Category: News

Our final walk took place at Little Pix Hall Farm in Kent, which is managed by this year’s third place winner in the competition, Will Steel. Will has transformed the farm into a business where soil management takes priority and is sustained for the long term. The focus of this farm walk was looking at how farming and the environment work together to create resilience, and looked at how to make the most of the assets on the farm. Will explained how getting the soils to work and be more productive was a crucial part of the long term strategy of the business.

The farms soils were tested when it was derelict in 1987 and had a soil organic matter percentage of 5%. This dropped to 2% in the 1990s using a plough based system, and Will has been working since 2000 to increase the organic matter percentage back up to 5% using a combination of minimum tillage, no till and cover crops.

Click on the image to see the photos of the walk. 

Walking round the farm it was possible to understand how the different ‘assets’ fit together and how the environmental features on the farm form part of the business. Stopping at a field of spring oats,

Will explained how cover crops are a key part of helping build soil health and fertility. The field had previously been down to a second wheat, with a cover crop planted immediately after the combine with an 8 way mix to maintain green cover. The aim of the cover crop is to grow fertility – it avoids the expense (and paperwork) of importing manure and the risk of compacting the soil when the manure is spread. Will terminates the crop by rolling on a frost when the temperature is minus 5 and is getting good results using this method. As with all of the farm walks, how the crops were performing in the dry weather was a hot topic of conversation, and the importance of organic matter in terms of holding onto the moisture was well recognised. Will also recognises the importance of worms (as all of our finalists do) and through regular worm counts is seeing the numbers rise from 12 million per hectare two years ago to 15.3 million per hectare this year. He puts the increase down to the improved organic matter levels and the management of residues as well as a reduction in tillage.

As with all Soil Farmer of the Year farm walks, there is always a lot of time standing around a soil pit and this was a highlight on this farm walk. Will explained about the challenges of managing soils in this area of the High Weald, the importance of magnesium as the soils have a high calcium content, and how he is managing his 8 inches of topsoil.  He is seeing the beneficial effects of changing his management including retaining the soil in the field explaining

“when we were ploughing, there was a fair bit of soil erosion, the cover crops protect it over winter and you can walk out on the fields after three inches of rain without wellies, it just stays where it should.”

Massive thanks to Will for hosting a very informative walk!

Originally starting as a small dairy farm, Simon converted his farm to arable cropping. For the first few years they benefitted from the grassland legacy within the soil, however things then started deteriorating.  Simon has moved from running a traditional, wheat, wheat, rape rotation to now including a mix of spring and winter crops including winter wheat, winter oats, winter beans, naked barley, spring beans, spring oats, linseed, spring peas, Lucerne, and ryegrass.  There is no set rotation, cropping is worked out on an individual field basis and decided by looking at what is the best crop for this field at this time in these conditions.

Simon was chosen as the winner this year because of his passion and enthusiasm for soil management and this was evident during his farm walk.

“Farming is such a long term thing, longer than any one person’s life.”

 Simon focusses on building soil health with a combination of no-till, the use of homemade compost and a diverse rotation which grows healthy plants, allowing for a reduction in inputs.  

These were all things that were discussed during the walk. The first stop was the compost heap.

On Compost……..

In the last 5 years, Simon has refined his compost making technique to produce a highly effective biological inoculant that makes a visible difference when it is applied. The compost includes horse manure, woodchip and garden waste, as well as gypsum (providing calcium and sulphur in a biological form) to counteract his high Magnesium levels, and is made to a strict method.  The materials are layered up in rows and then turned using a compost turner, every day to begin with and then less and monitored by using a temperature probe to keep the material below 70 degrees C, to protect the beneficial microbes. Once the compost has stopped heating up and is left, the fungi can start to grow, colonise the woody material and build associations. It is then left to mature, and then applied at between 2-4 tonnes per acre on the surface of fields that need it. Simon explains,

“Compost is the best thing ever. If the soil is not in the right condition, when you apply biology it will not thrive. However if the biology make their home in the compost, when the compost is applied to the soil, they won’t die off, they have a stable home and can thrive. It is changing my soils.”

It is applied to the fields that need it and is spread pre drilling by a contractor. In terms of the application rate, it is surface applied at around 4 tonnes per acre. Simon explains,

“It’s not being used as a fertiliser source or for organic matter, it’s purely an inoculation for the soil biology and a home to grow biology that will benefit the soil. Within a few weeks you can see the difference where it has been applied. “

This year Simon is aiming to apply a lower rate of compost across a wider acreage to maximise the benefits.

On rotations………

After the compost heap the group continued looking at some of the different crops growing and discussing rotations.

