Network Innovation News - March 2021

NETWORK INNOVATION NEWS Nutrient Use Eff icien cy Issue T HE L ATEST NEWS & I N FO R M ATI O N FO R & F R OM LEA F ’ S D E M O N ST R ATI O N FAR M S & INNOVATI O N C E N TR E S 1

H ELLO Welcome to the March issue of the Network Innovation Newsletter, exclusively for and about LEAF Demonstration Farmers and LEAF Innovation Centres.

This quarter focuses on Nutrient Use Efficiency with features on nutrient budgeting at the James Hutton Institute, award-winning technology to improve nutrient use at the Jersey Royal Company, and the latest results from the University of Reading on the DiverseForages project and Protein Utilisation in Lactating Dairy Cows study.

You will also find key findings to date from the E.L.M. Test & Trials LEAF has been involved with as well as updates from EU Horizon 2020 projects and the Network’s involvement in these.

Finally, please join us at the Network Meeting at 12 to 1.30pm on Tuesday 30th March. The theme of Nutrient Use Efficiency will be continued with presentations and discussions with James Loder-Symonds from Nonington Farms following his recent Bronze YEN Wheat Quality award, and Dr Malcolm Hawkesford from Rothamsted Research on his recently published research on nitrogen use efficiency of UK wheat.

India Grant-Wood India.grant-wood@leafuk.org

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Please do get in touch if you have project work or research updates that you would like to share with the LEAF Network. Also, please let me know if you have any thoughts or would like further information on any of the features included in this issue.

CON TE N TS Technology at the Jersey Royal Company

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Nutrient Budgeting at James Hutton Institute

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DiverseForages for Livestock Production

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Protein Utilisation in Lactating Dairy Cows

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LEAF ELM Tests & Trials

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H2020 Project Updates

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Speak Out Toolkit Introduction

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LEAF Network

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KEY DATES: Zoom into LEAF Marque

22nd - 26th March

LEAF Online Farm Sunday

28th March

Carbon Virtual Field Event

29th March 10:00-11:30

Network Meeting

30th March 12:00-13:30

Biodiversity Virtual Field Event Agri Capture Surgery

22nd April 7th May

10:00-11:30 3

TECHNOLOGY AT THE JERSEY ROYAL COMPANY WITH MIKE RENOUARD BUSINESS UNIT DIRECTOR (AT JRC) One of our newest LEAF Demonstrations Farms, the Jersey Royal Company (JRC), has been awarded ‘Best Use of Technology for Sustainability’ in the Digital Jersey Tech Awards 2020, competing with a range of industries including finance, renewable energy and tech companies. Their win was a result of developing a IoT remote sensor system, providing up-to-the-minute intelligence on weather conditions to predict the growth of their Jersey Royal potatoes and tea crops covering over 9,000 vergées and accurately determining crop needs in terms of irrigation, fertiliser and PPPs.

WHY IS IT NEEDED? JRC farm approximately 1,600 fields on the Island of Jersey with each individual field around 2 acres, making accurate application of inputs challenging. The weather, and particularly rainfall, also varies considerably within a day and across the Island. Irrigation was largely based on guesswork and there was difficulty in preventing seed storage temperatures becoming too warm. JRC therefore identified the need for greater monitoring and application accuracy and purchased 20 sensors through the Countryside Enhancement Scheme.

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WHAT IS IT?

NUTRIENT USE EFFICIENCY

Remote air and soil temperature probes, soil conductivity and rainfall gauges record in-field conditions across the Island which then feeds into JRC’s in-house IoT dashboard to determine rate of crop growth and plant needs. Data is sent to the platform every minute, ensuring the technical and farming teams have the most accurate data possible. In addition, remote temperature and humidity sensors in the seed stores record the daily day degrees accumulated (the average number of °C above 4°C in a 24 hour period) by the seed tubers.

In order for these devices to communicate to JRC’s central hub, the company has developed a low frequency LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) across the Island that uses very little power and securely delivers two-way communications.

Eight gateways have been set up in various locations, covering 75% of the Island. Now this LoRa network has been established, sensors are simply moved when needed and can be utilised by other businesses i.e.

by Jersey Dairy for sensors in water tanks.

