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<blockquote data-quote="slackjawedyokel" data-source="post: 7989670" data-attributes="member: 34254"><p>Mr or Mrs (or Miss etc) [USER=167023]@Speckle[/USER] … Apologies; I don’t have actual research data to put in front of you.</p><p>I farm ~450 acres in the far North East of England. I did a higher degree related to agriculture ~20 years ago (I doubt the science has changed too much since) and the take-home message time and time again from that course was that on agricultural land grass is by far the best thing to have on your soil. This is because grass is great at increasing SOil Organic Matter (carbon), reduces compaction, improves water infiltration through the soil, reduces runoff while pasture can also be a diverse habitat, playing host to numerous species (on the surface and below). </p><p>Apart from grass for my animals (cattle and sheep), I also grow some crops (approx 100ac/yr of barley and oats). I use a longish (7yr) rotation of 5yrs grass then oats then barley. On my land I judge that the proportion of grass is sufficient in the rotation to provide ‘fertility’ (for want of a better word) for the crops I grow. In my rotation the grass is the ‘regenerative’ phase and the cropping is the ‘exploitative’ phase.</p><p>Personally I would never want to grow commercial root crops in this land. I understand it requires fairly deep tilling of the land which can be very detrimental to soil structure and as there is a lot of land bare for a long time there is a high chance of heavy rain falling on the soil surface destroying the surface structure and causing runoff pollution of waterways.</p><p>My crops I attempt to sow at times where bare soil is kept to a minimum. Also I leave all of the crop stubbles over winter as that can be beneficial for wildlife. (Other folks will sow crops with reduced soil disturbance than I do; I’m not an expert on that style of farming).</p><p>The vast, vast majority of what my animals eat is grass from my farm. They also eat a small amount of the cereal crops that I grow. The main feed that I import onto the farm is a few tonnes of locally grown field-beans- these are to provide my sheep with a bit of extra protein before and around lambing time. The only other feeds I bring in are minerals to prevent imbalances occurring at particular times of year (calcium for sheep at lambing, magnesium for grazing cows).</p><p>I haven’t fed any soya for over 20 years, but I’m not having a pop at farmers who do as I understand that virtually all of the soya that goes into feed here is s by- product of human uses (principally food and cosmetics uses).</p><p></p><p>This is just my experience working with the soil on my farm in my particular climate. It may be very different for other farmers and as I say I wouldn’t seek to put other farmers down: with farming there is rarely one-size-fits-all.</p><p></p><p>If you come from a non-farming background, I hope that gives you a little more perspective.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="slackjawedyokel, post: 7989670, member: 34254"] Mr or Mrs (or Miss etc) [USER=167023]@Speckle[/USER] … Apologies; I don’t have actual research data to put in front of you. I farm ~450 acres in the far North East of England. I did a higher degree related to agriculture ~20 years ago (I doubt the science has changed too much since) and the take-home message time and time again from that course was that on agricultural land grass is by far the best thing to have on your soil. This is because grass is great at increasing SOil Organic Matter (carbon), reduces compaction, improves water infiltration through the soil, reduces runoff while pasture can also be a diverse habitat, playing host to numerous species (on the surface and below). Apart from grass for my animals (cattle and sheep), I also grow some crops (approx 100ac/yr of barley and oats). I use a longish (7yr) rotation of 5yrs grass then oats then barley. On my land I judge that the proportion of grass is sufficient in the rotation to provide ‘fertility’ (for want of a better word) for the crops I grow. In my rotation the grass is the ‘regenerative’ phase and the cropping is the ‘exploitative’ phase. Personally I would never want to grow commercial root crops in this land. I understand it requires fairly deep tilling of the land which can be very detrimental to soil structure and as there is a lot of land bare for a long time there is a high chance of heavy rain falling on the soil surface destroying the surface structure and causing runoff pollution of waterways. My crops I attempt to sow at times where bare soil is kept to a minimum. Also I leave all of the crop stubbles over winter as that can be beneficial for wildlife. (Other folks will sow crops with reduced soil disturbance than I do; I’m not an expert on that style of farming). The vast, vast majority of what my animals eat is grass from my farm. They also eat a small amount of the cereal crops that I grow. The main feed that I import onto the farm is a few tonnes of locally grown field-beans- these are to provide my sheep with a bit of extra protein before and around lambing time. The only other feeds I bring in are minerals to prevent imbalances occurring at particular times of year (calcium for sheep at lambing, magnesium for grazing cows). I haven’t fed any soya for over 20 years, but I’m not having a pop at farmers who do as I understand that virtually all of the soya that goes into feed here is s by- product of human uses (principally food and cosmetics uses). This is just my experience working with the soil on my farm in my particular climate. It may be very different for other farmers and as I say I wouldn’t seek to put other farmers down: with farming there is rarely one-size-fits-all. If you come from a non-farming background, I hope that gives you a little more perspective. [/QUOTE]
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