His long term vision is to get the soils into a position where they can generate all the nitrogen the crops need (he hasn’t applied P or K for the last 20 years), and get it so biologically active that the weeds won’t grow and the crops dominate. His aim is to lessen the impact of management on the soil and allow it to ‘bounce back’. He explains, “In a completely natural environment, all is balanced and correct. Everything that we do, changes it. If you gently ploughed it as the only intervention, the soil would recover. However everything that we do knocks it back, ploughing, cultivation, fungicides, etc.

We need to lessen the impact of all these things. “

On-farm trials…….

One of the ways that Simon has managed to lessen his impact is to change to more spring cropping, which has dramatically cut his Nitrogen usage. He is keen to push this further and see how far he can go and what can be achieved. To this end he has a range of trials on the farm, including looking at how wheat performs without artificial Nitrogen, and whether the mycorrhizae will work with the bacteria and fix nitrogen out of the air and fed the crop.  Simon explains – “In a normal situation, the wheat would just go all yellow and be hopeless without Nitrogen, but its looked quite decent all year. It didn’t tiller out and there are less ears there definitely but it’s quite a reasonable crop.”

Variety Trials

As well as the Nitrogen trials, Simon is also testing a range of wheat varieties to see if they behave differently in a no-till system. Simon drills all his wheat with a mixture of 4 feed wheat varieties which he has mixed together and saved the seed for the last few years.  This trial is a good opportunity to compare his mix with all the new modern varieties to assess whether it has comparable yield and performance. Trials were first completed last season and the farm blend came out as the highest yielding, as such the trial is being repeated to see if the same result can be achieved. As well as assessing the varieties, the inputs are also being modified – the first tramline is the traditional agronomist recommendations, 4 fungicide sprays, 2 plant growth regulators and a lot of nutrients including trace elements, it costs a fortune. The next tramline hasn’t had anything on it at all, no fungicides, no PGR, nothing. The third tramline is what Simon normally ends up doing on the rest of the farm, 2 fungicides and no growth regulators, and the final one has any biological products that he has to see what happens.

So what were the results?

As this is the second year of doing the trials, Simon explained what had happened last year. “There really wasn’t any visual difference between no fungicides and all this and the same last year as well. The one with no fungicides did yield less than the one which had all the inputs, but the differences in money wasn’t enough to cover the cost but we’ve had dry years without much disease so it could be different in a different year.

As far as I’m concerned if the soils healthy and everything is working well, your plants are going to be much more resilient to disease.

This will work well here but might not work so well somewhere else.”

The four varieties in Simon’s blend were chosen for disease resistance, (Conqueror, Gator, Diego, and Panorama). After three years of using his own blend, Simon sent a sample off to have it tested for varieties and out of 56 grains there were 8 that were Diego, the rest they didn’t know what they were. It’s all interbred and mixed up now.

 There is a visual difference within Simon’s fields between the crop nearer the hedge and the middle of the field. The line is currently about 20 m out of the hedge with visibly higher plant succession and a greener and thicker crop from the impact of the hedge and the better biology. “Crops are always better near the hedge. I’m thinking about agroforestry.

My aim is to get the biology and fungal network to transfer all those benefits throughout the fields, although it’s going to be a slow process.”

On machinery…….

Simon uses two drills on the farm, a SimTech tine drill and a Moore Disc drill. He explains, “I couldn’t be without either one of them. The tine drill will always go and will go when I shouldn’t go drilling. The disc drill needs more and more wet and will drill into the stripper header. Crucially it’s about knowing the soil conditions – you can’t teach that sort of thing, you have to learn it for yourself on your land.”

On soil testing………

 “I’ve done loads of soil testing. I’m building soil organic matter. I’ve not applied any Lime for 20 years whereas before I was applying every year. My pH now sits at around pH7, and I let the biology do the rest, I am creating the right conditions for the microorganisms to thrive.

“I’m looking under a microscope at home, and looking at mycorrhizal assessments is what I do now, to see what is happening with the biology and root associations.”

On the importance of soil health……..

Simon echoed again the main reason for trialling new ideas, improving soil health. He explains,

“Soil health is so important, and is the overriding factor in all decisions made, much more than financial implications. I am farming for the long term rather than one year at a time. It’s so difficult to get the crops to grow, the less I do to my soil the better.

The driving factor is to do a better job and improve my soil, saving money is just a help.”

What next?

“A mixture of different crops – think of the possibilities if you could grow 2 or 3 together!”

Simon finished the evening with his best piece of advice for anyone considering changing their management.