JRC has made changes to improve Nutrient Use Efficiency in the last 4-5 years by placing fertiliser rather than broadcasting. Since then, nitrogen application has reduced by 15%.

Jersey has historically recorded high nitrate levels in its waters, requiring derogation from the EU. However, since this change in fertiliser application, levels have been decreasing to a point where this derogation is no longer needed. JRC works with Jersey Water to improve raw water quality and in developing a catchment pollution risk model for pesticides with the James Hutton Institute.

With greater optimisation using data collected by remote sensors, JRC looks to further increase nutrient use efficiency, reducing input costs and enhancing yields whilst mitigating environmental impact. With instalment of sensors and planting of potatoes in the last few months, this will be the first season where data will inform inputs on a ‘needs only’ basis to avoid over-application and optimise crop growth and pest and disease control.

WHAT NEXT? The next stage of software development will look to advise and assist in decision-making to further refine accuracy of applications rather than based on historical research-based applications. JRC’s ambition is to have 100150 sensors across the Island that are able to record a variety of metrics to understand how much input is being wasted and how much is actually needed. They also hope to refine current measurement models and expand data collection to include soil organic matter and soil types. Developing partnerships on the Island and sustained cooperation with the Government of Jersey will continue to be key for pursuing increased efficiencies and reduced environmental impact.

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NUTRIENT BUDGETING AT JAMES HUTTON INSTITUTE, CENTRE FOR SUSTAINABLE CROPPING

BY ANDREW CHRISTIE FIELD AGRONOMIST The Centre for Sustainable Cropping at the James Hutton Institute’s Balruddery farm was set up in 2009 as a platform for evaluating the long-term impacts of an integrated cropping system on whole-system sustainability.

The Integrated system, which applies direct drill, cover cropping, precision farming, reduced and targeted input techniques, is compared to a conventional, plough based, highly intensive system on six crops in rotation, covering the most widely grown arable crops in the UK (potatoes, winter wheat, winter barley, winter oilseed rape, field beans and spring barley).

From an agronomist’s perspective, the platform, which is the first of its scale in the UK, offers an opportunity to test new developments on the Integrated, direct drilling system and apply ideas already proven in other territories to a North-East Scotland context. This provides an opportunity to extend no-till systems from the dryland areas where these techniques were pioneered to new regions posing a completely different set of challenges and requiring novel solutions.

Nutrient Use Efficiency forms an integral part of the overall integrated management system which iteratively applies and tests new techniques to improve environmental and economic sustainability and transition towards a system which would now be classed under the umbrella term of regenerative agriculture. Techniques being applied are as follows:

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NUTRIENT BUDGETING FOR PHOSPHATE AND POTASH Routine sampling for Phosphate and Potash allows us to apply a nutrient budgeting technique with the aim of maintaining status at level M- (or 2- in England & Wales), where soils are in balance between starvation and over-supply. Where this is achieved, conditions are optimal for plant uptake avoiding ‘locking up’ nutrients and reducing the potential for leaching. Using this technique there is potential for applications of Phosphate to be reduced by up to one third, Potash halved, and where organic manures are applied, mineral fertiliser use may be completely omitted in some cases.

ACCOUNTING FOR SOIL NITROGEN SUPPLY Nitrogen, being an element which is easily leached, can cause problems of eutrophication and high nitrate levels in groundwater. A nutrient budgeting approach uses a measure of Soil Nitrogen Supply (SNS) in calculating crop requirements, which allows a reduction in overall fertiliser inputs. Conventional estimates of crop requirement do not accurately account for SNS and therefore where this ‘extra’ soil nitrogen is surplus to requirement and potentially leachable. Even where SNS is at low levels, there is a greater benefit in protection from diffuse pollution in the overall water catchment area. For example, where a low SNS value of 5kgN/ha is estimated to become crop available, this may only reduce application rate by 14.5kg/ha of 34.5%N fertiliser for a given field.

