LAND USE AND ENVIRONMENT
Forestry issues on the agenda
A round table meeting to discuss the interactions between agriculture and forestry in April was attended by the SRPBA. The meeting was held at the Scottish Parliament and was chaired by Richard Lochhead. A wide range of other stakeholders also attended, including ConFor, National Farmers Union Scotland, Scottish Agricultural College, National Beef Association, National Sheep Association, Tenant Farmers Forum, Scottish Beef Cattle Association and the Scottish Crofting Federation. The meeting focused on practical ways woodland creation and agriculture can be integrated in Scotland. A number of points were raised, including: ◆ Expanding woodland cover in Scotland should be pursued, but it is important to get the right trees in the right places. Prime agricultural land and high-nature value land are not suitable for tree planting. ◆Woodland expansion in Scotland could bring many benefits, especially for climate change mitigation. Trees sequester carbon during growth, woodfuel is a renewable heat source and wood is a less energy-intensive building material than cement or steel. ◆ One possible way of integrating forestry and agriculture is through their integration at the field scale (agroforestry). Silvoarable and silvopastoral systems can be highly productive and deliver greater yields and financial returns than either conventional agriculture or forestry in isolation. ◆ It is vital that other land uses are also taken into consideration, for example, land used for renewable energy generation.
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Pictured in the photo from left are Martin Hall, Michael Reid Thomas, Edward Dunbar and Clare Maxwell
Capital effort to clean up
The Edinburgh office of land agents Davidson & Robertson Rural took part for the second year in the National Spring Clean campaign. Their clean-up, on 8 April, covered the area between Riccarton and Wester Hailes along Whitelaw Road on the western side of the capital. The group managed to collect a total of seven large refuse sacks. Organiser Michael Reid Thomas
said: “The pathways on the outskirts of Edinburgh look so much better if they can be kept clean and our effort this year will, I hope, encourage others to take their litter home rather than discard it.”
Save costs through irrigation efficiency
Water resources are under pressure throughout Scotland from increasing demands for public water supply, industrial use, commercial irrigation and a variety of other uses. Irrigated agriculture is an essential part of the rural economy in parts of Scotland. For example, potatoes are an essential crop grown here and require a considerable amount of water to ensure that quality standards and continuity of supply are achieved. Abstractions for irrigation are regulated by SEPA under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2005. As part of the licence requirements, licence holders have to demonstrate they are using abstracted water efficiently. Any person or business abstracting more than 50m3 of water per day for irrigation must pay an application fee to SEPA, and a yearly fee which allows regular monitoring and assessment of the water environment to take place.
IRRIGATION EFFICIENCY AND WATER AUDITS
Irrigation efficiency is about ensuring that the water supplied to a crop is exactly what is required for healthy growth, and is supplied at the right time and place.
Many land managers are aware that efficient irrigation makes good commercial sense because pumping water that is not required by the crop wastes money. A water audit for irrigation not only reduces water use, but it also saves money and helps to demonstrate compliance with licence conditions. An audit should consider all areas of water use in a business. For irrigation, the audit should look at the normal irrigation practice on a farm and take into account daily rainfall, evapotranspiration rates, metered water readings and crop requirements.
A water meter allows land managers to measure the volume of water that is being abstracted for irrigation. They are not particularly expensive and, if managed correctly, can save money in the long term by reducing the volumes of water to be pumped to the crop for growth and can help to minimise water wastage. Knowing the soil types in a field
will make a difference to the amount of water that is required by a crop, as some soils can retain water more efficiently than others. A comparison of the predicted irrigation requirements of a crop against water actually applied (from water meter readings) can be carried out. A close match indicates good water efficiency.
EQUIPMENT
Close attention should be paid to the irrigation equipment used. Different types of equipment deliver the water in different ways and this should be taken into consideration when designing an irrigation system. Pressure readings should be taken regularly at the pump and at the irrigator to ensure that pressure losses are not significant. A significant pressure loss from pump to irrigator is usually a good indication of leakage. Distribution of irrigation water should be uniform across the crop being irrigated. Taking time to consider how well an irrigation system is operating is also a useful exercise.
For more details, visit
www.sepa.
org.uk/water/water_regulation/regi mes.aspx or contact your local SEPA Office via SEPA’s Corporate Office on 01786 457700.
LANDBUSINESS ISSUE 36 JUNE-JULY 2010
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