“You’ve got to make the decision yourself, its got to come from you, wanting to understand the soil and how it works in terms of its biology. I won’t claim that you can maintain artificially high yields, it’s a different way of looking at things, but I’ve massively lowered my cost base. Biological systems are not predictable.”

A massive thank you to Simon for a fantastic and enlightening walk. 

Paul farms 1100 acres in Lincolnshire on the Wolds to the marshes. Spanning a mix of soil types including clay, chalk, medium and wold series, he grows a range of arable crops, runs a sheep flock of 200 ewes and a regional distribution business for local produce (which makes for an excellent barbeque at the end of the walk!).  The business has evolved to its current form through a range of different practices and growing of different crops including potatoes, vining peas, and onions. The broad rotation on the farm is 2 years of ryegrass, a legume break, wheat, an oilseed break, wheat, spring barley and then back to ryegrass. This longer rotation and cropping blocks of land has allowed him to reduce overheads.  The inclusion of livestock on this predominantly arable farm has been a key part of the strategy to be more resilient, sustainable and regenerative.

Paul is very keen on the benefits of livestock explaining that they are so flexible and beneficial in terms of soil health. There is an additional logistical challenge on this farm, as the land is split into 5 blocks with 29 miles the further distance to travel. The evening started with a presentation which explained the history of the farm and how they had decided to change the way they did things.  He explains:

“What we’ve done hasn’t been a licence to print money, it’s been about trying to manage a ship in choppy seas. A key challenge has always been getting the equipment around the geography of the farm and get a margin at the end.  So, we’ve always been on the lookout for changes to the system, but that involves finding a starting point.”

On machinery…

Within the logistical confines of the farmed area, Paul’s strategy is moving to lighter machinery and making gradual changes in terms of managing tillage and compaction. Having recently dug some soil pits and looked at rooting depths and soil structure, he has concluded that roots from the crop are capable of taking out compaction when you are travelling with lighter machinery. He has seen the impact of working with heavier machinery, as he remarks “two or three years later, you can see a wave across the field where the kit had been travelling.” He is comfortable with the use of extremely shallow cultivation to sort out any compaction that the roots can’t deal with. He is also keen on ensuring that tyre pressures are right for field conditions wherever possible (given the balance between travelling in the fields and between then on the roads).

Attentions were then drawn to the stripper header which is being used for the 6^th season here on the farm. It is used for combining the ryegrass and allows the crop to be combined at the same rate as cereals, which allows for flexibility in tight weather windows, and it’s also perfect for linseed. Paul is experimenting with it to drill directly into standing stubble, maximising the soil armour. Paul comments:

“A key question for the future is how we manage crop residues and how to keep the carbon to nitrogen ratio high enough to deal with a large amount of residues.”

On grasses in the rotation…

Grasses are the building blocks of the system that is run at Girsby Grange, and Paul is a passionate advocate of the benefits that grass brings.

“Regardless of how you manage it, whether it is through growing grass for seed or grazed share farming agreements, it provides a massive benefit and up to 40 tonnes of organic matter per hectare over a three-year period. It’s an extremely valuable crop, with a big mass of rooting which brings life back to the soil, nothing works like roots do.”

The field in question was established as spring barley and undersown with Ryegrass which will be down for up to four years. Paul sees the benefit of growing the grass for seed, as alongside the soil health benefits, and a welcome returning of organic matter to the soil, his variable costs are reduced per hectare. The area of ryegrass that is grown has expanded recently as it gives them three crops, the seed crop, haylage and winter grazing for the sheep. Discussions also centred on the potential for using a grass ley as a blackgrass control mechanism as the seedbed won’t be disturbed for the three years that the crop is down.

As is often the case, attendees shared their experiences of blackgrass control and Paul explained how he had got on top of it in a particularly bad bit of the farm. He explained “I developed a strategy that went beyond population reduction to achieve eradication in 2014, which had followed a few seasons of shallow cultivations and glyphosate to reduce a triple resistant blackgrass population. I finally ploughed it then put it down to spring barley undersown with Ryegrass. I rogued the spring barley and turned the sheep out onto it, who took it back down to the ground. It was then rogued really intensively in the ryegrass and it’s not come back since.”

On grass grown for seed.

The gross margins are there is you are brave enough to grow it. The real need is plenty of drying capacity. John Fairey from Germinal explained that there was an opportunity for us to grow more in the UK, as currently we grow 9000t and import another 9000 t. There were also discussions about the potential of high sugar grasses to reduce livestock’s environmental impact. John also discussed some of the innovations that other growers were using including the potential of companion cropping; under-sowing white clover and ryegrass under spring barley by drilling them together.

Beans after grass….