However, if this practice is applied to a water catchment area, say for example, 5000ha, this would multiply up to an environmentally (and economically) significant input of 72.5 tonnes of 34.5%N fertiliser which need not be applied. continued on next page >

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VARIABLE RATE APPLICATION Targeted applications of Nitrogen using Green Area Index NDVI (Normalised Difference Vegetation Index) maps to create Variable Rate Application Maps are a useful tool for boosting productivity without increasing overall fertiliser use, particularly in winter cereals. Areas of the field are split into levels based on ground cover and fertiliser rates are adjusted to each level.

In early season, where establishment and tiller survival are key, applications are weighted for higher rates on the lesser areas to produce a more uniform canopy. For later applications, at stem extension, the aim is to boost yield potential in the more productive areas. Monitoring is important as some ground truthing is required before application and productive areas are best identified using yield data and soil mapping.

NDVI Map gives vegetation index

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Vegetation Zones used to create application map

Variable Rate Application Map exported to spreader

MICRONUTRIENTS AND LEIBIGS LAW Liebig's Law states that yield is limited not by total resource availability but the scarcest nutrient present. So, where there are deficiencies of micronutrients, further application of base macronutrient fertilisers may mask symptoms without translating into yield improvements. At the Centre for Sustainable Cropping, we aim to maintain yields by providing for the full suite of elemental requirements. Where soil levels are low and deficiency symptoms are likely, crop protection plans include targeted trace elements at key timings. At timings where transient deficiency symptoms are expected, e.g. drought conditions during peak growth, targeted applications of foliar fertilisers and biostimulants are used to relieve stress and improve plant fitness. There are two main benefits of this approach: crop yield potential is protected by providing the required nutrients at the right time for the plant, and secondly, plant fitness is improved through induced disease resistance triggered by elicitors in biostimulants together with some biocidal activity of certain micronutrients, offering improved resilience to disease infection.

SOIL pH AMENDMENTS Last but certainly not least, it is important that soil pH levels are correct for the crop being grown for any management system to work effectively.

Regular applications of pH neutral or slightly alkaline organic manures within an Integrated system may act as a buffer for acidification, thus maintaining optimal conditions. In very acidic soils, where uptake of all nutrients are restricted, the ageold agricultural good practice of rotational liming remains the single most effective management technique which can be applied for sustainable production and resource use efficiency.

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DIVERSEFORAGES FOR LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION

BY CHRIS REYNOLDS,

PROFESSOR OF ANIMAL & DAIRY SCIENCE (UNIVERSITY OF READING) DIRECTOR OF CEDAR (THE CENTRE FOR DAIRY RESEARCH) The DiverseForages Project is a five-year project funded by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Innovation Club (SARIC), led by the University of Reading in collaboration with Duchy College, Rothamsted North Wyke, and Cotswold Seeds. The overall aim of the project is: "To achieve acceptable yields of good quality forage for livestock production whilst having a positive and long term impact on the environment."

PROJECT OVERVIEW Three forage mixtures comprising six, twelve, or seventeen species were established in Autumn of 2016 and compared to N fertilised PRG at multiple research sites and farms over three growing seasons (2017-2019). All three multi-species treatments included PRG, timothy, red and white clover, and plantain and chicory. Treatment mixtures received no N fertilizer for the duration of the study. Measurements included: • Biomass yield, sward botanical and nutrient composition, and soil properties in a longterm replicated agronomy study at four sites in the South of England.

• A comparison of agronomic performance of mixtures sown at dry and wet sites.

• An assessment of the performance of the two most complex mixtures on ten participatory farms.

• A two-year evaluation of forage nutritional value, including measurements of digestibility, nitrogen use efficiency, methane emission, and growth rate of grazing cattle in 2018 and

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2019.

KEY FINDINGS TO DATE: 1. For the agronomy trials, there was large variation in the species present across sites, sampling times within the growing season, and years of the study, in spite of the use of the same seed mixtures for establishment at each site. The number of unsown species (weeds) was greatest in PRG, which received no herbicide during the study. Overall, the PRG control with N fertiliser produced more biomass in year one, but the multispecies swards with no N fertiliser were as productive as PRG receiving N in year two, and produced more forage biomass than PRG in year three. Years two and three were relatively dry years, which limited PRG growth, and legumes in the multispecies swards were more established in years two and three, which made up for the lack of N fertiliser.

