NE Organic Discussion Group – Mini Conference – Crop and Business Management

This the first of two meetings of our mini organic conference.

The main topic will be carbon footprinting which is very topical just now and a subject all farmers must be familiar with and take on board. We have two very knowledgeable speakers in Anna Sellars who is a rural business consultant with SAC Consulting. She previously worked for the Organic Research Centre and is now involved with Agrecalc (the SAC Consulting Carbon Footprinting Tool). Also, Dr Laurence Smith who is a lecturer in agroecology at the Royal Agricultural University. He was also previously at the Organic Research Centre where he did his PhD on a comparison of emissions between organic and conventional farmers and has done a lot of work on greenhouse gas mitigation. They will give an overview of carbon footprinting in agriculture, emissions from organic vs. conventional/non-organic production systems, followed by a discussion of policy and business opportunities for organics and carbon. There will be time for questions and discussion.

Looking to the future this will be followed by David Lawson a grassland agronomist at SRUC who will briefly tell us about the potential grass and clover has for being used to produce protein.

Two topics of current interest and a meeting not to be missed by any organic farmer.