Soil science
Toolkit for growers marks three years of GREATsoils project
O
nline how-to guides with practical advice from growers on test- ing and improving soil health are among a toolkit of resourc- es available following the end of the Soil Association’s three-year involvement with the GREAT- soils project.
More than 750 attendees have joined the many GREATsoils grower events around the coun- try since the Soil Association be- gan work on the soil health pro- ject in 2015, in partnership with the Organic Research Centre and Earthcare Technical. The project was funded by the Agriculture and Horticulture De- velopment Board. The AHDB is now continuing the GREATsoils programme and building on its success with new partnership projects aimed to plugging fur- ther knowledge gaps.
Important asset Available resources include vide- os, downloadable fact sheets and case studies, as well as online we- binars, which were all gathered during three years of grower en- gagement at fi eld trials, fi eld labs and workshops all focused on evaluating methods of testing soil health.
The toolkit includes demon- strations on methods of taking and testing soil samples, collect- ing data, and the various methods of improving soil systems follow- ing observations of the growers involved. Farm manager Simon Day, of
Worth Farms, Holbeach Marsh, south Lincolnshire, is a GREAT- soils fi eld lab participant. He said: “GREATsoils is a good forum for getting people together to talk about how we can improve our most important asset, the soil.”
Ben Raskin, head of horti- culture at the Soil Association, said: “The Soil Association has had three fantastic years work- ing with growers to investigate the effectiveness of various ways of testing and improving soil with the GREATsoils project.
Expert knowledge
“It has provided a platform for growers to come together in a unique way to network and share their knowledge on soil health, no matter what their sys- tem or size. “We are celebrating the end of our involvement in this pro- gramme, which is continuing with AHDB, by sharing some bril- liant online how-to guides, avail- able for free on our website and based on growers’ experience.” Audrey Litterick, of Earth- care Technical, said: “These on-
line guides draw on the expert knowledge that has been shared between the many growers, farm- ers and advisors who have been involved in the 56 events of this project and are an excellent re-
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