SilliamWhale
Member
Keep it going Andy. Very interesting topic.
My Nuffield Scholarship Blog
- Thread starter Andy Howard
- Start date
- Location
- Essex Coast
James
I think I am a little way down this route of low cost farming. No cultivations, no P, K or lime, seed of the heap with no dressings; all while maintaining average yields. The next challenge is to reduce artificial N, which is where these companion crops are going help. We know that diseases are driven by high levels of Nitrate nitrogen, so along with variety blends, we should be able to reduce fungicide usage. Weeds or all types love soluble nitrogen, so they should also be less aggressive, thereby reducing herbicide usage. Herbicides tie up nutrients in our crops, thereby making them more attractive to insects, so there's potential to reduce insecticides. To get all this to work properly, I think we need to build the soil biology, and get it to the correct bacteria/ fungi ratio, which of course is much easier without the high chemical inputs. The other thing is that modern wheat varieties have been bred for use only in high input systems so there is no way they are going to work in this more natural environment. I can see that in the next few years I may give up wheat altogether and grow triticale, oats, rye, etc which which have not been so intensively bred.
Feldspar
Member
- Location
- Essex, Cambs and Suffolk
And do you have an order in which to approach this end goal? I.e. do you go to reducing cultivations to no-till, then start widening the rotation, and only then start bringing down the fungicide use?
Also, do you think that this system is more or less resilient (i.e. less volatile) than a higher input and output system both in terms of yield and profit?
- Location
- Ashford, Kent
Latest post:
Andy Howard's Nuffield Scholarship Journey
learning about companion cropping and intercropping worldwide, sponsored by the HGCA (The Postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent Nuffield positions, strategies or opinions)
Dr Joelle Fustec, Angers, France – 5th May 2015
May 10, 2015May 10, 2015Andy Howard
So on Tuesday I had organised to spend the whole day with Dr Joelle Fustec at the Ecole Superieure d’Agriculture (ESA) in Angers. The ESA is an agricultural college of about 4000 students. Dr Fustec is the leader of a small team who are /have been researching Nitrogen transfer in Intercrops. I had been recommended Dr Fustec by a few people as she had recently produced results that showed legumes do not transfer significant amounts of Nitrogen to fellow companion crops. A fact that I found very intriguing so I wanted to get some more information.
When I first arrived we went to the greenhouse on the roof to look at current experiments. There were a large number of pots containing clover and wheat of different shades of green.
The idea of the experiments was to test the effect of soil microbiology on plant health and nutrient transfer. There was two gradients they were testing. The effects of earth worms and the effects of soil microbiology. So to test this factor they had sterilised the soil in some of the pots.
In the picture above one pot had been sterilised and the other was natural soil. Which was is which? Answers and explanations please. It has meant the experiment has not gone to plan!
Also they are also looking into Lupin phenotypes that will work best as intercrops, above and below ground:
Then after lunch we spent a couple of hours in Dr Fustec’s office talking about her experiments. Below are a few highlights:
This root plasticity is why beans are such a good companion. The early rooting growth (first 30 days) are the most important that the plants are not competing, after that is not so important.
We also discussed cereal/legume intercropping an gave me some interesting info:
In their team they are also developing a simple test for measuring soil biological activity and a phone app for testing sulphur content in OSR
In the afternoon we went to an Organic Experimental farm with Dr Guenaelle Corre Hellou to look at their intercropping trials:
Below is a cereal with vetch and peas. for forage.
Rye and Vetch (and buttercups!)
Wheat and beans;
They are also doing trial with Triticale and Lupins and Triticale and beans. The idea is that the triticale suck up soil N which reduces weed growth but you get the same legume yield.
Overall it was a fascinating day, full of information and lots to think about. I hope that we can get a similar team in the UK researching intercropping in our conditions. Many thanks must go to Joelle and her team for giving up all this time to show me around and also had time for a drive around Anger’s Old Town.
