Some lumbricus channels.

Richard III

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
CW5 Cheshire
There was a bit of emergency drainage work required today, this is what the digger found. The hole is just about 5 foot deep and the worm channels seemed to go to about that depth. There is a very average cover crop on the field at the moment, only really wheat volunteers and a bit of vetch left, the black oats have been frost killed recently.

IMG_3812.JPG


Feed the worms and let them do the work. (y)
 
There was a bit of emergency drainage work required today, this is what the digger found. The hole is just about 5 foot deep and the worm channels seemed to go to about that depth. There is a very average cover crop on the field at the moment, only really wheat volunteers and a bit of vetch left, the black oats have been frost killed recently.

View attachment 274838

Feed the worms and let them do the work. (y)
Hello Richard
Nice to see that you have that large population of worms in your soil.
I have talked to a scientist here that explained that soil without any worms loose yield, and that high amounts of worms in trials raised the yield 25%!
Here is a picture from one of my fields in 1-1,5 m showing clearly that they also sequester carbon in the deep light soil.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_5952.jpg
    IMG_5952.jpg
    373.2 KB · Views: 90

Richard III

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
CW5 Cheshire
Hello Richard
Nice to see that you have that large population of worms in your soil.
I have talked to a scientist here that explained that soil without any worms loose yield, and that high amounts of worms in trials raised the yield 25%!
Here is a picture from one of my fields in 1-1,5 m showing clearly that they also sequester carbon in the deep light soil.

Hi Soren,

I hope your scientist is right about how much worms can increase yields, and it looks like your worms are doing a great job for you too. :)

This soil is also light, what we call a running sand round here, it is a mix of fine sand and silt. It is very unstable and needs regular subsoiling under cultivation, I am delighted by how it is now performing under No Till.

I have also seen some burrows full of organic matter like the ones in your picture, I presume this is what happens to a burrow that has been there some time. The picture below is a bit poor, but shows what I think is an old burrow on the left, filling with organic matter and a new burrow on the right, full of fresh roots. This field has had 6 No Till crops now, and surely this effect should just keep on building for however many years the field is in No Till, as you say sequestering carbon and boosting soil fertility too.

Lum1.jpg
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 80 42.3%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 66 34.9%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 15.9%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,293
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
Top