There's probably little ground vegetation under those Sycamore canopies though to hold the soil together and the cows spend easy too many days standing in the same spot because it's set stocked. It could be so different.
the deep humus/OM extends several meters into the grassland from the trees, and a lot of the places I'm thinking of would be unstocked for months on end, with stock out on the common. but the minute you set a foot on em come autumn, it's poached.
Each to there own but I think it’s you that’s deluded, we have been sold a pup by the agricultural support industry to keep their pockets full and ours empty. Wind back a bit, cut your inputs like feet, seed, sprays, feed, machinery, fuel etc etc and it’s surprising how much it adds up to. If you then get closer to your market and cut out a few of the middle men the output income increases as well. Throw in Gov funding and it’s a win win, you may not have a lot of bragging rights or the biggest tractor in the parish but your land will be in a better hod and your bank balance also
I'm happy to be shown where/how we can continually capture soil carbon without it becoming too fragile to use- and even then, how'd do stop the wildlife bringing it up. Everywhere I look, there's a ceiling- unless its waterlogged.
You know very well that I'm right at the opposite end of the 'spend to farm culture @Old Tip, never reseed, hardly use fert, see reps off with bitey dogs, and happy to puddle about the slow lane.......and my bank balance already reflects this.
But it matters to me that we base our assumptions, and lobby, on what is realistic.