Crimper Conundrum

There is so much public awareness of the perceived issues with Glyphostate at the moment even though 3300 studies have shown it to be a very benign chemical when used correctly in the field.  With any potential restriction on its use being enforced on us I wanted to have a look at an alternative method of killing a cover crop before we plant our harvestable, or cash crop, into the field.  To me a cover crop can only enhance the soil and the wider environment.  It shields the soil from rain, reducing runoff and erosion; it feeds the soil biology with carbohydrates and encourages the development of below ground microbial populations; provides winter feed for our sheep; increases soil organic matter to hold more nutrients and water-its a no brainier for the farm and the wider environment.

Black Oat and Vetch Covercrop

Without glyphosate the termination, or killing, of these crops could prove to be very tricky in our maritime climate.  The cover crop can grow rather large and I don't want to have endless passes with toppers or cultivators to kill the cover crops.  Doing this is expensive, uses fossil fuel and releases CO2, cultivations mean even more CO2 released from the organic matter held in the soil, as it is exposed to oxygen, it means more tractors on the land, causing compaction where they drive which can lead to poorer water infiltration and therefore soil erosion.  So what's an alternative?

With a loan of a crimper roller from Cotswold Grass Seeds (thank you) we had a little play in a large cover crop of black oats, vetch, phacelia and berceem clover.

The idea of the crimper roller is to lay the plants down and squash the stems with metal blades in the hope that this bends or cuts the stems stopping nutrients getting up the stem into the top of the plants, end result being the killing of the cover crop, and any nests or wildlife that gets in the way-but we'll gloss over that for now!

Crimper Roller

We tried the crimper roller on the back of a tractor at first and drove in reverse to make the chevrons point in the right direction but ended up going in round in circles!  So we unhitched the weights from the front linkage of another tractor and set off across the field at 10kph, with the crimper on the front with a bit more success!  The roller weighed in at 620Kg for a 2m machine so about 310kg/m.

Crimped Covercrop 7 Days Post Crimping

I came back to the plot 7 days later to see if it had actually worked and I am sorry to say that it didn't. The oats seems to still be alive and the vetch, which I though would have been totally animated, were still just about hanging on.  The concern for me is we need to find something that works consistently every year and as every season if different.  We need to grow significant levels amounts of green matter and these need killing-somehow.

Maybe we used the wrong machine, maybe at the wrong time  for the plants growth stage,or at the wrong speed or it wasn't heavy enough?  Maybe we need to graze some of the covers down first to weaken then plants?  Maybe it just doesn't work in our climate where we don't always have a frost to follow up and finish off the wounded crop?  Who knows and more work needs to be done, but for now I am not impressed.

Reed Bed Catchup

Reed bed on water Coarse

It was November 2011 when we dug out the reed bed and silt trap at the far end of the farm to try and intercept the ditch water and improve the quality of the outfall into the Carrant Brook.  The silt trap was used to slow down the water and allow the heavier particles (of silt) to drop out of the water.  The water then carried on through the reed bed in a shallow wide spread to allow the roots of the reeds to take nutrients, nitrate and phosphate, are he main two form the water and capture those nutrients in the form of plant material.

After quite a slow start the reed bed has really taken off providing a great habitat for bird species like reed buntings as well as a more general habitat improvement next to the hedge and copiced willows. We have just started a water sampling project with Gloucestershire University, so it will be really interesting to see what effect a very small investment in time and energy can have on the water leaving the farm.

Nuffield Trip Day 10 - 2 Exceptional Operators

Thursday the 5th of December and Tom and I first headed down around Ashburton to visit the first of two first class farmers operating Cross Slot drills.  First up was David Ward who has been using the Cross Slot System since 1995.  The farm is a silt farm over gravel/shingle with irrigation. The farm soils are only able to hold 80mm of stored water and when the heat comes on with North Westerly winds and hot temperatures evapo-transpiration can be as high as 8mm/day, so the irrigators need to get around the farm once a week.  David farms about 950 acres, with help from three employees, growing rye grass seed, clover seed, oilseed rape (hybrid - seed), vining peas, radish seed, spring barley, winter wheat and spring wheat.  The farm also carries and finishes 20,000 fat lambs through the winter on ryegrass and oat based cover crops and also takes weaned deer through to market weights.  The production numbers were staggering, with yields around 12T/ha of winter wheat and 11t/ha of spring barley.  I was starting to ask myself why bother with winter crops when lambs can be fattened off cover/grass crops adding to the margin/ha of a short season crop?  Might this work well in a black grass situation?  I need to think outside the conventional box when I get home!