Paul explained his crop protection strategy where he tries to avoid using fungicides and insecticides as much as possible. He challenges all recommendations for applications and normally only applies 50% of them.  We went to visit a field of beans that looked very well. Paul explained “The grass was ploughed in after having been down for 4-5 years in November / December and the beans were drilled on the 3^rd February. They have been growing since day 1 and are even across the field, with little inconsistencies in height. They are a very uncomplicated crop to manage as their ability to lock Nitrogen works well after the grass.”

After digging an obligatory soil pit, the soil looked very well structured with good levels of soil aggregation. The previous week, this field had experienced 125ml of rain in 48 hours, but there was no evidence of any ill effects.  This field will be zero tilled into wheat once the beans are harvested.

Paul is farming to improve the long term sustainability of his farm and a key part of that is farming for the rotation. He comments

“It’s about taking a long term view, being flexible and brave and taking the risk.  When you scratch the surface you can see the costs of our actions. Most farming practices seem to be fixing a problem by creating a different one, with this system of farming, there seems to be genuine solutions.”

A write up of the farm walk with our 2019 runner up of the Soil Farmer of the Year competition, Will Blackburn.

Will farms 470 acres in Cheshire. He runs a dairy enterprise with 300 milking cows and grows a range of arable crops. His light sandy soils make holding onto nutrients and water a challenge, and this has seen him adapt his management system to focus on building organic matter within the soil.  Despite the weather having been beautifully sunny in the lead up to the event, the rain started just before the event, however we still had a fabulous group of farmers come along and hear about why Will was recognised in this year’s competition.

On the transition to no till…..

Will started drilling with a Moore drill 10 years ago for drilling grass into wheat stubbles. The farm was still growing potatoes, which prevented a complete switch over. He explains “when we were growing potatoes, it took 3 or 4 years of grass to get the soil back in good health. When potatoes were making good money that was ok, however when they weren’t making good returns, it didn’t make sense. You realise when you stop growing them how much they are damaging the system.” Since the move away from potatoes the focus is to develop a fantastic surface to the soil which will build a humus layer (and resilience).

Will is also grateful to the cows and grass being on the farm, which has made the switch that much easier as the soil biology was already good. The soil on the farm is changing, the stones are disappearing which he puts down to good levels of worm activity, the worms are constantly active and digesting the soil, taking soil up  which pushes the stones further down the soil profile. As well as the light land that is surrounding the home farm, Will has some heavier land away which is being managed in a similar way. Traditionally after 3 years of ploughing these fields would need a lot of working back down to get a good seed bed for the next crop, however with this system, that isn’t the case.

On grass and grassland management…..

The first field that we visited was a grass field. Here Will explained more about the soils on his farm and how he manages them. The soils on this farm are good at leaching potash, so the aim is to get carbon into the soil and keep in there to make best use of it (and not lose it). Although this is a simple message, by following it and looking after the soils by not cultivating it is possible to achieve. The light sandy soils are great for turning cows out early, but in periods of dry weather they can suffer. 

The system being developed here is predominantly looking to provide the resilience in drought conditions. The grass seed in this field was disc drilled in. Will explains:

“By not disturbing the soil, when the conditions go dry you maintain the soil capillaries and old root channels which allow water to percolate, and the soil can perform its natural function.”

The field was in wheat two years ago and the grass was direct drilled into the wheat stubble. Slurry was applied before the wheat. Will has experienced a few issues with establishing wheat after a grass ley as the grass (as it decomposes) takes Nitrogen. As such, an application of slurry helps the wheat to get going and establish well. An alternative approach Will has also been trying is growing beans after the grass as the beans can fix their own Nitrogen.

Although grass is fantastic for soil health and soil biology, Will is also keen on having a break from grass within the rotation and is seeing the benefits from having a break. It also provides an opportunity to get on top of the grass pests including leatherjackets. Grass management and efficient forage utilisation is something that Will has recently started to focus on in greater depth. Will maintains the grass in its vegetative state though grazing management. As well as providing high quality forage to the cows, he sees a soil benefit from this too as the grass is continuing to produce new roots until the seed head appears. By managing grass to keep it producing roots the soil biology is being fed and carbon is being cycled efficiently. 

Will measures his grass once a week to calculate his available forage and complete a grass budget. Measuring grass covers and calculating his feed wedge has allowed him to improve his pasture utilisation and plan ahead.  He explains, “the efficient use of grass means that we can use less concentrates, producing milk more efficiently.” 

The field that we visited had been calculated to have a surplus so was recently cut for silage. Magic day on this farm is around the 14^th of May, the farm is then producing a surplus from what the cows can consume. Around 40 acres were cut for first cut silage, and recently 50 acres were taken for second cut. The leys on the farm are predominantly high sugar grasses and clover. Will has had fantastic results from high sugar grasses and finds them great for milk production as well as being carbon efficient. 

Will isn’t a fan of intervening mechanically with machinery including the use of subsoiling or slitting as the aim is not to interfere unless there is a massive issue. He explains:

“If we can get roots, pore spaces and channels built up then the soil is more resistant to compaction, the soil starts to bounce  and become resilience, however if you are tilling it, instead of bouncing back it goes down and stays down.”

The fields are paddock grazed and at turn out in February the rotation is 40 days. After magic day the rotation shifts to 21 days. The fields are often subdivided and the cows have had 1ha/day.  In the autumn higher residuals are left to allow for good covers when the cattle are turned out in the spring, with the aim that on the first time round the grazing platform the grass is taken right back down to a lower level and cleaned up ready for the season. The cows had been turned out fresh onto the field that they were in today on a 3,200 cover and the cows will be pushed to eat everything. In terms of the financial benefit of moving to this system, Will is cautiously optimistic but is waiting for a full year’s results. However although the herd is currently at 300 milking cows, Will is confident that by following this management system he could increase the cows to 350 on the same acreage. The only issue being when the weather dries up. However the new system is heling build resilience into the business. Will explains

“This system buys us a week extra growth over the old system. The soil is now in the condition that it lets the water in and then through building organic matter levels up we can hold more of that water and make use of it.”

The cows

Will has transitioned from a Holstein type cow to a Procross mix that produce more milk from less feed. He imported 114 Danish reds and then added with the Procross to create a three way crossed cow which included Holstein, Swedish Red and Montbeliarde. The Holstein bit is now being replaced with Friesian to produce a more compact cow that fits the system. The milk is sold as liquid milk through Sainsburys.

On soil analysis

Will analysis a range of fields and tends to select a good field and a poor field to evaluate the difference between them. The organic matter percentage on his sandy fields can be at 5%, whereas traditionally it was more like 2%. Will analyses for trace elements and has used biosolids to correct some zinc deficiencies on his heavier land.

Beans

After looking at the grass and the cows we walked down the farm lane to look at a field of beans. The beans in this field were drilled into a 10 year ley and will return to grass once the beans are off. Will is seeing the benefits of growing beans, in a different field he ran a trial last year with half planted as beans and half as wheat which was then followed by grass. The grass after beans was much better than the grass after wheat and due to the fact they are such a low input crop they deserve a place in the rotation! The seed rate for this field was 200kg and was home saved seed, but Will indicated that he would cut the rate back next year, as there was a lot of beans!

A lively discussion followed on the use of cover crops in no till systems and their place for building soil health and holding nutrients. Will explained that currently there is no window within his system to put a cover crop, however he is keen to try no till maize, following the American example of growing it after cereal rye, however he is cautious as the cover crop may slow the warmth of the soil especially on his heavier land. At the moment the aim is to keep something growing in the field all the time.

On machinery

Will started off with a Moore disc drill  but struggled on the heavy land as there were issues with drying out and the slots opening up which led to poor establishment. He moved over to a 750a and finds that it does what it needs to do and fits the system, although he admits its quite extravagant for the number of hours that it does! However Will is completely honest that not everything has worked:

“If you look at the past with everything I’ve done conventionally versus no till, I’ve had failures with both but my failures in no till have cost me less. There can always be crop establishment risks whichever system you are running. Through not cultivating though I’ve really seen the impact, as on fields where I’ve previously ploughed and the fields have been uneven and full of clods, I now have a flat field.”

On managing manures

The last stop on the tour was to look at the slurry management system. Will has invested heavily in his storage and application system to make best use of slurry. He now has 6 months’ worth of storage so that he can avoid having to go out and spread out of necessity, the slurry can be applied at the right time and get the most out of it. The addition of the trailing shoe seemed like the perfect next step, and allowed them to complete the circle and apply it in the right way. Will is seeing the benefits in using the method of application and is able to get the cows back grazing again much quicker. Having analysed the slurry he has also found it is high in potash, and as the farm is potash hungry, it makes sense to use the resources they have on farm.

Where next?

Future aspiration for Will include honing the grassland management system, and building organic matter levels even more. He is also interested in reducing fertiliser levels.

A very enjoyable evening was had by all. Sincere thanks to Will for a fascinating evening.

Julian farms in Oxfordshire running a predominantly arable farm, with a flock of sheep that graze cover crops and areas of permanent pasture. The fundamental management principle on this farm is managing carbon; by growing high yielding crops there is a lot of carbon pumped back into the soil and by reducing tillage, once that carbon is in the soil it doesn’t escape. Julian explained his key philosophy on the farm

“I am not a farmer, I am a facilitator of photosynthesis and everything flows from that.”

