Long-standing agronomist and Technical Manager at Hutchinsons Crop Protection. Frequent contributor to Direct Driller (5+ issues) and speaker at Claydon open days. Known for explaining soil structure, earthworm management, and transitioning to strip-seeding systems.
Key Contributions
- Claydon Open Days (Issue 6): explained soil structure, earthworm types (epigeic/anecic/endogeic), and transitioning to strip seeding — “30 deep-working earthworms per m² is when things really start happening”
- Agronomist in Focus (Issues 15, 21, 22, 32): regular agronomist contributor
- Emphasis on soil as “a very complex web of interactions” — physical, biological, and chemical properties must all be right
Issue 15 — Catch and Cover Crops as the Foundation for SFI Transition (October 2021)
Dick’s Agronomist in Focus column is built around a single argument: in the year before the Sustainable Farming Initiative becomes accessible at scale, growers should be using catch and cover crops as the central tool to prepare both soil and mindset for the transition.
The financial-positives problem
“Measuring a catch or cover crop’s success or value based purely on one year’s yield impact fails to recognise the significant improvements in soil structural health, biology, nutrient flow and water management their use imparts over time.”
He is explicit that cover crops have had a “rocky start” in UK agriculture because the marginal first-year financials often go negative — but argues this is the wrong metric.
The below-ground biomass case
Dick cites the research figure that over 40% of root biomass is retained as SOM, while top growth contributes only 8% — the structural argument for why cover-crop choice should be focused on root architecture, not above-ground volume.
Designing the right cover for the situation
- August sowing critical to intercept long-day sunlight energy and recharge the “soil’s biological battery”
- Choice of cover must address identified field issues and match the management exit (grazing, rolling, spray-and-drill, cultivation)
- Covers can be used to manage C:N ratios to help digest high-lignin wheat straw, or to slow the SOM burn rate in lighter soil fractions
- Real risk of yield reduction in spring barley/wheat when oats or rye dominate the cover
- Where cereals dominate the rotation, oats add little diversification
The Hutchinsons mix design philosophy
- Typically 8 species in the mix, becoming 9 with previous-crop volunteers
- Ratios optimised for the targeted impact (structure, fixation, water pumping, surface protection)
- Practical considerations also factor in: seed-flow characteristics through air seeders, total rate vs hopper capacity, and species reliability under UK climate
SFI as the transition window
“Now is an ideal time to make the change while support payments remain to help counter the risks and tweaks required for any system as it establishes itself on farm.”
[Source: dd-issue-15, 2026-04-13]
Issue 21 — Soil Baselining as the Starting Point for Transition (April 2023)
A short Agronomist in Focus piece — Dick’s central argument here is that whatever the regen ambition, “the machine is irrelevant, it is what the soil needs that should drive the decision“, and the place to start is a baseline. He references upcoming Hutchinsons services that Issue 22 develops in much more detail — Healthy Soils assessments, the Gold soil test, TerraMap and TerraMap Gold — and pushes growers to engage with the SFI Soils Standard on the back of those baselines.
[Source: dd-issue-21, 2026-04-13]
Issue 22 — It’s All About the Soil (Three Pillars + Six Principles) (July 2023)
A detailed Agronomist in Focus column structured around two complementary frameworks: the three pillars of soil health (physical, chemical and biological) and Ed Brown’s six principles of soil management as Hutchinsons frame the transition into agroecology.
Why baselining first
“Many growers will know what they want to achieve or where they want to get to, but unless they know where they are starting from, it is difficult to know which direction to go and the consequences of action taken.”
Knowing your baseline also unlocks engagement with the SFI Soils Standard — “currently worth up to £44/ha”. Each grower has different soils, skill sets and objectives, and trying to do everything at once leads to nothing.
The three pillars together — biology hardest to engage with
“Physics, chemistry, and biology — they all work together, you can’t separate them. But as an industry, we have separated them… We’ve been focusing on physics and chemistry because they’re easy. For example, the field is green and when I spray it with glyphosate, it goes brown… Biology is far more difficult to engage with because it has slower impact and takes longer to fully demonstrate the benefits. But biology is fundamental to all soil functions.”
Dick singles out the Soil Life Monitor (PLFA) test as the lab tool of choice for baselining bacterial, fungal and protozoa biomass and tracking how diversity changes over time.
Hutchinsons’ Healthy Soils + Gold + TerraMap
A Healthy Soils assessment combined with a soil-type-focused Hutchinsons Gold soil test creates the benchmark; TerraMap adds variability mapping where soils warrant it; the new TerraMap Gold service (launched earlier in 2023) goes further into LOI OM, dumas carbon, active carbon, carbon-to-clay layer and C:N ratio, plus pH/buffer pH, CEC, bulk density, texture, extractable nutrients, VESS, water infiltration and worm count.
Ed Brown’s six principles
The column closes with the Hutchinsons Head of Agroecology’s six management principles to guide every decision:
- Minimise disturbance — but no need to buy new kit; existing kit can be adapted
- Retain soil cover at all times
- Maintain living roots through the year
- Maximise diversity (rotation, intercropping, blends, covers)
- Integrate livestock where it fits the situation
- Keep an open mind — challenge convention, trial, adapt
“It’s about being flexible depending on the season and soil type — don’t be dogged in your decision making.”
[Source: dd-issue-22, 2026-04-13]
Appearances
Issues 6 (Claydon speaker), 15, 21, 22, 32 (Agronomist in Focus)
Related Pages
- Earthworms Under No-Till — Earthworm types and management
- Soil Health Monitoring — In-Field Tests and Tools — Soil assessment methods
- Direct Drills — Types, Manufacturers and Comparisons — Claydon Opti-Till system context