Our research into both field margins and the productive area can guide the development of integrated land management |
The greatest potential is where grass
margins are placed against watercourses, including ditches and small streams,
as well as rivers. Used in this way,
their capacity to reduce movement of soil to adjacent watercourses is well established.
We have found that earthworm numbers are
more than twice as high in grass margins as in the adjacent field, helping to
improve infiltration and reduce surface runoff to water and acting as a refuge for recolonisation of cultivated land, as well as providing a food source for wildlife.
What plant species establish as a result of
sowing or natural regeneration also influences the benefits realised by grass
margins, as does their subsequent management.
We are exploring the traits and associated benefits arising from a range
of perennial herbaceous plant species, with the aim of delivering multiple
benefits. The establishment and
management of riparian woodland, where appropriate, is an extension of that
process.
Buffer strips can be further enhanced by
creating buffer pools within them to capture runoff, as we have been doing at
Loddington since the 1990s, although the efficacy of these is limited on clay
soils where very fine material is held in suspension. Additional barriers within field boundary
ditches serve a similar role. We have shown that, although eutrophic, pools fed
by runoff can have additional biodiversity benefits for birds, amphibians and
insects. Where more permeable dams are
installed in field boundary ditches or small streams, these have the potential
to buffer downstream areas from flood peaks and we are currently evaluating these in our Water
Friendly Farming project. Stacking multiple buffering measures requires
additional knowledge, investment and management but increases the value of
public benefits delivered from the same area of land.
But we know that each of these measures in
non-productive areas has only a limited role in reducing the movement of
sediment and nutrients to watercourses and additional measures need to be
adopted within fields to improve soil function, reduce soil erosion, and
deliver other benefits such as enhanced terrestrial biodiversity. Research at Loddington has identified the
potential of tramline management and reduced tillage intensity for example, and
as reported in my March post, we have also explored the potential role of
cover crops, and are currently investigating grass leys. An
integrated approach to land management needs to be taken to meet environmental
objectives, incorporating targeted evidence-based management of both productive and non-productive
areas.
How effective these measures are varies
considerably from time to time and place to place, a subject I will return to
in a future post, but each of them has a place for their cumulative impact.
With new funding mechanisms for agri-environment schemes currently under
consideration in the lead up to Brexit, there is considerable potential for a
number of options to enhance the standard grass margins that are now widely
adopted across the country. One solution might be a modular approach to buffer strips with bolt-on options,
but crucially, each adopted according to site specific, local circumstances.
It is vital to recognise that we can’t
rely on buffers outside the cropped area alone, however elaborate they might become in some situations. Soil management within the field, reducing
erosion in the first place, is fundamental to catchment management and to
meeting other environmental objectives, with a range of options for differing
soil types. But these require attention
to detail, timely operation, capital investment, technical advice and support,
and in some circumstances reduce crop yields.
There are still unknowns and a need for
continuing research, and we continue to play a major role in that at
Loddington, but we know enough about a range of field margin and in-field
measures to adopt a package for improved land management that delivers food production alongside other public benefits.
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