The soil we dug up in every field was in fantastic condition, a sweet smell, lots of little worms and plenty of nodulation on the pea roots.  The crop; yes it was watered, looked stunning.  It had an even germination and was rocketing through the growth stages in the warm weather.  It was clean, even, and full of yield potential.  Still a long way to go!  We moved on to another draw dropping crop, this time of spring barley.  David put the potential yield at 11t/Ha and I would not doubt that.  The crop was planted after a winter break crop, direct drilled, and it has not looked back.  The leaves and stems were clean, disease free and stiff.  The heads were billiard table flat and not a weed in sight.

On the other side of the road we stopped to look at an organic farm that David has been asked to farm conventionally for  couple of years to 'sort it out'.  We dug some soil up which had recently been cultivated and left fallow ready to plant.  The tilth was very fine and had no structure.  If there was any kind of heavy rain event it would have slumped and capped, squeezing the air and the life out of the soil.  If the wind started blowing from the West, then a layer of topsoil would send up in the sea, through wind erosion.  I have to say it wasn't the best advert for organic farming.

The organic matter on David's soils have been increased from 2.8% 20 years ago to over 4% now.  This is helping store more valuable water in the soil, but it is not a particularly quick process and needs a mixed rotation and livestock putting some organic matter back into the soil.  The crop below is of hybrid oilseed rape seed production and will receive about 240mm of irrigation water through the growing season, which is staggering, but these farms are kitted out with high cost centre pivots or walking irrigators.  But the returns are worth the capital cost many times over with high value crops, good yields and good prices.  You have to ask how environmentally sustainable is this constant extraction of water from the underground aquifers? Can this practise continue at this pace for the next 10, 20 or 50 years?  The politicians are starting to look at extraction quantities, the environmental impact, and the potential election of the Green Party may force changes in production systems in the Canterbury area.  This could have an impact on UK seed supply as many of the varieties we grow are sourced from New Zealand seed stocks.  Less water use could see a reduction in output and therefore less seed and what seed will be produced could be exported to other countries or we'd end up pay more more for our seed.

After the flat land and soils,which reminded me of the silt soils of Lincolnshire only shallower and over shingle, we headed south of Timaru to St Andrews to meet Mike Porter.  Mike has a dry land farm, annually receiving only 22 inches of water just off the East coast in the rain shadow of the Western Mountains.  Mike harvests around 400 Ha on his farm and runs a flock of breeding ewes around on some permanent pasture.  Like many New Zealand farmers Mike stubbled during the late 1980'sduring the de-regulation, when subsidies were cut over night and the dollar was devalued by 20%, to make the country more export competitive.  This, coupled with interest rates of 20% and the worst drought in 40 years (88/89), broke many farmers and almost took out Mike as well.  Since then he has developed a great farming system revolving around the cross slot drill, reducing cost and also increasing return per hectare.  Don't forget it's all about profit per hectare rather than out and out yield!

Mike's farm reminded me of my time in Idaho with rolling hills and slopes of around 26%.  Mike farms feed wheat (8t/Ha) and barley (6,5T/Ha), oilseed (3.5T/Ha) and rye grass with a small area of vining peas seed (3T/Ha).  The system is very integrated with the lambs being fattened on ryegrass stubbles or green feed oats, through the winter and forage rape in the summer.  The crops are established by just spraying off the previous crop and direct drilling into the stubble or residue.  Mike does roll everything to reduce the threat from slugs and also uses, usually one, dose of slug pellets.  This is an interesting shot looking up a bank where the tractor has had a higher level of wheel slip, the forage rape seems to be more forward.  I think, and I'm not sure, that this is due to mineralisation of soil carbon due to soil movement under the tyres releasing nitrogen which the crops picking up.  In a couple of weeks the difference would have disappeared as the crop evens up.

