Farming with the Environment Thirty Years of Allerton Project Research

This book examines, discusses and shares over 30 years’ worth of research from the Allerton Project, a research and demonstration farm in the UK which has been carrying out applied interdisciplinary research to explore and explain the need to adapt the management of farmland for environmental protection and to provide public benefits. Designed to provide guidance, feedback and recommendations to farmers, practitioners and policymakers, the Allerton Project is an exceptionally well-documented case study of lowland agricultural land management which has the purpose of meeting multiple objectives. This book draws on the wealth of knowledge built over the past 30 years and unveils and clarifies the complexity of a number of topical debates about current land and wildlife management at a range of spatial scales, explores the underlying historical context and provides some important pointers to future directions of travel. Topics include soil health and management, farmland ecology, development of management practices to enhance biodiversity, natural flood management, water quality and aquatic ecology. Most importantly, the book demonstrates how the findings from this project relate to agricultural and conservation policy more broadly as well as how they are applicable to similar projects throughout Europe. This book will be of great interest to professionals working in agricultural land management and conservation, as well as researchers and students of agri-environmental studies and agricultural policy.

1. Introduction 2. The Long View 3. Soil: The Life Support System 4. Wildlife and our Food 5. Developing New Approaches to Wildlife Management 6. Reflections on Water 7. Understanding and Accepting Complexity 8. The View from the Farm 9. A Way forward

Chris Stoate is an agro-ecologist specialising in identifying synergies between agricultural and environmental objectives within lowland farming systems at a range of scales. He is Head of Research at the Allerton Project research and demonstration farm and has worked for the project since it was established by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust in 1992. Chris is an Honorary Professor with the University of Nottingham and a farmer in his own right, and has worked in southern Europe and West Africa as well as in the UK.