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Jacques Charlot, Mers, Indre, France - 4th of May 2015In "France"
3rd of May - The journey to IssoudunIn "France"
11th February 2015, BASE UK AGM, Stoneleigh ParkIn "BASE UK"
France, Oilseed Rape Companion crops#andyhoward, #companioncropping, #farmerandyh, #intercropping, #nuffield15Edit
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Andy Howard's Nuffield Scholarship Journey
learning about companion cropping and intercropping worldwide, sponsored by the HGCA (The Postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent Nuffield positions, strategies or opinions)
Dr Joelle Fustec, Angers, France – 5th May 2015
May 10, 2015May 10, 2015Andy Howard
So on Tuesday I had organised to spend the whole day with Dr Joelle Fustec at the Ecole Superieure d’Agriculture (ESA) in Angers. The ESA is an agricultural college of about 4000 students. Dr Fustec is the leader of a small team who are /have been researching Nitrogen transfer in Intercrops. I had been recommended Dr Fustec by a few people as she had recently produced results that showed legumes do not transfer significant amounts of Nitrogen to fellow companion crops. A fact that I found very intriguing so I wanted to get some more information.
When I first arrived we went to the greenhouse on the roof to look at current experiments. There were a large number of pots containing clover and wheat of different shades of green.
The idea of the experiments was to test the effect of soil microbiology on plant health and nutrient transfer. There was two gradients they were testing. The effects of earth worms and the effects of soil microbiology. So to test this factor they had sterilised the soil in some of the pots.
In the picture above one pot had been sterilised and the other was natural soil. Which was is which? Answers and explanations please. It has meant the experiment has not gone to plan!
Also they are also looking into Lupin phenotypes that will work best as intercrops, above and below ground:
Then after lunch we spent a couple of hours in Dr Fustec’s office talking about her experiments. Below are a few highlights:
- when growing rape and beans together there is no difference in dry weight compared to sole crops until after 85 days after sowing when the Intercrops are dramatically better
- the amount of Nitrogen transferred from OSR to the beans is the same as from beans to OSR
- there is 30% higher N accumulation in OSR in an intercrop
- intercropping forces the legume to rely on atmospheric N
- OSR and bean roots occupy different parts of the soil early in the season
- N transfer does hardly happen in a annual crop but does in a perennial as it takes the legumes 6 months or more to establish
- beans that are intercropped change their rooting habits and adapt to intercropping. This is shown below. This is a tracing of root growth of beans and OSR in an intercrop over time (beans on the bottom. As you can see the shallow roots of the beans have formed in a more dense area, different in a sole crop.
This root plasticity is why beans are such a good companion. The early rooting growth (first 30 days) are the most important that the plants are not competing, after that is not so important.
We also discussed cereal/legume intercropping an gave me some interesting info:
- a little bit of N at the start is important (50kg/N/ha) as it helps establishment and fixes carbon which helps nodulation. (positive feedback)
- when wheat is in a sole crop it benefits from earthworms but not in an intercrop with peas
- wheat/pea intercrop gives a 2% increase in wheat protein
- there can be more pea/bean weevil in an intercrop due to lower legume plant population
- in a wheat/pea intercrop earthworms prefer to be near the pea roots not the wheat.
In their team they are also developing a simple test for measuring soil biological activity and a phone app for testing sulphur content in OSR
In the afternoon we went to an Organic Experimental farm with Dr Guenaelle Corre Hellou to look at their intercropping trials:
Below is a cereal with vetch and peas. for forage.
Rye and Vetch (and buttercups!)
Wheat and beans;
They are also doing trial with Triticale and Lupins and Triticale and beans. The idea is that the triticale suck up soil N which reduces weed growth but you get the same legume yield.
Overall it was a fascinating day, full of information and lots to think about. I hope that we can get a similar team in the UK researching intercropping in our conditions. Many thanks must go to Joelle and her team for giving up all this time to show me around and also had time for a drive around Anger’s Old Town.
