or simple on-farm experience. Listed below are useful websites, organisations and websites that we know of.  Add any we've missed in the comments box or by adding as new content, or better still, as a new Group.  

The Farmer-Led Innovation Network (FLIN) are UK based organisations driving farmer-led innovation - working together to power up and increase the impact of farmer led innovation initiatives.

The Farming and Land Use Team at the Soil Association have a specialist knowledge of all UK agricultural sectors as well as in depth understanding of organic and agroecological food production systems. Our goal is to support organic and non-organic farmers alike to transition towards more sustainable practices.

The Agricultural Universities Council (AUC-UK) is a collaboration of the UK universities with agricultural schools or departments. AUC-UK works together to coordinate our teaching and research, to make the biggest contribution we can to a resilient and sustainable future for agriculture, land management and food systems.

Practical sustainable farming regardless of labels.

Catchment Sensitive Farming is a free farm advice programme funded by the UK government. It works with farmers, communities, and organisations across England to improve the quality of water, air, and sustainable water management.

An EU-wide network to support and promote solutions for alternative weed control.  

We deliver transformational projects to drive productivity and boost farming and supply chain businesses. We want the industry to thrive in a rapidly changing world and continue to produce high quality food, maintain our beautiful landscape and leave a legacy for generations to come. 

Agri-TechE is a business focused member organisation, supporting the growth of a world-leading network of innovative farmers, producers, scientists, technologists and entrepreneurs who share a vision of increasing the productivity, profitability and sustainability of agriculture.

The initial Farm-PEP project funded under the Innovate UK competition 'UKRI Ideas to address Covid-19'.  ADAS led consortium to assess the impact of Covid-19 on knowledge exchange in agriculture, and to develop the Farm-PEP web solution at www.farmpep.net. The initial Farm-PEP project began in January 2021 and ran to February 2022.

A free to use online data hub building on the Catchment Based Approach (CaBA) data package providing spatially relevant local information to farmers, land managers and advisors.

Knowledge and business support for farmers in Wales

BASIS is a charitable organisation committed to independently raising professional standards across the land management and food production sectors, by supporting people and businesses with our industry leading qualifications, professional memberships and auditing schemes.

Industry Leading Agronomists.  With many farming clients, representing over one million hectares, Hutchinsons are a leading agricultural and horticultural input advice and supply company.

The International Barley Hub is an initiative seeking to create a platform for the translation of barley research into economic, social, environmental and commercial impacts for the breeding, farming, malting, brewing, feed, food, health and related industries

Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) was established in 2012 through the merger of the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) with Barony, Elmwood and Oatridge Colleges. Through these institutions, we can trace our lineage back over 100 years.

  Supporting farmers with robust design and analysis of on-farm experiments in tramline trials.

Farm-centric research generally involves On-Farm Experimentation and may be better described as 'Farm Action Research', i.e. research conducted at least in part by and for beneficiaries who also farm. 

Rothamsted Research is a world-leading, non-profit research centre that focuses on strategic agricultural science to the benefit of farmers and society worldwide.

The British On-Farm Innovation Network   A network of farmers who carry out their own on-farm trials and share the results, seeking a scientifically robust way to progress farm practice.

As the UK's centre of excellence for peas and beans, the PGRO has a long and highly valued track record of providing authoritative, up to date information and project work based on solid, reliable research.

Slug-Resistant Wheat A project to explore the properties of Watkins 788, a landrace wheat believed to be resistant to slugs, never before been grown in the UK. 

The ideas behind Farm-PEP came together in ~2018, drawing from the developments of Agronomics, the YENs, AHDB's Monitor Farm programme and the idea of a 'What Works' Centre for Agriculture. 

Advisors play a crucial role in supporting & progressing knowledge exchange in agriculture.

Agricultural Shows have always been a very important place for farmers and the industry to share knowledge. The nature of agricultural shows has changed, but there are now an increasing number of staple events for a range of communities.

The British Society of Soil Science (BSSS) is an established international membership organisation committed to the study of soil in its widest aspects. The society brings together those working within academia, practitioners implementing soil science in industry and all those working with, or with an interest in soils.

Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing is an award winning independent publisher founded by Rob Burleigh and Francis Dodds in 2015. Our mission is to bring you the key research and latest trends to empower you to make a positive impact on sustainable agriculture, climate change and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. More information at www.bdspublishing.com.  

We create diverse connections to drive positive change.

Thrive through change with the Royal Agricultural University

Each year Agri-TechE brings together a series of agri-tech related events in a week in November, surrounding the REAP conference on the Tuesday.  REAP 2022 explores 'Making Sense of Agriculture'.

