Soil and Water Management Centre Soil 25 Conference – Wednesday December 3rd – live in person at Harper Adams University and on-line.
How can a more resilient farm business be built against these headwinds? This years conference “Tackling the yield gap and advancing resilience” sets out the challenges and also addresses a number of solutions that can aid that building of business resilience.
Scene setting.
In July the government published its “Updated food strategy for England” – Although full details are not expected until next year.
What do we know so far? Diane Mitchell, Chief Environmental Advisor NFU.
Will this policy deliver a more resilient agriculture and food sector? – Peter Craven,Head of Agriculture at Natural England.
Yield limiting factors.
Once again Drainage or rather the current limitations of many farm drainage schemes was again critical in terms of crop performance for harvest 25. Whilst widely recognised as an issue too many farms feel unable to currently make the necessary investment.
Can productivity be increased by enough to justify the investment? Tim Sisson from drainage contractors, William Moorfoot.
Trials results from the AHDB Strategic Farm North – David Blacker has made that investment and has been investigating the benefits – we will hear from David and Lenny Lowth (AHDB).
Wider Resilience
Agroforestry. Whilst a few years ago was considered somewhat niche is now gaining interest as its potential is becoming apparent – for those of us new to the idea and the benefits it can bring – Alexander Bentley, Forestry Commission, will discuss the principles followed by Shropshire farmer Mark Lea talking about his experiences in introducing agroforestry onto his farm.
Controlled Traffic Farming (CTF)
Has been known for many years to be able to deliver soil health and crop output benefits in arable systems ( https://cdn.harper-adams.ac.uk/document/event/241203-A-Guide-to-Reducing-Soil-Compaction-455641.pdf).
What can CTF bring to grassland management?
– Hans Hendrick Pederson , Danish researcher and long term farmer user of CTF. And Brian Fruergaard-Rioed, on his forage grass will share their knowledge and experiences.
On Farm monitoring and the impact of decisions made on soil and crops and enabling better decision making.
SAMS – Morley Soil and Agronomic Monitoring Study - the goal of this project is to link soil health with yield, profitability and resilience though long term on-farm monitoring - David Clark, NIAB.
Bookings can be made via:
Related news:
