Category: Soil Farmer of the Year

In the first week of August a range of farmers and industry professionals met at Moor Farm in south west Wales to hear the 2022 Runner-up to the Soil Farmer of the Year competition, Andrew Rees, explain how he has developed a dairy system with soil health at the centre. 

Moor farm is a 160 hectare grassland farm near Haverfordwest, which over the previous five years has been undergoing a holistic regeneration away from winter brassicas and a high input system to a fully rotational grazing system integrating diverse species-rich swards. Andrew has seen significant benefits to his business from this change of approach, including a reduction in fertiliser cost and usage alongside better herd health demonstrated by the vast reduction in veterinary fees.

Experimenting with different mixtures and management has led Andrew to create a system intended to provide year-round forage for his dairy herd. Moving away from pure perennial ryegrass leys has had its challenges, but Andrew explains

“Working to a 21 day grazing rotation is stressful, you can quickly run out of grass during adverse conditions, the aim of using herbal and diverse leys was to increase the resilience of the grazing platform. Now we have much more ahead of us and much more flexibility within the system where we aim for a 60 day rest period, but this can be up to 120 days in some cases”.

He adds,

“We started by sowing simple herbal ley mixtures, but as they were still managed like ryegrass we lost a lot of the diversity and therefore also potential yield. Now we have much longer rest periods between cutting or grazing to allow for regrowth and the leys are far more resilient.”

Fields are divided into 0.1 hectare blocks and animals are moved according to need. Andrew now has a keen eye for how much forage his grazing groups require despite the wide diversity of covers across the farm. When asked about his system Andrew states,

“We use a leader-follower approach whereby the R2 cattle (10-22 months old) follow the R1 heifers (3-10 months old), with 24 hours between the groups in each grazing cell. Having the smaller cattle grazing first means they have preferential grazing and we are not limiting their intake in any way, not forcing young animals to graze down also helps lower worm burdens. Older animals can then be pushed a bit harder and are able to deal with the more mature forage”

He further adds,

“Anything which isn’t grazed is hopefully trampled; that is when we know we have the stocking density and number of moves per day right – if the ley is starting to become a bit stemmy we move them more often, up to three times per day.”

This trampling action which Andrew integrates into his system has wider benefits for the soil in that it is better protected from environmental conditions and also now of higher quality with the constant organic additions from the leys above. Andrew fully promotes this system outlining to the group,

“Changing grassland management has given conditions for native seeds to germinate. We don’t want bare soils that cap and produce the conditions for weeds to appear. By keeping the surface covered with either growing plant matter or the trampled residue, we reduce our weed burden.”

Since the transition to more species-rich leys Andrew has found,

“The different rooting systems we have in the fields open the soil up and improve the structure, therefore we are removing the conditions in which weeds can become dominant.”

The system Andrew has created focusses on a long rotational grazing platform for both the milking herd and young stock combined with deferred grazing to provide areas for out-wintering cattle. He explains,

“We used to have kale in the rotation to provide over-winter feed but were finding that there was far too much damage and soil wash. We now use a deferred grazing system to out-winter our R1 heifers which are between 8 to 10 months old. We position bales when the land is dry and travels well, ready to provide additional feed throughout the winter period.”

The condition of the soil and the health of the livestock are the key priorities when outwintering stock, to manage this Andrew explains,

“Heifers that are outwintered are scheduled to move every two days, but this can increase to three times daily to avoid soil damage if conditions become wet. This system works for us as our heifers are light and we still have the capacity to bring them in-house if the weather or soil requires it.”

Following these outwintering processes, fields are re-seeded, with Andrew tailoring off-the-shelf mixtures to suit his system,

“We have started reseeding with a half-rate Cotswold herbal ley mix, with half-rate Barenburg Barrmix (this was more because it’s what I had in the shed to give right balance of clovers and herbs) with additional annuals to provide a boost to performance in the first year whilst the other species establish”.

