Soil is a living asset

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With the current pressures of fertiliser use, water quality, general cost increases, and  the consequences of challenging climate changes, the need to produce your final product as efficiently as possible has never been so important.

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The use of fertiliser and chemicals have historically been a large part of grassland management. Times are changing but if the soil isn’t in the correct conditions to absorb and retain any applicants, it’s irrelevant what you use or how accurately you spread them. You could spread agro chemicals or biostimulants accurately to the nearest gram/ha, but if the soil isn’t in the condition to make best use of it, run off or surface only penetration will result in a loss of productivity and money.

 

Good efficient farming starts with the one thing we use to grow all our crops ... the soil!

 

We need to think of the soil as a living asset that needs water, oxygen, biological organisms and warmth.

 

The legacy of traditional farming methods

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Over the years we have expected soil to keep performing using traditional methods that merely “maintain and sustain”. These traditional methods often expose soil to erosion, destroy humus releasing sequestered carbon and break down the soil structure and biology that has taken precious time to form. It is now thought that as much carbon is probably released by the same traditional processes that are trying to add carbon to the soil e.g. ploughing in manure.

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The repeated passes by heavy tractors and equipment lead to soil degeneration and to the formation of almost impenetrable layers of compact soil (“hard pan”) below the surface.

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Livestock grazing, combined with the machinery, contributes to “hard pan” formation otherwise known as soil compaction....

 

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