UK Organic Research 2002: Proceedings of the COR Conference, 26-28th March 2002, Aberystwyth. Edited by Jane Powell in association with the session organizers: Gareth Davies, Sue Fowler; Malla Hovi, Nic Lampkin, Margi Lennartsson, Susanne Padel, Bruce Pearce, Lois Philipps, Jamie Robertson, Elizabeth Stockdale, Christine Watson, Richard Weller, James Welsh and Martin Wolfe.

© individual authors

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Individual papers may be downloaded in PDF format from this page. Click on the session title below:

PLENARIES    FARMING SYSTEMS AND ROTATIONS    FOOD QUALITY    GRASSLAND

METHODOLOGY                  SOILS                   FARM PLANNING             DAIRY   

CROPS: PEST, DISEASE AND WEED MANAGEMENT     ENVIRONMENT AND BIODIVERSITY

LIVESTOCK            ECONOMICS       CROPS:  RESEARCH TOOLS

POLICY, MARKETING AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT      ANIMAL HEALTH AND WELFARE

 

PLENARIES

UK organic research funding – scope and aims.  Peter Costigan

Organic research – driven and directed by funders?   Lawrence Woodward

Organic farming: The appliance of science.  Christine A Watson, David Atkinson

The contribution of research to the development of organic farming in Europe. Urs Niggli

Strategies for organic research.  Willie Lockeretz

Farmers and organic research.  David Wilson

Researching the future.  Helen Browning

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FARMING SYSTEMS AND ROTATIONS  

A framework for assessing crop production from rotations. Cairistiona F E Topp, Chris J Doyle, Christine A Watson

Experiences with designing and managing organic rotation trials.  Dick Taylor, David Younie, Michael Coutts, Stella Matheson, Claus Mayer

Crop yields in organic and conventional production – studies from the Öjebyn project. Simon Jonsson

The long-term agronomic performance of organic stockless rotations. James P Welsh, Lois Philipps, William F Cormack

Organic conversion strategies for stockless farming systems. Sally K Huxham, Debbie L Sparkes, Paul Wilson

The effect of grasses grown for seed in mixture with legumes on the incidence of weeds and soil nitrogen content.  Bohumír Cagaš, Radek Macháč

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FOOD QUALITY  

Assessing organic food quality: Is it better for you?  Shane Heaton

Results of routine testing of organic food for agro-chemical residues.  Ming Lo, Dave Matthews

Relationship between sensory attributes, hidden attributes and price in influencing consumer perception of organic foods. Charles S Brennan, Victor Kuri

Parameters for apple quality and an outline for a new concept of quality. Machteld Huber

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GRASSLAND  

Multi-functional roles of grassland in organic farming systems. Alan Hopkins, Carol Morris

An overview on the role and potential of forage production on lowland organic livestock farms.  Richard F Weller, Evan L Jones

Nitrogen fixation and soil nitrogen in organic ley arable rotations.  Ian Sanders, Christine Watson, Robert Rees, David Atkinson

The effect of Cichorium intybus and Lotus corniculatus on nematode burdens and production in grazed lambs.  Joanne C Deane, John Warren, Liz Findlay, Mark P Dagleish, Susan C Cork, Frank Jackson, Ray Keatinge

Monitoring of organic hay meadows to provide feedback for public access, biodiversity, and crop management. Leslie R Williams

Challenges in organic forage seed production.  Athole H Marshall, Mervyn O Humphreys

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METHODOLOGY

Science as an actor. On the role of values and science in organic farming. Hugo F Alrøe, Erik S Kristensen

Studying conversion as a human activity system. Susanne Padel

Systems thinking, interdisciplinarity and farmer participation: essential ingredients in working for more sustainable organic farming systems.  David Gibbon

Organic grassland extension in Wales - experiences. Heather McCalman, Bryan Evans, Charlie Morgan, Chris Duller, Deborah Courtney

Deconstructing the organic movement. David Frost

Experiential science as a novel scientific discipline. Ton Baars, Jan-Paul Wagenaar

The use of case studies in researching the conversion to organic farming systems.  Mark Hesketh, Phil Sumption, Chris Firth

Case study: Duchy College Organic Studies Centre. Jean Burke, Phil Le Grice

Developing organic production in Northern Ireland.  David G Alexander

Farmer evaluation of biocontrol methods against root knot nematodes in tomatoes. Anni McLeod, Beth Ndungu, Daniel Karanja, Peter Karanja

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SOILS

Fertility building strategies during the conversion period – assessment of performance in a stockless field vegetable rotation.  Francis W Rayns, Simon Harlock, Rebecca J. Turner

