Using agroecology to enhance arable production Sharing ... · The 9 practice partners co-ordinated...
Transcript of Using agroecology to enhance arable production Sharing ... · The 9 practice partners co-ordinated...
Using agroecology to enhance arable production
Sharing knowledge from organic research and practice
The speakers
Chair: Susanne Padel
• Dominic Amos, ORC
• Mark Measures, IOTA & ORC and consultant
• James Jones, Rickyard Farm
• Richard Morris, Wimpole
• Katie Bliss, ORC & Tim Field, Daylesford Foundation
Exchanging knowledge to improve organic
arable cropping
Dominic Amos, Susanne Padel,
Katie Bliss, Anja Vieweger, Mark Measures (ORC)
Overview – sharing knowledge, connecting people, tackling challenges
• The OK-Net Arable thematic network aims to improve the exchange of knowledge among farmers, farm advisers and scientists to increase productivity and quality in organic arable cropping all over Europe.
• Funded through EU Horizon 2020
• Started in March 2015 and will last for 3 years.
Improving Organic Yields
1. There is a yield gap between conventional and organic agriculture (20-25%) and there is potential to close/narrow this gap.
2. Yields between organic farms vary considerably, and the yield gap is smallest for more experienced organic farmers.
Effective knowledge exchange can be used to close the gap.
The role of ORC
• Co-ordinate the interaction and exchange between the national/regional farmer innovation groups.
• Develop a framework that facilitates structured exchange of experiences in the area of arable crop production; developing conclusions for a general application in Europe.
• Test innovative end-user and educational material, (e.g. manuals, web-based tools, interactive workshops etc.) to understand reasons for acceptance and successful implementation (Task 2.3- ongoing )
• Develop recommendations/research agenda based on the experiences (Task 2.4 – not started)
Farmer groups Other project partners
Bionet Austria (FIBL AT)
BioForum Flanders
Bioselena ConMarcheBio
ITAB
EOFF
ÖMKi
SEGES
VÖP, Bioland
ORC
The 9 practice partners co-ordinated by ORC
Bionet Austria collaborative KE project represented by FIBL Austria (2 groups) BioForum Flanders non-profit sector organisation for organic farming and food, Belgium Bioselena Foundation for Organic Agriculture, Bulgaria ConMarcheBio Consortium of 5 co-operatives, Italy ITAB Technical institute for organic farming, France (2 groups) EOFF Estonian Organic Farming Federation (EOFF), Estonia ÖMKi Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, Hungary SEGES Knowledge Centre, Denmark (3 groups) VÖP Network of organic farming organisations, Germany (represented by BIOLAND & FIBL-DE) ORC - Co-ordination Organic arable group (1 group in collaboration with Organic Arable & OF&G)
European Farmer Group Network – Farmer to farmer contact
Getting to know more about:
– The groups & their members
– The soil, climatic and local context
– Crops grown and rotations
– Main challenges faced (as experienced by the farmers)
– Solutions tried
– How they communicate with each other
206 farms are group members
Highly variable soil and climatic conditions Range of farm types
– Specialised cereal producers (stockless) most frequently mentioned
– Mixed (cereals, livestock and field vegetables) – Horticulture
Farm sizes are also variable – Group averages range from 10 ha (BE) to > 200 ha (EE) – From 0.5 ha in Hungary and 1,110 ha in Estonia – Generally appear larger than national averages There is no one typical organic arable farm
Crops grown are diverse
Cereals: less dominated by wheat and barely, also rye, triticale, spelt, oats, millet, durum wheat are grown
Grain legumes: all groups grow at least one type, peas and field beans most common
Grass-clover: mixes are part of typical rotations
Root crops: grown by some groups with potato most common
Examples of typical rotations
• 3 to 9 years long
• Include grass/clover ley
• Some with pulse crop or forage legume
• Variability within groups
• May not describe what group members implement in practice
Typical proportions (%)
Cereals
Grassclover
Grainlegumes
Root crops
Detailed analysis of rotations and implications for yields is only possible with individual farm data
Wide range of crop yields reported Yields vary within and between groups
– BG & EE lowest yielding
– DK & BE highest yielding
Variability in soils and climate
Yield limiting factors reported
– too much rain (spring & summer),
– unpredictable rainfall and extreme weather events
Data suggest there is a need but also a clear possibility to improve yields on farms
Crops Farm group range (t/ha)
Compared with wider literature
Wheat 0.3-8 Cereals:
7-26 % lower than
conventional
Gap is bigger for wheat & barley, lower for maize
Barley 1-7
Triticale 1-9
Rye 1.2-6.5
Spelt 0.8-5.5
Oats 1.6-6.5
Maize 3-15
Peas 1-4.5 Legumes: 5-18% lower
Higher for pulses than
mixture
Faba Beans 0.5-5
Grass/ clover
5-12
Weeds: Top issue for 12 groups Commonly occurring problem weeds
Thistle (Cirsium) Fat hen (Chenopodium album) Docks (Rumex L.) Couch grass (Elymus repens)
Examples of specific weed problems Blackgrass (Alopecurus myosuroides) in UK Quickweed (Galinsoga) in Belgium
Solutions used: Crop rotation & crop management, mechanical weeding and min-till Strong interest in weed suppressing rotations
Soil fertility: Top issue for 8 groups
The groups use rotations for fertility building Key questions and knowledge gaps • How to effectively design rotations and manage system for
maximum fertility? Particularly for stockless systems? • What off-farm inputs to include, when to apply them and
how to get hold of them? • How to cultivate soils to maintain fertility (tillage)? • How to measure soil fertility? (Soil testing is done on
average only once every 5 years) Solutions used: working with reduced tillage (3 groups) Interest in catch crops and intercropping, mycorrhizae and use of compost
Conclusions so far If we compare results with research experts and EIP-AGRI focus group
– Main challenges identified are similar
– Key issues are likely to affect the wider organic arable community
However, site and system specific solutions are required
– Generic approaches will not necessarily address problems of individual farmers.
– Inherent complexity/conflicting goals in management approaches – no silver bullets!
Potential Solutions to Yield Gap
• ICT support systems
• Increasing soil microbial activity
• Joint purchase of machinery; “machinery rings”
• Use of organic fertiliser; digestate, compost, sewage
• Selection of new varieties resistant to biotic/abiotic
stress
• Companion planting/Intercropping
Knowledge exchange! Innovation and experience can be shared and adapted
Outcomes
• To synthesise the practical and scientific knowledge already available and to identify the best methodology in knowledge exchange to develop easily understandable education.
• To create a European network of farmer innovation groups to exchange experiences and test the educational material developed in the project
• To create an online platform for knowledge exchange across Europe unique in organic farming
Exchange Knowledge, Enhance Farming
http://farmknowledge.org/index.php
Closing the Gap
Mark Measures Institute of Organic Training and Advice & Organic Research Centre
Experiences of organic arable farmers
Objectives: genuinely sustainable production which:
• Produces quality food
• Minimises the use of finite resources
• Avoids pollution
• Works with natural systems
Organic Arable Yields: Winter Wheat
Farm Average for Lowest year
Average for Highest year
Lowest field 2016
Highest field 2016
Average all years
1 2.4 5.5 2.3 4.9 4.05
2 3 5.5 4.12
3 2.4 3.4 2.87
5 3.2 (2012) 6.9 (2015) 4.5
6 2.12 4.98 3.53
7 2 1.7 3.9 3.18 Yellow rust
8 3.65 4.8
9 3.4 4.5 4.05
10 3.5 4.4 3.85 NIT
Average 3.85 4.2 OFIEW 14/15 8 non org (mill/feed)
Organic Arable Yields: Spring Oats
Farm Average for Lowest year
Average for Highest year
Lowest field 2016
Highest field 2016
Average all years
1 5.34
4 3.47
7 3.91
9 3.4 4.83 5.3
10 3.5 4.4 3.85 NIT
Average 4.51 3 OFIEW 14/15 5.5 non org.
Organic Arable Yields: Winter Beans
Farm Average for Lowest year
Average for Highest year
Lowest field 2016
Highest field 2016
Average all years
1 0.81 4.6 2.92
5 1.6 (2012)
6 (2015) 3.33
8 3.5
10 2.47 NIT
Average of farms
3.05 4 Non org.
Observations • Generally the rotations and systems used are working
adequately but “could do better”
• Extreme yield variability between years, between farms and between fields,
• The likely causes: – Soil fertility appears to be the most critical limiting factor for cereals
– Weed incidence not generally limiting but serious problem in individual circumstances, and particularly for pulses
– Pest and disease incidence is not generally limiting but is a serious problem in individual circumstances and particularly for pulses
– The weather plays a major role, greater than non organic?
