Ryetec are participating in a in a long-term trial in conjunction with Luke Medd of Regennortheast. Luke is this year’s Agrii Innovation Award Winner, and at his farm in County Durham he is looking at ways to improve soil health and resilience.
On Luke’s farm at West Worley Hill, Co Durham, he and the local Agrii team have split two fields in half. One half of each field is being conventionally worked using a plough, power harrow and combination drill. The team is utilising a no till approach on the other half. But before they began, the team used the Agrii Soil Resilience Strategy to determine what the starting soil conditions were like. They carried out a full physical assessment and worked with Lancrop to analyse the soils’ overall nutrient status, biological health and carbon levels.Â
There will be lots more news on this, you can follow progress oIf you would like to keep up to date using the following links or search on Facebook:Â
www.facebook.com/Regenagnortheast
www.agrii.co.uk/blog/project-update-from-innovationaward-winner-luke-medd/
Plough Pan
The results from the Lancrop highlighted that a plough pan was present across all four plot sites. A plough pan is a hard, cementlike layer in the subsoil which prevents surplus water draining away freely and restricts root growth – it can be caused by ploughing regularly to the same depth. Which is why the team decided that the best option would be to carry out remedial works using a low-disturbance Ryetec Restorer subsoiler. The team are using the Agrii Soil Resilience Strategy and different cultivations to explore the question of how to ensure that soils are set up correctly for direct drilling.