Compared to the PRG receiving N fertilizer, the multispecies swards were lower in crude protein, water soluble carbohydrates, and neutral detergent fibre, and higher in ash concentration. There were no effects of treatments on soil structural assessments or composition, but the number of earthworms present was greater for the multispecies treatments.

2. There was no effect of treatments on growth rates of steers and their average daily gain.

Digestibility of diet dry matter and fibre was not affected by treatment, but protein digestibility was greater for PRG compared to the multispecies swards. Methane emission per kg forage consumed was higher for PRG, but similar for the multispecies sward treatments.

Overall, the results show that established multispecies swards containing legumes produced forage yields that were comparable to, or greater than, PRG receiving 250 kg N/ ha. Greater earthworm populations were present after three years of multispecies sward establishment. Although PRG receiving N fertiliser had higher crude protein concentration at harvest, the overall digestibility of the multispecies swards was comparable to PRG and also supported comparable growth rates in grazing cattle. In addition to the increased biodiversity observed with multispecies swards, and the benefits of withdrawing mineral N fertiliser and associated reductions in greenhouse gas emissions (embedded carbon for fertiliser synthesis and transport and nitrous oxide emissions following application), steers consuming multispecies swards produced less methane per unit forage consumed, further lowering the net carbon footprint of production.

Acceptable yields & drought resilience Increased biodiversity Increased earthworm populations Lower protein content at harvest BUT Comparable digestibility & growth rates No requirement for mineral N fertiliser Reductions in methane production by grazing cattle

Professor Chris Reynolds recently spoke about the findings from the SARIC project at the British Grassland Society Research Conference.

Research posters and recordings from the conference can accessed on the BGS website.

For more information: SARIC DiverseForages project

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Long-Term Effects of Reduced Protein Supply

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Contact information Prof. Chris Reynolds, Director of CEDAR Research c.k.reynolds@reading.ac.uk | 0118 378 4684

Acknowledgements

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Funding from DEFRA (ACO122) and AHDB Dairy is gratefully acknowledged.

More information on the DEFRA Efficiency of Protein Utilisation in Dairy Cows project can be found on the University of Reading’s website.

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LEAF E.L.M. TESTS & TRIALS

K E Y F I N D I N G S T O D AT E

“Are mobile apps an effective and appropriate tool for on-farm self-assessment of the delivery of public goods including biodiversity?”

(P4 Final Report, February 2020) • Apps such as the one under development during this trial could play a role in on-farm self-assessment of public goods including biodiversity.

• Offering apps as an optional tool complementary to existing advice services and monitoring networks could avoid discrepancies between diverse farm circumstances and build on existing skills, knowledge and experience.

• To provide information of an adequately reliable and consistent quality for government use, any app-based tool will require training, support and verification.

• Uptake of app-based tools will be dependent on user confidence in protocols regarding gathering, transfer, storage and end-use of data.

• Integration with existing software, hardware and network capabilities is critical.

“LEAF Marque Certification as indicator of public goods delivery through E.L.M.” (P2 Interim Report, September 2020) • Earned Recognition of outcomes delivered by the LEAF Marque assurance system has precedent in the UK agri-environmental context through reduced inspection burden for cross-compliance under CAP. • LEAF Marque assurance is a recognised, respected and robust assurance system that has independently scrutinised processes of governance.

• LEAF Marque Standard v.15.0 contains mandatory Control Points pertaining to the delivery of all 6 public goods intended for payment through the E.L.M. scheme.

• Actions represented in the LEAF Marque Standard have proven environmental performance impact, including conservation and biodiversity, Integrated Pest Management, soil quality, animal welfare, non-renewable resource use efficiency, community relations and water resource management.

• The LEAF Marque assurance system has a whole farm approach, with Control Points that align with delivery of public goods as in the case of ‘Clean and Plentiful Water’.

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“Bringing LEAF Demonstration Farmers’ experience of whole farm planning to inform Land Management Plan (LMP) design for E.L.M.” (P1 Final Report, September 2020) • Whatever the agreement length, there should be scope for annual review within the LMP. It is a plan and plans change.

