3 regen farmers to share expertise at Cereals event

Farmers will be sharing their knowledge and expertise on Base-UK’s regenerative agriculture stage at this year’s Cereals Event, as they discuss ways that rural businesses can grow without government support.

Sessions on collaboration, finance, biologicals and livestock integration are on the agenda, with practical insights and learnings being given by the organisation’s farmer members over the two days.

See also: How arable farms are adapting as public funding disappears

They will be joined by researchers and industry experts, as they pool their findings and experience to look for opportunities in the current economic climate.

Collaboration

Fife grower and Leaf demonstration farmer Matt Waldie will be explaining how collaboration is working for him and three other local farmers, after they formed a joint venture in 2016.

Now in its tenth year, the business known as 4Front Farming is making best use of technology and scale to drive efficiencies and increase profitability – helping to safeguard its future, seize opportunities and de-risk the business.

Machinery and labour is shared, as is input purchasing and grain marketing, although all four farmers have retained ownership of their land.

Matt, who manages the business, is one of only three full-time employees on 1,600ha of combinable cropping, so fixed costs have come down.

Large, high-tech machinery plays a part in that, while economies of scale are helping keep a lid on variable costs.

The business is run on regenerative principles with a low input approach wherever possible, removing much of the risk associated with such a transition and spreading it across all four units.

As Matt explains, Scottish farmers will still receive direct support payments for another couple of years.

“But the clock is ticking and we are seeing reductions and conditions imposed on us now, so we need to be prepared for that.”

Five different environmental schemes are in place across the farm, with stewardship of the land being a priority for all four of the owners, as well as for the supply chains the business is involved with, he adds.

“Success with a joint venture does depend on finding like-minded farmers and keeping communication open,” acknowledges Matt, who will be explaining how they went about forming the business and how it can be replicated in the collaboration session.

Finances

In the finance session, Lincolnshire grower Colin Chappell will discuss why soil health is vital for low-input, low-cost farming.

“Get your soil in order first,” he advises. “In my case, that took four years. If soils aren’t functioning well, you are likely to see a yield drop – I went cold turkey and yields halved overnight. I wouldn’t do that again.”

He is now achieving wheat yields of more than 10t/ha and has reduced costs considerably – something he describes as “back pocket savings”.

Using nitrogen more efficiently has meant that fungicide and plant growth regulator treatments are down and crop interventions fewer.

“I spent a total of £13.40/ha on fungicides last year,” he recalls. “In such a dry season, I only needed to spray once.”

Even with grain prices at current levels, he is confident that he can still make money. His growing costs are £85-£110/t, excluding finance, with his focus being margin rather than yield.

 “We can save money doing what we’re doing,” he says. “My other advice would be don’t get too obsessed by machinery – you don’t need a big expensive drill to farm in a regenerative way.”

On his farm, he has access to four different drills, but owns just two of them. “Once you accept you don’t need to own the drill and that a yield drop may occur for the first few years, you are on your way.”

Biologicals

In the biologicals session entitled “Do More with Less”, Northamptonshire farm manager Stuart Tabernor will be outlining how he built his own peristaltic pump for use on the farm’s drill.

Having taken the decision to build a Johnson-Su bioreactor and produce fungal-rich compost to support soil biology, he needed to find a way of applying it at drilling.

“I looked at peristaltic pumps and discovered that purchasing one would cost us £10,000. So I decided to build my own for less,” he reveals.

He took on the task over the winter and only spent a total of £2,000. “Once the various parts that I needed had arrived, it took a maximum of three days.”

While his pump hasn’t been used in an autumn drilling campaign yet, he has tested it on the drill and is confident of the outcome.

The biologicals session will cover more than building your own peristaltic pump, Stuart continues. “Others will be explaining why biologicals should be used, what the benefits are and the costs involved.

“With fertiliser at its current high prices, there’s good reason to investigate ways of reducing your need for nitrogen.”