With everything thats going on in the wider industry I've decided to get the ball rolling on increasing our soil organic matter/carbon. Plan is to under sow the maize, cover crop the wheat stubbles over winter and move a lot of the FYM from youngstock to an arable farm 6 miles away. I really...
Written by William Kellett
First Milk has announced a range of developments to its First4Milk sustainability plan, which sees some bold changes as part of its ambition to be a leader in dairy sustainability.
The key changes announced include:
A commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2040...
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/lynx-and-wolves-could-return-to-england-as-rewilding-task-force-set-up-by-pm/ar-BB1ejupK
Honestly I think long term this would be a good thing, apex predators are vital for the ecosystem, Yellowstone national park was made vastly more healthy when they...
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainable-farming-incentive-scheme-pilot-launch-overview/sustainable-farming-incentive-defras-plans-for-piloting-and-launching-the-scheme
To me this looks far from straightforward and those who moaned about the complexities of the BPS application...
Are poison-packed drones the answer to eastern Australia's mouse plague?
Written by Natasha May
A ‘low-level’ but lasting plague is costing farmers money in lost grain across Queensland, NSW and Victoria
A Queensland farmer has been given approval to fly drones in New South Wales that drop...
I ask the above as the island of the “Uk” is such a pinprick, relative to worldwide agriculture.
Which other countries agricultural policies are so concerned with “carbon neutral farming “ as the Uk is??
Carbon Week
Carbon Week is a series of AHDB events, taking place from 1 to 5 March.
The webinars and panel discussions will feature a range of speakers and are for farmers and growers interested in understanding more about the carbon cycle, carbon auditing, reducing emissions and the...
Written by Iain Hoey
Beginning on Monday next week (1 March), AHDB is launching Carbon Week: a week-long focus on carbon featuring five free webinars to outline the fundamentals of carbon within UK agriculture, bringing levy payers an essential guide to carbon and carbon footprinting.
Designed...
Recent Australian emissions cuts likely to be reversed in recovery from Covid and drought
Written by Adam Morton Environment editor
Scott Morrison says Coalition is ‘getting on with’ reductions, but analysis finds end of lockdowns and drought will reverse trend
Most of the reduction in...
Video: Farming Forum Q&A
Written by The Team
Farmers were invited to put their questions to Defra’s Janet Hughes and David Kennedy at a recent Q&A session hosted by The Farming Forum.
Janet is Programme Director of the Future Farming and Countryside Programme. David is Director General for...
This came up in a discussion yesterday. An estate with a long history of the same family ownership wants to provide public goods such as carbon sequestration by working with its tenants to manage the land accordingly. Without getting bogged down in the type of tenancy, though the length clearly...
We have been approached through our local FWAG people to see if we are interested in getting involved in this.
In a nutshell it would appear that we as farmers would agree to do certain things at the farm level e.g over wintered cover crops, hedge row work, fencing water courses, and various...
The plan is a mobile chicken hutch with moveable electric netting - the chickens will follow the cattle round and hopefully get lots of their food from the insects in the cow pats etc.
Therefore I don’t want 330 eggs-per-year birds, that will need lots of supplementary feeding. I want good...
Watched a webinar hosted gratefully by Oakbank Seeds with Dr Chistine Jones on Biological pathways to Carbon soil enrichent.
she indicated that crop residues (stubble, straw and above ground debris) contributed only a tiny amount to soil Carbon, with most lost to the atmosphere as CO2. Root...
I have searched for this information but cant find a definitive answer. Is the minimum amount of land you can set aside for woodland creation and to 'earn' carbon credits 10ha? Is there any point looking at a planting scheme if you cant spare 10ha (all permanent pasture and not a massive amount...
It is widely reported and accepted that nitrogen fertiliser is damaging to soil biology. It is suggested that long term no tillers are reducing their N use ( I’ve been told of one estate now growing wheat with 100kg N where recently they were using 200 kg). Have any long term no tillers seen...
Written by Rachel Martin
Computing giant Microsoft has launched a new partnership with Australian farm Wilmot Cattle Company to use grazing cattle to offset Microsoft’s carbon footprint.
The deal is said to be one of the largest soil carbon credit issuances ever in Australia.
It’s understood...
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...
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...
Good article here.
https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/articles/new-research-challenges-scientific-orthodoxy-on-the-role-of-grazing-livestock-in-relation-to-emission-reduction-targets/?fbclid=IwAR2f0NPr5n8btOiypF1Vx9EgQrzTKC_Xpq8DjURav1B7GDGlYxNZnTy0HQg
All stems from them buying carbon credits...