How to enhance your soil health

Rhug Estate, an organic enterprise in North Wales, has been trialling a soil conditioner which has helped boost crop yields and silage nutritional values, while reducing inputs.

After managing the Rhug Estate farm for almost 30 years and overseeing its transition to organic production, Gareth Jones – farm manager – is always on the lookout for ways to maintain a healthy soil and boost its biodiversity.

© TIMAC AGRO International

According to Mr Jones, soil is at the heart of all farming practices and is key to providing the correct crop nutrition.

“However, we can’t rely on artificial fertilisers to help boost plant growth and vigour, so we find other ways to ensure crops are getting the right nutrition at the right times,” he says.

“We rely heavily on maintaining a good level of organic matter through applying farmyard manure (FYM), poultry manure and growing cover crops, which provide many of the plant nutrients required, along with stabilising soil structure.”

He explains that it has been difficult to maintain phosphorus (P) within the soils at Rhug, as some areas are quite peaty and tend to have naturally low levels of mineral P anyway.

“Whilst FYM is a very good source of nitrogen (N), only about 50-60% of P found in manures is available to the growing crop,” adds Mr Jones.

“Plant requirements usually exceed this amount, so we regularly soil test to try and keep it at a sufficient level, but this can be difficult.”

With P deficiencies posing a problem for the Rhug estate, Mr Jones jumped at the chance to trial an organic certified phosphate soil conditioner, Ferteos IV, when he was approached by Timac advisor, Samantha Alexander.

“We decided to apply the soil conditioner to a crop of spring barley and an Italian ryegrass and red clover sward to analyse the effects on yield and plant quality,” says Mr Jones.

Gareth Jones – Rhug estate farm manager © TIMAC AGRO International

“This year has been particularly challenging in terms of weather, and the soil can often be prone to water logging in the winter followed by capping in the summer. We’ve welcomed trialling a new product, which not only is organic certified but gives us the opportunity to increase soil fertility and nutrition availability.”

Increased yields

Mr Jones says the trial results have been very promising, with the conditioner delivering increased yields and profit margins.

“I was surprised to see that even after such a dry spring, we saw an 18% uplift in the yield of the spring barley compared to the control, which has meant a financial gain of nearly £200/ha,” adds Mr Jones.

He says grain samples were taken to assess protein content, and plate meter readings were taken throughout the growing period for the Italian ryegrass and red clover ley.

“The silage analysis results showed that crude protein, metabolisable energy (ME) and digestibility value (D-value) were all greatly improved,” adds Mr Jones.

“All our silage and cereals are used on farm for feed, so if we can enhance the forage, we can start improving finishing rates of our cattle and sheep.”

© TIMAC AGRO International

Intensify soil biology, rather than inputs

Timac’s technical manager, David Newton, says the aim of a phosphate soil conditioner is to intensify soil biology, rather than intensify inputs.

He says soil conditioners are designed to increase biological populations and activity to enhance mineralisation of organic nitrogen and phosphorus, making them more available for plant uptake.

“The Ferteos technology not only enables the mineralisation of N and P, but also controls the release of N within the soil. This is done by slowing down the natural conversion of ammonium to nitrate in the soil so the plant can utilise nutrients over a longer period in the growing season.”

If crops can utilise nutrients more efficiently, this means less will be lost to the environment.

Mr Newton explains that leaching is reduced because nitrate production is slowed, alongside this, there is a measurable reduction in nitrous oxide emissions due to reduced denitrification.

“Applying soil conditioners will bring year-on-year benefits to your soil health, boosting nutrient efficiency”.  

“At a time when margins are tight for farmers, efficient use of crop nutrients is required to keep costs of inputs low. Additionally, the need to minimise risk of environmental impacts means soil conditioners might be the answer to helping to reduce emissions,” he concludes.

 Trial results

Spring Barley

Silage analysis