The key theme of the walk was focussed on the practicalities of residue management, specifically the management of barley straw and whether all of the issues that Julian has experienced was worth it.  He is managing his system by returning all crop residues to the soil which is following his carbon principles, however practically it is causing some issues with crop establishment. By growing big photosynthetic crops, they are pumping carbon through the plant roots and into the soil which is great, and then by leaving the straw on the surface, it is acting as a soil biology primer. However dealing with the straw can present a challenge.  The high carbon to nitrogen ratio of the straw will ensure that the biology have to work to breakdown the material, and Julian is convinced that the biology in his soil is now used to assimilating the straw. The nitrogen strategy on the farm currently is to apply it little and often however over the next few years, cutting back on nitrogen is a key management aim.

The farm occupies 800 ha and is mostly owner occupied. Julian runs a 6 year rotation, which is rape, wheat, spring barley, spring or winter beans, wheat and winter barley. There is flexibility between whether he grows winter or spring beans, and there is a guaranteed cover crop before spring barley after winter wheat, and if spring beans are grown after the spring barley. The farm runs a controlled traffic system which Julian started in 2012 which is based on 10m, which means that 20% of the field is ever driven on and 80% is not touched. No deep tillage is done and the carbon and root systems are protected. Julian was keen to recommend that everyone could try using a controlled traffic system at harvest, to minimise the potential damage by grain trailers and the combine. The soil is a silty clay loam over chalk which is a kind soil to run this type of system on.  

Crops and residue management

The first field that we visited was a field of oil seed rape. This field had previously grown winter barley, and had a lot of chopped straw on the surface.

The crop had established fine apart from an area where combining had carried on too long into the evening and straw chop quality was bad. A big issue with high volumes of straw residues is maintaining soil to seed contact as the soil surface layer is very fluffy and hard to consolidate. Another issue the farm struggles with is the battlement effect left behind when direct drilling with the tine drill. The undisturbed areas of soil support the rolls and make it difficult to consolidate the seed trench.

After the rape we went to look at a field of barley, which had had a cover crop before which had been grazed by sheep. The cover crop had a high biomass, as (similar to the cereals) Julian is keen to maximise photosynthesis even in the cover crop and provide a variety of rooting depths and species.

Julian also explained how he creates the right mindset for soil friendly farming by imagining a fictional scenario “that way back in time as life was evolving on the planet, an intelligent soil ecosystem evolved first and needed a food source so created plants to grow and harvest sunshine and carbon dioxide to feed the soil community. The farmers function is to tend the food producing slaves and in return is allowed to take the seeds as payment!”, Julian explained that 

“when you have this focus on farming for the soil it is a win win scenario because the grain yields become better and more robust over time.”

Julian has been growing cover crops since 2014, starting off with vetches and black oats, and now including high biomass mixes. They are mob stocked with 50% of the cover trampled and the field is never turned brown with bare soil. The field is then sprayed off and drilled. Until the point that it is sprayed off, something is growing, providing soil cover. This year, on this field, however grazing with the sheep was challenging, as they couldn’t take advantage of the good weather early in the season to drill as the sheep were still grazing it, but Julian is still keen on the value of the sheep in the rotation, explaining:

“Everything is an integrated holistic system, and you have to take some things on the chin to achieve the end goal.”

There were a few discussions about soil assessment, and Julian explained how he had done a range of soil tests, including biological health, and an inter – lab comparison – which showed the importance of using a consistent lab for testing! However there is no substitute for looking at crops and digging holes, and knowing your soils. Julian explained:

“If you know your soil and are on the right trajectory, you don’t need to test. I can see the straw disappearing and see worm middens, I know it’s healthy and doing what it should be, but it can take time.”

Next, we had a quick stop at a different rape field which had been drilled with the Moore disc drill. The group had seen pictures of this field back at the grain store. It had been drilled into chopped winter Barley straw into the same conditions as the first field but hairpinning of straw in the seed slot had led to very poor establishment. Looking at the crop you wouldn’t have guessed it had been challenged. “I never underestimate the restorative power of oilseed rape,” Julian explained, “which is all back to soil, if you have healthy soils, the crops want to grow, but it’s still difficult to believe that this crop has come from that start!”

We then went to look at some pollinator strips that have been planted through a field of barley. These strips are part of the ASSIST project which is run by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology which is looking to assess the effectiveness of management systems that advance sustainable intensification. Traditionally flower margins would be planted round the edge of the field, however the project is trialling putting these strips in the middle of the field 90m apart. The seed mix was broadcast onto the surface and the researchers are monitoring whether the beneficial insects are managing to cover the field from the strips. While the main benefits from these strips are crop protection and improvement of biodiversity, it will also be interesting to see whether there is a soil health benefit from these being present. The strips are topped once a year and have no fertilisers or pesticides applied.

