Soil health


Conservation agriculture trial yields promising early results


crop establishment challenges, sug- gest interim trial results. The impact of differing cultivation types has been assessed for the past three years by the Syngenta Sustaina- ble Farming Initiative in partnership with NIAB and the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s Allerton Project. Interim findings from the half-way point of the five-year project – which aims to quantify the effects of a move towards conservation agriculture – were presented at last month’s Cere- als 2021 in Lincolnshire. The trials are on heavy soil at Lod-


A


dington, Leicestershire, and on a light- land farm at Lenham, Kent. A plough- based system is being assessed against minimum-cultivation and direct drill- ing across a rotation of barley, oilseed rape, wheat, beans and wheat. Financial data shows that direct drilling has resulted in reductions in fuel usage of between 50-65%, while work rates over the ploughed system are around 50% improved. This has driven operational cost improvements of some £8-£10/ha.


Yield reduction


But crop establishment has suffered – especially in the challenging soils at Loddington – with a drop of around 8% helping contribute to an overall re- duction in both yield and grain mar- gin/ha of 9%. Even so, net profit per hectare has so far increased by 5% at Loddington and by 18% at Lenham. Soil green- house gas emissions dropped by 16- 17% at both sites, and the measured carbon footprint of the cropped area fell by some 10%.


Syngenta head of sustainability


dopting a minimum tillage sys- tem and moving less soil can increase profitability despite


Belinda Bailey: positive results


Below: Direct drilling is more profitable


although yields are lower, suggests the study


Mark Hall said: “The research has proven the potential for conserva- tion agriculture techniques to huge- ly cut greenhouse gas emissions, by around 16%. “With these results, when you com- bine the environmental gains with the improvement in net profit, of 18% on light land and 5% on heavier land, there is clear direction for a more sus- tainable farming system.”


The two contrasting soil types has identified some key challenges for growers moving to conservation agri- culture systems – but also pinpoint- ed potential for future research to ad- dress those issues.


Syngenta project manager Belin- da Bailey said: “Over the course of the trial yields have been slightly lower with the direct/light till establishment, down by around 3% on lights land and 9% on heavy land.


“That would appear to be primarily due to correspondingly reduced crop establishment on both farms. “However, when you factor in the


cost savings of up to 65% fuel saving, 10% reduction in operating costs and over 50% improvement in work rate, the effects of yield penalties are large- ly mitigated. “Add in the savings in the farm’s overall machinery required for the di- rect-drill establishment, and the net profit in both farm situations is ex- tremely positive,” saidMs Bailey. GWCT Allerton Project head of partnerships Joe Stanley said: “On


36 ANGLIA FARMER • AUGUST 2021


the environmental front, bird sight- ings at both farms were seen to double in a direct-drilling system, while earth- worm numbers were also up.


Resilient farming With the Basic Payment Scheme due to be phased out by 2028, and given the challenges of an increasingly ex- treme climate, Mr Staney said it had never been more vital for farmers to reduce costs and boost the resilience of their farming systems. “Furthermore, the dramatically im- proved work rate of the reduced till- age system offers a clear attraction to farm businesses needing to capitalise on increasingly narrow weather win- dows,” he said.


The key metric in the report is the net profit/ha which improved at both sites despite decreased yields – al- though this wasn’t to deny the great- er challenges represented by heavy land in this transition.


Consideration must also be given to the costs of replacing existing equip- ment, said Mr Stanley. The story was similarly positive


on the environmental front, with bio- diversity increasing, the worm num- bers moving in the right direction un- der reduced tillage to help improve soil health, and the carbon footprint of the food produced declining.


“This indicates that conservation agriculture will likely play a key part in the move towards nature-friendly, climate-friendly farming.”


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