Integral integration

I have just got back from two days in Penrith where I was involved in the organsation of the Institute of Fisheries Management's 'Farming and Fisheries' conference.  The focus of the session I chaired was sediment, with speakers from the length of England, and one from Ireland, covering issues associated with maize grown for anaerobic digestion, lake sedimentation, and sediment impacts on aquatic invertebrate communities and food webs. John Quinton from Lancaster University ended the session with a description of the evidence based practical mitgation measures that arable farmers can adopt. Much of this research was carried out with us at Loddington. We ended with an enlightening discussion.

On the second day, I had the chance to present some results from the research we are doing with Jeremy Biggs of the Freshwater Habitats Trust and Colin Brown at York University in our Water Friendly Farming project.  Like the conference as a whole, this project highlights the inter-relatedness of many issues associated with land and water management.  Nothing can be considered in isolation. This was also the theme of an article I wrote for the latest newsetter of the Sustainable Intensification research Platfrom (SIP), an abstract of which appears below.

Integral integration

'Sustainability' is generally regarded as meeting our needs today without compromising those of future generations.  We are all becoming increasingly comfortable with the idea that a range of environmental factors underpins our ability to produce food, clean water and, to an increasing extent, fuel.  Look no further than the recent flurry of activity around soil health on farming-related social media as evidence of this.  Integrating environmental objectives with agricultural ones is fundamental to productive land use, both in the short and long-term.

There are two further ways in which integration is key to our productive management of the land.  One is a response to the polarisation of farming systems.  While this may have delivered economic efficiencies in the short-term, there is an increasing realisation of the benefits associated with the integration of food production systems, not least in terms of waste management, weed and disease control, and security of feed supply. The other example relates to knowledge exchange.  A long history of one-directional knowledge transfer, from scientists to farmers, is gradually giving way to a more enlightened approach, in which the skills and knowledge of the most pioneering farmers are recognised as having equal, or more relevance to the current challenges associated with food production.  Put the best scientists and the most forward thinking farmers together and we have real dynamism that can help us to achieve sustainable intensification.

‘Intensification’ now is not measured in tonnes of fertiliser or litres of diesel or plant protection products, but through the knowledge and technology that are developed and applied to improve the efficiency with which those resources are used.  As well as ensuring economic and environmental benefits arising from improved resource-use efficiency, this approach harnesses natural processes for nutrient cycling and control of pests, weeds and diseases.

Integration of environmental and production objectives, arable and livestock systems, and scientific and farmer knowledge, is integral to the activities on the SIP study farms.  Together, our farms provide a platform on which science can be applied in a practical setting, and a focus for discussion with visiting farmers and advisors. 

The full version of this article, and the rest of the SIPSCENE newsletter can be found here.

Big cover-up

There is increasing interest in the role of cover crops in improving various aspects of soil function such as soil structure for growing crops and soil erosion reduction.  Cover crops such as various brassicas, oats, rye, vetch, Phacelia and buckwheat are sown soon after harvest and destroyed prior to drilling the following spring crop.   Such over-winter green cover is eligible for funding under Countryside Stewardship or Ecological Focus Area (EFA) requirements so could potentially cover a large area nationally.

Through root growth, return of plant material to the soil, and associated soil biological activity, cover crops have the potential to increase soil orgainc matter, improve crop rooting capacity and nutrient uptake, increase infiltration and reduce soil erosion and asociated impacts on watercourses.  But perhaps this is all too good to be true!  We certainly need to understand more about the benefits on different soil types, and importantly, also the limitations and costs involved.

We are experiemntally testing both simple and complex mixtures of cover cops at Loddington

As part of our research with the Sustainable Intensification research Platform (SIP), we have set up experimental plots of cover crops comprising a simple EFA mix, a more complex EFA mix, and a fertility building mix, as well as a control (bare stubble) plot, replicated across three fields.  Working with our SIP partners, NIAB TAG, our Soil Scientist, Dr Felicity Crotty, is gathering data on a range of soil biological, physical and chemical properties across all the plots.  Very early results from the autumn suggest little difference in soil biology across the treatments, but slightly higher soil compaction in the plots that were sown with cover crops than in the control stubble plots. Data currently being gathered will reveal whether there have been any changes over winter.  With help from Agrii, we are also monitoring changes in soil moisture through the soil profile across the plots in two of the experimental fields.

Our Soil Scientist, Dr Felicity Crotty and NIAB staff gather cover crop data from experimental plots at Loddington

We also need to consider implications for the following commercial crops and will capture crop cover and yield data, as well as associated economics, across the experimental plots this autumn.  A spring oats crop in one field of cover crop plots last year delivered a yield that was about 20% higher than the bare stubble plot, sufficient to cover the costs of establishing the previous cover crop, but such benefits do not appear to follow through to the wheat crop that has followed the oats.  We need to consider implications across the rotation, rather than for individual crops, and also different crop management practices. Comparisons of cover crop destruction method (sheep grazing vs. spraying) and establishment method for the following winter wheat are on our research agenda for the coming year.  Watch this space.  We will reveal all!

Climate change research

It is 13ºC in the shade according to my thermometer, but less than a week to Christmas according to my children.  It has been a warm year, the warmest on record, consistent with an alarming trend in recent years.  We have also experienced yet another winter of heavy rain and flooding across much of the country.  At Loddington, along with much of the country, we have experienced exceptional waterlogging of soils in recent years, with effects on crop yields that have taken two years to recover. Wildlife species such as Little Egret, Nuthatch, Roesel's Bush-cricket and Lesser Marsh Grasshopper, all of which have expanded their range northwestwards, also continue to remind us of climate change.

