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  1. ORFC

    ORFC 2022: Book your tickets today

    Tickets are selling fast for ORFC 2022, with only a very small handful left for the in-person event in Oxford. If you want to join us in person, book this week. The full event programme will be announced at the end of November. Book ORFC 2022 tickets An online ticket to ORFC 2022 will give...
  2. ORFC

    ORFC: Nature Means Business

    ORFC Global 2021 Workshop Nature is a key stakeholder in any farm business, but how do you account for the assets it provides? Correct and supportive management of nature can actually improve the business bottom line. After significant research and analysis of over 80 farm businesses, Chris...
  3. ORFC

    ORFC - Agroecology Across Three Continents: Showcasing Good Policy Practices

    ORFC Global 2021 Session Governments are beginning to recognise the urgent need to transform our food systems. This has been made even more pressing by the current health and economic crisis caused by the COVID pandemic. Currently, there are good but rather scattered examples of governments...
  4. ORFC

    Entangled Lives: Fungal Networks, Ecology, and Us

    Thinking about fungi makes the world look different. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that support and sustain nearly all living systems. Fungi throw our concepts of individuality and even intelligence into question. They can change our minds...
  5. ORFC

    ORFC Global 2021 Opening Plenary

    Opening plenary with speakers and farmers from around the world. Featuring: Colin Tudge, Sam Lee, Anna Lappe, Nnimmo Bassey, Morgan Ody, Erin Matariki Carr, Te Kahurerema, Nury Martinez, Tshering Ongmu Bhutia, Alice Cunningham and Taiko Drummers
  6. ORFC

    Is Agroecology natural? Is natural good?

    Some thoughts of Colin's that stirred a few Twitter comments http://www.campaignforrealfarming.org/2014/02/is-agroecology-natural-is-natural-good/
  7. ORFC

    An economy fit for real farming

    Last but not least... Access to land A big problem for new entrants... Although written with the Forestry Commission in mind, there is some interesting info on who owns agricultural land in the UK and on the market more generally...
  8. ORFC

    Farmers finding new ways to make ecological farming viable

    Latest article by Colin and Graham, tracking down some inspiring examples, including more on Wakelyns agroforestry http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/Blogs/2255122/the_many_faces_of_real_farming.html Do you know of any other models that work?
  9. ORFC

    An economy fit for real farming

    The meaning of productivity At the moment the mainstream definition of productivity, what farmers are paid for, centres around quantity and amount of calories. But choosing alternatives, like redefining agricultural yields from tonnes to people nourished per hectare would generate a different...
  10. ORFC

    An economy fit for real farming

    Distribution of wealth and new (and not so new) business models That food is cheap obviously does not only affect the environment and human health, but the farmers, big time. Commoditisation, the disproportionate influence of the middle men, the wrong subsidies, what else? make farming less...
  11. ORFC

    An economy fit for real farming

    The true cost of food Food may be cheap but the real costs pile up on the environment and human health, which we pay for out of our taxes, but somehow we choose to ignore that. The Sustainable Food Trust is focussing on this and held a conference back in December. They have just released and...
  12. ORFC

    An economy fit for real farming

    Colin has written another article to explain what the Oxford Real Farming Conference is about, and, as he focussed mainly on the economics of making real farming happen, he also summarised some of the sessions in the conference that he attended...
  13. ORFC

    Low input farming: diversity the key

    About ancient grains, have you heard of John Letts? He is growing some http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/business/profiles/4555722.Field_of_dreams/
  14. ORFC

    Low input farming: diversity the key

    Can I just chip in to point out that whenever Colin mentions "organic" he is not referring to a certified business (by the Soil Association or any other certifiers' standards) that might or might not get a commercial premium on their products, but to organic as an ethical stance, based on the...
  15. ORFC

    Low input farming: diversity the key

    A piece by Colin Tudge and Graham Harvey at http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/2247895/low_input_farming_diversity_is_the_key.html
  16. ORFC

    Agroforestry for profitable farms

    My Twitter feed is a precious source of information for me and today it delivered - directly from the US - this guide to agroforestry for profitable farms http://nac.unl.edu/documents/morepublications/profitable_farms.pdf. It is all rather new to me, but in the last few months I have read and...
  17. ORFC

    Should the two sides of the conference be more integrated?

    Thanks for all the feedback, will include it in our review of ORFC14. The dinners were an opportunity for mixing up this year, but there is obviously interest for other sharing opportunities between the farm days (which are meant as technical sessions for farmers) and the "fringe" that is...
  18. ORFC

    Is the grass tide turning?

    Found an article this morning about grazing and profitability with some numbers: is the message getting through? It also refers to the PFLA and since there was interest in this topic I thought I would post it here http://www.talkinggrass.co.uk/grass-tide-turning/. This year ORFC we had a few...
  19. ORFC

    What is the Oxford Real Farming Conference?

    What a perfect prompt for a welcome message, thanks @noflippinguse for asking and @Clive and the team at the Farming Forum for giving us a space where participants from the Oxford Real Farming Conference can not only congregate in the wake of the event, but connect with other farmers and share...
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