Mike supplies Canterbury Meat Packers who are a dedicated supplier of New Zealand Lamb into Waitrose  of which Mike is obviously very proud.  The oats can grow about 3-4,000 Kg of dry matter in the autumn which can be stocked at around 12 stock units per hectare.  The lambs feeding on the forage rape are growing at around 300-350g/day which is very acceptable, and are stocked at around 70/Ha with back fencing which allows some regrowth and a secondary grazing.  In comparison to David's soil, Mike's deep clay soils can hold up to 220mm.  Interestingly starter fertiliser is used to establish the fodder rape making Potash available to the new seedling as soon as it germinates.  Something that the Cross Slot is able to do at ease.

This pivot irrigator is irrigating grassland for a diary conversion on a neighbouring farm and is probably the only one in the southern hemisphere working on such steep banks.  At the moment Mike is in a red zone for irrigation, i.e there are no local plans in extend the area available to irrigate.  A huge thank you to David and Mike for giving up their time to show us around their farms.  Although very different farms;  attention to deal, passion, hard work and the love of farming and growing were evidently common place in these excellent farmers.

Soil and Water, Our Greatest Team?

What can I say, one of the most riveting conferences I have been to in a very long time, well done to the Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE) for putting it all together.  Prof Tim Benton kicked off the Conference with a sobering overview of our climate and what we might experience in the future.  Considering the extremes of weather we've experienced in the last two years, his presentation was of little comfort!  In summary, more rainfall causing more issues with our soil (great!)  Our soils and farming systems need to be more resilient and more sustainable to deal with these changing weather systems.  What was once a 1 in 50 year event could soon become 1 in 5!  (hold onto your seats!)  Next up was Jean Spencer from Anglian Water, who with 6million customers, needs a constant supply of water.  A 25 year strategy is in  place to continue to reduce individual household water use, using meters, water re-use and recharging aquifers in periods of over supply.  Meurig Raymond spoke about the need to increase wheat supply by 60% in the next 40 years.  Currently the UK is 62% self sufficient but this could drop to less than 50% in the future.  He also stressed the need for more R&D into maintaining production as buying food on the world market may not always be possible in the future. Alan Wilson of Waitrose, spoke about the urbanisation of our customers, moving further from the knowledge of their food supply change, and how water is key to their sustainability plan, which is inextricably link to the soil.   We need to learn from drier countries when it comes to water use technology, Spain for instance has reduced water use in some produce by 50%. 

After a quick lunch it was onto the afternoon sessions, the first one I attended was titled 'Boosting Arable Soil Productivity".  Ron Stobart kicked off with the STAR project.  The project aims to have a long term study into arable rotations, and also the benefits of cover cropping on soil organic matter and fertility.  This theme was prevalent throughout the afternoon sessions that I attended.   Roberts Barnes, a Bedfordshire farmer, spoke about his experience of controlled traffic farming and how this method of farming can reduce costs, increase output as well as earthworms and soil organic matter.  Controlled Traffic Farming is something that I had quickly dismissed before, but maybe there is merit in the system, although potentially difficult to implement where vegetable crops form part of the rotation.

The next session was by Dr Eric Ober from Rothamsted, who enlightened us on the current research about wheat breeding, (right up my Nuffield Street). In 1888 the Rothamsted yield was 2T/Ha which is still the average world wheat yield today.  I also heard that the contribution to yield comes 50% from the genetics and 50% from husbandry.  There is also a need to develop new varieties for maintenance breeding.  This means that a variety looses its ability to yield due to environmental factors reducing its potential year on year, things like changing strains of fungi.