Nutrient budgets on organic farms: a review of published data.  Elizabeth A Stockdale, Christine A Watson

Carrot or stick? –  Would information concerning the economic value of nutrient losses, and their impact on food quality achieve greater environmental protection than regulation?  Susan M Fowler, Lois Philipps, Christine A. Watson

Theory and reality of organic soil fertility – organic matter. Paul Gosling, Mark Shepherd

The effect of organic management on soil quality indicators.  Francis W  Rayns, Lorna R Jackson, Gary D Bending, Mary K Turner, Martin Wood, Mare-Claude Marx

Soil quality in ley-arable rotations. Bruce C Ball, James T Douglas

Assessing soil structure in organically farmed soils. Mark Shepherd, Damian Hatley, Paul Gosling

Understanding soil nitrogen supply: organic matter quality and quantity. David Hatch, Mark Shepherd, Damian Hatley

Nutrient budgeting for trace elements: Examples from Scottish organic farms. Katie Owens, Christine Watson

A method for soil health assessment in the conversion to organic farming. Macarena Mata, Marisol Garrido, Phil Longhurst, Roger Seaton

Composting case study.  Jean Burke, Phil Walsh

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FARM PLANNING

Nutrient budgets as a tool for researchers and farmers. Stephen P Cuttle

Utilising the concept of nutrients as a currency within organic farming system. Cairistiona F E Topp, Christine A Watson, Elizabeth Stockdale

The development of an integrated modelling system to support decisions on organic farms. C Julian N Smith, David Oglethorpe, J Wright

Tools for managing manure nutrients. Mark Shepherd, John Webb, Lois Philipps

Development of software to plan conversion to organic production (OrgPlan). Susanne Padel, John Tzilivakis, Mark Measures, Elizabeth Stockdale, Christine Watson

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DAIRY  

Effect of calcified seaweed application on grazing preference by dairy cows.  David Younie, Bettina Blanke

Organic versus conventional dairy farming - studies from the Öjebyn project. Sara Byström, Simon Jonsson, Kjell Martinsson

The productivity of organic dairy herds. Stephen Roderick, Malla Hovi, Nick Taylor

Fertility and fertility management in thirteen well-established organic dairy herds in the UK.  Malla Hovi, Nick Taylor, James Hanks, Stephen Roderick

Potential economic gains from using forage legumes in organic livestock systems in northern Europe. Chris J Doyle, Cairistiona F E Topp

The effect of diet on the milk quality of organic dairy cows.  Richard F Weller, Robert Davies

The validation of a computer simulation model for use in organic dairy farm systems in the United Kingdom. Phillipa K Nicholas, Susanne Padel, Sue Fowler, Nic Lampkin, Cairistiona F E Topp, Richard Weller

Strategies for success – contrasting approaches to organic dairy farming. Susan M Fowler

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CROPS: PEST, DISEASE AND WEED MANAGEMENT

Crop protection in organic agriculture – a simple matter? Audrey M Litterick, Christine A Watson, David Atkinson

The use of mixed species cropping to manage pests and diseases – theory and practice. Birgitta Rämert, Margi Lennartsson, Gareth Davies

Low temperature/short duration steaming as a sustainable method of soil disinfection.  Mariska C A van Loenen, Yzanne Turbett, Chris E Mullins, Michael J Wilson, Nigel Fielden, Wendy E Seel, Carlos Leifert

Effect of organic crop rotations on long-term development of the weed seedbank. David Younie, Dick Taylor, Michael Coutts, Stella Matheson, G.  Wright, Geoff Squire

Control strategies for late blight in organic potato production. John Zarb, Reza Ghorbani, Pintip Juntharathep, Peter Shotton, Joanna Santos, Steve Wilcockson, Carlo Leifert, Audrey M Litterick, Ruaridh A Bain, Martin Wolfe

The effect of organic amendments on clubroot (Plasmodiophora brassicae).  Gareth Davies, Catherine Jones

Effect of mowing a legume fertility-building crop on shoot numbers of creeping thistle (Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop.).  William F Cormack

An investigation into the relationship between preceding break crops and weed populations in barley crops in organic ley/arable rotations.  Audrey M Litterick, Christine A Watson, Melissa C Robson

Weed control strategies in organically grown carrots.  Rebecca J Turner, Andrea C Grundy

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ENVIRONMENT AND BIODIVERSITY

Factors influencing biodiversity within organic and conventional systems of arable farming – methodologies and preliminary results.  Lisa R Norton

