Cymraeg These resources look at how to create balanced systems and build fertility in mixed arable and livestock rotations, including ruminants, pigs and poultry.
Livestock and the arable rotation (AHDB)
This resource explore the benefits of livestock in the arable rotation. See information on forage crops, cover crops, outdoor pigs, farmyard manure and more.
Livestock manures for the arable rotation (AHDB)
Learn more about the benefits of livestock manures for arable systems. You will find information on muck-for-straw deals and the financial value of livestock manures.
Above and below the ground: building resilient, productive and profitable soils A Nuffield (UK) Farming Scholarships Trust Report
Arable farmer David Walston explores why some soils are more productive than others and learn about the best ways to improve them. You can read about the results in his Nuffield report; which looks at what constitutes a healthy soil, how we can improve soils (protecting versus improving), the “fertiliser addiction” and legislation. It covers rotations, cover crops, companion crops, using compost and grazing livestock on your farm.
Ian Wilkinson Farmer Profile
Ian’s aim is to develop his farm as a centre for farming diversity, demonstrating how small family farms can use sustainable farming practices whilst maintaining a respectable income. The single most important factor in achieving this goal is improving and maintaining soil quality.
Soil Association Case Study
Digging the Dirt is a series of in-depth reports on farmers who are reaping the benefits of investing in their soil. In this series, we detail how they’ve done it.
Livestock on diverse leys: a return to the past for a promising future – ORC Bulletin article
Organic farms have long used grass and herb leys in arable rotations to help restore soil structure and fertility after cropping. The main drawback of a ley for an arable farmer is the perceived loss of productivity and lack of income from a crop. For organic farmers, the return in terms of soil fertility and capacity for weed control outweighs this, but for other farmers it is seen as cheaper and easier to return nutrients using organic or mineral fertilisers and to control weeds with herbicides. Moving towards a more diverse mix of grasses and herbs and using the ley to keep livestock (getting a ‘crop’ from the ley years too), could make leys a more beneficial option for livestock and arable farmers alike. This ORC Bulletin article reports on farmers that have been combining diverse leys with livestock and some of the pros and cons of this practice revealed as part of the DiverIMPACTS project.
The contributions of organic additions on soil quality – pdf
This report produced by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), with support from the Frank Parkinson Agricultural Trust, looks at the role of organic matter within soils and reviews the effects organic additions (produced on and off farm) have on soil quality. It also provides guidance on carbon: nitrogen ratios and looks at other factors that affect soil organic matter. Read it here.
Healthy Farm Systems – John Pawsey (video)
John Pawsey gives us some insight into the principles of how he achieves health on his farm, following his participation in the Farm Systems Health Project (https://www.agricology.co.uk/farm-sys…). The Organic Research Centre recently completed the project exploring this concept, along with the University of Bonn and the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research in Berlin, Germany. One of the four guiding principles of organic agriculture is the aim to promote health on all levels of the farming system. This project, which was funded by the Ekhaga Foundation, in Sweden, worked with a network of farms in the UK, Germany and Austria to jointly develop a set of criteria for farm health measurement that could be applied practically.
Jake Freestone Farmer Profile
Overbury Farms is an integrated part of Overbury Enterprises which has been in the same family for over 250 years. It is a mixed farm that produces a range of crops including wheat, barley, oilseed rape (OSR), pease, linseed and soya beans. They also let out certain areas of our farm to specialist growers who produce crops such as onions and peas.
Fertility building – SWARM Hub website
The use of clovers and other legumes as a source of Nitrogen (N) is an organic practice that is becoming an increasingly attractive proposition to all farmers due to globally rising costs of mineral N fertiliser and the negative environmental impacts of its production and use.
Manure Use Efficiency – SWARM Hub website
By making the most of the nutrient content of organic manures, savings can be made on inorganic fertiliser costs and environmental losses can be reduced.
Achieving more from less with dairy and arable collaboration
A Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust Report
In this Nuffield Report, Johnny Alvis, a dairy farmer from north Somerset, examines the potential for dairy and arable businesses to work together to cut costs. This is based on a realisation that as dairy farms grow, they can become increasingly reliant on bought-in feed and can struggle to manage the amount of manure produced by a larger herd. He also notes that arable farmers are becoming more interested in improving soil condition with organic manures. He suggests that dairy and arable businesses could work together to share waste products (e.g. straw and slurries), transferring nutrients to where they are most needed (i.e. arable fields).
The Basics of Soil Fertility – FiBL / ORC guide
This booklet offers a view on soil fertility from different angles. It deliberately avoids offering universal ‘instructions’, but rather seeks to provide information to stimulate new thinking about a sustainable relationship to the soil.
Regenerative Agriculture – George Hosier, Wexcombe Manor Farm
An interview with George Hosier of Wexcombe Manor Farm in Wiltshire about the changes he has made to his farming practices to improve soil fertility, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase biodiversity while reducing his costs.
