Unmoved stubbles can often be the driest land on the farm after heavy rainfall. Yet we are told that cultivation helps to dry land out. What are the factors that allow stubbles to move water downwards faster than cultivated ground? It’s now apparent that many cultivated soils are not draining recent deluges fast enough. Crops …
Written by Tim Smales from Humi-Cert.com Humic substances play a vital role in a healthy soil. We’ll review what humic substances are, their benefits, the various amendments that are available and some examples of how they are used in agriculture. Having an understanding of these substances and their properties is of great use in understanding …
What happens to the fertiliser which is sown on or near the surface of No-till fields? After a decent shower we see it has gone, presumably disappearing to the root area. But what happens then? How far does it get into the soil profile? Have you got the answer? Marion Calmer from Illinois is a …
Stratified Soil Sampling: A New Lokk at Soil Testing Read More »
The Claydon Opti-Till® crop establishment system delivers a wide range of environmental benefi ts and cost savings. It creates ideal growing conditions for crops which means that yields are healthy too. This helps farms stay profi table even in tough financial times. SOIL BENEFITS The Claydon Opti-Till® system delivers many soil health benefi ts through …
The Claydon Opti-Till® crop establishment system Read More »
“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. …
A full picture of soil health can be captured by a new ‘scorecard’. AHDB technical content manager Jason Pole investigates. Not everything that matters can be measured. Not everything that can be measured matters. Wise words. Nobody would dispute that soil health matters. Now it can be measured. The soil health scorecard is the product …
Understanding more about organic matter and soil carbon can help growers improve soil health, get more from crop nutrition inputs and build greater overall resilience into their crop production, believes Agrii agronomist Will Francis. “So many aspects of profitable crop production are affected by the condition of your soil that it’s worth spending a bit …
Regenerative agriculture has experienced a sharp rise from a niche concept to a commonplace strategy across the UK agricultural sector. It holds promise as a win-win strategy to address net zero and long-term farm productivity. Centred around improving and revitalising soil health, regenerative agriculture can be defined as any form of farming, which at the …
Precision in calculating emissions and sequestration in agricultural soils is crucial for the carbon footprint of crops, grass, and livestock, and for the valuation of natural capital. Dr Alasdair Sykes, Trinity AgTech’s managing director of sustainability, explores the latest advances in quantifying and understanding nitrous oxide emissions. According to industry reports, in 2019 nitrous oxide …
July 2023 Colleymore is a National Trust farm that forms part of the Coleshill and Buscot estate. My family and I arrived here in 2021, having lived and farmed in France. Of the 295Ha, around ¼ is permanent grass. The rest is Grade 3 arable, predominantly clay. It shares the same characteristics as the clay …
