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Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area across a sequence of growing seasons. This practice reduces the reliance of crops on one set of nutrients, pest and weed pressure, along with the probability of developing resistant pests and weeds.
Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming, is an agricultural system that uses fertilizers of organic origin such as compost manure, green manure, and bone meal and places emphasis on techniques such as crop rotation and companion planting. It originated early in the 20th century in reaction to rapidly changing farming practices. Certified organic agriculture accounts for 70 million hectares globally, with over half of that total in Australia. Biological pest control, mixed cropping, and the fostering of insect predators are encouraged. Organic standards are designed to allow the use of naturally-occurring substances while prohibiting or strictly limiting synthetic substances. For instance, naturally-occurring pesticides such as pyrethrin are permitted, while synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are generally prohibited. Synthetic substances that are allowed include, for example, copper sulfate, elemental sulfur, and veterinary drugs. Genetically modified organisms, nanomaterials, human sewage sludge, plant growth regulators, hormones, and antibiotic use in livestock husbandry are prohibited. Organic farming advocates claim advantages in sustainability, openness, self-sufficiency, autonomy and independence, health, food security, and food safety.
Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming, conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of crop plants and of animals, with higher levels of input and output per unit of agricultural land area. It is characterized by a low fallow ratio, higher use of inputs such as capital, labour, agrochemicals and water, and higher crop yields per unit land area.
Lambourn is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It lies just north of the M4 Motorway between Swindon and Newbury, and borders Wiltshire to the west and Oxfordshire to the north. After Newmarket it is the largest centre of racehorse training in England, and is home to a rehabilitation centre for injured jockeys, an equine hospital, and several leading jockeys and trainers. To the north of the village are the prehistoric Seven Barrows and the nearby long barrow. In 2004 the Crow Down Hoard was found close to the village.
The North Wessex Downs National Landscape is located in the English counties of Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. The name North Wessex Downs is not a traditional one, the area covered being better known by various overlapping local names, including the Berkshire Downs, the North Hampshire Downs, the White Horse Hills, the Lambourn Downs, the Marlborough Downs, the Vale of Pewsey and Savernake Forest.
The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), is a Wildlife Trust covering the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire in England.
Seven Barrows is a Bronze Age bowl barrow cemetery, 4-hectare (9.9-acre) of which are designated a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, at Upper Lambourn in the civil parish of Lambourn in the English county of Berkshire. It is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust and it is a Scheduled Monument.
Thatcham Reed Beds is a 67.4-hectare (167-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Newbury in Berkshire. It is part of the Kennet & Lambourn Floodplain Special Area of Conservation and an area of 14 hectares is a Local Nature Reserve. An area of 35 hectares is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
The environmental impact of agriculture is the effect that different farming practices have on the ecosystems around them, and how those effects can be traced back to those practices. The environmental impact of agriculture varies widely based on practices employed by farmers and by the scale of practice. Farming communities that try to reduce environmental impacts through modifying their practices will adopt sustainable agriculture practices. The negative impact of agriculture is an old issue that remains a concern even as experts design innovative means to reduce destruction and enhance eco-efficiency. Though some pastoralism is environmentally positive, modern animal agriculture practices tend to be more environmentally destructive than agricultural practices focused on fruits, vegetables and other biomass. The emissions of ammonia from cattle waste continue to raise concerns over environmental pollution.
Agricultural pollution refers to biotic and abiotic byproducts of farming practices that result in contamination or degradation of the environment and surrounding ecosystems, and/or cause injury to humans and their economic interests. The pollution may come from a variety of sources, ranging from point source water pollution to more diffuse, landscape-level causes, also known as non-point source pollution and air pollution. Once in the environment these pollutants can have both direct effects in surrounding ecosystems, i.e. killing local wildlife or contaminating drinking water, and downstream effects such as dead zones caused by agricultural runoff is concentrated in large water bodies.
Organic farming in New Zealand began in the 1930s and became more popular in the 1980s. It has gained importance within the farming market, particularly with the recent involvement of larger companies, such as Wattie's.
Bacombe and Coombe Hills is a 76.4-hectare (189-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Upper Bacombe in Buckinghamshire. Bacombe Hill was formerly owned by Buckinghamshire County Council, which transferred it to Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust in 2014. Coombe Hill is owned by the National Trust.
Homefield Wood is a 6.1-hectare (15-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest in Hambleden in Buckinghamshire. It is owned by the Forestry Commission, and managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. It is part of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
College Lake is a 65 hectare nature reserve in a former chalk quarry in Pitstone in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire. It is one of the flagship reserves of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, and it has an information centre, education facilities, a café, toilets and a shop. It is in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The area east of the lake is a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest called Pitstone Quarry.
Aston Clinton Ragpits is a 2.9-hectare (7.2-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire. It is a former chalk quarry, which is now a nature reserve managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. It is in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Yoesden, often known as Yoesden Bank, is a 13-hectare (32-acre) nature reserve in Bledlow Ridge in Buckinghamshire. It is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. It is in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Watts Bank is a 1.9-hectare (4.7-acre) nature reserve south of Lambourn in Berkshire. It is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. It is designated a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest as White Shute.
Hurley Chalk Pit is a 1-hectare (2.5-acre) nature reserve west of Maidenhead in Berkshire. It is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
Warren Bank is a 3.1-hectare (7.7-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-east of Wallingford in Oxfordshire. It is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.