Farming with the environment

Thirty years ago today, I drove from my then home in Hampshire to Loddington in Leicestershire to conduct a night-time spotlight count of brown hares. That was the start of thirty years of data collection on what was to become the Allerton Project research and demonstration farm.

The breadth of our research over the past thirty years has been possible through collaboration with researchers from other organisations and universities, as well as the expertise of the Allerton Project’s own staff. Multiple collaborations over the years have brought specialist expertise that has enabled us to cover topics as diverse as aquatic ecology, water quality, flood risk management, soil management and biology, carbon sequestration, ruminant nutrition, greenhouse gas emissions, agroforestry, game management, farmland ecology, pollinators and crop pest predators. This interdisciplinary approach has also extended into the social sciences and economics, recognising the multiple influences on farmers’ decision making.

All this work is described in my forthcoming book, covering the thirty years of research at the Allerton Project. Publication of the book comes during a period of considerable change in the way food is produced and agricultural land is managed, not only in the UK, but across much of Europe, North America and other parts of the globe. This is an appropriate time to share our learning to inform this process.