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Written by Natallia Gulbis BSc(Hons), MSc, Technical and Arable Farming Lead, PlantWorks Ltd Let’s get straight to it and ask a simple question: ‘Is there a monetary return to be had from managing the biology of your soil?’ With every major agronomy company now having expanding soils programs...

The future of solid urea fertilisers is on trial. James Warne from Soil First Farming defends urea and shows it may well be an easy scapegoat for the rise in atmospheric ammonia levels It seems as though we are due to loose solid urea fertilisers very soon, or at least that is the...

Farmer Focus Clive Bailye (Dec 2020) Fake news? Harvest 2020 was never going to be great, the perfect storm of a wet autumn and winter followed by a spring drought was always going to end in disappointment. When it came to yields any usual excitement and anticipation was replaced by simple...

Wet on Top - Dry Underneath Written by Niels Corfield The winter of 2019/20 has been challenging for farmers to say the least. Incessant rain meaning fields were not accessible, and winter crops were not sowed, large areas of flat or low lying country flooded (sometimes repeatedly) and...

Farmer Focus Edwin Taylor (Dec 2020) Well, I am sitting here thinking of how the last eight months have been since my debut article back in April and I do not think there is any way to sugar coat it, it’s just been bloody moderate (in fact probably less than moderate) with all that is going...

Soil Health - applications and opportunities for climate-smart farming, food security and environmental integrity Written by Neil Douglas Fuller of the Atlas Sustainable Soil Programme Soil health is a product of interactions between plant roots and the living fraction of the soil...

As I sit down to write my latest article, I’m reminded that 8 years ago today I was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship. I was selected as part of the #Nuffield13 year group to study “The long-term benefits of no-till farming”. I remember walking onto the stage at the Nuffield conference to be...

Effect of farm management on topsoil organic carbon and aggregate stability in water Written by Jenni Dungait Soil health and flood management: New research 1 led by Soil Health Expert Prof Jenni Dungait and scientists in the UK and the USA shows clear links between the last time a field...

Regenerative Agriculture: Another Passing Fad or a System Fit for the Future? Written by William Waterfield from The Farm Consultancy Group Open just about any agricultural journal and one is bombarded by stories about regenerative agriculture but why all this interest? The confusion...

Rethinking Permanent Soil Cover Written by Joel Williams Permanent soil cover! One of the three pillars of conservation agriculture and rightly so. There are numerous benefits to soil health and crop production that stem from this foundational soil protective principle. However, in recent...

ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES FOR WEED MANAGEMENT - STEPS TO GET YOU ON THE ROAD TO MAKING PEACE WITH WEEDS Written by Chloe MacLaren As based on information found on Agricology (www.agricology.co.uk) Chloe MacLaren is an ecologist at Rothamsted Research exploring how we can design resilient...

By Ralph Early ([email protected]) Part one of this two-part article on agricultural ethics set out a thesis which argued that the development of farming as an industrial activity during the 20th century, aided particularly by dynamic and commercially advantageous sciences and...

Written Sept 2020 I have always found that pioneering a different system of farming is a lonely task, there is lot of contradicting advice out there but ultimately you have to make the decisions yourself. I have read stacks of books on soil biology and regenerative agriculture and follow all...

Written by James Warne from Soil First Farming “I don't care what colour it is, what it looks like or it's consistency, it's lime, get it spread” were words quoted to me recently by an agronomist who clearly didn’t understand the basics of some simple chemistry. The above quote was part of a...

Written by Lancaster University, UK A major new international study has provided a first worldwide insight into how soil erosion may be affecting the longevity of our soils. in collaboration with researchers from Chang’an University in China, and KU Leuven in Belgium, brought together soil...

by Nick Woodyatt, Soil Fertility Consultant at Aiva Fertiliser Normally when starting an article there is much gnashing of teeth and wandering around the garden, or pub in my case, deciding on how to help and enlighten our industry (hopefully). But seeing as it did not stop raining during the...

Written by James Warne @Warnesworth , Soil First Farming Social media can be a useful source and tool for knowledge transfer, discussion around various topics etc. But far too often it can also be the source of misinformation or confirmation of prejudice, particularly where the discussion...

Will keep that in mind. Thanks for the feedback.

Written by Ralph Early ''No one will protect what they don't care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced.'' David Attenborough Not so long ago, wildlife in Britain was so much more abundant than it is today. Back in the 1960s, in early summer, one could walk the...