Social media platforms are an important source of knowledge exchange for many in agriculture, especially peer to peer.

Ahead of COP27 in Egypt, Countryside COP will once again be held in October to allow the rural community to come together and showcase the opportunities available and the contribution already being made to reach Net Zero. 

Innovation for Agriculture (IfA) is an independent knowledge exchange charity that aims to bridge the gap between science and practice. 

Poster paper given at IFS 2022 by Daniel Kindred, Roger Sylvester-Bradley, Pete Berry and colleagues. Conventional routes to generating knowledge of ‘what works’ in agriculture have relied on (i) farmers developing their experiences and passing these on locally, and (ii) researchers conducting small plot experiments on a limited number of sites, analysing data and drawing conclusions in a more generic top-down fashion. The advent of (i) the internet enabling ideas and data to be shared widely and (ii) precision farming technologies enabling comparisons or trials by farms, provides the opportunity to interconnect the top-down approach with a more robust farm-centric bottom-up approach.

Podcast from Farming Connect The ‘Ear to the Ground’ podcast, the first of its kind to be available in both Welsh and English, shares technical information, advice, support and inspiration to the farming community in Wales.  

Ceres Rural offers you a full scope of experience-led farming consultancy, technical support and business management. You are provided with independent advice and services from qualified professionals, tailoring unique solutions in line with your specific requirements and means. 

Scientific paper looking at the relationships between scientists and farmers:

The development of Farm-PEP Performance Enhancement Partnerships to support on-farm knowledge generation through shared ideas, data and experimentation. Funded as part of Farming Innovation Pathways programme from Defra and Innovate UK Transforming Food Production.

FarmPEP aims to connect the many networks, communities and groups across Agriculture. Add your network as a Group and connect to the 'Networks' Topic to have your network show up below. 

What web resources do you find useful to find and share knowledge?

The farming press is a very important route to disseminating knowledge across the industry.  A range of newsletters serving a host of communities help keep people up to date. Share here sources of news and info that you find most useful.

An internationally excellent Research Institute” (REF, 2021). Shaping rural development policy and practice in the UK, Europe and further afield.

The National Library for Agri-Food serves agri-food practitioners by providing access to recent, high quality, science-evidenced information and guidance in a well-constructed online repository with good metadata standards for easy searching and robust perma-links to content.

TFF is the leading Farming discussion site in the UK.

There are increasing numbers of podcasts and video channels available across agriculture. Share and recommend your favourites here.

ADAS Farming Association membership provides independent strategic technical support to help you improve farm productivity. We put current research into perspective and offer clear guidance on forthcoming agronomy decisions for our members. We also cover non-agronomy topics such as biofuels, waste regulations etc. Conferences and meetings will cover various topics and can be attended by any member. All of our events and publications will be allocated the appropriate BASIS and NRoSo points.    

The Voluntary Initiative is an industry led programme to promote the responsible use of plant protection products (PPP's) through schemes, tools and messages advocating an IPM-based approach to sustainable agriculture.

Many of the most telling innovations that make a difference on-farm come from farmers themselves, or from close collaboration between farmers, advisors, industry and researchers

Direct Driller is a new farming magazine, designed by farmers for farmers to educate and inform the industry about direct drilling and no-till techniques, soil regeneration and soil conservation in arable and mixed farming situations. Direct Driller Magazine is available free to all farmers and agronomists who register with us and can be received in the post or via email depending on your preference. The key aim of Direct Driller is to help farmers to take back control of their farms and businesses and find a way of growing healthy crops using minimal effort and the correct inputs. It will be content put on by farmers, for farmers. We will showcase all the latest machinery and techniques, but the core of the Magazine is all about the soil and how you can use machinery, inputs and biology to improve it.

Policy plays a critical role in shaping the agriculture industry in the UK and Europe. Government policies can have a major impact on the way that farmers operate, the crops they grow, and the prices they receive for their products. Policy has a major effect on how land is managed and environmental outcomes.

Frontier Agriculture is the UK's leading crop production and grain marketing business, recognised for its close customer relationships with farmers and grain consumers and its successful management of the arable supply chain.

The UK's best-read arable journal

Educating, inspiring and empowering current and future farmers to achieve net zero within a sustainable farming and food system.

We work to bring together unusual combinations of voices in order to devise a range of practical actions that can have significant impact on our climate, nature, health and economy. 

The Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust is a charity organisation whose aim is to bring positive change to agriculture through the development of its future leaders, sending them overseas to learn from others and helping them share their brilliant ideas when they return home.  

The Organic Research Centre (ORC) is the UK's leading independent organic research organisation. Changing the future of food and farming.