– Modern wheat varieties are not suited to organic farming, the effect less marked with oats
Actions • Fixing more N and making better use of it, (ley
mix, green manures, soil N test, manure use) • Establishing optimum P, K and possibly S levels • Routine soil and plant tissue analysis • Better nutrient cycling, including sewage • Variety breeding, mixtures and populations • Weed control – management and machines • Greater farm diversity • Soil management – structure, life, SOM,
Reference: Organic Farm Management Handbook 2017 Lamkin N., Measures M., and Padel S.
Dr James VH Jones Rickham Farm
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones
Oxford Real Farming Conference 5th January 2017 Organic Research Centre session ‘Using agroecology to
enhance arable production: sharing knowledge from
organic research and practice in the OKNetArable project’
Agronomic challenges growing organic
cereals at Rickham Farm and how
OKNetArable have helped us to meet them
by
Dr James VH Jones
Rickham Farm
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones
Our farm
• Rickham Farm is on the coast of South
Devon opposite Salcombe
• We farm 202 ha (c.500 acres) of which
41 ha (100 acres) is rented on FBTs
• My wife and I bought the farm in 2009
• We converted the 135 ha (333 acres) of
arable land to organic
• The permanent pasture and woods
remain conventional
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones Dr James V. H. Jones, Royal Agricultural College
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones Dr James V. H. Jones, Royal Agricultural College Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones Dr James V. H. Jones, Royal Agricultural College Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones Dr James V. H. Jones, Royal Agricultural College Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones Dr James V. H. Jones, Royal Agricultural College Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones
Agri-environment
• With help from the RSPB we put the farm
into a big HLS agreement from 1/1/2010
• Some of this has a significant influence
on the organic arable farming system:
– Over-wintered stubble on about half the
arable area = spring cropping, cereals &
delayed cultivations
– Under-sowing on > 5ha
– Non-inversion tillage on 4 fields
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones
The organic arable farming
system
• Rotation:
– Spring wheat
– Spring barley/spring oats
– Red clover/PRG/HRG ley (alternately white
clover/PRG/HRG ley) for 2 years
• Aim is for human consumption end use
• All straw is chopped
• Leys are grazed for <120 days on keep
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones
Weed problems
• Wild oats
• Couch grass/agrostis
• Docks
• Thistles (spear and creeping)
• Charlock
• Redshank
• Volunteer clover & ryegrass
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones
Strategy for controlling weeds • Cultivations – plough early, work the
seedbed and drill (late) with a combi drill
• Undersowing (which creates competition)
• Clean machinery to avoid transfer
• High seed rates (with home saved seed)
wheat 260, barley 235 & oats 200 Kg/ha
• Rogueing (especially wild oats)
• Raking with spring tine & grass harrows
• Topping/grazing in the ley phase
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones
Other agronomic issues
• Achieving the quality standards for
human end use (low N in barley &
proteins in wheat)
• Harvesting - especially with barley
(short straw and competition from
weeds and volunteer clover)
• Pests and disease (choose good
varieties and be philosophical)
• Nutrients (correct as permitted)
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones
Specific issues on which I have
sought advice from OKArableNet
• Harvesting barley in the face of big
competition from volunteer clover
(2015)
• How to manage cultivations etc. to
control a couch grass infestation but
without depleting soil nitrogen reserves
(2016)
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones
This is what the field looked like in 2014 in wheat – with no
volunteer problem
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones
This is what it looked like the following year in barley…
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones
The advice
• Harvest as soon as you can (I was
aware of that one!)
• Pick a bright dry sunny day (I wish!)
• Stick it straight through the drier (we
couldn’t but we ventilated it)
• Be prepared to clean out the combine
afterwards (long suffering contractor did
just that)
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones
Success! (after a longish wait for a fairly dry sunny day). A nice
bonus was a ‘free crop’ of clover which we successfully bulked
up by over-sowing in the following spring
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones
This looks like the answer to this kind of problem in the future
– spring oats with nice long straw and plenty of competition!
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones
Couch grass control
suggestions
• Don’t plough/do plough! (we cant plough all
of it any way – so we shall see)
• Don’t use rotational cultivation/do use it!
(understand the reason but the power
harrow is just so useful)
• Make false seed beds over the summer or
autumn (difficult with our rotation, the grass
keep agreement & HLS requirements)
• Rake up rhyzomes and burn them (good!)
Copyright of Dr James V. H. Jones
The field was ploughed in early December – the next stage (as
conditions allow) is to rake up the rhyzomes…wish me luck!
Richard Morris Wimpole Estate
Wimpole Estate
• 'Our vision is for land and landscape that is: healthy, beautiful, rich in culture and nature, enjoyable - and productive as a result.'
• