plan to try and maximise our output, from our free inputs, sunshine and rainfall. In my opinion our farm must be underpinned by a healthy farm ecosystem; as I have written before, nature is the model.
Now, that is being slightly unfair to the OFC, because it is modernising, offering scholarships to many young people and has a wide demographic of attendees. I was asked to speak about on a panel titled ‘Opportunities to Change our Farming Systems’, as a farmer involved in the ‘PRISM 2030’ programme for ABP, the abattoir and processor to whom we send our lambs and some of our beef cattle. PRISM is ABP’s sustainability programme and whilst being centred on the effort to meet the government’s carbon net zero targets, it has a wider remit. Looking at a farm’s water cycle, fertiliser use, diesel use and single use plastics are all part of the aim to make farmer members of the programme more sustainable.
It was an amazing opportunity to speak at such an event and although I was slightly nervous, I am very grateful for all the speaking training I have had over the past 30+ years, starting in a draughty cattle shed, aged 14, judging cattle for my Young Farmers Club! Although I didn’t know it at the time, those are real skills for life.
I talked about the things we are doing here on our farm, to improve our carbon footprint, which was actually one of the lower ones across the 350 farms in the programme. We are using rotational grazing, holistic management and an integrated farm
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By using rotational grazing and the power of rest, while we built roots in the soil, we are trying to improve water infiltration and holding capacity, so that we can hold onto the excesses of water we get, to help us through the drier times. For each one percent of soil organic matter (essentially carbon) we can hold in our soil we hold an extra 20,000 gallons of water per acre. The potential is huge, particularly if soils are currently in the low single figures for soil organic matter. We might not be able to stop the flooding, but we should be able to make a difference, if we can change our focus away from yield. The problem is, the market hasn’t found a way to account for that yet. Like it or not, economics drives everything, so putting a value on nature might be a necessary part of the future.
Rich, Risbury
LIVE24-SEVEN.COM
BUS INE S S ON THE FARM
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