On the 22nd June 201, Environmental experts, politicians and representatives from the agricultural sector gathered to discuss how the UK can better manage its soils for the benefit of people and the environment. The conference, Creating resilient catchments: Better Soil Management, was organised by Westcountry Rivers Trust (WRT) and brought together key bodies and individuals to understand the drivers and interests in soil management, paving the way for future collaboration.
12. Asset condition Maintain your car
โข Increase fuel efficiency
โข Gets you from A to B
โข Reduces stress
โข Less emissions
โข Reduced road debris
โข Reduced oil leaks
โข Reduced risk to others
38. Soil structure degradation in the South West
during winter months
ยฉ 2013 British Society of Soil Science
R.C. Palmer and R.P Smith, Soil Use and Management doi:10.1111/sum.12068
39. Soil Landscapes in the South West
Alluvial soils & lowland peat
Chalk & limestone soils
Clay loam soils over slates
Podzolic soils over granite
Upland peat over granite
Sandy soils over sandstone
Clay rich soils
Urban
Soil map derived from information supplied by the National Soil Resource Institute Cranfield University
42. Conclusion
- Soils in the SW are at high risk of compaction
- Compaction can be widespread in wet years
- Compaction can cause flooding and pollution
45. Where we have come from
โข Set Stocked
โข Making Silage
โข Supplement with homegrown cereals
โข A 5 year Rotation, 2 years clover and 3
years cereal Breakcrops
46. Where are we now?
โข All Grass Leys, predominantly
Multispecies/herbal leys
โข Long Rotational Interval Grazing (Mob
Grazing)
โข 100% Grass Diet
โข PFLA Accredited
51. Why PFLA?
โข Public perception: โCattle eat Grassโ
โข Move towards: โFree Rangeโ and โPasture for
Lifeโ (Free Range Milk, Waitrose โ100 dayโ)
โข Better Health Benefits on Cattle eating Grass.
Higher PUFAโs, Vitamin E and CLAโs
โข Certification, to ensure Customers receive what
they ask for.
52. โข Increased cost of Store Cattle
โข Increased Fixed cost (Labour, Machinary
and Fuel) to grow crop
โข Cultivations reduced Soil Organic Matter,
and resilience.
Why reducing Cereals
53. โข C14 = Carbon
โข Soil Carbon = 2 x Air, and 3 x Biomass above ground Carbon
โข Carbon content of Soil Organic Matter (SOM) = 58%
โข Or SOM = 1.72 x SOC
โข Also 1 % Organic matter at 30 cm depth = 160,000 L water
โข Summer BGS 2015 @ Jono Cole @ 50 cm = 7.7%
SOM (4.5% SOC) = 2.0 M Litres of water can be
retained/ha = 200 Litres water/mยฒ = over 0.2 meters of
Water = 8โ
โข Carbon sequestration! If Jono can increase his SOM
by 0.4%/yr. He will capture 24 t CO2/ha = annual
emissions of 2 Homes or 5 cars worth
Soil Organic Matter
54. Quantifying the Effect of land use on
Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) stocks in the
Tamar Valley
55. โข 1 โ Relative cost of grazed grass
โข 2.5 โ Relative cost of Silage
โข 4 โ Relative cost of Concentrate
Reducing Feed cost
56. โข Use Clovers, Nitrogen Fixers, add CHO to soil
and allow Free-living bacteria to fix Nitrogen
โข Build Organic Matter. By longer grazing interval
length with Rotational Grazing i.e. Mob Grazing
โข Use Biology (Soil and Plant) and Diversity of
plant Species to provide Nutrients to Stock
Benefits of Herbal Leys
57. Grazed Herbal Leys
โข Adds fertility, as in Clover Based
โข Allow for Long Rotational Intervals, Herbs
and Clovers stay digestible for longer.
โข Contain Herbs with Anthelmintic
properties, reduced Worm Burden
โข Wildlife and Pollinator Friendly.
61. Soil Farmer of the Year 2018 winner announced
The other finalists this year who have all been awarded highly commended due
to exemplary soil management are David Lord, an arable farmer from Essex,
Martin Howard, a beef farmer from Cornwall, and Simon Drury, an arable farmer
from Dorset.
64. Farm facts
โข 265 acres mainly arable
โข Organic
โข Easternmost breeding site of cirl buntings in
UK with higher tier stewardship scheme
โข Ring fenced
โข Loamy stony soils over sandstone with
excellent potential to grow most crops
71. 8 tonnes per square metre โ if
tyre pressures reduced in field
72.
73. Organic matter
โข Soil at the farm is commonly known to go very
hard.
โข Organic matter is low
โข I believe improving the organic matter level is
vital to ensure good husbandry of my soils
โข Once the OM improves, the soil will host more
fauna, particularly worms, and pore space,
structure etc will improve massively. Fungi and
bacteria will increase and further improve the
cycle
74. Options to improve the organic matter
levels:
โข Quite limited:
โข Organic so no AD waste unless free from GM
animal feeds
โข No green waste compost allowed
โข Can buy in dung โ have bought moderate
quantity of organic chicken litter so far but
would be very expensive way to increase OM
94. Taking responsibility
โข Unaware of the scale of the problem
โข Too much soil
โข Often directly affected by poor soil (without
knowing it) โ but not always.
โข Farm the landscape