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Jacques Charlot, Mers, Indre, France - 4th of May 2015In "France"
3rd of May - The journey to IssoudunIn "France"
11th February 2015, BASE UK AGM, Stoneleigh ParkIn "BASE UK"
France, Oilseed Rape Companion crops#andyhoward, #companioncropping, #farmerandyh, #intercropping, #nuffield15Edit
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dontknowanything
Member
- Location
- Cambridge
Great!
Really interesting.
When you say 2% increase in wheat protein, do you mean 10% to 12%, or 10% to 10.02%?
Really interesting.
When you say 2% increase in wheat protein, do you mean 10% to 12%, or 10% to 10.02%?
- Location
- Ashford, Kent
10 to 12% but remember this has to be taken in context. Eg it is in France and some results from organic. We need trials here in conventional to see the effects for us.
- Location
- Ashford, Kent
Latest post:
Andy Howard's Nuffield Scholarship Journey
learning about companion cropping and intercropping worldwide, sponsored by the HGCA (The Postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent Nuffield positions, strategies or opinions)
Frederic Thomas – 6th May 2015
May 12, 2015May 11, 2015
So I was lucky to visit Frederic’s farm again only 6 months after being there with BASE UK. For those of you who has not heard of Frederic, he is a farmer in the Sologne, the founder of BASE France, he has a magazine TCS and spends a lot of time training and talking about conservation agriculture. A very knowledgeable and busy man.
To give a bit of history of the area, the Sologne was a forested, mosquito infested swamp. Where the only people who lived there were criminals and rebels. This is why the King decided to build the Chateau Chambord as his hunting lodge as he did not have to force anyone off the land to do it, as no one was there or cared. So this means that the farming is difficult and wet! Frederic, I think he said, is a 5th generation farmer but was not sure of his family history before that, I suggested they were rebels and he laughed. Frederic has been practicing no till for about 20 years on his farm and has transformed his soils. Below is a picture of the soil below a crop of wheat a couple of days after 100ml of rain, looks dry!
Next we walked to a field of winter barley. This crop has had 150 kg/N/ha early, no PGR and no spring herbicide.
There is also a strip in this field that has had nettle extract instead of a fungicide as a trial. Frederic reckons that the less fungicide you use the quicker the straw breaks down. This is because the fungicide kills the straw decomposing fungi and could also lead to more slugs as there is more food left for them. He also saw better cover crop establishment behind the nettle tea. After harvest he will grow OSR with buckwheat.
Below is Frederic, a proud farmer:
Where Frederic is growing Triticale after harvest he will plant buckwheat with Crimson Clover. Harvest the Buckwheat in the autumn and the clover in the spring and then plant linseed. 4 crops in two years! He is also going to grow buckwheat and soya beans.
We then went to see his corn which was just through:
This corn was planted after a cover of vetch and cereals. Below is his neighbours corn which is not through and a little sad after 100ml of rain:
We also saw some corn planted into grazed clover:
He has found that where the clover was grazed early it has come through the winter well but when grazed in March is has suffered. He has also seen less slugs where the clover was grazed.
Next we went to see Frederic’s OSR:
This field was planted as a cover crop of cheap OSR seed and buckwheat. Only had a graminicide in the autumn. When he knew it was going to be a crop, it had kerb herbicide and 150kg/N/ha. Nothing else, a very cheap crop. Something to aspire to!
Another thing Frederic talked about was herbicides damaging crops. I heard this a lot in France and I am seeing the evidence on our farm. we really need to reduce their use and use rotations better for weed control as I think they are costing us a lot of money in yield.
Again another interesting visit to Frederic’s farm. I always enjoy my time with him. He is so knowledgeable and generous with his time. After my visit I had a short 400 mile drive home which went smoothly and I am now back in little Olde England
France, Frederic Thomas, Oilseed Rape Companion crops
Andy Howard's Nuffield Scholarship Journey
learning about companion cropping and intercropping worldwide, sponsored by the HGCA (The Postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent Nuffield positions, strategies or opinions)
Frederic Thomas – 6th May 2015
May 12, 2015May 11, 2015
So I was lucky to visit Frederic’s farm again only 6 months after being there with BASE UK. For those of you who has not heard of Frederic, he is a farmer in the Sologne, the founder of BASE France, he has a magazine TCS and spends a lot of time training and talking about conservation agriculture. A very knowledgeable and busy man.
