Soil Health

Growing phacelia or oil radish cover crops in vegetable rotations helps to build and stabilise soils – with a new trial revealing it could safeguard future productivity.

Changing from a conventional to strip tillage in 2019 was something of a baptism of fire for fourth-generation East Yorkshire grower Jonathan Hodgson.

A new practical guide to assessing soil carbon promises to answer farmers’ key questions at a time when many are looking to understand their soil health.

With current fertiliser challenges and pressure to increase carbon capture and efficiency on farm, AerWorx offers some fresh advice on aeration of compacted soil.

Dr Cathy Hooper, RAGT Seeds technical sales manager, reviews the late Septoria tritici epidemic that hit many wheat crops this season.

For some crops, like maize, sugar beet and field brassica, the risk of wet soil at harvest and the resultant damage is ever present… But should we accept the risk and resign ourselves to rectifying as required, or think about building resilience into soils to better cope with the risk? Hutchinsons technical manager Dick Neale discusses.

An aftermarket on-board tyre inflation system is helping one of the UK’s largest vegetable and salad producers protect vulnerable black fen soils. David Williams reports.

What will your farm look like in five, 10 or even 30 years, and what actions can you take now to create that new future?

Cultivation measures need to evolve in-line with the increasing move towards regenerative agricultural practices, according to independent soil and cultivations consultant Philip Wright.

Use disease risk forecasts to plan appropriate and timely spray programmes for oilseed rape crops this autumn, is the advice of Dr David Ellerton – technical director with Hutchinsons.

AHDB and BBSRC are partnering to invest £500,000 in UK agriculture to help the industry transition to more sustainable practices, and ultimately net zero carbon by 2040.

TerraMap Carbon offers a groundbreaking way of measuring soil carbon without actually having to break ground! So says Andrew Pitts, host farmer of the Helix National Helix Farm of farm business JW Pitts & Sons located at Mears Ashby and Whiston in Northamptonshire.