The final session was entitled Soil Biota - Harnessing the Earths Biological Engine and was taken by Karl Ritz (Professor of Soil Biology - Cranfield University) and was all about the interaction between soil microbes, nutrients and organic matter.  There was a practical element of putting the science into practise by Jo Franklin (Nuffield Scholar).  Jo's study took her around the world looking at the status of soils, building fertility and how organic matter can be introduced back into our soils.  This includes the use of livestock and their manure, of compost, cover crops and even treated sewage cake.  All these ingredients added to the soil help keep it aerated, healthy, staying in the field and delivering greater yields!

It really was a cracking lineup of speakers, the topic right on the pulse of the issues we are currently facing and those that we will be facing in the future.  I for one will be signing up to go again next year, if it is held, and I would strongly recommend other farmers to attend as there will be valuable lesions for us all to learn next year.

LEAF Water Management Training

Today we had a really interesting meeting with a select group of people for a follow up meeting on the LEAF Water Management tool.

From January 1st this year we have had about 55% of our annual rainfall on the farm and it is still very dry so the water training comes at a very poinient time.  We know it is a very precious resource and we need to learn how to use it wisely.

Our training today was reviewing the LEAF Water Tool for each of our farms.  This tool was launched at the LEAF Presidents Event earlier this month by Jim Paice  MP (Agriculture and Food Minister), demonstrating the importance of water as an issue.

Then we moved onto how we use our water knowledge to pass onto other farmers to become a 'Water Champion'.  This means using our skills in communication learnt through our LEAF 'Speak Out'

training to encourage other farmers to learn more about water use and it's protection.  There is much to learn about how we use water on the farm, from reducing its use or increasing the quality of the water leaving our farmland.  I will try and keep you updated on how our journey progressess, but to start off with here's a silt trap and bio bed that we have just created on the farm to do just that.  bio bed

 

Keeping H2O Low with LEAF

Last thursday I had a brilliant day with other members of the Carling Wester Growers Group at a special training day organised by LEAF  The training day was to bring to our attention the impact of water on our farms and how much we rely on this precious resource.  The aim of the day was to raise awarness of water and how it impacts our business and what we can do to try and reduce its impact.  In my farming career I have witnessed both ends of the scale when it comes to water impact.  On the 20th July 2007 we had over 140mm of rain in 24 hours and this spring (Mar-May) we only had 53mm of rain.  The discussion, lead by Caroline Drummond, from LEAF, Louise Manning (LJM Associates) and Andrew Galloway (Masstock Arable (UK) Ltd soon had us discussing in depth, the problems of too much or too little water and its effects on our livestock, crops and the environment.  We discussed how to keep water in the fields, by using minimum tillage to keep trash on the surface to slow down the run-off and reduce risk.  Correctly cultivating the fields allows water to slowly seep into the soil, hard compacted layers mean the water can't soak in and rushes off the surface taking fertiliser, soil particles and pesticides with it into the nearest watercourse.  We spoke about ways to reduce these risks, buffer strips to intercept running water, tramline placement, gate placement, stock watering areas and a whole list of other options available.  Some of these options can be put towards Stewardship Schemes or will count towards the Campaign for the Farmed Environment

We looked at weather data, demonstarting how our climate is changing, with reduced sunshine hours and increased volitility in rain fall events.  We listened to Louise talking about her trips to California where they are running out of groundwater and what's left is becoming saline.  Peru and other countries are going to run out of water (in some areas) in the next 30 years or so.  Countries exporting salad crops, potatoes and vegetables are in effect exporting water and what impact will this have in the future?

After a great walk around the farm looking at sprayer technology, machinery, irrigation we ended up with a spade in a barley field.  The idea was to dig down and try and find any problems with the soil structure that might hinder roots or water from getting into the soil, alais we found none. (Well done Ed).

The next stage of our training is to have a go at the LEAF Water Management Tool, an on-line assessment that looks at: water distrubution around the farm, irrigation, crop protection products, cleaning and transport of product, protecting water quality and domestic water facilities.  Following on from this we will be meeting again, after harvest, to find out how we have all got on, and what changes we have made to our business' as a result of the training.