Get soils fit to work
Arable farmers must ensure their soils are working to maximum efficiency if they are to obtain optimum performance from their crops, says Kevin Ashford, agronomist for Sustainable Soil Management (SSM), the soil advisory division of The Glenside Group.
Kevin Ashford, agronomist for Sustainable Soil Management (SSM), the soil advisory division of The Glenside Group
While much of their focus will be on correcting physical damage done in the past two years, he says they also need to get a really accurate assessment of the soil’s chemical and productive capacity before making plans – something many of the soil tests currently available fail to do.
The company highlighted the issue at Cereals 2013 by growing a set of six plots of wheat, with a central control plot being grown according to RB209 recommendations, based on the standard soil test provided to all exhibitors by the event organisers.
“Before the event we completed one of our Albrecht ® Soil Surveys on our plot, which identified that the soil was calcium-dominated. Magnesium levels were lower than would be considered ideal, but what was there was tied up by the calcium and so not available to the plant.
“On the rest of our plots we responded to this by including some kieserite in the fertiliser regime, which successfully addressed this situation.
“On these trial plots we applied the 250kgs of N recommended by the standard soil test the organisers do on the site, but it generated just 27.30 tonnes/hectare of biomass in the wheat crop sampled just ahead of the event.
“We adjusted our strategy in response to the Albrecht ® Soil Survey results, cutting the nitrogen applied to 200kgsN/ha and adding Biagro Phos N to balance the soil and ‘free up’ the magnesium, and some Marraphite bio-stimulant, a combination that raised that figure to 32.20 t/ha
“In cost terms this was broadly neutral, with the treatment costing around £48/ha, which was almost the same as the saving on nitrogen.
“But the crop treated with our regime had almost 5 t/ha more biomass, which would be expected to produce significantly greater yield, while utilising the fertilisers applied more efficiently – a benefit in both business and environmental terms.
”We would stress that these were not replicated trial plots and that biomass does not always translate into yield. However, if we have increased biomass we will have increased the amount of sunlight and energy captured by the plants, and thus will be returning more carbon to the soil.
“This will help build organic matter levels in the soil, and so help improve soil structure, microbial activity, nutrient cycling, and ultimately, the sustainability of the farm itself”.