Roxburghshire Soil & Nutrient Network Final Meeting – Event summary

The third and final meeting of the Roxburghshire Soil and Nutrient Network Farm took place recently at Stichill Village Hall.

The meeting began with some discussion on assessing farmgate nutrient balance.  Working out the nutrient balance allows you to see if current practice is resulting in a surplus or deficit of major nutrients on the farm. 

Using host farm Girrick as an example, agricultural consultant Andy Baird showed attendees how to calculate the farmgate nutrient balance using PLANET Scotland software.  PLANET is free to use and can be downloaded from the PLANET website.  Andy’s presentation can be found here.

By deducting nutrient exports from imports over a 12 month period, we could establish that Girrick had a surplus of N, P & K at farm level. Whilst this exercise provides a useful overview, nutrient balance should ideally be assessed at field level to account for soil analysis results and how nutrients movearound the farm (e.g. within FYM).

Audrey Litterick then led a session on soil organic matter.  Audrey emphasised how vital organic matter is to soil health and explained the challenges of measuring and managing levels in the soil.  Audrey’s presentation can be found here.

Later in the afternoon, Andy Baird talked about the importance of regular fertiliser spreader calibration.  The fertiliser spreader at Girrick was tested and calibrated ahead of the coming season and attendees were shown what key checks were carried out.  Read Andy’s presentation slides.

Over the winter, a field at Girrick was soil sampled using two different methods of GPS (1/4 ha grids and 1 ha grids).  Senior consultant Donald Dunbar explained the pros and cons of different sampling methods and highlighted the cost/benefit of each when factoring in sampling cost and savings in lime required.  Donald’s presentation can be found here.

The meeting was wrapped up with a summary of everything that had been carried out and covered through this project.  Host farmer Andrew Forster told the group that it had been a valuable experience for him, offering him some reassurance that he was doing things right!

Key take home messages from this meeting included:

• Working out your farmgate nutrient balance offers a fairly quick way to see if your farm has a surplus or deficit of key nutrients. All of the data required for this exercise is also needed for a carbon audit. Carbon audits are fully funded through FAS so looking at your farmgate nutrient balance at the same time could add value to your carbon audit.
• Regular organic matter returns and conservation of exisiting soil organic matter are vital in order to maintain and enhance soil health. Growing green manures or cover crops, applying FYM, incorporating crop residues (e.g. straw) and minimising intensive cultivations are the main ways to maintain or improve soil organic matter levels.
• Only around a third of farms in the UK have their fertiliser checked every year. The cost of a professional test can be recouped over a relatively small area in many cases.
• Whilst the cost of GPS soil sampling is higher than that of traditional methods, a net saving can often be made when less lime is required to raise pH as this will be more targeted.

Downloads below include the information available to take away from the event and some related documents.

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Girrick Farm was one of 12 host farms for the Soil & Nutrient Network during 2017-18.  You can read meeting notes from the first and second meetings.  Read more about previous host farmers at the Farming & Water Scotland webpage.