We bring together bright young researchers and the most eminent in their fields. We stimulate and support their work. Then we celebrate the breakthrough ideas that emerge, and the difference they make to the world.

The MGA is independently run "by growers for growers".  The farmer led council commissions research on maize and wholecrop agronomy, utilisation and environmental issues.  The results of this work alongside knowledge picked up elsewhere are quickly transferred to members via regular mailings, demonstration sites, conferences and study tours.  

Innovative farming for the future   

Agriculture and land-based colleges play a key role in ensuring the industry is supplied with the right skills. This page acts as a hub to help connect the people and organisations in this space. 

Report by Lord Curry (Food & Farming Futures), James Lowenburg-DeBoer and Michael Lee (Harper Adams University) into how agricultural science and extension can be supported and co-ordinated to address the productivity gap in UK agriculture.    

The overarching aim of FAIRshare is to ensure that farm advisors and their organisations effectively use digital tools and services for supporting a more productive and sustainable agriculture.

Agri-Tech Week features a mix of in-person and virtual events that are designed to showcase exciting developments in agri-tech. It is coordinated by Agri-TechE working closely with partners across the innovation ecosystem and aims to provide opportunities to attract new customers and partners and to broker collaborations and international connections.

Northern Ireland farmer-led innovation    

Five farming businesses, progressing through data analysis and knowledge exchange, to enhance the productive, financial and ecological results of our farming.

Trinity's next generation global farm platform empowering everyone to learn, collaborate, and discover together

Series of articles in CPM reporting results from research projects by AHDB & others

Sowing Future Seeds. Seed company specialising in grass and clover mixes, as well as brassica, lucerne and stubble turnips.

Established in 1981 "to advance education and leadership in all aspects of the science and technology of agriculture"

Based in Lincolnshire, a specialist land-based college with a wide range of Further Education and Higher Education courses, from Agriculture and Equine to Sport and Food.

Let’s Talk Agriculture is a fast-growing public relations and communications company providing practical communications counsel to the agricultural sector.

To build a socially and environmentally resilient and regenerative food system in a net zero landscape, the Sustainable Farm Networks initiative connects diverse demonstration farm networks across the UK to share experiences, findings and best practice.

Trinity's next generation global farm platform empowering everyone to learn, collaborate, and discover together

AgriTech 4.0: Crops, Seeds & Soil 2022 is taking place online and virtual on Friday 21st

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Change is constant, but at this moment the pace and breadth in agricu

Refereed paper in Journal of Rural Studies by Sandra Šūmane and colleagues (2018). 

Dear colleagues, since this group is about agricultural innovation, you might find useful to have

The Morley Agricultural Foundation is a charity that supports farming in the East of England by funding agricultural research, student studies, professional development of farmers and others and a variety of educational projects for school age children.

The independent, collaborative news and information source for farming and food

A wide range of EU funded projects and networks contribute to the knowledge landscape in agriculture.

The Agriculture Knowledge & Innovation System

Networking European Farms to Enhance Cross Fertilisation and Innovation Uptake Through demonstration (NEFERTITI) - a unique 7 M€ Network (selected under Horizon 2020, Societal Challenge 2, RUR 12-2017 call) comprising 32 partners and coordinated by ACTA, the head of Network of the French Agricultural Technical Institutes.

EU FarmBook is a collection of vetted best practices for farmers & foresters. All content in the library is provided by Horizon research projects. 

Exchange knowledge, enhance organic farming.  Organic Farm Knowledge is a web platform dedicated to sharing practices on organic farming.

The Knowledge Exchange Hub is a joint collaboration between Farming Connect and IBERS, Aberystwyth University.

Independent advice, tailored to farmers and horticulturists, tested and validated in practice. We conduct practice-oriented research in function of profitable innovations in West Flanders agriculture and horticulture.

Agro Mavens helps you and your business get talked about in the world of agriculture and agritech. A specialist marketing and communications agency for agriculture, from our base in the UK we work with agriculturally active brands all around the world, from multinationals to start-ups.

This exciting event offers a chance to connect and collaborate with fellow farmers, educators and the wider industry, whilst discovering and exploring the best in education and outreach in the agri-food sector.

Open Farm Sun­day, 9th June 2024 is farm­ing’s annu­al open day giv­ing vis­i­tors the oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn more about farm­ing and the coun­try­side, and farm­ers the chance to talk about what they’re so proud of: British food and farming!

The demo design guide summarizes in 6 steps how to design an on-farm demonstration event, starting from a clear definition of the objectives and ending with a good evaluation and follow-up.

FAS TV is a weekly show designed for farmers and crofters which recreates traditional on-farm visits.

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