Soil Health

Written by John Dobberstein from No-Till Farmer USA and originally published in July 2018 From interseeding to relay cropping to ‘engineering by inventory,’ Loran Steinlage is building a profitable, divergent no-till operation Several years ago, a trip with friends to look at greenhouses led Loran Steinlage to a Mennonite farm. It was there that he […]

A healthy soil is vital to ensure both high yields and future high yields, as well as environmental protection – there are no negative consequences on the ecosystem from having a healthy soil! But what is a healthy soil? Soil health can be defined as a soil’s ability to function and sustain plants, animals and

Written by James Warne, Soil First Farming Social media can be a useful source and tool for knowledge transfer, discussion around various topics etc. But far too often it can also be the source of misinformation or confirmation of prejudice, particularly where the discussion deviates from received wisdom. I am referring here to agriculturally based

by Nick Woodyatt, Soil Fertility Consultant at Aiva Fertiliser Normally when starting an article there is much gnashing of teeth and wandering around the garden, or pub in my case, deciding on how to help and enlighten our industry (hopefully). But seeing as it did not stop raining during the autumn/winter, on this occasion the

The challenge for UK agriculture is to build a sustainable and profitable future under a changing support structure, and restoring soil health to vast acreages of farmland will be key. That’s certainly the view of Rob and Jo Hodgkins, who as educated selfstarters in the farming industry have experienced first-hand the damage reeked over recent

18 months ago, it came to our attention that a new revised soil management and cultivation guide was needed for the UK. The last comprehensive guide on soil structure was produced in 2001 by National Soil Resources Institute. The remit was challenging. • It had to work for all farmer and land managers, engaged in

Written by Natallia Gulbis, Technical and Arable Farming Lead at PlantWorks Ltd According to the European Biostimulants Industry Council, a biostimulant is a material that contains substances and/or micro-organisms whose function, when applied to plants or the rhizosphere, is to stimulate natural processes to enhance/ benefit nutrient uptake, nutrient efficiency, tolerance to environmental stress and

Written by Steve Holloway from Soil Fertility Services Ltd A soil test will give you numbers and guidelines of where your soil is and hopefully where it should aim for to consider it ‘balanced’ (note I didn’t say healthy); remember that it’s NOT an N-P-K world. Sensible soil nutrition is the first step toward higher

Written by Keith Diedrick, Area Agronomist at Corteva USA Summary • Soil testing is a useful and relatively inexpensive management tool for growers to assess crop nutrient levels in their fields.  • Proper methods and timing of soil sampling help ensure reliability of test results for making informed decisions related to soil inputs such as