This article was published in Practical Farm Ideas Summer 2015, Vol 24 issue 2. It describes the conversion from conventional to zero-till made by a traditionally managed farming estate on the Berkshire-Hampshire border. It’s a major change in method which has continued to work well. Manager Stuart Cath reports that the farm is hitting budgets of 9 tonne crops and the soil conditions seems to be improving. Grass area and sheep numbers have been increased somewhat. They continue with the machinery they had on my visit four years ago - the John Deere 750A and the Simtech seed drills.
The annual savings in tractor hours continue to accumulate. The conversion to direct drilling has been followed closely by the estate owners. The ownership of the estate goes back many generations and continues to be farmed with their own staff and equipment, contrasting with many others. The estate has a fine house and gardens, and host events for a number of local and national charities. Farm appearance is therefore important. Farmers of all shapes and sizes are considering a change to no-till methods, and there is a lot to think about for each one.
When the farm is a traditional gentleman’s estate there’s a further dimension to take into account. Moving from farming systems which have kept the estate both in the black and also a stretch of land which is pleasing to the visitor’s eyes to something which involves less land working and consequently the possibility of of a less managed farm. The use of cover crops mixtures with their variety of plants can also create a farm which is poorly managed, even though, as no-tillers know, the opposite is actually the case. Farm manager Stuart Cath had knowledge of zero-till for some ten years before it actually happened on the land he managed, and that time was spent finding out the wrinkles as well as the benefits.
This research and knowledge has made Harry Henderson, the senior partner of the family trust, fully enthusiastic about the new farming system, This has led to the farm being nominated, and winning, the Land and Soil Management Award, in 2014 from the European Landowners’ Organisation. This prestigious award is competed for by farmers across the EU. Soils in Britain have lost a great deal of their organic matter, and with it many of the natural soil creators such as worms, fungi, bacteria and other living organisms. The result is they have become harder to work. So bigger cultivators with larger, heavier tractors are needed to break soil. Big machines don’t help compaction.
The loss of organic content means that soil needs increasing inputs to maintain yields which overall have remained stubbornly static. Here’s a farmer who uses worms as his subsoiler, slashing fuel and HP requirements. You can recognise his land. It is never bare, the aim is to be growing a crop 12 months a year. We find out how the dramatic change was made.
West Woodhay estate wins European Soil Award
A programme to arrest the decline of soil condition and rebuild fertility gained top marks in a pan-European competition Located on the Hampshire/Berkshire border, West Woodhay is a traditional ‘gentleman’s estate’ associated with aristocracy. The large house dating from 1635 is surrounded by 2,000 acres, 1,300 of which are arable. The impressive surroundings can disguise the need for farming efficiency, but the reality is that the farming criteria is no different to other farms. Owned by the Henderson Family Trust, the farming has been kept in hand with most of the operational work carried out with their own equipment.
This handson approach has meant the senior trustee, Harry Henderson, keeps a real interest in cropping and latterly, in soil management. “It’s a collaborative enterprise,” says farm manager Stuart Cath who clearly enjoys the challenge of changing from conventional to zero-tilling. Up to 2009 the arable land was traditionally ploughed and min-tilled with a full winter rotation of w wheat, w-osr and winter beans. Inputs were high. The land carries flints which used to go through a set of tyres on the main tractor
in 12 months. The work load and diesel use was average for land managed this way. Stuart is an unusual manager as he is also a qualified agronomist, doing the study with the Cherwell Group.
“The course was really very demanding and went way beyond college or university, but it has been a real benefit for me to do the agronomy on the land we farm, where decisions can be taken independent of product.” Harry first came across Lincs zero-tiller Tony Reynolds nearly 10 years ago and the seed was sown for a change in policy. Looking at the farm through Tony’s eyes it was clear the soil was deteriorating, the stones more prevalent, the erosion off the steeper ground a regular event in heavy rain with increasing soil compaction raising the cost of cultivating. This view showed Harry that it was the long term road to nowhere.
Challenging land with soil that is easily washed. This next season there will be no tramlines, but driving lines opened in tall crops with the sprayer
At the same time they had a 120ha block of marginal land under Countryside Stewardship that started in the mid90s and over 14 years the soil there had improved out of all recognition. With the
Stewardship at an end it was decided to bring the ground back into the arable rotation, but rather than plough and start the degradation process again, they used a contractor with a Cross Slot direct-drill
to put wheat into the sprayed sward, and harvested a good crop. So much so the decision to work the total arable area the same way was taken in 2008 and the farm has been direct-drilled since 2009.
Drilling direct into a mustard falllow
Winner of the EU Land and Soil Management Award 2015
The estate farm has a long standing involvement with farming competitions and always enters and supports events run by the Newbury & District Agricultural Society. With the achievement of a real improvement in soil fertility and structure over the past five years, together with the relevance of a competition titled Land and Soil Management Award, they decided to put in an entry, even though the competition extended across the whole of Europe. The Newbury experience was useful.
