2022
Alastair Leake has a BSc in Horticultural Science and PhD in Farming Systems. He worked for 20 years for the Co-operative Farms (FamCare), initially as a Production Manager in glasshouse salad crops specialising in IPM, then headed up the company’s ground-breaking farming systems research, including organics.
He is now head of GWCT’s 300 ha Allerton Research and Demonstration farm in Leicestershire, where intensive farming and exceptional levels of biodiversity co-exist. The farm is involved in high profile & innovative research projects focusing on Conservation Agriculture, wildlife conservation and sustainable soil management.
He is actively involved in shaping Defra’s Environmental Land Management scheme. He also runs a popular All-Party Parliamentary discussion Group in Westminster.
Nitrogen – With rising costs, growing limited availability and well documented impact on the environment, farmers want to reduce the use, but can the sector facilitate, adapt to, and support this move? Chaired by Dr Alastair Leake (Director of Policy at the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust) , this panel session will discuss the impacts […]
The agri-food industry is facing unprecedented change driven by a multitude of global factors, from war in the Ukraine, to the ever-conspicuous impacts of climate change. In the here and now, farmers and food businesses alike are dealing with considerable inflationary pressures, whilst also adjusting to new subsidy regimes and the impact this is having […]