When establishing his leys, Andrew aims to use as simple and minimal cultivation system as possible, removing old or tired leys with low rate glyphosate buffered with humic and citric acid to lower the pH. He then drills the seed in two directions to increase the eventual cover with an application of seaweed to give a starter boost of nutrition.

Andrew has, on average, reduced nitrogen usage by 140kg per hectare whilst still producing silage for the milking herd. He has recently started silaging the herbal leys which are highly diverse and contain species such as pea, barley, vetch, sunflowers, linseed, radish, chicory, plantain and a mixture of clovers. This will be analysed when the clamp is reopened and fed as part of the usual ration. In addition to regularly analysing silage, Andrew also frequently tissue tests his leys – results suggest the mineral content of his leys are double that found when they were in a perennial rye grass system. The species composition has a naturally far lower demand for nitrogen compared to perennial ryegrass and is much better at scavenging existing nutrients within the soil, further reducing the need for artificial inputs.

Andrew uses slurry in combination with a Tow and Fert system to help maintain fertility and production across the farm. Fields destined for silage are given slurry before and after the 1st cut with a 25kg sprinkle of N prior to cutting. The Tow and Fert is used to top up fine lime, phosphate and humates alongside some foliar potassium. Andrew samples a fifth of the farm every year, with the whole farm last sampled in 2018 – having this up to date data allows him to understand where his nutrients are most required and move away from broadacre applications. Fine lime is regularly used across the farm with Andrew detailing, “Applying fine lime helps increase the free exchangeable calcium in the system, we are aiming to have calcium at luxury levels which will take time but will help with the longevity and palatability of the tall covers.”

As a dairy farmer, herd health is a main priority for Andrew. Through implementing changes to grazing species composition and management, alongside reducing the nitrogen use across the farm, livestock performance has seen vast improvements. The dairy herd are also grazed on diverse summer cover crops, being turned out for a few hours after milking.

Andrew explains this strategy,

“Having the cows grazing across the diverse leys has improved butter fats and allowed us to stretch out the grazing season where historically we may have run out of grass. This means that the herd is currently balanced between herbal leys, traditional grass pasture and silage in the yard when they come in to be milked. The additional grass means we only need to supplement feed them around 4kg of cake per day, massively reducing costs.”

The cows are now found to be far more content, with lower nitrogen covers thought to lower the free nitrates in their system, reflected in the results of the milk testing. This contentment has also improved fertility and the health of the dairy herd. Empty rates have decreased from 10.5% in 2019 to 5.5% in 2021 with mastitis per 100 cows also reducing from 19.7 in 2019 to 3.5 in 2021.

The increased fertility in the herd has also allowed Andrew to move his spring calving system later so they can calve to match the grass growth, reducing the housing requirement as calves are weaned on grass with outside grazing access from 4 weeks of age. Worm burden has also drastically reduced and consequently, so has the requirement for anthelmintic products. Faecal egg counts are conducted to see if any wormers are required, however Andrew has found that due to the long-grass grazing system with animals biting higher up the plant in combination with chicory rich pastures, very little, if any, are required. 

When asked about how he would advise others beginning along the herbal or diverse ley journey Andrew has these words of wisdom,

“Start by drilling the leys in the spring as this gives a much better chance for establishment whilst you are experimenting with your system. If you are going in later when the conditions could be dryer or colder it might be tough on the clover to get up and away.”

At Moor Farm, the leys are highly diverse and full of many different species. Andrew’s thinking behind this is,

“When you establish herbal leys you can often see a drop in yield compared to a perennial ryegrass whilst they establish, therefore we also drill in summer annual species to help build the quantity of forage available to graze. If we are establishing a ley in the spring, we would expect to be able to graze it that autumn. However, this would be a lighter graze than in the second year and not as tight, just to make sure we don’t stress the plants too much”. 

The next challenges for Andrew focus further around nitrogen reduction, as he discussed with the group,

“The aim would be to be using zero chemical nitrogen whilst managing to maintain our current production. I want to be able to leave the land in a better condition than when we started whilst also being financially profitable.”

During the Soil Farmer of the Year competition, the judges found Andrew’s approach highly innovative, understanding how to maximise the health of the soil to produce high quality, mineral rich forage for his cattle using less inputs, but instead through his grazing and nutrient management system. The benefits Andrew has observed upon the health, welfare and productivity of his cattle through diversifying the leys has been highly successful – also giving him additional flexibility in other areas of the farming business now he is secure in the growth of forage on the farm, developed through increasing the resilience of his system. 

Ourselves at FCT would like to thank Andrew, his family and his team at Moor Farm for such an excellent tour, providing insight in how the system works and inspiration of what is possible for dairy grazing systems. The Soil Farmer of the Year competition is run by FCT in association with Innovation for Agriculture and this year has again been kindly sponsored by Cotswold Seeds and Hutchinsons. If you would like to find out more about the Soil Farmer of the Year competition please keep an eye on our website for updates on the other farm walks in October 2022 and the opening of the 2023 competition.

PRESS RELEASE

Following the presentation of awards at Groundswell – Billy Lewis has been announced as the Mixed Soil Farmer of the Year and David Miller as the Arable Soil Farmer of the Year, with Andrew Rees as runner-up. The competition, now in its seventh year, is organised by the Farm Carbon Toolkit in conjunction with Innovation for Agriculture (IfA), and generously sponsored by Cotswold Seeds and Hutchinsons. The top three farmers will receive prizes of fertility building or green manure seed from one of our generous sponsors of the competition, Cotswold Seeds.

The competition aims to find farmers and growers who are engaged with, and passionate about managing their soils to create a highly sustainable, resilient and productive agricultural system. 

Billy farms 145 hectares in Herefordshire, producing a variety of arable crops alongside sheep and pedigree Hereford Cattle enterprises. Billy’s focus on the farm has been to regenerate tired soils which have previously been in a high-intensity arable system and implementing a rotational grazing system to create high quality forage for the livestock. Billy says: “We have introduced herbal leys which are managed through predominately mob grazing with additional cutting if needed. We started with a select group of animals and now graze everything in a mob system.” 

The arable rotation on the farm is fully integrated with herbal leys and diverse swards to ensure livestock are able to graze and improve soil health, “the arable rotation is no more than three years before going back into a ley and seeing the hooves of an animal once more”. In addition to the livestock, Billy also uses composted FYM to benefit soil health and plant nutrition, “spreading compost as soon as the bales are cleared from the field means we can generate really productive catch crops before the following cereal, benefiting our soil health and nutrient capture.” This has led to vast reductions in nitrogen use, “our main goal is to drive down fossil fuel use and inputs, we have halved the amount of nitrogen we use in 3 years and would look to half this quantity again over the next 3”.

Billy has been selected as the winner in the mixed farm category this year due to his passion and attention to detail for integrating livestock into the arable system and maximising his pasture productivity through diverse leys and a mob-grazing approach. He says, “our farm is coming to life and now functioning as a whole and healthy ecosystem.” speaking on his motivation Billy believes “if you don’t make mistakes you’re not learning, you’ve got to have faith and stick to your guns”.

David Miller

Our Arable Soil Farmer of the Year David Miller, manages 700 hectares of chalk/limestone in Hampshire.  David has designed a simplistic system whereby he has drastically reduced fuel consumption, crop protection inputs and fertiliser across a diverse arable system. Through the use of strategic cover and companion cropping within the rotation, David has reduced his need for bagged fertilisers, reducing nitrogen use by 25% and not applying phosphate or potassium for 7 years, instead using roots to harvest what is needed for the following crop, he explains:

“With all these benefits we are putting much less money at risk in each crop and therefore we are able to budget for lower yields. Yield is no longer our driver but margin is”. 

