Summary of the meeting of the Applied Research Forum
held on 9 December 2004

Matters Arising
The arrangement whereby levy bodies could comment on proposal to the BBSRC AgriFood Committee had worked well, with 40 out of 96 proposals being considered relevant to levy bodies. BBSRC would notify the ARF of successful proposals. The mechanism for facilitating a link between grant holders and relevant levy bodies was discussed.

Organic 'Wastes'
Following the ARF workshop in September, proposals to LINK on organic wastes were being considered by levy bodies, as was a proposal to jointly fund work on green composts.

Reports of Meetings
The ARF had met with Prof. Pollock to discuss the work of the Defra Research Priorities Group and outcomes from the consultation process. Prof. Jellis represents the ARF on the RPG. All ARF members are invited to the launch of the RPG report on 22 March 2005.
A report of the Knowledge Transfer group was presented. Members were impressed by the level of commitment and the outputs from the Group.

Reports of Planned Activities
It was agreed that ARF should hold a conference on soil biodiversity, followed by a series of workshops for farmers. Mr Attenborough and Prof. Jellis would discuss the idea of a conference with Prof. Crute at Rothamsted Research.
A presentation of the Defra Environmental Burdens Project is planned for the next ARF meeting.

ARF Website and Annual Report
The Annual Report was now published and the website will go live on December 9th. 
Lord Whitty will be invited to comment on the Annual Report, and this will be published on the website.

Cross Compliance
Mr A Fraser of Defra gave a presentation on cross compliance