Now is the ideal time for Devon and Cornwall farmers to cultivate
soil and plant grass and winter crops, says Environment Agency
experts.
What happens next in the post-harvest period could mean the
difference between a good and bad winter if land isn't prepared
ahead of heavy winter rains.
Laura Bentley of the Environment Agency said:
Winter is our busy period as heavy rain falling on bare soil
causes run-off, especially where the land is compacted and
sloping, with disastrous consequences for pollution and
flooding.
Now is the time to cultivate and turn that compacted ground into
permeable soil that rainfall and roots can infiltrate, then plant
grass, cover crops or winter cereals so that the crop can
establish itself by the middle of October.
Having a back-up plan is equally important. Difficult conditions
in autumn can lead to cover crops failing, soil becoming capped
with a hard, impenetrable crust and becoming slumped which can
lead to runoff and erosion.
The hot, dry weather has affected Cornwall and Devon differently,
with Cornwall enjoying a summer of sun and rain while a lack of
rain in Devon has resulted in hard, dry fields. Regardless,
winter rains will carry the same consequences unless farmers
prepare:
- Break up compacted soil to improve infiltration
- Establish crops early in dry conditions
- If sowing late in the season, make sure soils aren't too wet,
particularly at depth, before working
Two farmers who have already started getting winter ready are
Mark Button and son-in-law Sam Trudgian of CP Button Ltd at
Polshea Farm in Bodmin, Cornwall, where maize has been grown for
40 years. They are preparing for winter by establishing
their winter barley early.
Mark said:
We average 1300mm of rain and, as the majority of our land is
sloping, we were acutely aware of soil erosion on uncropped maize
stubbles. We opted to follow the maize crop with winter
cereals.
This started off as a three-crop rotation: maize, winter wheat
and winter barley. More recently we have dropped the wheat and
now just alternate maize and winter barley.
In the past, the farm used to leave barley stubbles untouched
over winter, before ploughing them up in the spring to plant
maize. But the soil was cold, compacted and needed a lot of
diesel to power the different implements needed to produce a seed
bed.
Now the farmers follow the winter barley with a hybrid ryegrass
blend, cutting it for silage before planting maize again. If
winter cereals cannot be established due to poor conditions,
maize stubbles are ploughed or rough cultivated to reduce the
risk of runoff.
Mark said: “This rotation has proven to be sustainable both,
financially and also for soil health.”
The farm is also undersowing maize ground with a secondary crop
of rye grass where autumn cultivations may be hard to achieve, or
where erosion risk in the field is higher. This is simply done by
broadcast spreading the seed when the maize is at knee height, to
reduce costs.
Trials carried out by the Environment Agency and Maize Growers
Association demonstrated that undersowing can be an effective
mitigation method to reduce the risk of soil erosion over
winter.
Ahead of winter, farmers have also been urged to check they have enough
capacity to store slurry without the need to spread, which
could breach Farming Rules for Water and cause pollution.