David mentions:

“We have seen vast improvements in our soil health, you now rarely walk across the field without standing on a worm midden per step, through testing we also know our mycorrhizal levels are increasing and our fungi to bacteria ratio is improving”.

Focussing on the soil through a ‘no-till’ approach, David has had his tramlines in the same place for 7 years – minimising compaction and maximising natural soil processes, he says “soils appear to repair faster and better after events like a wet harvest”. 

This system has resulted in vast emissions savings alongside benefits to the bottom line by minimising fixed and variable costs, he says “before we transitioned away from a traditional conventional system yields were static and costs were rising. The goal was to prove a system that would work for broadacre crop production which was simple and easy to look after”. 

David focuses on creating a profitable arable enterprise through creating a more resilient system with the soil at its heart. He advises,

“Treat each experience as a learning and you won’t go far wrong. Read plenty of books and temper the strategies to your own geography and challenges”.  

Andrew Rees

Our Runner-Up is Andrew Rees, a dairy farmer from Haverfordwest. Through implementing rotational grazing systems alongside diversifying leys with herb rich species and legumes, Andrew has reduced fertiliser rates, improved herd health and productivity, explaining:

“You can feel the life in the ley, compared to the monoculture of ryegrass. Where we’ve done good work, we’ve got good worms”. 

Managing a heavy soil type has been challenging, focussing on keeping soils covered with living roots and utilising the benefits of the trampling of residues back into the soil profile has seen great improvements in the structure, “we have a range of soil types on the farm which does help with grazing options under a rotational system – we now produce more milk whilst maintaining the quantity of forage grown with far less fertiliser”. Andrew says, “herbal leys cannot be managed like a ryegrass, it needs longer rests and more residual. Where we have existing herbal or clover leys we sow grasses directly in the autumn”. Additional benefits of reducing fertiliser requirements by 60% over the previous three years by using technology such as a Tow and Fert application system to apply inputs and conduct activities such as over-seeding and liming. 

The judges recognised Andrew’s dedication to maximising the potential of his soil to benefit the health and productivity of the dairy business. Andrew explains, “following the five main principles of regenerative farming has guided the transition on the farm, focussing on keeping ground covered with living roots of diverse species minimises the soil disturbance required and maximises the possibilities for grazing and cutting” adding, “you do however need to apply a sixth principle of context – the limitations or strengths of your own farm and the system you want to create”.

This year’s competition saw our highest number of entries yet, again demonstrating the excellence and knowledge of farmers in UK agriculture. All of the judges, sponsors and organisers would like to thank all of the farmers for their time to apply for the competition and the quality of the entries that were received. The top three farmers will also all be hosting farm walks that are open to anyone who is interested, where there will be a chance to see, understand and dig a bit deeper into what they are doing. Further details on these walks are available on the FCT website. 

Further information

Contact: Emma Adams – Senior Farm Carbon and Soils Advisor,

emma.adams@farmcarbontoolkit.org.uk

Notes to editors

• Established in 2009, the Farm Carbon Toolkit is an independent, farmer-led enterprise, supporting other farmers to measure, understand and act on their greenhouse gas emissions, while improving their business resilience for the future. www.farmcarbontoolkit.org.uk
• The Farm Carbon Toolkit was established in 2009 to raise awareness of Greenhouse Gas emissions within the agricultural industry and also to provide practical responses that any farmer, whatever their farming system, could put into place on their farm.
• Innovation for Agriculture is a consortium of English Agricultural Societies that delivers technical information and events for farmers. Soil organic matter and soil health is a key theme and the focus of much of our current activity. They have created a Soil Decision Tool which allows farmers to improve their soil knowledge and is accessible here, http://www.innovationforagriculture.org.uk/ifa-decision-support-tool/  
• The competition is kindly being sponsored by Hutchinsons and Cotswold Seeds

For more information on the farm walks please visit the FCT website at www.farmcarbontoolkit.org.uk