Ripon Monitor Farm meeting: working with soil health to support compliance and regulations

Please join Jonathan Fryatt at Lightwater Farms near Ripon, for the next meeting of the winter season, to discuss soil health. Soil physics, chemistry and biology are interlinked and all play a role in maintaining productive agricultural farming.

On the agenda:  

Anne is a Principal Soil Scientist in ADAS involved in the research and development of policies on soil and nutrient management. She has a particular interest in the impact of organic amendments and cover cropping on soil quality, carbon storage and nutrient cycling. She is currently leading the field experimentation programme of the AHDB Soil Biology and Health Partnership, is FACTS qualified and a Fellow of the British Society of Soil Scientists.  

10.20 Monitor farm update, Jonathan Fryatt  

10.30 Soil health measurement and management, Anne Bhogal 

• The importance of a healthy functioning soil, what drives soil health and how to improve it.  
• An  introduction to the soil health scorecard approach, developed by the AHDB/BBRO funded Soil biology and health partnership to show how it can be used to evaluate soil health and guide management decisions, using results from a recent sampling across Jonathan’s farm.  

12.10 Discussion; including compliance and regulation  

• Manures, cover cropping and leys 

12.30 Meeting summary and closing actions 

(please note if time and weather allows we may head to the field for a demonstration of the VESS/worm method) 

https://ahdb.org.uk/greatsoils