Issue 25 – Contents
Welcome to Issue 25 of Direct Drillers Soil Magazine. We hope you enjoy reading it. Contents
Issue 25Jan 2024
Introduction – Issue 25
Farm risks rise as subsidies fall The competent and effective manager keeps a weather eye out for storms which threaten their organisation. The ‘threats’ can be sudden, coming out of nowhere or alternatively events which have been building up for some time. Threats are sufficiently important to be the T partof the highly regarded SWOT …
Starting the Regen Journey
Do you vividly recall the start of your journey into regenerative farming, can you pinpoint a specific enlightening moment? For some, this revelation is a regularly discussed topic, while for others, it unfolds as a gradual evolution. The changes introduced by SFI (Sustainable Farming Incentive) this year, however, are compelling new farmers to embrace regenerative …
Why a French farm has turned predominantly to livestock
On a recent BASE-UK trip to France, a visit to Christophe Piou’s farm showed how you don’t have to follow the herd to be successful By Mike Abram Surrounded by high value vegetable production and arable farms in the Loire Valley is what is now predominantly a livestock farm. It wasn’t always that way. When …
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Principles of carbon footprinting 101
Written by Anna Woodley from Trinity AgTech The concept of natural capital may seem distant and complex. However, it is a collective asset that everyone involved in agriculture should acknowledge and actively manage. From understanding the value of natural capital, to taking credible actions to reduce carbon footprints, farmers and land managers play a pivotal …
Farmer Focus – David White
“How much rain do you get on farm? All of it.” is a quote from an American regen farmer whose name escapes me. A comment that we can all relate to this autumn as we watched the millimetres accumulate in our rain gauges with a feeling that we personally were getting ALL of the rain. …
Distinguished Soil Health Pioneers to Head up BASE-UK Conference – 7th and 8th Feb 2024
Two world-renowned soil health and cover crop experts will be speaking at the BASE-UK conference in February 2024, the farmer organisation has announced. Brazilian cover crop guru Dr Ademir Calegari, who has over 30 years of experience with no-till across farms of all sizes in South America and beyond is speaking on the first day …
Who owns regen?
It is clear that the term ‘Regen ag’ is now becoming as confused and meaningless as ‘min-till’. The question of ‘what is Regen’ now happens with regular occurrence. Worryingly there now seems to be, in the UK at least, organisations who are keen to control the narrative and take ownership of the term regen for …
Unveiling the Hidden Heroes: The Ecosystem Services Provided by Aculeate Wasps
The natural world, spanning from individual organisms to entire ecosystems, offers a wide range of functions and benefits known as ecosystem services (ESs) that significantly contribute to human well-being. These services can be broadly categorized into four types: regulating services (e.g., ecosystem process regulation), provisioning services (e.g., material outputs from ecosystems), supporting services (e.g., maintenance …
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Allerton Project
Written by Joe Stanley, Head of Sustainable Farming, at The Allerton Project I was recently invited to speak at the North of England Farming Conference at Hexham in Northumbria, with a wide brief to cover anything forward-thinking which ticked the box for both environmental and financial sustainability. Weeks in advance I had submitted my presentation …