Practical Guides
On this page, we've gathered our practical guides across a wide range of areas helpful in running your farm.
Crops & Soils
Conservation & Biodiversity
Surveying Farmland Wading Birds – A Practical Guide
Monitoring breeding waders on your farm enables you to track changes from year to year. This Practical Guide gives some guidance as to why and how to begin surveying farmland wading birds.
DownloadEnergy & Renewables
Farming for a Better Climate Practical Guides
This is legacy content from Farming For A Better Climate
Practical Guide: Farm Woodlands for Shelter
This Practical Guide looks at opportunities for improving shelter on the farm by the presence of woodlands.
DownloadPractical Guide: Nutrient budgeting I – The Benefits to your Business
This practical guide looks at the benefits of creating and using a nutrient budget for your farm business.
DownloadPractical Guide: Nutrient Budgeting II – Getting Started
This practical guide looks at what factors you need to consider when making a nutrient budget for your farm, fertiliser recommendations and how to get the most out of your nutrient budget.
DownloadPractical Guide: Soil sampling I – How to take a soil sample
This practical guide details what is required to take a soil sample for analysis that is representative of the area sampled.
DownloadPractical Guide: Soil sampling II – Benefits to your business
This practical guide details how soil sampling can benefit businesses by increasing productivity and create efficiencies on fertiliser inputs through better nutrient planning.
DownloadPractical Guide: Silage Testing: Interpreting the Results
This practical guide looks at helping to maximise performance of
housed cattle by improving the use of silages.
Practical Guide: Greenhouse Gas Emissions
This Practical Guide looks at the main agricultural greenhouse gases and how farm emissions might be reduced.
DownloadPractical Guide: Tyre Selection & Management
This practical guide explains how to reduce soil damage, improve fuel usage and reduce overall green house gas emissions by selecting the correct tyre size, type and pressure.
DownloadPractical Guide: Managing Soil Phosphorus
This Practical Guide will help you manage the phosphorus in your soils. It will help you understand the risk of phosphorus pollution and how you can reduce bagged fertiliser costs in grassland by incorporating nitrogen fixing clover into your sward.
DownloadPractical Guide: Alternative Forages for Ewes
This practical guide looks at reducing ewe feed costs while aiding rotational benefits and animal performance.
DownloadPractical Guide: Resource Use Efficiency on Arable Farms
This Practical Guide concentrates on some of the opportunities that could come from carrying out a carbon footprint on an arable farm.
DownloadPractical Guide: Optimising Tractor Fuel Use
This Practical Guide looks at how to reduce tractor fuel consumption
DownloadPractical Guide – Optimising Organic Nitrogen
This Practical Guide concentrates on how you can manage organic nitrogen to benefit the business and help reduce GHG emissions.
DownloadPractical Guide – Optimising Inorganic Nitrogen
This Practical Guide concentrates on how you can manage nutrient application and help reduce GHG emissions.
DownloadPractical Guide: Making the Most of On-Site Energy Generation
This Farming For a Better Climate Practical Guide looks at how demand management can reduce the need to import electricity from the grid.
DownloadPractical Guide: Use of Cover Crops
This Practical Guide concentrates on the benefits of cover crops and how they can help your farm adapt in a changing climate.
DownloadPractical Guide: Biodiverse Hedgerows for Carbon
This Practical Guide explores the benefits of biodiverse farm hedgerows, including management, Farm Carbon Storage Network and planting.
DownloadPractical Guide: Agroforestry for Beef and Sheep Farmers
This Practical Guide outlines some considerations for beef and sheep farmers considering agroforestry.
DownloadPractical Guide: Carbon Footprinting on the Beef Farm
This Practical Guide concentrates on some of the opportunities that could come from carrying out a carbon footprint on the beef farm.
DownloadPractical Guide: Comparing Grazing Methods
This Practical Guide is designed to improve understanding of different grazing strategies, their impacts for farm businesses and the environment.
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