Grass & Forage
Don’t risk grassland yield and quality G
• Check soil status regularly • Adjust pH if and as necessary • Only use high quality lime
rassland is becoming more acidic, according to recent evidence from
the British Survey of Fertiliser Practice, which suggests growers should maintain soil pH closer to neutral.
Five-year average Few people do this proactively, with the five-year average show- ing just 3% of grassland limed an- nually. This is despite more than 50% of 160,000 grassland soil samples surveyed being record- ed at or below pH 6.0. This level of low pH will sig- nificantly impact on the utilisa- tion of nitrogen, potassium and phosphate. In turn this will ad- versely affect sward composition, leading to a decline in grassland yield and quality.
Growers should only use qood quality lime
Ark Agriculture takes silage clamp innovation to new heights
A management buy-out of Bock UK has seen the company known for its innovation in silage clamps for livestock farmers and anaer- obic digestion plants re-branded as Ark Agriculture.
Renowned for its slop-
ing-walled clamps and oxygen barrier silage sheets, the Col- chester-based firm is now chaired by Sean Milbank with Francis Auchincloss, William Wilson and Oliver Peck forming the board of directors.
Complete clamp and covering systems will remain a core focus of the company – but its product range has already been extended. Business development direc-
tor William Wilson said: “This is an exciting new chapter and gives us a platform to build on our expe- rience in delivering silage clamp solutions for the agricultural and biogas industries. “As a team we have built well
over 50 clamps across the UK and advised hundreds of customers on how to make the best silage possible.”
In partnership with DuPont Industrial Biosciences, Ark Ag- riculture will supply enzymes for the optimisation of biogas yields and digestion of high viscosi- ty materials, such as straw, for plant operators in the anaerobic digestion sector.
Ark Agriculture (l-r): William Wilson, Oliver Peck, Sean Millbank and Francis Auchincloss
Mr Wilson added: “With our new enzyme offering and fur- ther innovations in the pipeline we are confident that Ark Agri- culture can scale new heights.”
A new website has been
launched detailing all the com- pany’s products and services. For details, call 01787 220561 or visit
www.arkagriculture.com.
MARCH 2018 • ANGLIA FARMER 41
Natural rate Furthermore, nitrogen applica- tions increase the natural rate of soil acidification. This can be ex- acerbated cut herbage removes significantly larger quantities of calcium when compared to oth-
er crops, says Richard Cogman, of British Sugar’s Limex division. Managing soil pH closer to neutral will often improve for- age magnesium content and sup- port better K:Mg ratios that will in turn reduce the risk of hypo- magnesaemia, says Mr Cogman. “Regular pH testing and cor- rective liming to greater than pH 6.5 will avoid consequential loss of yield and forage quality by maintaining soil pH at an appro- priate level, such that other mac- ro and micro nutrients are avail- able to the growing crop.”
Quality important Before buying lime, always check the quality. It should preferably at least 45 NV and 40% or more passing the 150 micron sieve test are essential parameters. The Ag- lime Quality Standard was in- troduced in 2017 to give farmers greater confidence in the quali- ty of lime. Beware because hard stone greater than 1.3mm is rarely of any liming value, and ideally particles less than 0.6mm are the most reactive.
LimeX is at least 85% pass- ing 150 microns, and is at least 95% reactive, making it the ideal product for fast acting, but last- ing correction of pH and increases soil available calcium, and can be used in organic farming systems.
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