The last stop of the tour was to look at a different research project looking at greenhouse gas emissions from a range of different fertilisers and composts, both in and out of the soil. The research is measuring a whole range of parameters and doing it throughout the season so should be able to understand what happens as the crop grows. There were wider discussions here about the use of crop protection products and particularly about the use of insecticides. Julian is a bee keeper with 2 hives and as such, doesn’t use summer  insecticides routinely. He advocates that all farmers should become bee keepers.  He explains, “as with all things its about a change of mindset. This is true of fertiliser use, crop protection and carbon farming.”

Future plans

Julian is keen to look at the possibilities of undersowing, and is trialling a few acres where he is undersowing clover and medic as an experiment. Now that the soil organic matter levels have built up, the next plan is to start to reduce Nitrogen levels and improve nitrogen use efficiency which will reduce nitrous oxide emissions, with the ultimate aim of running a farming system which has lower inputs and positive economic and environmental benefits.

A thought provoking evening was had by all, and Julian’s enthusiasm for trying new things as well as his knowledge of the system was inspiring. A big thank you to Julian and his team for a fantastic evening.

On the 20th October 2020, we completed a virtual farm walk connecting Cornwall to Perthshire, with lots of farmers logging on along the way. The walk was a brilliant opportunity to hear first hand from Alex about how he has transformed his system, the great strides that he is making in improving soil health and forage quality on his hill ground.

The video covers the whole walk which included two live broadcasts from different locations on his farm and a video explaining a new project Rock On Soils, which is investigating the use of crushed basic silicate rocks as a soil input and aims to determine the carbon sequestration potential alongside any additional soil and biodiversity benefits. The initiative is funded by the Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund (KTIF).

Tom is a second-generation farmer, working in partnership with his wife Sarah and his parents. They are both Nuffield scholars and have also completed the Worshipful Company of Farmers management course, both of which he credits with helping him continue to innovate and develop the farm system.  Tom is an early adopter of direct drilling in the UK, being a founder member of BASE UK and being a regular columnist in Direct Driller magazine, so it was a great opportunity to come and hear more about how the system works.

They are currently farming about 1500 acres with 15 different landowners, across 8 different parishes in Kent, and so logistics can be a little challenging!  Tom explained to the farmers present that he is often known for the ‘things that they don’t do’ which include applying any bagged P and K or working on Sundays.

The soils across the farm are variable, the farm starts in the Medway valley – and comes up from there. Across the farm there are some areas of Grade 1 river silt which is lovely but floods, as you come up the valley the soil changes into heavier soils which are rocky; these have good structure but are hard on machinery. Tom explains “We maintain the good structure by not ploughing and using our worms.”

Tom constantly evaluates the business in terms of operational efficiency and costs, and challenged the farmers present to do the same,

“Look at what you do and why you do it and see if you can cut it out.”

The system that Tom runs is fairly low cost and simple, although the farm was one of the early adopters of a cross slot drill (which isn’t low cost!), and he is operating across multiple land owners, the underlying principle is as little (preferably no) tillage as possible. Almost everything across the farm is direct drilled, cover crops are used where possible and compost is applied to help build soil health and carbon. All straw is chopped, nothing is baled (even when the price is high). One of the main motivators for the transition to direct drilling was the high stone content of the soil, Tom comments “Why would we want to bring the rocks up? We want them to go down and with this system they are a lot less of an issue. They are really abrasive and heavy on machinery; when we used to plough we were changing a set of points at lunchtime.”

Tom has been at the forefront of the transition to no till for many years. He started with a disc press, then a Simba  Free flow drill when he realised that moving to no till could work for the soil and system. During his Nuffield travels he focussed on long term no till and visited farmers in Paraguay who had been running a similar system for over 30 years. On his return he purchased his cross slot, and was the second one in operation in the UK. After the introduction to the farm at the grain store, the group loaded onto the trailer and went off to see some crops.

The first stop was to a field which the farm has only recently taken on last year after it had been farmed using a fairly intensive cultivation system with all residues removed.  Tom has direct drilled it with a second wheat, and is taking the time to ‘get some life back into it’ although he admits the process will take 5 years. He will apply compost to the field, chop the straw and aim to get the soil health to improve. When the field was taken on, the field just had a basic soil test, but Tom does test using a more biological analysis routinely across the farm.

