Hampshire farmer, David Miller has been named this year鈥檚 Arable Soil Farmer of the Year, in the fifth year of the competition which saw its highest number of entries yet.
The annual competition, which is organised by Farm Carbon Toolkit and Innovation for Agriculture (IfA) aims to find farmers and growers who are passionate about managing their soils to create a sustainable, resilient and productive agricultural system. Winners are announced at Groundswell each year.
Mr Miller manages 700 hectares of chalk/limestone in Hampshire and through the use of strategic cover and companion cropping within the diverse rotation, he has reduced nitrogen use by 25 per cent and not applied phosphate or potassium for seven years.
Margin
He said: 鈥淲ith all these benefits, we are putting much less money at risk in each crop and therefore we are able to budget for lower yields. Yield is no longer our driver but margin is.
鈥淲e have seen vast improvements in our soil health and you now rarely walk across the field without standing on a worm midden per step. Through testing we also know our mycorrhizal levels are increasing and our fungi to bacteria ratio is improving.鈥�
Focussing on the soil through a no-till approach, Mr Miller said this has transformed his soils which appear to repair faster and better after events such as a wet harvest.
This approach has resulted in vast emissions savings alongside benefits to the bottom line by minimising fixed and variable costs, he said.
鈥淏efore we transitioned away from a traditional conventional system, yields were static and costs were rising.鈥�
His advice to other farmers was: 鈥淭reat each experience as a learning and you won鈥檛 go far wrong. Read plenty of books and temper the strategies to your own geography and challenges.鈥�
Mixed farming
Winner of the Mixed Soil Farmer category was Billy Lewis, who farms 145ha in Herefordshire and grows a variety of arable crops alongside sheep and pedigree Hereford cattle.
His focus has been to regenerate tired soils which had previously been in a high-intensity arable system, and implementing rotational grazing to create high quality livestock forage.
He said: 鈥淲e have introduced herbal leys which are managed through predominately mob grazing with additional cutting if needed. We started with a select group of animals and now graze everything in a mob system.
鈥淭he arable rotation is no more than three years before going back into a ley and seeing the hooves of an animal once more.鈥�
Compost
Mr Lewis applies composted FYM as soon as bales are cleared after harvest to generate productive catch crops before the following cereal. This has benefited soil health and led to vast reductions in nitrogen usage.
Mr Lewis said: 鈥淥ur main goal is to drive down fossil fuel use and inputs, we have halved the amount of nitrogen we use in three years and would look to half this quantity again over the next three.
鈥淥ur farm is coming to life and now functioning as a whole and healthy ecosystem.鈥�
