Smallholder Discussion Group: Making the Most of Your Soil (Lothians) – event summary

We ran a discussion group for smallholders in the Lothians and Peeblesshire on the 24th of January 2017.  This was the first meeting of the group and the focus was on soil management including:

• Productivity and crop health – the importance of knowing your soil type, pH and nutrient status.
• Cross compliance – requirements such as buffer strips to prevent soil loss, minimum soil cover, limiting erosion and avoiding poaching.
• Nutrient plans – importance of soil sampling, understanding the soil results, nutrient budgeting.
• Soil Biodiversity – Why soil biodiversity is important – good soil management can maintain and improve soil biodiversity.
• Soil Structure and Drainage – looking at problems caused by poor drainage such as compaction.  Practical session on how to hand texture soil and assess soil compaction.

Presentations delivered at the event can be found below.