Written by: Indigro (Independent Agronomist Crop Consultants)
‘If you can’t measure it you can’t manage it’ is a well-known business adage and one that is highly relevant to agriculture. Due to the gradual progression of precision farming systems, the agricultural industry has amassed a wealth of data, attributed to advancements in satellite, sampling and monitoring technology. With the future of farming looking set to change, with a declining hectarage-based subsidy, and more emphasis being placed on soil health, providing more for the environment and reducing inputs and greenhouse gas emissions, measuring and monitoring a new set of parameters will be the key for future resilience and alternate farm income streams.
Soil health
Soil is arguably the single biggest asset on every farm, and healthy soils are essential to sustainable crop production. Future UK agricultural policy looks set to do more for soil protection and incentivise farmers to improve soil quality, through correct land management. Whilst measuring for pH, P, K and Mg is commonplace and a legal requirement, testing soil organic matter (SOM) has perhaps been overlooked, yet provides a snapshot of soil health, and reveals the effects of different management systems. The two main SOM testing methods are loss on ignition (LOI) and the Dumas test, and while the results of these methods can vary, the key is to use the same method for consistency. In conjunction with SOM testing, counting earthworms and scoring soil aggregation, porosity and structure will help to reveal the condition and functionality of the soil. These assessments should be made before making management changes, such as importing organic manures, growing cover crops, or moving to no-till establishment, to provide insight and act as a benchmark for future evaluation.
Indigro has developed a farm record of condition analysis, which combines visual soil assessments and earthworm counts with detailed laboratory analysis of the soil to produce a management report. Furthermore, an agronomic survey of the farm for weed pressures, compaction, and drainage issues, for example, is used to assess the ‘health’ of the overall farm. The bespoke software geo-references the location of each analysis site, and the soil dashboard highlights areas for improvement, enabling accurate re-assessment and benchmarking. This creates the basis for a field specific soil management plan.
Carbon sequestration
The UK economy is striving to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, whilst the NFU has set the same outcome for agriculture in England and Wales by 2040. The agricultural industry is uniquely placed as being both an emitter but also a carbon sink. For landowners, these emissions targets should be seen as an opportunity, as appropriate farm management can play a vital role in climate change mitigation via carbon sequestration. There are many carbon calculating tools available to help quantify on-farm greenhouse emissions on a crop by crop or whole-farm basis. This information can be used to make more informed decisions about efficient fertiliser and nutrient use, or direct drilling and growing cover crops, which will not only help boost the productive efficiency of the farming operation and improve soils, but also allow opportunity for agricultural carbon trading – a concept where farmers are able to sell carbon credits to businesses wishing to offset their greenhouse gas emissions. Indigro have been evaluating carbon calculating tools and have engaged with farmers to start the measuring, monitoring and benchmarking process to identify methods of increasing sequestration and minimising emissions to maximise these potential new income streams for clients.