Flooded fields beside the river Welland

In a paper* published recently in Environmental Management, I joined other researchers from across Europe to explore the implications of climate change for water related issues.  The paper was one outcome from an EU funded project, 'ClimateWater' in which we summarised the latest water-related climate change research for European policy makers. Human demand for water is expected to increase substantially in the coming years because of an increasing population and pressure associated with climate change.  Land use associated with food production is a major part of this process, and land management is increasingly recognised as being integrated with water related issues such as flood management and drinking water quality and supply.

This month's Paris climate change agreement has come none too soon.  In fact the science tells us that it has come too late to avoid some devastating consequences for our species, and of course for countless others.  Some aspects such as the important and increasing emissions associated with aviation and shipping have not been addressed at all.  That said, the agreement represents an enormous achievement on the part of those involved and marks a watershed in global climate change policy.  It is hard to think of any research that is more important to our future than that on climate change issues.  Finally that research is being translated into policy. The success of the agreement will depend not just on whether individual governments accept it as being legally binding, but on whether it serves as a real foundation for accelerating genuine climate change mitigation, and strategies for adaptation.

The Alqueva Dam, Portugal, where tensions between food production and water are exacerbated by climate change

So what is our contribution to this effort at Loddington?  Renewable energy is a core theme for our buildings, taking the form of wood fuel heating (using wood chip from our own woods) and photovoltaic panels for electricity generation, all of which were installed before the recent government cuts in support for renewable energy.  Straw bale and sheeps' wool insulation ensure that even wood fuel use is kept to a minimum.  Teleconferences and home-working reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with travel. Rainwater is also collected from the roof for flushing toilets and washing, thereby reducing pressure on treated drinking water supply.

Farmers locally are increasingly concerned about the health of their soils.  Management that increases organic matter and improves soil structure increases the workability of the soil by cultivation equipment (reducing diesel use), enhances the capacity of the soil to retain moisture in summer and during winter rains, and helps to lock up carbon.  We anticipate that reducing the frequency and intensity of cultivations, as we are doing at Loddington, by introducing grass leys into the rotation and adopting a no-till approach where and when possible, is a particularly effective approach for achieving all of these objectives.  We are gathering the relevant data at and around Loddington, and I will report on our research here over the coming year.

A particular focus for us this year is cover crops that are designed to reduce soil erosion during heavy rainfall, and contribute organic matter to the soil. We are testing cover crop mixtures grown as Ecological Focus Area under Common Agricultural Policy Greening requirements against other options for a range of criteria, including those associated with climate change adaptation and mitigation.

In our landscape scale Water Friendly Farming project, we continue to monitor water quality, and work closely with farmers to improve this by adopting methods that are compatible with, and wherever possible beneficial to their businesses.  In the coming year, we also plan to explore the benefits of this approach to manging flood risk in urban areas downstream.  The long-awaited translation of climate change research into meaningful policy and action through the Paris climate change agreement provides additional impetus to strengthen our own research, and the practical application of our results.

*Garnier, M., Harper, D., Blaskovicova, L., Hancz, G., Janauer, G., Jolánkai, Z., Lanz, E., Lo Porto, A., Mándoki, M., Pataki, B., Rahuel, J-L., Robinson, V., Stoate, C., Tóth, E. & Jolánkai, G. 2015. Climate Change and European Water Bodies, a Review of Existing Gaps and Future Research Needs: Findings of the Climate Water Project. Environmental Management 56 (2): 271-285.

A tale of two farms, and two approaches to bird conservation

We have combined forces, and data, with RSPB colleagues to examine the changes in bird numbers on our respective farms, our own farm at Loddington, and the RSPB’s ‘Hope farm’ in Cambridgeshire.  The results have just been published online in Bird Study.

As a result of the management on the two farms, since 1992 at Loddington, and since 2000 at Hope Farm, songbird numbers have increased substantially compared to the regional trend.  Farmland birds, including BAP species, have done particularly well at Hope Farm, whereas along with some farmland and generalist species, BAP species associated with woodland such as Spotted Flycatcher, Song Thrush and Bullfinch increased more at Loddington.  The targeted management at both farms delivered annual rates of increase of 10-20% for a wide range of species. 

In contrast to the more open farmland landscape at Hope Farm, the wooded farmland at Loddington has also supported higher predator numbers.  Crows and magpies were controlled at Loddington during the early part of the study period, but as a research exercise to understand the relevance of this to bird conservation, predator control was not carried out during the latter part of the period.  There was an associated decline in numbers of some songbird species towards the end of the period, especially species with open, cup-shaped nests that are vulnerable to predation.  This predation effect may explain the tendency for higher annual rates of increase in bird numbers at Loddington than at Hope Farm.

There were also significant benefits arising from the creation and management of habitat on farmland, especially at Hope Farm. Habitats designed to provide insect food for birds during the breeding season had particularly strong positive effects on a range of species.  Such habitats include conservation headlands, pollen and nectar mixtures, floristic margins, beetle banks, skylark plots and ponds, all of which can contribute to the abundance of potential insect food, and access to them by foraging birds.

Landscape characteristics may influence the response of bird populations to the creation of new habitats

Comparing two farms with different landscapes and different approaches to bird conservation has taken us a step forward in our understanding of how to restore bird numbers.  It is clear that we need to recognise differences across the lowland landscape and accept that a blanket approach to all farms is not appropriate.  Bird conservation on farmland needs to accommodate variation in landscape type, and importantly, the interests of the farmers responsible for managing it.

Underlying this though, is a clear need for a mechanism to support farmers to create habitats that are based on sound science, compatible with farm business objectives, and practical to create and manage.  Applicants to the new Countryside Stewardship scheme will soon discover whether their applications have been successful.  For those that are, we have demonstrated that Stewardship provides an essential tool in the box for restoring bird numbers.

The Bird Study paper is available at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00063657.2015.1090391