Soil Health

Written By Laura Barrera and first published on Agfuse.com While soil health may be harder to quantify than benefits like biomass production or input savings, there are ways of measuring how cover crops are making a difference in your soil. While there are numerous reasons for using cover crops, a primary one is improving soil […]

If you want to know how healthy you are, there are a myriad of tests and tools to help you ‘quantify’ yourbody condition – blood pressure, body mass index and cholesterol level, for example. Now there is a move todevelop ways to quantify the health of your soil, too. In 2016, AHDB and BBRO funded

AHDB Animal Scientist, Siwan Howatson, takes a closer look at the potential to incorporate livestock into the arable rotation through establishing a grass ley, while improving soil organic matter and increasing soil resilience. Soil organic matter (SOM) is an essential element because it provides the soil with the resilience it needs to sustain a crop,

Farmers and agronomists in Canada began exploring the benefits of reduced tillage and direct drilling nearly 50 yearsago. The reasons were simple – the need to reduce soil erosion, retain soil moisture, save on fuel costs and reducethe time taken to establish their crops. It hasn’t been the answer to everything, and in some years

Written by Kristy Wesson of Secanim KalFos is a slow-release calcium phosphate fertiliser produced from the combustion of animal by-products andbioliquids. It is produced as part of the UK’s safe and responsible treatment of fallen stock and provides a valuable route for the recycling of nutrients. Replacing costly mineral-based phosphate fertilisers, the majority of which

Dr. Anna Krzywosznska is a social scientist, and a Research Fellow at the Department of Geography at the University ofSheffield. Over the last few years she has been studying the uptake of sustainable soil management practices amongstEnglish farmers. She has found that the experience of adapting soil-friendly farming systems can be difficult forfarmers because it

PH-value, soil structure (elimination of capillary action, compression, smearing of the soil) and moisture of the soil canbe seen by the growth of different weeds. If the crops in the field show an irregular growth pattern or there is extremely wet harvest and poor soil preparation conditions resulting in silting, acidification, nutrient or oxygen deficiency

We are all in need of healthy soils but how can we create that magical organic matter cocktail,Dr James Holmes from AHDB shares some simple advice on what to look for Soil organic matter is a mysterious substance with legendary qualities yet practical guidance on how to manage it has been thin on the ground.

The use of inorganic nitrogen is key to maintaining fertility and yield in conventional arable systems. However, inorganic nitrogen is an energy rich product that is becoming increasingly expensive. With the assistance of The John Oldacre Foundation, research within NIAB TAG is exploring the potential of bi-cropped legume species to be integrated into modern conventional