The Progressive Farming Trust is a charity working to research and develop practical, sustainable land management and food production systems based on organic and agroecological principles.
The Progressive Farming Trust was established as the Elm Farm Research Centre, later the Organic Research Centre, and focussed on education and research.
Andy Dibben, Head Grower at Abbey Home Farm, shares practical insights on how field-scale crop rotations support fertility, crop planning, green manures and market demand.
They work to foster knowledge exchange with and between producers, food businesses and others in the sector. This knowledge exchange element of their work is done largely via the Agricology platform, which was founded in 2015 and is a free-to-use information hub about practical, sustainable agricultural practices. It provides independent, educational content for farmers across the UK and curates and translates it into a range of digestible formats online and via in-person events.
Connection to Esmée's strategy
- Priorities
- Long-term outcomes
- Farmers are supported to lead the transition to nature friendly farming at scale
From Stephanie Morren, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation:
The Progressive Farming Trust’s Agricology platform is a key contribution to the farmer knowledge exchange sector. Having this information all in one place really helps farmers at all stages of their transition to more nature friendly and agroecological techniques, ensuring that brilliant knowledge and expertise is shared far and wide.
From Matt Smee - Head of Agricology, Progressive Farming Trust
At Agricology, we believe that farmers are at the heart of the transition to a more resilient food system, but lasting change only happens when trusted knowledge is accessible, practical and rooted in real farming experience. Support from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is enabling us to take that next step. It allows us to expand the breadth and depth of the independent information available through Agricology, while strengthening the connections between online learning and face-to-face farmer engagement.
By working with more farm clusters, increasing our presence at industry events and reaching new farming communities across the UK, we're helping more farmers turn ideas into action. Funding support isn't just growing Agricology's reach, it's strengthening the networks, confidence and practical support that farmers need to adopt regenerative and sustainable farming practices at scale.
