Soil – our only renewable natural resource!

Opportunities for farming and landscape protection in the context of climate change

SOIL the basis of all

• Provides minerals and plant food in a controlled, steady manner in response to temperature and moisture

• It is the only natural resource that can actually be increased by Man’s productive activity.

• Soil forms through the action of weather and micro-organisms on the bedrock. As it forms it acts as the life support for an ever expanding world of flora and fauna.

• In turn it too grows, and managed well provides an ever growing blanket for fertility, water retention and purification

Soil biomass

• The macro and meso fauna are large enough to be gathered and weighed: ranging from 2 to 5 t/ha (worms making up to 75% of this weight)

• Micro fauna are almost impossible to weigh as they are so minute. Instead their value tends to be expressed more in terms of the number of different organisms in one cc of soil: for a rich soil it is calculated to be in the millions.

• These are the elements of soil that turn vegetable and animal wastes into plant food, in turn transferring Carbon into growing crops

Hydrological cycle under woodland

Soil water retention

– The thicker the vegetative cover– The deeper the soil– The higher the humus content of the soil

• More water will be retained and usefully employed in producing plants and crops

• Less surface runoff and flooding

• Higher water filtration through soils

How do we maximise the contribution of farming to food production and water

quality 1

• Farm for soil quality– Work with the natural complexity of soil: adding

artificial N P and K to increase yields upsets the natural chemistry in the soil, changes its Ph (acidity) and affects the myriad organisms within in largely unknown ways

– Use methods which increase fertility when crops are able to take it up – eg muck spreading onto growing crops, using plant mulches to fix N deep into the soil for slow release

How do we maximise the contribution of farming to food production and water

quality 2

• Farm for protection of the organisms that naturally occur within our environment and climate

• Protect soil structure: reduce disturbance and soil loss.

• Seeking to grow the soil, through restoring vegetative matter and enhancing soil activity

How do we maximise the contribution of farming to food production and water

quality 3

• Cultivate native or long established plants and livestock that are adapted to our climate, seasons and flora/fauna– Eg native cattle and sheep; clovers, native

herbs and grasses– Understand and encourage the roles of macro

organisms in distributing fertility in the soil and reducing pest invasions

Farming for food and biodiversity1. biodiversity aiding food production

Farming for food and biodiversity2. Biodiversity aiding the wider farm

economy

And finally – the SW

• Blessed with a rich variety of soils• The perfect growing climate• A strong market for food on its doorstep• A population aware more than many of the

role of the open countryside in quality of life and food

• A long tradition of dairying, meat production, orchards, horticulture and all the skills that go with it

BUT……..

- Farming is pushed into solely a primary production role for the raw ingredients of food

- The profit making part of the food chain is largely taken away from farmers

- They no longer control the final price of their product

- Increasingly they are at the mercy of the business decisions of others – from supermarkets to seed companies

SO………

• Increase the skills base in training – from soil management to marketing

• Shorten the supply chain• Raise confidence of farmers through

engagement in their future• Develop further the already welcome

reimbursement for public goods • Require supermarkets and processors to

sign up to a total vision for farming and a healthy rural society and environment in the SW