KELLOGG’S ORIGINS FARMERS SHARE ON-FARM TRIALS RESULTS AT GROUNDSWELL

Soil specialists from Kellogg’s Origins programme will speak at this year’s Groundswell farming conference on June 29th to advise farmers on how to boost crop productivity.

Kellogg’s Origins farmer Phil Jarvis and NIAB soil expert, Nathan Morris, will be speaking at the event, sharing their experiences and the results of the Origins-funded cover crop trial. This is the one of the UK’s largest on–farm cover crop trials looking at improving soil management, with the ultimate aim of enhancing the quality of grain.

Nathan Morris will share insight into how farmers can use cover crops to develop their farming systems and improve their soil structure and stability whilst maintaining crop productivity.

The NIAB soil specialist will explain how the farmer-led research looked at a range of cover crop management techniques and focussed on best practice for soil management on a range of sites and scenarios.

Also speaking at the conference on June 29th is farm ecosystems expert Phil Jarvis.

Manager at the Allerton Project, Loddington Estate, Phil will share a wealth of his practical research-based experience in making soil more resilient and sustainable.

He will share practises from Loddington, a 333 hectare farm growing winter wheat, winter oilseed rape, winter and spring oats and winter and spring beans, including wheat for Kellogg’s. These practices include widening rotations, introducing cover crops and making the transition towards direct drilling.

Speaking ahead of Groundswell, Phil Jarvis, said: “I am really looking forward to speaking at the event on behalf of the Kellogg’s Origins Programme, it is important farmers and big businesses work together to help those in the industry adopt productive, sustainable ways of working.

“Sustainability is really important. All in all, some 10 per cent of the land I work at Loddington is out of production and is for environmental enhancement to achieve benefits to water, pollinators, plants and other wildlife.

“Landscape management is about a balance and a partnership. All sides have to recognise the importance of the need to deliver economic and environmental benefits.”

A spokesperson from Kellogg’s Origins, Haaye Boonsta, said:  “At Kellogg’s we’re very proud of our Origins programme. It brings us closer to farmers and the grains they produce, much of which goes into our food. Our purpose as a company is to nourish families so they can flourish and thrive and we believe that all starts with healthy soil and what grows in that soil.”

For more information or images please contact the Kellogg’s press office on pressoffice@kellogg.com or 0161 8695500

Editors notes:

• Phil Jarvis and Nathan Morris will be presenting ‘On-Farm Cover Crop Trials – Making Sustainability Work in Practice’ on Thursday 29^th June at 3pm in the Seminar Barn.

• Nathan Norris is a full member of The British Society of Soil Science and the International Fertiliser Society and holds full Fertiliser Advisors Certification (FACTS). Nathan has published a number of papers on farming and tillage systems including a review paper on the adoption of non-inversion tillage that was published in Soil and Tillage Research. 

• Groundswell is an independent farming conference, designed 'by farmers for farmers' to focus on emerging methods of soil regeneration, reducing inputs and increasing profitability in arable and mixed farming situations.

• Through the Kellogg’s Origins^TM Programme the company provides training, access to
  expertise and practical support to European farmers and suppliers so that they are able to meet high standards for the grains they use. The programme was launched in Europe in 2013, and through our Global Supplier Code of Conduct.