BBC reports a huge knowledge gap over soil health....

[holwellcourtfarm]

Huge knowledge gap over health of soil https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51861539

"A vital knowledge gap about England’s environment has been uncovered by soil campaigners.

They have discovered that just 0.41% of the cash invested in environmental monitoring goes on examining the soil.
That’s despite the fact that soils round the world – including in the UK – are said to be facing a crisis.

The figures are startling: £60.5m goes to monitoring water quality, £7.65m to checking on air – but just £284,000 to auditing soil."

"A report by the Commons Environment Audit Committee in 2016 warned that some of the UK’s most fertile fields were losing so much soil they could become unproductive within a generation.
That’s because modern farming methods typically don’t protect the soil from losing its carbon content (vital for combating climate change) or from being washed off by heavy rain.
Yet the FoI reveals that Natural England’s commitment to soil monitoring stretches to assessing just 20 soil plots across four national nature reserves."

 

[yellow belly]

If they have not been monitoring how do they know how good or bad the soil is and how much it has changed

 

[Farmer Roy]

Just from reading most TFF posts I’d already come to the conclusion there is a HUGE knowledge gap about soil health on UK farms . . .

 

[wanton dwarf]

A report by the Commons Environment Audit Committee in 2016 warned that some of the UK’s most fertile fields were losing so much soil they could become unproductive within a generation.
That’s because modern farming methods typically don’t protect the soil from losing its carbon content (vital for combating climate change) or from being washed off by heavy rain.

Isn't that an Oxymoron ?

How can they know the effects of anything when they don't monitor it in the first place ?

Regardless the obvious way to stop runoff and maintain soils is by recycling what is taken off the soil or enters streams & drainage ditches. That means recycling human waste back onto the land in a quantative & viable manner .. not just letting it float down a river into the sea. As regards what enters ditches that requires settlement ponds, reeds and compost heaps.

Same could be done at river deltas to capture minerals from industrial, road, rail & city run off.

Let's see the water authorities & governments actually doing something to recycle the waste they generate rather than blaming farmers.

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Isn't that an Oxymoron ?

How can they know the effects of anything when they don't monitor it in the first place ?

Regardless the obvious way to stop runoff and maintain soils is by recycling what is taken off the soil or enters streams & drainage ditches. That means recycling human waste back onto the land in a quantative & viable manner .. not just letting it float down a river into the sea. As regards what enters ditches that requires settlement ponds, reeds and compost heaps.

Same could be done at river deltas to capture minerals from industrial, road, rail & city run off.

Let's see the water authorities & governments actually doing something to recycle the waste they generate rather than blaming farmers.

Why not stop it getting there in the first place if we can? Min till / No till, cover crops, plant diversity etc....

 

[wanton dwarf]

Why not stop it getting there in the first place if we can? Min till / No till, cover crops, plant diversity etc....

Crops are taken off the fields which ultimately gets flushed down the toilet .. needs to be recycled and has NOTHING to do with cultivation.

Drainage has very little to nothing to do with cultivation or cropping.

Plant diversity does nothing and is irrelevant.

Why would you plant cover instead of a crop ?

You won't stop nutrients leaching into ditches and you won't stop trace pesticides leaching into ditches either .. but you can use ponds & reeds to capture some of those nutrients & nutralise some of those trace pesitcides.

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Crops are taken off the fields which ultimately gets flushed down the toilet .. needs to be recycled and has NOTHING to do with cultivation.

Drainage has very little to nothing to do with cultivation or cropping.

Plant diversity does nothing and is irrelevant.

Why would you plant cover instead of a crop ?

You won't stop nutrients leaching into ditches and you won't stop trace pesticides leaching into ditches either .. but you can use ponds & reeds to capture some of those nutrients & nutralise some of those trace pesitcides.

Human manure I agree with you (except that it can lead to very high heavy metal contamination if you use too much). I was more alluding to leached fertiliser and eroded soil.

 

[wanton dwarf]

Human manure I agree with you (except that it can lead to very high heavy metal contamination if you use too much). I was more alluding to leached fertiliser and eroded soil.

I don't think you can stop leaching because any broken soil deposits nitrates .. saw an Open University episode of forest soil being tested about 30 years ago ..

Some pesticides will always reach water courses with the best will in the world.