To give a bit of history of the area, the Sologne was a forested, mosquito infested swamp. Where the only people who lived there were criminals and rebels. This is why the King decided to build the Chateau Chambord as his hunting lodge as he did not have to force anyone off the land to do it, as no one was there or cared. So this means that the farming is difficult and wet! Frederic, I think he said, is a 5th generation farmer but was not sure of his family history before that, I suggested they were rebels and he laughed. Frederic has been practicing no till for about 20 years on his farm and has transformed his soils. Below is a picture of the soil below a crop of wheat a couple of days after 100ml of rain, looks dry!
Next we walked to a field of winter barley. This crop has had 150 kg/N/ha early, no PGR and no spring herbicide.
There is also a strip in this field that has had nettle extract instead of a fungicide as a trial. Frederic reckons that the less fungicide you use the quicker the straw breaks down. This is because the fungicide kills the straw decomposing fungi and could also lead to more slugs as there is more food left for them. He also saw better cover crop establishment behind the nettle tea. After harvest he will grow OSR with buckwheat.
Below is Frederic, a proud farmer:
Where Frederic is growing Triticale after harvest he will plant buckwheat with Crimson Clover. Harvest the Buckwheat in the autumn and the clover in the spring and then plant linseed. 4 crops in two years! He is also going to grow buckwheat and soya beans.
We then went to see his corn which was just through:
This corn was planted after a cover of vetch and cereals. Below is his neighbours corn which is not through and a little sad after 100ml of rain:
We also saw some corn planted into grazed clover:
He has found that where the clover was grazed early it has come through the winter well but when grazed in March is has suffered. He has also seen less slugs where the clover was grazed.
Next we went to see Frederic’s OSR:
This field was planted as a cover crop of cheap OSR seed and buckwheat. Only had a graminicide in the autumn. When he knew it was going to be a crop, it had kerb herbicide and 150kg/N/ha. Nothing else, a very cheap crop. Something to aspire to!
Another thing Frederic talked about was herbicides damaging crops. I heard this a lot in France and I am seeing the evidence on our farm. we really need to reduce their use and use rotations better for weed control as I think they are costing us a lot of money in yield.
Again another interesting visit to Frederic’s farm. I always enjoy my time with him. He is so knowledgeable and generous with his time. After my visit I had a short 400 mile drive home which went smoothly and I am now back in little Olde England
France, Frederic Thomas, Oilseed Rape Companion crops
- Location
- Ashford, Kent
Simon Chiles No Till Day – 3rd June 2015
June 4, 2015June 4, 2015Andy HowardLeave a comment
Simon Chiles is as farmer who farms on the Kent/Surrey border. He has been no-till cropping for I think 15 years and knows more about the John Deere 750a drill than anyone else in the UK, a lot more than John Deere do! It was Simon who was kind enough to show me around his farm about five years ago and educate me how to use the drill successfully, without his help I would have made a lot more mistakes than I have.
Simon decided he would open his farm for the day and show people around and tell us what he is up to. You will see below that Simon is not afraid for try something new and different!
The first field we went to was a seed crop of Winter Triticale that was drilled this spring. Triticale is a crop I am interested in growing. It needs half the Nitrogen that wheat does and rarely needs a fungicide but yields the same. The problem is the market is difficult to find. That will have to change.Half this field had also had been treated with Mychorriza fungi from Plantworks to see if there is any benefit.
The second field was a seed crop of vetch which is growing with mustard. The idea of the mustard is to act as a climbing frame for the vetches so they are off the ground at harvest.
