Two new sites added to LEAF lineup

LEAF has added two fruit industry sites to its network of demonstration farms and research establishments.

NIAB EMR has been named as a LEAF Innovation Centre, while Blackbird Farming has become a LEAF Demonstration Farm. Both sites have been recognised for their outstanding research and demonstration capabilities and their commitment to supporting farmers and growers with the latest skills and know-how to address current sustainability challenges, according to LEAF.

The LEAF Network consists of Innovation Centres, which are described as leading research establishments pioneering new approaches to LEAF’s Integrated Farm Management (IFM) through research and development; and LEAF Demonstration Farms, which are working farms committed to promoting sustainable farming best practice to farmers and wider groups such as politicians, industry groups, and students.

Speaking at the launch this week, Alice Midmer, IFM manager at LEAF, said: “The LEAF Network of Demonstration Farms and Innovation Centres plays a critical role in driving forward the uptake and development of more sustainable farming and horticulture.

'The pioneering research and knowledge exchange activities carried out at our Innovation Centres, coupled with showing how new approaches to science and technology applies at farm level on our Demonstration Farms, represents a powerful catalyst to bring about real and lasting change to more sustainable farming systems. We are delighted to welcome NIAB EMR and Blackbird Farming to the LEAF Network and look forward to working alongside them to share best practice examples of more sustainable fruit farming.”

NIAB EMR joins a select group of ten LEAF Innovation Centres, made up of some of the country’s most prestigious education and research organisations, set up to support the research, development and promotion of LEAF’s IFM to help deliver more sustainable food and farming.

Blackbird Farming - the trading name of GH Dean and Co, a family business located near Sittingbourne in Kent - farms 1,780 hectares including arable, grassland for sheep, apples, pears and cherries. It joins over 35 commercial farms as a LEAF Demonstration Farm.