News

There is a lot more happening at Morley Farms than just farming. To explain, Farm Manager David Jones describes the farm, the farming resource and the many other types of work underway in every field.

A 125th birthday is worth celebrating. To mark well over a century of work, farmers, agronomists & researchers walked the plots of the long term and TMAF-supported Saxmundham field trials in Suffolk to reflect on what’s been learned and questions being posed by the experiments today.

TMAF recognises that getting the right training – at every career stage – brings major benefits, personally, professionally and to the business or organisations you work in. That’s why we share that the application window has opened for the next management development scheme run by the John Edgar Trust.

TMAF-funded PhD researcher Louisa Moor reports on the show she put on at this year’s Norwich Science Festival. It includes inspirational talks, shows, exhibitions and an abundance of hands-on activities, with a particular focus on exciting children about science.

Frances Roberson, Food and Farming Discovery Trust Manager for the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association, explains how TMAF is providing key funding to help school age visitors to experience one of Norfolk’s most important crops.

TMAF has been delighted to play our part in the 2024 Wymondham YFC pantomime. We did not actually take to the stage but helped those who did. Richard Hastings – key cast member and overseer of sugar beet trials at Morley and elsewhere for BBRO – reveals the effort and fun that went into Cinderella and how TMAF helped.

A trial at Morley Farm has revealed the results of uneven maize germination, why it happens and what growers can do to avoid such losses.

TMAF and Morley Farms are pleased to announce that we have been accepted to become a AHDB strategic farm. AHDB have a national programme of monitor and strategic farms. The aim is to create a network for farmer-to-farmer discussion and learning.

In early May, eighteen students visited Morley Farm to find out more about the learning opportunities linked to food, farming and the natural environment.

Recently, TMAF Chair Richard Wilbourn and David Jones were guests of the Newbury and District Agricultural Society to judge their crop competitions. They enjoyed the chance to look at the crops and, as David reports back, noticed several significant differences between farming in the West compared to the East.

Anna Wyeth, a third-year undergraduate student in the School of Environmental Science at UEA, came to Morley for a conversation with TMAF Farm Manager David Jones.

There’s integrity in independence. That’s the view of independent agronomist and TMAF Trustee and Deputy Chair Sue Lord. That’s why, she explains, she was happy to write an article for the recent edition of Beet Review magazine.

With Harvest ‘22 at an end, TMAF Farm Manager David Jones reflects on the value of the data he has gathered along with the farm’s crops.

Summer 2022 has been great for sharing knowledge and for networking. Research funded by The Morley Agricultural Foundation has been showcased across East Anglia at various agricultural events and open days. NIAB Research Trials Agronomist Grace Bale describes how each event has enabled engagement with different audiences, from specialists within the agricultural industry to the general public.

Eight young agri-professionals have just taken part in the latest John Forrest Award Communication Skills course. One of the participants, Zoe Fletcher from Ceres Rural, describes what the course is and has done for her professional ability to communicate well at every opportunity.

The research of one of the TMAF-supported PhD students has come to a close and the findings are now available to read and to learn from.

Research is not just interesting when it ends. The process of research, particularly for a PhD, can be revealing too. So, we asked two of the PhD students whose work TMAF is supporting to give an update on what they are doing now.

With an eye on the future of farming we have reviewed and refined our TMAF funding strategy for the next five years to show what and who we want to invest in.

The search is on for up to four young East Anglian agri-professionals who, with support from TMAF, want to build their management, communication and business skills.

One year into her PhD co-supported by TMAF, research student Suzannah Cobb updates us on the progress – and challenges – thus far.

A benchmarking network to compare the different elements that make up a farm’s carbon footprint is a step closer to being produced thanks to the result of TMAF-supported analysis and report.

In the wake of a flurry of reports for and about the future of farming, TMAF Trustee Philip Richardson shares his analysis of farming’s predicament and opportunities.

Harvest time prompts a lot of reflections on what went well and what went less than well.
TMAF farm manager David Jones, is no exception and shares his highlights and lowlights of what will always be remembered, for many reasons, as an exceptional farming year.

Barely a day goes by when farmers do not receive an invite to an online webinar to attend, a link to a film to watch or a plug to a podcast to listen to. TMAF’s Farm Manager David Jones takes us on a stroll through his watching and listening landscape to share what there is to like – and to avoid.

What to do with a headful of thoughts from a career of farming knowledge and facilitating research? You write them down to inform and inspire others.

Twenty years ago, Philip Richardson, Norfolk farmer and TMAF trustee, began worrying whether the planet would be able to feed his grandchildrens’ generation. Retirement gave him time to refine his thoughts on this and other concerns, which are published in a book. Where did he start?

