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Agronomy Week 2020 - Friday
Programme
If you have already registered for Agronomy Week 2020, you can access all of the webinars online.
If you have any problems accessing the platform, please email events@ahdb.org.uk.
Friday 4 December (cross-sector)
9am – 10:30am: Live stream – How to measure the impact of soil management practices using a soil health scorecard (Agronomists' Induction)
- Chair: Natalie Gilbert, Knowledge Transfer Officer (Cereals & Oilseeds), AHDB
- Speakers:
- Amanda Bennett, Resource Management Scientist (Soils), AHDB
- Fiona Geary, Knowledge Transfer Manager (Cereals & Oilseeds), AHDB
This session will provide an overview of soils research funded by AHDB and introduce a scorecard approach to measure and monitor soil health, including assessments of soil structure, pH, nutrients, organic matter, and earthworm counts.
The soil health scorecard has been used to assess the impact of different management approaches (eg rotation, cultivation and use of various organic amendments) at long-term research sites and also on-farm, taking into account soil type and climatic region.
This approach can be used as a practical measure to help inform best practice soil management, to improve soil health and crop productivity.
Programme:
- 09:00: Welcome and introductions – Natalie Gilbert
- 09:10: Soils research – Amanda Bennett
- 09:25: Using the soil health scorecard on farm – Fiona Geary
- 09:35: Questions
- 09:45: Quiz and discussion
- 10:15: Summary
- 10:30: Close
10.40am -10.50am Pre-record - What does the new Environment strategy mean for C&O and Potatoes agronomists?
John Foot, Head of Environment & Resource Management, AHDB
11am – 12:30pm: Live Stream - Agricultural resilience in a warmer world: planning for blight and drought
- Chair: Alice Sin, Resource Management Scientist (Soils & Water), AHDB
- Speakers:
- Dr Freya Garry, scientist, UK Climate resilience, Met Office
- Mr Jamie Hannaford, Principal Hydrologist, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Dr Freya Garry will address challenges likely to be faced by potato growers under climate change, using the UK Climate Projections, the most up-to-date assessment of how the UK climate may change in the future. Freya will present high resolution climate projections to show how different parts of the UK will be affected by instances of potato blight and drought; for example, East Scotland may experience around 70% more instances of potato blight per year by the middle of the century.
Jamie Hannaford will talk about recent advances in drought monitoring and early warning. He will present a new river flow forecasting products and the UK Water Resources Portal, a new interactive web tool for hydrological status monitoring that allows farmers and growers to visualise daily real-time river flows alongside soil moisture, rainfall and groundwater observations. He will discuss how such information can be used by farmers and growers to support decision-making during droughts.
Progamme:
- 11.00: Introduction - Alice Sin
- 11.05: Changing climate effect on blight and drought - Freya Garry
- 11.25: Drought forecasting tools - Jamie Hannaford
- 11.45: Questions to panel
- 12.05: Conclusion
- 12.10: Close
2pm – 3:00pm: Live Stream - Over winter cover crops ahead of potatoes
- Chair: Alex Wade, Knowledge Exchange Manager (Potatoes - West, South West & Wales), AHDB
- Speaker:
- Dr Mark Stalham
Using research from the soon-to-be-completed 5-year AHDB Rotations Project managed by NIAB CUF, Marc Allison and Mark Stalham will take a deep dive into some individual crops to explain the benefits and disadvantages of cover crops preceding potatoes and the mechanisms behind the observations. Recommendations of suitable crops and techniques will be given.
5pm – 6pm: Live stream - Drip irrigation with slightly salty water
- Chair: Dr Anne Stone, Knowledge Transfer Manager (Potatoes), AHDB
- Speakers: Dr Iain Gould, University of Lincoln
In parts of the South Lincolnshire fens the only available irrigation water is from the drains, which are slightly saline even in winter. This field lab sees grower members of Nene Potato Ltd push their crops with saltier water. The use of drip irrigation in the trials is likely to be more efficient and more likely to avoid leaf scorch.