Oxford  Farming  Conference    

The  Soil  Renaissance    

John  Geraghty    M.Agr.Sc.  NSch.  

 Thursday  5th  January  2017  

Soil  Renaissance  –  Interna2onal  Focus  

•  United  Na2ons  (2015)      -­‐  InternaEonal  Year  of  Soils    

•  Sustainable  Development  Goals      –  SDG15:  halEng  and  reversing  land  degradaEon  

•  21st  Conference  of  the  Par2es(COP  21)      –  “4  per  1,000”  ......  carbon  sequestraEon    

•  Environmental  Audit  CommiJee  (House  of  Commons)    -­‐  Clear  plan  needed  for  protecEng  soil  

3  

Oxygen O2

CO2 Emissions

START  

Greenhouse Gases

Climate Change

Good Yields Organic  MaJer  

Flooding and Drought

Fertilisers & Fossil Fuel Inputs

Irrigation

Extra Costs

N2O Emissions

Conserva2on  Agriculture  

Three  Guiding  Principles  

•  Minimal  soil  disturbance  for  crop  establishment  

•  Permanent  organic  soil  cover  –  residues,  cover  crops  

•  Diverse  crop  rotaEons  

Best results with CA happen when the three guiding

principles are being used and implemented together

 

Soil  Tillage  &  Disturbance  

Much  confusion  over  terms  used  

•  Mouldboard  ploughing  /Disc  ploughing  

•  Non-­‐inversion  Ellage,  chisel  ploughing  

•  Reduced  Ellage,  planEng  basins  etc.  

•  ConservaEon  Ellage,  minimum  Ellage  

•  Direct  drilling,  direct  seeding,  strip  Ellage,    

•  No  Ellage,    Zero  Ellage  Increasing

 soil  disturba

nce  

Reduced  soil  exposure  

Soil  Disturbance  

Per  hectare  there  are:  

•  500  tonnes  of  soil  moved    

•  11  kilometres  of  ridges  made  

•  25-­‐35  labour  days  necessary    

     WHY  ???  

Credit:  Thierfelder  –  CIMMYT,  2014  

Soil  Cover  –  Climate  Resilience  

Source:  Thierfelder  -­‐  CIMMYT,  Malawi  2013  

Conven2onal  Cul2va2on   Direct  Seeding/Dibble  S2ck  Source:  USDA  -­‐NRCS  South  Dakota  19/06/2014  

No  2llage  /  Direct  Seeding                            Conven2onal  Ploughing  

Rota2ons  –  Soil  &  Plant  Diversity  

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

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30,000

35,000

40,000

'000

Hec

tare

sGlobal  Adop2on  of  Conserva2on  Agriculture  

Source:  FAO  Aquastat  2016  

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

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'000

Hec

tare

sEurope  -­‐  Adop2on  of  Conserva2on  Agriculture  

A small dose of reality .... Contribution of Direct Payments to

Farm Income  Year   All Farms   Tillage Farms  

2011   73%   74%  

2012   58%   65%  

2013   77%   92%  

2014   72%   90%  

2015   65%   71%  

Average   69%   78.4%  

Source:  NaEonal  Farm  Survey  2011-­‐2015  

Soil  Renaissance  

What’s  needed  ...  

•  Accelerated  levels  of  land  degradaEon  –  75Bt/yr  

•  Major  concern  for  general  society  

•  DisincenEvize  soil  damaging  pracEces  

•  Encourage  and  support  changes  to  sustainable  pracEce  •  Reward  land  managers  for  beneficial  ecosystem  services  

•  Pro-­‐acEve  farm-­‐focused  supporEve  research  

Oxford  Farming  Conference    

The  Soil  Renaissance    

John  Geraghty    M.Agr.Sc.  NSch.  

 Thursday  5th  January  2017