• Full publication of LMPs in the public domain will preclude some land managers from inputting business, habitat, agronomic and mapping data due to security and market concerns.

• Care must be taken not to exclude smaller farms or tenants from access to E.L.M. through long agreements or complex plan requirements.

• The LEAF Sustainable Farming Review is a tried and tested tool to plan and record environmental actions and practical decisions within a whole farm system. It has potential to be adopted as a LMP for E.L.M. • There is significant opportunity to utilise the LEAF Demonstration Farm Network’s experience of working as a non-contiguous, sectorally diverse cluster to advance environmental land management practices, supporting farmers through peer to peer learning, demonstration and knowledge exchange during the roll out of E.L.M.

“Advice and training to support transition to Environmental Land Management through LEAF Marque Certification” (P2 Final Report, February 2021) • Progression towards Environmental Land Management evidenced through LEAF Marque certification is most successfully supported by one to one advice from an IFM trained adviser.

• Online resources including videos and group training can successfully support progression towards E.L.M. evidenced through LEAF Marque certification for some farmers.

• Remote digital monitoring of LEAF Sustainable Farming Review online completion gives routinely measurable sub-annual progression towards LEAF Marque certification.

• Time taken to complete paperwork was the single biggest barrier for participants: a scheme needs to present clear benefits to justify time spent on administration or engagement will be lost regardless of training and advice provision.

• The process of progression towards LEAF Marque certification brought additional benefits to participating farm businesses including carbon footprinting and cost savings through energy, water and nutrient use efficiency.

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H2020

PROJECT UPDATES Agri Capture This project is focused around promoting regenerative agriculture and developing markets for carbon credits. It will offer four services; quantification, explore, support, and verification, all of which will involve key stakeholders including farmers, businesses, agri-food coops and many more. LEAF Demonstration Farmer, Duncan Farrington and LEAF Innovation Centre, The Allerton Project are also partners in this project alongside LEAF. We will all be involved in developing an engagement strategy for farmers and businesses, offering training opportunities within regenerative agriculture, and assessing the potential of a carbon standard for assurance schemes. Additionally, Duncan is one of the project’s five case studies to evidence the services Agri Capture will offer.

SolACE SolACE is in its final year journey of finding solutions for improved agroecosystem and crop efficiency for water and nutrient use. The project is designing solutions that combine novel genotypes and crop innovations on a range of crops including Durham wheat and potatoes across climatic regions of Europe. LEAF alongside the University of Newcastle is leading the UK farmer network, trialling the use of microbial inoculants on their effectiveness to water and nutrient stress. Check out the next issue of the IFM bulletin for the report on our findings of the 2020 trials and our plans for 2021.

DIVERSify This H2020 funded project, led by LEAF Innovation Centre, the James Hutton Institute, is in its final stages of its four-year journey and has seen the design of innovative plant teams for ecosystem resilience and agricultural sustainability across Europe by identifying the mechanisms and traits for optimised plant teams. The project has seen many successes and legacies including an intercropping decision aid tool and LEAF’s very own Speak Out Tool Kit. If you would like to know how intercropping can help achieve European green deal ambitions please join us for the DIVERSify & ReMIX joint conference on 23rd March register here.

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SHOWCASE This five-year H2020 project looks at integrating biodiversity with farming practices to establish working demonstrations of quantifiable practices that reconcile production and biodiversity conservation. LEAF and the University of Reading will shortly start working with a group of around 15 arable farmers to co-develop novel ideas that benefit both farmers and wildlife.

Two successful workshops were recently hosted that brought a number of farmers together who were interested in the project including many familiar faces from our LEAF Network.

There are various levels of involvement possible in this project and the experience from the LEAF Network will be an invaluable addition, especially in the co-design process which offers opportunities to co-author research publications as well as co-design the biodiversity intervention and sampling methods.

