Farmer Focus: Fascinating topics at the Base UK conference
Andy Barr © MAG/Colin Miller I have just attended the Base UK conference focusing on regenerative agriculture and there really was something for everyone.
Even if you are just interested in lowering your inputs bill, there is practical action for you.
If you’ve been doing it for a long time you know only too well you will keep on learning, especially “over a couple of beers” as one of the speakers on farmer knowledge exchange, Vicky Robinson pointed out.
See also: How two arable farmers apply manure to standing crops
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I certainly wasn’t expecting a motivational speaker, let alone one that I actually thought had something useful to say.
“Don’t just ‘try’ something, either do it or don’t do it,” insisted David Hyner in between amazing demonstrations of what we are all capable of.
Frédéric Thomas could talk for days and I could listen as well.
Among his extraordinary wealth of knowledge he explained how he could drive his car around the world 40 times before he had emitted as much carbon as his 200ha farm captured last year.
However, he also pointed out that there is a balance to be had – capturing carbon requires nitrogen, and when it is released, so is nitrogen.
The key is not to lose that nitrogen when it is released, for example after tillage and rain in the autumn.
Interestingly, he seemed not to be a particular fan of composting manure as the resulting products have lost C, N and K.
Alastair Leake from the Allerton Project has decades of farm research under his belt, and in fact successfully direct drilled winter wheat into a green cover about 30 years ago.
He added to the carbon discussion with evidence that direct-drilled soils in crops actually lose more carbon as carbon dioxide than ploughed fields due to the increase in soil life.
Crucially however, they also capture more overall.
Fascinatingly, he is involved in some pan-European research looking at the possibility of estimating soil carbon content from satellite images.
