AHDB: To Till, or not to Till
TO TILL, OR NOT TO TILL, THAT IS THE QUESTION. FINLAND HAS THE ANSWER
Written by Harry Henderson of the AHDB, August 2018
Take a look at the European Conservation Agriculture Federation website and you’ll see Finland has the highest percentage of arable cropping in a no-till system in Europe – 13 per cent (the UK stands at 8 per cent). While you can understand dry-land countries, such as Brazil and Argentina, moving almost completely to a no-till system...
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Direct Driller Magazine
Direct Driller is a new farming magazine, designed by farmers for farmers to educate and inform the industry about no-till techniques
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AHDB Monitor Farm Launch
AHDB NORTHAMPTON MONITOR FARM LAUNCH 4TH JULY
Recognising an interest in reducing soil movement, AHDB has picked a new Monitor Farm that predominately uses a system of reduced tillage. The 4th July was the first event held at Rick Davies’ Newton Lodge Farm. It was a great chance for us to get to know Rick and understand how he farms at the moment and how he wants to move forward and change to meet the challenges of the future. The evening started with a brief...
STEPWISE MOVE TO NO-TILL DRILLING HAS PROVED A SENSIBLE APPROACH
A stressful time trying to establish autumn crops is what originally prompted Northamptonshire estate manager, Andrew Mahon, to move away from traditional cultivations. But it’s been a journey that’s paid off.
As manager of the 1,000 ha Bromborough Estate at Glebe Farm, Podington near Wellingborough – with 840 ha of owned land plus 165 ha under a farm business tenancy agreement – Andrew Mahon has overseen some significant...
Farming mostly light soils is easy, isn’t it?
Farming mostly light soils is easy, isn’t it? I’m often told I farm “Boys’ land” and well, I guess in many ways it is. A bigger working window, low slug and blackgrass pressure all seem to make life that bit easier for me than colleagues on proper heavy clay “man’s land”. My gap year from agricultural college was spent in North Yorkshire, an absolutely stunning ring fenced farm with 100% “man’s land”. I spent most of my year ploughing up...
How to Become a Soil Health Expert on your Farm
It’s clear that we need to build more resilient soils, both for the future of our farms and for the long-term health of the land. The satellite images of muddy waters spilling out of brown rivers around the UK after a heavy rainfall are hair-raising. We can visibly see the soil gliding off fields, into water streams and off into the sea. At the very least this is quite literally money going down the drain for anyone working from the land, at...
IS THE FUTURE BIOLOGICAL FERTILIZERS AND SOIL INOCULANTS?
While usage of biological fertilisers and soil inoculants in other parts of the world is growing rapidly, it is possibly not something you have even heard a lot about in the UK. Over the last 15 years, research and development of bacterial soil inoculation, combined with the invention of state-of-the-art microbiological and biotechnological methods have yielded ranges of soil specific inoculants. These bacterial soil inoculations...
Grazing Cropped Land
The almost forgotten technique in the UK of grazing cereals is something being widely practiced across Australia in areas with widely varying rainfall levels. The Australian Grain Research and Development Council have produced a report titled Grain and Graze which sets out to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of grazing a range of cash crops. We begin serializing this report over coming issues to explore what is currently an untapped resource.
Originally...
Farmer Focus - Steve Lear
A baptism of fire into Direct Drilling
They say if you want to see the sunshine you have to weather the storm. That couldn’t be truer of this year. From one of the wettest starts to spring followed by the hottest start to summer I can remember in my 34 years. The first ever crop we direct drilled was a field of winter wheat last November. It was drilled into wet soils which got wetter as the winter progressed. The second crop that we have direct drilled was...
NEW AUTONOMOUS MACHINES TO HELP NO-TILLERS SEED, SPRAY
Originally published in No-till Farmer USA, written By Mark McNeely posted on June 9, 2018
DOT Technology’s driverless platform enables multiple implement use from a single machine, thereby increasing efficiencies on farms large or small. Acceptance of autonomous farm equipment is growing, given its promise of greater efficiencies for both large and small farms.
The availability of these driverless machines could help no-tillers...
The AHDB GREATsoils programme has been signposted as a vital resource and tool for growers as part of two new soil qualifications from BASIS, the independent standards setting and auditing organisation.
BASIS facilitated the creation of two new syllabuses as requested by its members for foundation and advanced level awards, which delve into contrasting detail on soil chemistry, biology and physical properties while looking at how this affects farming practice.
The new courses will be open...
7 Soil health mantras to follow on your farm
Insights from Niels Corfield, Soil Health Advisor
How do you build soil health? Below we share the six soil health principles to follow on your farm. Implementing farming practises and any new ideas which encompass as many of these principles as possible will get you firmly on the path of regenerative farming. With every decision you can use these principles as a checklist to guide you to the best tool to move forward to build a regenerative...
Low Cost No-Till Drill for 600 Acres
by Mike Donovan - Practial Farm Ideas Magazine - https://www.farmideas.co.uk/
There are many and varied reasons why UK farmers avoid making the change to No-till. They know it won’t work on their land. They tried in the 1970s, drilling into the ash left after stubble and straw was burnt off, and yields soon declined. If these aren’t enough the next argument against making change is the cost of machinery which is the deterrent. Spending £80k and more...
WHEN A SEEDHAWK JUST ISN’T ENOUGH
With variable soils and a range of crops on 2400ha at Down Ampney Estate near Cirencester, Glos, Farmcare Ltd’s manager James Taylor relies on versatile drills from Vaderstad which can perform in demanding conditions. “We’ve got everything from sandy clay loams over gravel to chalk downland and clay with flint,” he explains. “We’ve been moving towards direct drilling over the past six years and have refined the machinery based on our experiences. I...
Nutrient Stratification not a Problem in No-till
Nutrient stratification is common concern for no-till farmers.
By Laura Barrera, first published on www.Agfuse.com in August 2018
Without tillage to mix fertilizer into the soil, no-tillers may wonder whether the nutrients applied to the soil surface are reaching the crop roots. According to University of Nebraska Extension engineer Paul Jasa and Ray Ward, plant scientist and founder of Ward Laboratories in Kearney, Neb., the...
The Albrecht Method
Written by Steve Townsend
Think you have your soil fertility mastered? Well-read on about possibly the most misunderstood soil scientist Dr William Albrecht, skip this article and you could be missing something.
I don’t think there is anybody in agriculture more misunderstood or misquoted than Dr William Albrecht, who was emeritus professor of soils at the University of Missouri from 1919 – 1959. He began his work in medicine but soon switched to agriculture when he...
Put the Big ‘G’ - Grass - Back into your Farming System
Article adapted from a presentation given by Cotswold Seeds MD Ian Wilkinson at this year’s Groundswell event
In 2016, the NFU reported the biggest year-on-year fall in farm profitability since the millennium, as farmers deal with the impact of devastating cuts in the value of their products and the rising prices of nitrogen fertiliser. There are two ways to increase profit: Intensify to produce more, or lower cost of production...
Interesting things?
My experiences so far with the Ma/ Ag direct drill, if you want to direct drill then some thought must be given to the system well before you even have a demo. Yes we can drill into almost anything from last year’s crop aftermath to fully cultivated seedbeds.
Direct drills, especially low disturbance machines can’t work the ground and certainly don’t level undulations, tramlines or carry out any remedial work so best not to do the damage in the first place. Tractors...
How to visually assess your soil structure
Short video created by the Sectormentor For Soils Team
Assess the quality of your soil structure for yourself with a spade, tray, ruler and smartphone. Soil structure shows how much biological activity is happening, how well water can infiltrate downwards and how well plants are being nourished. It is core to soil health!
It takes some practise! This short video will show you what to expect:
Scoring your soil sample with the VESS chart
Once...
When and how often should you do soil tests?
Soil test calendar created by the Sectormentor For Soils team
Taking the first steps on your soil monitoring journey involves some essential decision making! Firstly, which soil tests are right for your farm as well as when and where you are going to do them?
Certain tests are best done at certain times of year, and like most things in farming, this is due to the weather. On the calendar you can see the key soil tests, when and how often to do...
Welcome to the ninth instalment of our Know your Soils series sharing practical tips for monitoring the soil health on your land. Keep an eye out for our bitesize videos and fact sheets on simple tests you can do yourself on farm.
“If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.”
How to maintain productive grassland
Insights from Alex Heffron, Welsh farmer and regenerative agriculture enthusiast
Plate meters allow farmers to measure and monitor the volume of forage they have across their...
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Tractor Chat #01
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Tractor Chat #01 - with Direct Driller Magazine Farmer Focus writer Phil Rowbottom
Discussing direct drilling wheat, Oil seed rape growing in the UK, Fendt 724 tractor and his Sky Easy Drill.
Discussing direct drilling wheat, Oil seed rape growing in the UK, Fendt 724 tractor and his Sky Easy Drill.