DiverIMPACTS DiverIMPACTS is a H2020 funded project, led by INRAE, and is a sister project to DIVERSify assessing diversification through rotation, intercropping, multiple cropping promoted by actors and value chain sustainability. Crop diversification has the potential to produce many benefits such as improved soil nutrient concentrations and soil fertility but comes with several challenges. LEAF alongside FiBL has led the task of reporting on the success stories of crop diversification across Europe featuring LEAF Demonstration Farmer, Duncan Farrington, and his success of combined rotation, cover crops and companion cropping. Check out Duncan’s and other European farmers success in crop diversification here.

SEAMS SEAMS is an Esmee Fairbairn Foundation funded project coordinated by the James Hutton Institute. The project focusses on crop mixtures and aims to develop, promote and implement crop species mixtures as a sustainable crop production system for Scotland and as a resource for knowledge exchange on food production, agricultural ecology and environmental sustainability. Barriers and enablers on the uptake of crop mixtures were investigated as part of workshop LEAF hosted in 2019 with farmers and advisors in Fife sharing ideas about crop mixtures and farmer’s experiences of establishing, growing and harvesting them. Growing two crops simultaneously offers a range of potential benefits from soil conditioning to pest control but mixtures must be well-designed and closely managed. At this workshop we discussed what works, what doesn’t, what the opportunities are as well as barriers which included the lack of end use opportunities.

Look out for an extended LEAF Surgery this autumn where we will be discussing the potential end use opportunities for crop mixtures, from home grown proteins to distilling.

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LEAF DEMONSTRATION LEAF Demonstration Farms FARMS AJ & CI Snell

Anthony

Snell

Herefordshire

Addicott Partners

Robert

Addicott

Somerset

Barfoots of Botley

Keston

Williams

West Sussex

Bottom Farm

Duncan

Farrington

Northants

Bowhill Farming

Sion

Williams

Selkirk

Carroll's Heritage Potatoes

Anthony and Lucy

Carroll

Northumberland

Church Farm

Jeremy

Padfield

Somerset

Crowmarsh Battle Farms Ltd

Charlie and Tim

Chamberlain

Oxfordshire

E Dunning & Son

Paul

Hayward

East Yorkshire

E J Barker & Sons

Brian and Patrick

Barker

Suffolk

Elveden Farms Ltd

Andrew

Francis

Norfolk

E W Davies Farms Ltd

Jeremy

Durrant

Essex

Frogmary Green Farm

Nick and Claire

Bragg

Somerset

Great Wollaston

Robert

Kynaston

Shropshire

G's Marketing (Cambs Farm Growers)

Charles

Shropshire

Cambridgeshire

The Green House Sussex Lt

William

Pitts

West Sussex

Hampden Bottom Farm Ltd

Ian

Waller

Buckinghamshire

J W Pigott & Son

Ian

Pigott

Hertfordshire

JSR Farms Ltd

Charlie

Parker

East Yorkshire

The Jersey Royal Company

Mike

Renouard

Jersey

Leckford Estate Ltd

Andrew

Ferguson

Hampshire

Lockerley Estate

Craig

Livingstone

Hampshire

Morriston Farms

Lord David

Kennedy

Ayrshire

New Forest Fruit Company

Sandy

Booth

Hampshire

Nonington Farms

James

Loder-Symonds

Kent

Overbury Enterprises

Jake

Freestone

Gloucestershire

P N Broad & Son

Hugh

Broad

East Lothian

Ragley Hall Farms

Hamish

Stewart

Warwickshire

R P Tilt & Son

Nicholas

Tilt

Shropshire

R. C. Felce & Son

David

Felce

Cambridgeshire

Renner Farming

John and Helen

Renner

Northumberland

Russell Smith Farms Ltd

Ralph

Grindling

Cambridgeshire

Silton Manor Farming

Keith

Harris

Dorset

Sir Richard Sutton Estates Ltd

Chris

Baylis

Lincolnshire

Tangmere Airfield Nurseries Ltd

Mark

Knight

West Sussex

Worth Farms

Duncan

Worth

Lincolnshire

Wantisden Hall Farms

Tim

Pratt

Suffolk

Wilkin & Sons Ltd

Chris

Newenham

Essex

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LEAF INNOVATION CENTRES

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