LEAF Marque Accreditation renewed at CAFRE 13/10/25

Date published: 13 October 2025

LEAF Marque is an internationally recognised farm assurance scheme which operates worldwide across 19 countries and aims to promote sustainable practices that create a more resilient food and farming system that enriches nature and biodiversity.  The scheme is based on 97 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 coordinator said: “At CAFRE we are continually striving to link the environment and farming and are delighted that this has been reflected in our recent successful renewal of the LEAF Marque accreditation for 2025. 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 livestock at the Glenwherry Hill Farm, through to arable, livestock and horticulture at Greenmount and right across to equine at Enniskillen.”

Robert continued: “Sustainability is at the heart of all our activities on both the college and farm estate. Throughout the year 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, planting new hedges, planting conservation field margins, monitoring water usage, rainwater harvesting, recycling farm plastics and maintaining and improving a range of farm habitats such as peatlands and woodlands.”