The next of our insights into the people and science supported by TMAF features David Purdy. For David, our backing is enabling him to take his observations and questions from years as machinery specialist and soil enthusiast into studying soil health as part of a Ph.D programme.

In another of our updates on the people and research we invest in this time we hear from Jack Davies. Jack came to us for support to complete his Master’s Degree in Plant Genetics in Norfolk. His story shows what a promising scientist he is, how our support is appreciated and having a tremendously positive effect on his career.

The findings of research to measure the effects of long-term crop rotation and cultivation treatments on soil health are summarised in a new report.

TMAF supports the research work of a number of PhD students. In this next profile, TMAF-supported PhD student Lucy Tillier explains the work she is doing to understand the impact of leaf canopy architecture on radiation use efficiency (RUE) and yield potential of sugar beet.

The British Crop Protection Congress invited TMAF Chairman John Wallace to chair their plenary session. Listening carefully was a mix of agrochemical manufacturers, regulators, advisors to both of the aforementioned, agronomists, scientists and a few farmers. John shares his impressions of the event.

Many farmers love the lure of new machinery. This month, TMAF Farm Manager David Jones went to see what was on show at Agritechnica, one of the biggest new farm machinery shows in the world. So, what was on his list and did he find it in Hanover?

TMAF Chair John Wallace is the chairman for the opening plenary session at the British Crop Production Council (BCPC) Congress in Brighton this month. He will set out the challenges to ‘deliver food production alongside environmental enhancement’, which is the Congress theme.

BBRO’s Dr Simon Bowen, who oversees the BBRO Knowledge Exchange programme, reveals the research underway in TMAF fields and what has been learned so far.

As usual, the weather has been uppermost in farmers’ minds this season, but as TMAF we have an eye on future climate trends which is why we hosted a workshop to gather farmers’ reactions to opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on-farm as part of a Defra-funded research project .

Along with 150 other UK food and farming charities, TMAF belongs to an umbrella charity. Graham Jellis, the Chair of AgriFood Charities Partnership explains the ongoing role of charities providing much-needed support to education and agricultural research.

We are delighted to support a range of investigations by the research work of PhD students. TMAF-supported PhD student Joe Martlew explains the work he is doing to diagnose and treat subsoil compaction in his research ‘Quantifying and alleviating deep-seated compaction in arable soils’.

TMAF’s David Jones and NIAB Soils and Farming Systems Technician David Clarke share the outcome of a recent meeting to discuss our long-term field experiments.

We get such a good return on some of our grants that we invest over and over again. To celebrate ten years of investing in building the communication skills of agri-professionals, we recently co-hosted a remarkable dinner to mark a decade of the John Forrest Award.

TMAF Farm Manager David Jones explains why he jumped at the chance of a refresher in statistics and new insights to field experimental design.

After the successful completion of this year’s TMAF-supported John Forrest Memorial Award Communication Skills course for regional agri-professionals we have pledged to co-fund another course, in January 2020.

There has never been a more important time for agri-professionals to build and use better communication skills.

The Felix Thornley Cobbold Agricultural Trust and The Morley Agricultural Foundation again for 2019 are jointly funding another communication skills training course.

We recently held the AGM on 18.01.18 followed by 2 excellent presentations form Dr Simon Bowen and Dr Elizabeth Stockdale.

Morley Farms welcome BBRO to the farms as one of several demo farms with small replicated plots to large demo block. The site are to help crop progression by putting research into practice.

In Autumn Morley Farms and Agrovista embarked on a project to compare different cover crops in the same field. With help fro Randell Agriculture we used a Cultivating Solutions strip tillage Machine and Vaderstad Tempo to establish sugar beet. This report is what we did and how we did it. Then the results compare yields…

Morley Farms has hosted Agrovista’s Grow crop Gold demo site for a number of years. In the trial sequence has been relatively small plots with companion plants grown with oil seed rape. For harvest 2016 we tried the concept on a field scale.

At the Morley Agricultural Foundation AGM on 20th January, board member John Wallace was elected chairman. He has been on the TMAF board since its inception in2003.John has farmed at Coney Weston, near the Suffolk Norfolk border, all his working life.
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Our AGM will take place on Wednesday 20th January 2016. Lunch from 1pm. Formal AGM starts 1.45pm followed buy 2 interesting speakers. Willy Thrale will discuss the work on honey bee health that we are supporting. Susie Emmett will discuss the success of farming is magic and how we all can improve our communication in the agricultural industry.