The group stopped in front of a big pile of compost which Tom uses to help awaken the soil life. He explains,

“I just want to improve the soil, I use compost and feed the worms, they’ll do the rest.” 

Worms are in abundance on this farm, Tom has done some testing in the past and cites 12 million worms per ha. The compost is made from a lot of horticultural by products which are in abundance in Kent, this heap is made from spent raspberry and strawberry plants and are freely available and a key attribute for turning the soils around.  The compost is applied where it needs to go, there isn’t a set application rate, flexibility is important as well as the logistical challenges!  The compost pile here will be applied to this field to get the roots and the worms working,

The discussions moved onto cover crops and their use across the farm. They have been included as part of the rotations for about the last 8 years.  Cover crop selection depends on budget, what he is trying to achieve and length of time before the next crop, it’s not imperative that everything is cover crops, if there is only going to be a short gap, it’s not the end of the world if it is left. However if he has taken off winter barley or rape then there is space. 

This field had a cover crop planted which was a mix of species and planted March / April time just to get some life back in the soil because it was pretty bare. “The cover crop help to provide that living root,” Tom explains, “and to get organic matter and carbon back into the soil and help the soil to perform. This field was full of rocks from the previous cultivation, we’ve probably picked up 20 tonnes of rock over the winter which we will continue to do, but if we can get the worms to help then so much the better.”

The next stop on the trailer was to look at some wheat from some land that had previously been down to orchards. The range of fields that were visible had been taken on by Tom over the last few years to try and help even things up. The wheat field was Extase, which was looking pretty good on the top but Tom admitted that the conditions had been less than ideal when it went in. There were discussions about the benefits of using the Cross slot or the Horsch drill and whether you could tell which field had been drilled with which!  “The fields can be in a bit of a state after the orchards have been taken out,” Tom explains, “the trees are ripped out and tracked all over with a digger, we’ve literally just run over with a set of discs lightly to level it and then put a crop in with the Horsch drill.  Most of the winter I was thinking it wasn’t going to make it but the crop came through, but it shows what we have to deal with. We will probably low disturbance sub soil it for the remaining roots this year, pick up a load more rocks and it will go into winter beans.”  This was an example of some of the variation that is found across Tom’s farm and the flexibility of management that is required to get the fields into a condition where crops will thrive.

The trailer then took us down through some fields of lavender and up to some fields of wheat that have been under Tom’s management system for much longer.  The wheat field looked absolutely fantastic and one thing that Tom was commenting on was how smooth the tramlines were, which he is seeing more and more as his system develops. “We have been through this field 10 times  with the sprayer as we use it to apply liquid fertiliser as well, so some areas will have had 20 passes, but if you go and have a look at those areas – they look great. This just shows how well structured the soil is, we would have been out in February putting on liquid fert but you can’t even see a mark.”

The field has previously been a pear orchard about 7/8 years ago. The field was drilled with the cross slot on 9 inch rows. The soil looked brilliant, well structured with plenty of worm activity and aggregation.  Questions were asked about the time it takes to get it to this condition, and the ability to transition land which is rented.

“We look after the land like its our own,” Tom explains, “if you can farm it regeneratively then we cover our costs and three years is long enough. We’re confident that if we can look after it right then we’ll maintain that area, its also about relationship building with land owners, we explain our system and our philosophy and that seems to work. We’ll get it right, but it takes time, effort and attention to detail.”

Discussions moved onto Nitrogen and Tom’s current regime, which is a liquid based system. Over the last three years Tom has managed to reduce his Nitrogen by 10% per year which seems to be working well with no adverse impact on crop yield.  He is ensuring that a carbon source is applied with his Nitrogen, to ensure that the microbes are fed and the application is balanced and is keen to experiment in the future with biology though brewing. Tom is also making use of beans within the rotation, to allow for a fertility building phase, growing wheat after beans, then a catch crop and then into a second wheat.

The final block that we stopped at was Rock Farm, which has been developed over the last 10 years, the fields had been in permanent derelict orchards, which were then grubbed and brought into the cropping rotation. The field which we stopped at was growing spring oats which will be followed by first wheat. The oats were all drilled using the cross slot into over wintered stubble.  The challenging weather this year has been problematic for this block, and after 12 successive frosts in April, the crops were looking stressed, but patience and good soil health have carried them through.

The group then headed back to the farm to more discussions and questions. What was evident from the walk was that Tom’s system, which he cites as being low cost and simple has taken years to perfect, which has required dedication, patience, flexibility and attention to detail. The results were to be seen in the fields where the crops looked fantastic and the soil was alive. Everyone went away with a lot of food for thought!

Thank you to Tom and the team at Sewell Farms for a fascinating evening.