The Award is run by the European Landowners’ Organisation in association with the University of Vienna and Syngenta as well as the Centre of Soil and Environmental Studies at Ljubliana University. The aim is to encourage new concepts of progressive soil management with a prize of €5,000 and the presentation of the award at a gala dinner in Brussels following the 8th Forum of the Future of Agriculture. Winning this single award is a huge accolade not only for West Woodhay but also the farmers and others who have provided ideas, advice and information. In the report for the award Stuart wrote:
‘The first year of total zero-tillage on the 400ha was reasonably successful since we had inherited a legacy of previous cultivations. In years two and three, any residual soil structure through cultivations had gone and earthworm populations were still low. This resulted in two difficult years. To help overcome some of these issues, mustard was planted in the fallow as a green manure crop and using its root system as a form of organic cultivation. The mustard was then sprayed off and the net crop of wheat drilled straight into the dead mustard. From year three through to the present day there has been quite a remarkable change in soil-life. The most apparent has been the worm activity with areas of large quantities of worm casts and middens. As time goes by, we have found all the residue from the previous crop is being almost totally consumed and turned into friable organic matter.’
Before and after tests have shown an increase in soil organic levels.
Competition in the local ag society provides an annual challenge with other keen and accomplished farmers
The challenges of change
Major changes in direction always involve risk. They’re a leap into the unknown, and information and research is needed and Stuart and Harry searched for people and facts which could help. Getting the facts in the world of zero-till can often be only done by on-farm experimentation, and it was interesting to see just how many of these were currently in progress at the time of my visit in July 2015. There was a field of winter beans with a section of spring sown beans in the centre.
Which is going to work the best? There was fallow carrying crops of oats and barley; oil radish, oil seed rape and stubble turnips over-sown in June into a standing crop of winter wheat. The results of such trials are of real value to other farmers. This is an area of farm knowhow where the farmers themselves are very much ahead of the academics and institutions. We need to publish them more in Practical Farm Ideas. (Hint to readers - tell PFI what you’re doing!)
Making the change permanent: The determination to make the change to zero-till permanent was made when four high HP tractors, two big ploughs and cultivators, a seed drill and a baler were sold. This fleet was replaced by 2 x 170HP John Deere 7530 (which weigh just 7 tonnes) a 4 metre John Deere 750A disc drill and a Simtech Aitkinson tine drill. The new tractors are fitted with the basic John Deere Parallel Tracking system on the free SF1 signal, upgraded to the steering kit and StarFire receiver. This has proved entirely satisfactory on all the land, despite slopes and surrounding woodland. The farm uses liquid fertiliser and the John Deere 840i trailed sprayer therefore does all the fertilising as well as crop protection.
John Deere has been the preferred equipment. Local dealers Farols carry a wide range of spares and expertise; the equipment has proved to be reliable; residual values are good as used Deere kit is always in demand; there’s some compatibility both in parts and the way their kit works. Slug control is done using ferric phosphate instead of the more popular metaldehyde. Thames Water has been offering a £1/kg incentive for farmers to make the change - enough to level the cost.
The machinery shed with the principal players
The John Deere 750A drill is four years old, does 100 acres in a 12 hour day with a 175HP JD 7530 in front. The 4m drill has 24 units and the steering is set for 3.95m to prevent gaps. These drills plant more seed globally than any other make of seed drill.
The seeder discs need regular changing, and the job takes 10 minutes per unit
Simtech has the original 20 tines reduced to 9 which have been re-spaced to 32cm spacings. The drill has the new Simtech points which are hardwearing - these have done 64ha and are still not worn. Replacements are £26
Re-building soil through cropping at West Woodhay
While acknowledging crop rotations as being key to profitability, Stuart confesses they have no set rotation plan. They cannot say what they will be growing in each field over the next three seasons or more. Flexibility allows cropping to be dictated by market prices as well as what the land needs. Cover crops are used, but seed costs dictate what cover are planted. Stewart thinks they will be growing more grass as a break crop and will be looking into a Natural England scheme* for two year legume mixes which provide a useful financial incentive, and would be excellent for blackgrass control.
With the option of mowing and baling, grazing with their 400 Welsh Mountain ewes, or topping, the crop prepares the soil well for subsequent wheat, is inexpensive to establish and maintain, and generates an income. The other departure from the norm is using cover cropped fallow, and here he finds mustard a good performer. At present they have a useful supply from a local seed company of out of date dressed seed, both wheat and oats, in partfilled sacks that is free on collection.
The plan is to drill this discarded seed at high rates, 200 kg/ha, to provide over-winter covers. The oats will be saved for the sloping more marginal land due to its great root structure and the wheat and barley used on the flatter ground. The thought is that while this cereal seed may not be the ideal cover, the savings in seed cost more than make up for the benefits. There’s no rape to be seen, the crop being substituted by both spring and winter beans. Rape is difficult to grow well, suffers slug damage, and the price has dropped while beans are having a good trade, fix N with their nodules, are easier to get right and not so costly. And Stuart likes growing beans!
Root, worm and bio-logical action make a friable soil, this after a cover of oats
* See: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/397037/CAPLF004_FINAL_WEB_2015.pdf
Excerpt: The Wild Pollinator and Farm Wildlife Package is made up of the management options shown below. Evidence from Environmental Stewardship suggests that applying a combination of these options over 3 to 5% of eligible land will bring meaningful changes and benefits. Pollen/nectar resources for pollinators and chick-food for birds – options: • Management of hedgerows (one/both sides of the hedge) • Flower-rich margins and plots • Autumn sown Bumblebird mix (food source for birds and bees) • Two-year sown legume fallow (flowering crops on fallow land) • Legume and herb-rich swards • Nectar flower mix
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