Devon and Cornwall farmers need to cultivate and sow winter crops
With post-harvest fields vulnerable to heavy rainfall and run-off, farmers are urged to cultivate compacted soil and get winter crops established by 15 October.
Sam Trudgian and Mark Button of CP Button Ltd dig a small hole to assess the soil structure
Now is the ideal time for Devon and Cornwall farmers to cultivate soil and plant grass and winter crops, says Environment Agency experts.
What happens next in the post-harvest period could mean the difference between a good and bad winter if land isn’t prepared ahead of heavy winter rains.
Laura Bentley of the Environment Agency said:
Winter is our busy period as heavy rain falling on bare soil causes run-off, especially where the land is compacted and sloping, with disastrous consequences for pollution and flooding.
Now is the time to cultivate and turn that compacted ground into permeable soil that rainfall and roots can infiltrate, then plant grass, cover crops or winter cereals so that the crop can establish itself by the middle of October.
Having a back-up plan is equally important. Difficult conditions in autumn can lead to cover crops failing, soil becoming capped with a hard, impenetrable crust and becoming slumped which can lead to runoff and erosion.
Now is the time to sow winter crop, cover crop and grass so that it is established before winter rains come
The hot, dry weather has affected Cornwall and Devon differently, with Cornwall enjoying a summer of sun and rain while a lack of rain in Devon has resulted in hard, dry fields. Regardless, winter rains will carry the same consequences unless farmers prepare:
- Break up compacted soil to improve infiltration
- Establish crops early in dry conditions
- If sowing late in the season, make sure soils aren’t too wet, particularly at depth, before working
Farmers Sam Trudgian and Mark Button of CP Button Ltd
Two farmers who have already started getting winter ready are Mark Button and son-in-law Sam Trudgian of CP Button Ltd at Polshea Farm in Bodmin, Cornwall, where maize has been grown for 40 years. They are preparing for winter by establishing their winter barley early.
Mark said:
We average 1300mm of rain and, as the majority of our land is sloping, we were acutely aware of soil erosion on uncropped maize stubbles. We opted to follow the maize crop with winter cereals.
This started off as a three-crop rotation: maize, winter wheat and winter barley. More recently we have dropped the wheat and now just alternate maize and winter barley.
In the past, the farm used to leave barley stubbles untouched over winter, before ploughing them up in the spring to plant maize. But the soil was cold, compacted and needed a lot of diesel to power the different implements needed to produce a seed bed.
Now the farmers follow the winter barley with a hybrid ryegrass blend, cutting it for silage before planting maize again. If winter cereals cannot be established due to poor conditions, maize stubbles are ploughed or rough cultivated to reduce the risk of runoff.
Rye grass being established after the winter barley harvest and cultivation of the soil
Mark said: “This rotation has proven to be sustainable both, financially and also for soil health.”
The farm is also undersowing maize ground with a secondary crop of rye grass where autumn cultivations may be hard to achieve, or where erosion risk in the field is higher. This is simply done by broadcast spreading the seed when the maize is at knee height, to reduce costs.
Trials carried out by the Environment Agency and Maize Growers Association demonstrated that undersowing can be an effective mitigation method to reduce the risk of soil erosion over winter.
Ahead of winter, farmers have also been urged to check they have enough capacity to store slurry without the need to spread, which could breach Farming Rules for Water and cause pollution.