AFCP AGM to be held on Wednesday 1st November 2023 at The Duchy of Cornwall Offices, London at 4.00pm. To arrive for refreshments at 3.30pm.
Further details will be e-mailed out soon.
AFCP AGM to be held on Wednesday 1st November 2023 at The Duchy of Cornwall Offices, London at 4.00pm. To arrive for refreshments at 3.30pm.
Further details will be e-mailed out soon.
Cultivations and Carbon
Capturing value from the 10-year Traffic & Tillage Project at Harper Adams
The long-term programme of Traffic & Tillage research at Harper Adams University started in 2010 with the first experimental crop harvested in 2012 and has been the “field laboratory” for three successful doctoral graduates (Emily Smith, Anthony Millington and Magdalena Kaczorowska-Dolowy).
This is a long-term internationally unique study focusing on soil management techniques where the interaction between traffic management practices and different tillage practices are considered. It resulted as a direct output from the formation of the industry led (coordinated by Agrii) Soil and Water Management Centre at Harper Adams University with scholarship funding and in-kind support from, The Morley Agricultural Foundation , Douglas Bomford Trust, Michelin, Vaderstad, AGCO and Harper Adams University.
The research started with an initial focus on the soil physical conditions, yield and the cost/benefits of the effects of three traffic management systems imposed on a sandy loam soil:
on soils managed with three tillage treatments:
for a winter wheat/winter barley/spring oats/winter field beans crop rotation.
Figure 1 - a) Experimental design map showing the distribution of the blocks and plots and the different traffic and tillage treatments. b) Aerial photo of Marge Marsh field.
More recently, in addition to maintaining the monitoring of soil physical conditions and crop responses, the focus moved to studying soil biological and health condition and is now focusing on soil carbon sequestration.
The results of the continuing long-term study have shown that the effect of both traffic management and tillage systems can have significant effects on the crop yield and farm economy together with soil biology and health.
Key messages on crop yields:
Figure 2: Samples from CTF zero tillage (left, not tilled for 10 years) and CTF deep tillage (right, tilled down to 250mm for 10 years) showing very little difference in crop growth and large differences in soil structure, its stability and resilience (zero tillage) vs weak and loose soil at high risk of soil damage (deep tillage).
Key messages on soil carbon:
Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a component of soil organic matter (SOM). There has been growing interest in soil carbon dynamics in recent years. Many agricultural soils have reduced SOM and so, it is argued, they likely have the potential to sequester carbon through building SOM. Different soil management practices have different impacts on SOM dynamics and so total soil carbon stocks.
The results from our field experiment to date have shown that:
These results confirm that soils have different levels of potential to store carbon dependent on management, with almost 20 t/ha of C stored more under the optimum management practice compared to the most detrimental practice. This leads to the obvious question as to how or why more C is stored under some treatments than others.
The next steps of the project
Ana Prada (PhD student, apradabarrio[at]live.harper.ac.uk) will investigate this by using natural abundance C12/C13 stable isotope probing. By growing millet, a C4 plant, in soils where only C3 plants have been grown previously, it will be possible to trace the flow of C from the plants into the different organic matter fractions. These have different turnover times and dynamics within the soil and so this investigation will provide insights into the mechanisms that determine the residence time of C in soils. This will help inform as to best practices for maximising C sequestration into soils thereby improving soil health and helping to help mitigate climate change.
Friday 14th July at Harper Adams University
Programme:
10.00 Arrival, registration and refreshments
10.45 Introduction Prof. Bob Bansback (HAU & AFCP)
10.50 Welcome Prof. Graham Jellis (Chair of AFCP)
11.00 Animal Science and the new Harper Adams/Keele Veterinaray School Prof. Michael Lee (Deputy Vice Chancellor HAU)
11.20 Tour of Farm and Livestock Research Area options:
- Applied Ruminant Research at the Beef and Sheep Unit - Prof. Jude Capper (Sustainable Beef and Sheep Production, HAU).
- Dairy Research Work - Prof. Liam Sinclair (Animal Science, HAU).
- Pig Unit Work - Sarah Icely (Deputy Sector Manager, HAU).
12.20 Return to the Regional Food Academy (RFA) Lecture Theatre:
- HAU Food Activity and RFA Resources - Dr Lynn McIntyre (Senior Lecturer in Food Safety, HAU).
- Evaluation of net carbon emissions from dairy production systems - Fern Baker (PhD student, jointly funded by AFCP members, Nottingham University)
13.00 Lunch and Poster Session
14.30 Lameness in Ruminants (based on her PhD funded by AFCP member, The Perry Foundation) - Dr Caroline Best (University of Bristol, Veterinary School)
HAU School of Sustainable Food & Farming (SSFF) - Simon Thelwell (HAU Strategic Director, SSFF)
Agri-tech Developments in the Beef and Sheep Sectors - Prof. Karl Behrendt (Agri-Tech Economics, HAU).
15.30 Panel Discussion, Chaired by Prof. Jude Capper.
16.00 End
Click here for biographies of all the speakers
AFCP was registered as a company limited by guarantee in February 2008 and became a registered charity in June 2015. The Board and its Directors and advisors represent a range of charities and organisations from across the UK..
Agrifood Charities Partnership is a Company limited by Guarantee 6510709 and is a Registered Charity No. 1162177 Registered Office: The Bullock Building, University Way, Cranfield MK43 0GH
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