Written by Tom Allen-Stevens from CPM Magazine
Download PDF The challenge for a North Norfolk estate is to retain productivity from its root crops while securing its long-term future in the face of climate change. CPM visits to explore progress. Productive agriculture has to have a key role in sustainable farming systems in this part of the world. By Tom Allen-Stevens At first sight it seems not much has changed for the potato enterprise at The Wicken in North Norfolk. A destoner is slowly making its way towards the end of the field, while the planter has just turned on the headland. Farm manager Toby Hogsbjerg takes a spade to the freshly worked soil, and truth be told, there’s not a lot of evidence of the cover crops that have held it together for the preceding few months. “Potatoes are probably the most important crop for this estate. The challenge for us is to grow them in a way that produces a quality crop, but looks after its long-term future,” he says. With a soil type that varies from blowing sand to sandy clay loam over chalk, potatoes, along with sugar beet and onions, drive the productivity of the 980ha arable estate near Swaffham. But a changing…
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Download PDF The challenge for a North Norfolk estate is to retain productivity from its root crops while securing its long-term future in the face of climate change. CPM visits to explore progress. Productive agriculture has to have a key role in sustainable farming systems in this part of the world. By Tom Allen-Stevens At first sight it seems not much has changed for the potato enterprise at The Wicken in North Norfolk. A destoner is slowly making its way towards the end of the field, while the planter has just turned on the headland. Farm manager Toby Hogsbjerg takes a spade to the freshly worked soil, and truth be told, there’s not a lot of evidence of the cover crops that have held it together for the preceding few months. “Potatoes are probably the most important crop for this estate. The challenge for us is to grow them in a way that produces a quality crop, but looks after its long-term future,” he says. With a soil type that varies from blowing sand to sandy clay loam over chalk, potatoes, along with sugar beet and onions, drive the productivity of the 980ha arable estate near Swaffham. But a changing…
The post Climate Change Champions – Brought into balance appeared first on cpm magazine.
Continue reading on CPM website...
If you are enjoying what you read then why not considering subscribing here: http://www.cpm-magazine.co.uk/subscribe/