LEAF Marque Accreditation renewed at CAFRE

Date published: 5 August 2024

LEAF Marque is a farm assurance scheme that promotes more sustainable farming to create a more resilient food and farming system.

The LEAF Marque scheme which operates across 19 countries sets out over 90 rigorous standards on which businesses are annually assessed against during an audit by an independent assessor. The standards cover all aspects of farming activity, including, organisation and planning, soil management and fertility, crop health and protection, pollution control and by-product management, animal husbandry, energy efficiency, water management, landscape and nature conservation and community engagement.

Robert Beggs, CAFRE LEAF co-ordinator said: “We are delighted to have renewed our LEAF Marque accreditation for 2024. It demonstrates CAFRE’s continued commitment to Integrated Farm Management (IFM) throughout all our farming practices. Achieving LEAF accreditation is a significant milestone each year, we place particular value on the fact that the LEAF audit validates the sustainability of the diverse range of farming activities that take place across all of the CAFRE farms. This stretches from arable, livestock and horticulture at Greenmount right across to equine at Enniskillen.”

Robert continued: “Sustainability is at the heart of all our activities on both the college and farm estate. The LEAF assurance scheme continually focuses and drives us to make further improvements. The importance of sustainability is reflected in our College Estate Strategy which was launched in 2021. This strategy provides direction on all aspects of our sustainability, from the move away from single use plastics, through to peatland restoration at our Hill Farm Centre. Examples of sustainable practices at CAFRE include measuring soil health, carbon benchmarking, planting pollinator field margins, monitoring water usage, rainwater harvesting, recycling farm plastics and maintaining and improving a range of farm habitats such as peatlands and woodlands.”

CAFRE is an integral part of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) for Northern Ireland. CAFRE’s programmes are delivered against key DAERA policy objectives to assist the sustainable development of the agri-food, environmental, fishing and forestry sectors of the Northern Ireland economy, having regard for the needs of the consumers, the protection of human, animal and plant health, the welfare of animals and the conservation and enhancement of the environment.

For information on the courses offered to students and businesses through CAFRE, visit:

LEAF Marque is a farm assurance scheme that promotes more sustainable farming to create a more resilient food and farming system.

The LEAF Marque scheme which operates across 19 countries sets out over 90 rigorous standards on which businesses are annually assessed against during an audit by an independent assessor. The standards cover all aspects of farming activity, including, organisation and planning, soil management and fertility, crop health and protection, pollution control and by-product management, animal husbandry, energy efficiency, water management, landscape and nature conservation and community engagement.

Robert Beggs, CAFRE LEAF co-ordinator said: “We are delighted to have renewed our LEAF Marque accreditation for 2024. It demonstrates CAFRE’s continued commitment to Integrated Farm Management (IFM) throughout all our farming practices. Achieving LEAF accreditation is a significant milestone each year, we place particular value on the fact that the LEAF audit validates the sustainability of the diverse range of farming activities that take place across all of the CAFRE farms. This stretches from arable, livestock and horticulture at Greenmount right across to equine at Enniskillen.”

Robert continued: “Sustainability is at the heart of all our activities on both the college and farm estate. The LEAF assurance scheme continually focuses and drives us to make further improvements. The importance of sustainability is reflected in our College Estate Strategy which was launched in 2021. This strategy provides direction on all aspects of our sustainability, from the move away from single use plastics, through to peatland restoration at our Hill Farm Centre. Examples of sustainable practices at CAFRE include measuring soil health, carbon benchmarking, planting pollinator field margins, monitoring water usage, rainwater harvesting, recycling farm plastics and maintaining and improving a range of farm habitats such as peatlands and woodlands.”

CAFRE is an integral part of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) for Northern Ireland. CAFRE’s programmes are delivered against key DAERA policy objectives to assist the sustainable development of the agri-food, environmental, fishing and forestry sectors of the Northern Ireland economy, having regard for the needs of the consumers, the protection of human, animal and plant health, the welfare of animals and the conservation and enhancement of the environment.

For information on the courses offered to students and businesses through CAFRE, visit the CAFRE website.