Want to try Omnia for FREE? Sign Up Now

Unlock the best precision farming solution. Sign Up Now

Flexibility Key for Agroecology Aims – Agronomist and Arable Farmer – Dick Neale

Looking at cultural controls within a flexible system that focuses on profitable crop production ...

The Helix project from Hutchinsons focuses on validating technologies, techniques and operations for the benefit of the company’s customers. The latest addition to this initiative is Whitley Manor, just outside of Newport, Shropshire.

Farm manager Harry Heath said joining the Helix project, as part of the Shropshire Agroecology Project, will benefit the farm. “We were primarily an arable and pig farm, with 550 to 600 sows producing 17,000 pigs a year,” Mr Heath said.

“Due to uncertainty in the market, we came out of the pig industry and shifted our focus to ensuring that our 200 hectares of sandy, irrigated soil was profitable.”

Agroecology follows a series of principles and Mr Heath highlighted how the farm has strived to meet them since 2019.The first is a diverse rotation, with the farm currently sowing winter wheat, OSR, winter wheat and a spring beans/oats combination crop. Barley was also a main cash crop, but an infestation of Italian rye grass has, so far, scuppered plans for the crop.

“At the end of the day, flexibility has to be the key to this,” Mr Heath said.

“We’re looking at cultural controls but agroecology cannot be a religion. Instead, in years when financial pressures threaten viability, we need a system that enables us to pivot quickly and produce a crop.”

One of the methods has been for the Heath family to use home saved, untreated seeds. “We haven’t seen any negative connotations from this yet and it means that in difficult years, like the two wet autumns of 2019 and 2020, we don’t feel the pressure to get expensive, treated seed into the ground regardless of the conditions,” he said. “Now we can wait until the weather and soil are at the right point to ensure a good yield.”

Other parameters for agroecology include reducing soil movement. Hutchinsons’ technical manager Dick Neale was quick to point out that minimising soil movement did not mean eliminating it. “With Italian rye grass, we shouldn’t be afraid to plough but we should use our baseline readings and what we know about the soil to adjust our plough depth so that we are moving the minimum amount of soil possible, while also addressing the problem.”

Also important is keeping living roots in the ground for as much of the year as possible, through a combination of cash crops and cover crops. Mr Neale also pointed out how variances in the soil will impact which crops grow.

“During a test, we used fresh compost and compost that had previously been used in a wormery,” he explained. “I then planted a combination of radish, vetch, crimson clover, linseed, buckwheat and phacelia.

“What was interesting, and something that shows the impact that the different biology of the soil can have, was that in the fresh compost we saw that the brassica crops thrived, showing the strength of the bacteria in the soil, while in the wormery soil we saw more legumes, which rely on a certain level of fungus in the soil.”

While Hutchinsons is waiting on detailed test results to give an indication of what the soil requires to grow certain crops, and also gives credence to growing crops that would naturally grow in the soil type: similar to the idea that a weed is simply a misplaced plant, not a bad plant.

Mr Neale also noted that growing cover crops did not need to be an expensive exercise. “In on field, we allowed volunteers from the previous crop to germinate alongside the Italian rye grass, then added a varied cover crop mix in to diversify the roots in the soil,” he said.

“The key is having something alive in the ground to feed that biology.”

The Helix project was expanding, with seven farms now up and running and another three in transition.

Stuart Hill, head of technology and innovation at Hutchinsons, said: “Our aim is to build a comprehensive picture of UK farms to be able to validate our systems and technologies in a variety of soil types and farming systems. None of our practises will tell you the answer, but with a depth of data to mine we advise for any region and any climate in the UK.”

Careers

Find details on our agronomy training & careers, as well as current support staff vacancies...

View Careers

Our Sustainability Statement

Discover how we promote sustainable farming practices and work with like-minded companies on cross industry initiatives…

Learn More

Contact Us and Depot Locations

We're here to help and answer any questions you might have. We look forward to hearing from you...

Envelope Icon Email Us