Once again I am delighted to be involved with the production of this issue, Direct Driller #12. These pages are filled with facts and figures that have the power to direct arable farmers towards more profitable and long term goals which will stand the test of time. They very much fulfil the original purpose of …
For years it was Gatekeeper – much maligned, but we were stuck with it. But in the last few years things have changed and we now live in a very congested software world. Each year more software from round the world comes to market. Here are just a few of the entrants over the last …
FOBBING FARM As based on information found on Agricology (www.agricology.co.uk) “My main goals in farming are two-fold: farming with nature as much as I possibly can, and achieving as diverse a range of nutritional diversity on the farm as possible” The Farm: Fobbing Farm is a 1,200 acre (485 hectare) zero tillage and zero insecticide …
Permanent soil cover! One of the three pillars of conservation agriculture and rightly so. There are numerous benefits to soil health and crop production that stem from this foundational soil protective principle. However, in recent years there has been an expanding body of research into soil ecology and soil organic matter [SOM] formation and this …
Written by William Waterfield from The Farm Consultancy Group Open just about any agricultural journal and one is bombarded by stories about regenerative agriculture but why all this interest? The confusion surrounding the subject is compounded by terms such as holistic management circular systems, closed production cycles, conservation agriculture, agroecological systems, enterprise stacking, agroforestry, mob …
Regenerative Agriculture Another Passing Fad Or A System Fit For The Future? Read More »
Written by Jenni Dungait Soil health and flood management: New research1 led by Soil Health Expert Prof Jenni Dungait and scientists in the UK and the USA shows clear links between the last time a field was tilled, the amount of carbon in the soil, and the potential for soil to slake when wet. In …
Effect Of Farm Management On Topsoil Organic Carbon And Aggregate Stability In Water Read More »
As I sit down to write my latest article, I’m reminded that 8 years ago today I was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship. I was selected as part of the #Nuffield13 year group to study “The long-term benefits of no-till farming”. I remember walking onto the stage at the Nuffield conference to be presented with my …
Written by Neil Douglas Fuller of the Atlas Sustainable Soil Programme Soil health is a product of interactions between plant roots and the living fraction of the soil, operating within the constraints of the physical, chemical and climatic parameters of the soil environment. In part, soil health is determined by the inherent, effectively fixed, properties …
AUTUMN DRILLING GOES TO PLAN ON THE CLAYDON FARM DESPITE THE WETTEST OCTOBER ON RECORD As part of his series detailing the farming year on E. T. Claydon & Sons’ arable enterprise in Suffolk, Jeff Claydon, who invented the Opti-Till® direct strip seeding system, talks about establishing winter crops during the very challenging autumn and …
Written by Franciska T. de Vries and Richard D. Bardget There is much evidence that climate change significantly impacts the abundance, diversity and activity of soil biota, but few consistent effects are reported in the literature, and effects vary strongly depending on environmental context. – Elevated atmospheric CO2 increases microbial biomass and the abundance of …