Conservation of livestock genetic resources by targeted on-farm management: a case study of Hinterwälder Cattle in the Southern Black Forest.  Diethild Wanke, Engelhard Boehncke

Greenhouse gas emissions from soils under organic management.  Bruce C Ball, Albert Scott, Iain P McTaggart, Christine A Watson

Agricultural influences on carbon emissions and sequestration.  Andrew S Ball, Jules N Pretty

Biodiversity and organic farming – where next after Curry?  Ian Alexander

Small mammal survey on agricultural land during conversion and into full organic production.  Jean Burke, Nick Taylor

Potential and historical uses for bracken (Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn) in organic agriculture.  Eric Donnelly, Jamie Robertson, David Robinson

Development of an agroforestry system for chicken production.  Lois Philipps, Cindy Engel, Martin Wolfe

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LIVESTOCK

Eight years of organic farming at Pwllpeiran - livestock production and the financial performance of organic upland farms.  David Frost, Barbara M. L. McLean, D. Eifion Evans

Integration of organic poultry in whole farm systems: manure nutrient budgets.  Susan H Gordon, Anne Bhogal, Andrew W Walker

Management factors affecting the use of pasture by table chickens in extensive production systems.  Susan H Gordon, Michael J Forbes

The effect of different paddock rotation strategies for organic sows on behaviour, welfare and the environment.  Hilary Kelly, Robert Shiel, Sandra Edwards, Jon Day, Helen Browning

The use of feed blocks as supplementation for the upland hill flock: Improving organic ewe productivity and performance.  Barbara M L McLean, David Frost, D Eifion Evans

The use of feed blocks as supplementation for the upland hill flock: (2) Cost effective lamb production.  Barbara M L McLean, David Frost, D Eifion Evans

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ECONOMICS

A critique of methodologies for the comparison of organic and conventional farming systems.  Howard Lee, Susan Fowler

The use of gross and net margins in the economic analysis of organic farms. Chris Firth

In-depth case studies of the conversion process.  Susanne Padel

Benchmarking as a means of improving the financial wellbeing of organic dairy farms.  William Waterfield

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CROPS: RESEARCH TOOLS

Horticultural weed control in organic systems – a modelling approach.  Andrea C Grundy, Rebecca J Turner

WECOF: A new project developing enhanced weed control through improved crop and plant architecture.  D H Ken Davies, Steve Hoad, Laura Boyd

Organic plant breeding.  Martin S Wolfe

Plant genomics – a way forward?  Jim Beynon

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POLICY, MARKETING AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

An economic evaluation of the Organic Farming Scheme.  Uwe Latacz-Lohmann, Alan Renwick

Comparison of markets for organic food in six EU states. Georgina C Holt, Richard B Tranter, Mara Miele, Cristiana Neri, Jens Vestergaard, Robert Nielson, Hilary Meehan; Miguel Sottomayor

The role of organic marketing initiatives in rural development.  Mary Anne Beckie, Peter Midmore, Carolyn Foster

Development of policies for organic agriculture.  Nicolas Lampkin

Attitudes towards conversion to organic production of farmers in England.  Peter Midmore, Susanne Padel

Conversion farm case studies. Peter Grey, Georgina Holt, Richard Tranter

Policy-relevant research and integrative indicators in the conversion to organic farming.  Macarena Mata, Phil Longhurst, Roger Seaton, Marisol Garrido

Organic chains in the United Kingdom and Germany: lessons for Dutch organic agribusiness. Marieke JG Meeusen

Organic agriculture: opportunities and threats on the German and British markets.  Marieke JG Meeusen

Consumer attitudes and perception of available organic milk: a comparison of the Greek and the British situation.  Maria F Paraskeva, Elizabeth Folland, Charles S Brennan, Victor Kuri

The study of consumption patterns and expectations of organic catering consumers in Taiwan.  Tzu-Ying Li, Kathy Yuchi Chu

Organic-industrial complex or herbal remedy?  A case near Seattle and Vancouver.  Bruce A Scholten

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ANIMAL HEALTH AND WELFARE

Developing parasite control strategies in organic systems.  Ray Keatinge, Frank Jackson, Ilias Kyriazakis, Susan A Cork

Can parasitic gastro-enteritis be used as an indicator of welfare in organic sheep?  Douglas Gray

The impact of organic livestock standards on animal welfare – a questionnaire survey of advisors, inspectors and veterinarians.  Malla Hovi, Mohamad Kossaibati, Richard Bennett, Sandra A Edwards, Jamie Robertson, Stephen Roderick

Acknowledging the potential role of animal self-medication.  Cindy Reece Engel

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