And regardless industry, domestic out flows, livestock, vehicles, flora & fauna will deposit nutrients .. could be caught, composted & recycled onto the land before it contaminates River Deltas .. leads to low Oxygen levels in Sea water.

BTW this happens naturally anyway for example in the Amazon River delta .. but it should be a good supply of raw materials.

Also reed ponds or even reeds in river deltas MIGHT help with micro plastics.

 

[Brisel]

Perhaps we might see some resources put towards educating everyone about managing soils? The problem is that soil health is hard to measure - there are so many variables. Test the same soil within a month and it will give different readings depending on how wet, dry cold, warm, what is or isn't growing in it etc etc.

Too many photos like these, all UK photos;

 

[wanton dwarf]

Perhaps we might see some resources put towards educating everyone about managing soils? The problem is that soil health is hard to measure - there are so many variables. Test the same soil within a month and it will give different readings depending on how wet, dry cold, warm, what is or isn't growing in it etc etc.

Too many photos like these, all UK photos;

In 35 years I've only ever seen 1 field with soil moved. And that field is 250 acres, near one of the steepest hills in the midlands and was sown with potatoes.

 

[Bury the Trash]

Perhaps we might see some resources put towards educating everyone about managing soils? The problem is that soil health is hard to measure - there are so many variables. Test the same soil within a month and it will give different readings depending on how wet, dry cold, warm, what is or isn't growing in it etc etc.

Too many photos like these, all UK photos;

How about Contour banks , dams etc, for above ground water storage for later use, for fire fighting duck shoot etc


not just hairy fairy hippyish ' infiltration' ideas with long woody grass bracken or gorse or something.

 

[Brisel]

How about Contour banks , dams etc, for above ground water storage for later use, for fire fighting duck shoot etc


not just hairy fairy hippyish ' infiltration' ideas with long woody grass bracken or gorse or something.

We will see more restrictions on soil management if we want to continue taking the taxpayer's schilling. We've lost a generation of soil scientists. How many of the old guard ADAS/Silsoe soil specialists are there left who haven't retired and not been replaced? Philip Wright, Dick Godwin and Anna Becvar are the only regular ones I can think of.

 

[teslacoils]

Yeah, sod farmers when we can get some "experts" to patronise them.

 

[Bury the Trash]

We will see more restrictions on soil management if we want to continue taking the taxpayer's schilling. We've lost a generation of soil scientists. How many of the old guard ADAS/Silsoe soil specialists are there left who haven't retired and not been replaced? Philip Wright, Dick Godwin and Anna Becvar are the only regular ones I can think of.

Sowing another crop no later say than September or earlier than last week in March , for arguments sake would increase cover over win ter.

Arable farmers face the biggest challenge not grassland farmers or even mixed farmers so much. I

 

[Bury the Trash]

Yeah, sod farmers when we can get some "experts" to patronise them.

Help ful practical ones like Adas were good.
S ilsoe work was interesting if a little 'eccentric ' at times

 

[Chris F]

Perhaps we might see some resources put towards educating everyone about managing soils? The problem is that soil health is hard to measure - there are so many variables. Test the same soil within a month and it will give different readings depending on how wet, dry cold, warm, what is or isn't growing in it etc etc.

Too many photos like these, all UK photos;

Good job there is now a magazine all about it!

 

[Wombat]

We will see more restrictions on soil management if we want to continue taking the taxpayer's schilling. We've lost a generation of soil scientists. How many of the old guard ADAS/Silsoe soil specialists are there left who haven't retired and not been replaced? Philip Wright, Dick Godwin and Anna Becvar are the only regular ones I can think of.

I always found Dick’s lectures very good

 

[texelburger]

Guys,this is the BBC !! I can't believe a word they say these days.

 

[Bury the Trash]

Guys,this is the BBC !! I can't believe a word they say these days.

Yes that's fair comment

But there are serious problems that need attention on the subject not just here either,.... World wide.

 

[SilliamWhale]

We will see more restrictions on soil management if we want to continue taking the taxpayer's schilling. We've lost a generation of soil scientists. How many of the old guard ADAS/Silsoe soil specialists are there left who haven't retired and not been replaced? Philip Wright, Dick Godwin and Anna Becvar are the only regular ones I can think of.

Is phillip Wright a soil scientist?