The field next door is a field of Soya. It had a high weed population but there are plenty of chemicals to take out the weeds. There is a population of 60 seed per meter square which is ideal. The idea is for the UK to grow some home grown soya to replace imported products:
Then we were driven to a seed crop of Phacelia which is being grown for T Denne and Son. The crop had been hit by a late frost but hopefully with some June sunshine will pick up
Then we were driven to a field of where Simon was growing a four way mix of different group 4 wheat. The idea is to improve disease resistance and quality by mixing varieties and get genetic diversity:
The last crop we saw was a field of seed Lupins. These looked very well and I am tempted to grow some myself. A bit research needed first:
As you can see Simon does not do things conventionally and my hat goes off to him for trying all these different ideas. I am always keen to try something different but Simon seems to take it to another level. It was a great day and as ever good to chat to other like minded farmers, I think about 120.
After Simons, myself and Josef Appell a Swedish No Till farmer went back to my farm via Andy Barr’s machinery shed to have a look around my farm. The biggest surprise for me was when we dug a hole in my OSR field that was companion cropped we found all this soil life
I had a great evening chatting to Josef about farming and look forward to visiting Sweden next year.
My next post will be in just over a weeks time when I leave for North America for a month. A lot to blog about hopefully!
June 4, 2015June 4, 2015Andy HowardLeave a comment
Simon Chiles is as farmer who farms on the Kent/Surrey border. He has been no-till cropping for I think 15 years and knows more about the John Deere 750a drill than anyone else in the UK, a lot more than John Deere do! It was Simon who was kind enough to show me around his farm about five years ago and educate me how to use the drill successfully, without his help I would have made a lot more mistakes than I have.
Simon decided he would open his farm for the day and show people around and tell us what he is up to. You will see below that Simon is not afraid for try something new and different!
The first field we went to was a seed crop of Winter Triticale that was drilled this spring. Triticale is a crop I am interested in growing. It needs half the Nitrogen that wheat does and rarely needs a fungicide but yields the same. The problem is the market is difficult to find. That will have to change.Half this field had also had been treated with Mychorriza fungi from Plantworks to see if there is any benefit.
The second field was a seed crop of vetch which is growing with mustard. The idea of the mustard is to act as a climbing frame for the vetches so they are off the ground at harvest.
The field next door is a field of Soya. It had a high weed population but there are plenty of chemicals to take out the weeds. There is a population of 60 seed per meter square which is ideal. The idea is for the UK to grow some home grown soya to replace imported products:
Then we were driven to a seed crop of Phacelia which is being grown for T Denne and Son. The crop had been hit by a late frost but hopefully with some June sunshine will pick up
Then we were driven to a field of where Simon was growing a four way mix of different group 4 wheat. The idea is to improve disease resistance and quality by mixing varieties and get genetic diversity:
The last crop we saw was a field of seed Lupins. These looked very well and I am tempted to grow some myself. A bit research needed first:
As you can see Simon does not do things conventionally and my hat goes off to him for trying all these different ideas. I am always keen to try something different but Simon seems to take it to another level. It was a great day and as ever good to chat to other like minded farmers, I think about 120.
After Simons, myself and Josef Appell a Swedish No Till farmer went back to my farm via Andy Barr’s machinery shed to have a look around my farm. The biggest surprise for me was when we dug a hole in my OSR field that was companion cropped we found all this soil life
I had a great evening chatting to Josef about farming and look forward to visiting Sweden next year.
My next post will be in just over a weeks time when I leave for North America for a month. A lot to blog about hopefully!
- Location
- Ashford, Kent
- Location
- Ashford, Kent
- Location
- Ashford, Kent
- Location
- Ashford, Kent
- Location
- Ashford, Kent
Visit to the Zimmers
https://andyhowardnuffield15.wordpr...and-midwestern-bioag-avoca-wi-18th-june-2015/
https://andyhowardnuffield15.wordpr...and-midwestern-bioag-avoca-wi-18th-june-2015/
- Location
- Ashford, Kent
- Location
- Ashford, Kent
- Location
- Ashford, Kent
- Location
- Ashford, Kent
- Location
- Ashford, Kent
- Location
- Ashford, Kent
- Location
- Ashford, Kent