Healthy soil, healthy crops, healthy environment

Creating a healthy soil can not only mean healthy crops but a healthy bank balance and healthy environment.

Earthworms

Looking after your soil can also provide a buffering effect against extremes in temperature and rainfall, reducing the impact of extreme weather events.

To help farmers get it right CAFRE is organising two Open Days on Sustainable Soil Management on:

• Tuesday 31 July at Greenmount Campus, Antrim

11.00am to 6.30pm

• Thursday 2 August at Enniskillen Campus

11.00am to 6.30pm

The guided tour open days focus on:

• Assessing soil structure and health
• Avoiding soil compaction
• Correcting soil damage
• Soil nutrient management
• Grass sward improvement

“A healthy soil is essential to ensure both high grass and crop yields and allow environmental protection through carbon sequestration,” explains CAFRE’s Martin Mulholland.

“Soil health can be defined as a soil's ability to function and sustain plants, animals and humans as part of the earths’ ecosystem. However, due to our relative lack of understanding of soil and the fact that grass and crops grow, the health of the soil is often over looked.”

Five main factors impact the health of the soil and influence grass/crop growth and how it functions from a drainage perspective. The five factors are:

1. Soil structure
2. Soil chemistry
3. Organic matter content
4. Soil biology
5. Water infiltration, retention and movement through the profile

A healthy soil will have a good combination of all these factors, whilst an unhealthy soil will have a problem with at least one of these. Structural problems such as compaction, plough pans or water-logging will have a knock-on effect on all the other aspects of soil health. 

A healthy soil has plenty of air spaces within it, maintaining aerobic conditions. When air is limited, anaerobic conditions dominate, leading to the proliferation of anaerobic microbes and denitrification (the loss of nitrogen from the system). These soils have a distinct odour or smell when handled.

“A healthy soil will filter water slowly, retaining the nutrients and plant protection products applied to the crop. If rainfall moves through the soil profile too quickly or if it is prevented from entering the soil through compaction or soil sealing, surface runoff increases, taking valuable nutrients with it. I know we’re experiencing hot weather right not but our long wet winter has had an impact on our soil so we are providing these sessions and making sure CAFRE staff are available to discuss individual soil management issues with farmers. Relevant trade exhibits will be featured,” Mr Mulholland added.

Refreshments will be available to purchase at the events.

More information can be found at the CAFRE website. 

Notes to editors: 

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