This thread will consist of questions asked during our webinars! Please do get involved and answer any questions you believe you have the answer to. We also encourage you to ask any questions of your own and get involved that way 
Webinar Discussions
- Thread starter skye @ bofin
- Start date
14/02/24 The TRUTH Launch Webinar!
An incredibly insightful webinar with speakers from University of Nottingham, John Innes Centre and PES Technologies looking newly launched TRUTH project! Join the soil circle to get involved and stay updated along our journey to improve farm productivity and mitigate climate change.
Let us know your thoughts down below in response to questions. If you would like to watch a recording or find out the key points from the webinar, comment below and we can send you a link!
Webinar Q&A
- Will farmers in the project have access to the PES tool?
Yes, farmers will be able to test the tool later this year with demonstrations and once we have trained the sensors on the new characteristics, then farmers will get some units to trial those new capabilities so we can thoroughly field-test the new soil characteristics.
- Presumably timing will be dictated to by growth stage?
Timing will be indeed linked to growth stage and fertilizer application.
- Is the soil tester able to differentiate between fungi, bacteria, nematode, etc when measuring microbe biomass?
Not yet, currently only microbial biomass. This is where the Truth project comes in: with the soil sampling from the Truth project, we will develop fungal:bacterial ratio.
- Will there need to be any standardisation across all of the farmer samples, i.e. nitrogen application, wheat variety, timing of sampling?
We will aim to implement as much standardization as possible, especially across year 2 and 3.
Some key points from Dr. Craig Sturrock (UoN):
Using the plastic cores are a limitation for harder or stony soils. Although our field at Nottingham is a loamy sand and relatively soft when moisture is high, it is stoney so sometime can be difficult. We'll be advising to sample when soil has a good moisture level - a day or two after rainfall.
Core diameter likely to be 7-8cm diameter x 15 cm depth.
Year 1 of the project will be used to test and validate the methods. If they are not suitable we can optimise for subsequent years. Great to get your feed back on suggestions to improve.
An incredibly insightful webinar with speakers from University of Nottingham, John Innes Centre and PES Technologies looking newly launched TRUTH project! Join the soil circle to get involved and stay updated along our journey to improve farm productivity and mitigate climate change.
Let us know your thoughts down below in response to questions. If you would like to watch a recording or find out the key points from the webinar, comment below and we can send you a link!
Webinar Q&A
- Will farmers in the project have access to the PES tool?
Yes, farmers will be able to test the tool later this year with demonstrations and once we have trained the sensors on the new characteristics, then farmers will get some units to trial those new capabilities so we can thoroughly field-test the new soil characteristics.
- Presumably timing will be dictated to by growth stage?
Timing will be indeed linked to growth stage and fertilizer application.
- Is the soil tester able to differentiate between fungi, bacteria, nematode, etc when measuring microbe biomass?
Not yet, currently only microbial biomass. This is where the Truth project comes in: with the soil sampling from the Truth project, we will develop fungal:bacterial ratio.
- Will there need to be any standardisation across all of the farmer samples, i.e. nitrogen application, wheat variety, timing of sampling?
We will aim to implement as much standardization as possible, especially across year 2 and 3.
Some key points from Dr. Craig Sturrock (UoN):
Using the plastic cores are a limitation for harder or stony soils. Although our field at Nottingham is a loamy sand and relatively soft when moisture is high, it is stoney so sometime can be difficult. We'll be advising to sample when soil has a good moisture level - a day or two after rainfall.
Core diameter likely to be 7-8cm diameter x 15 cm depth.
Year 1 of the project will be used to test and validate the methods. If they are not suitable we can optimise for subsequent years. Great to get your feed back on suggestions to improve.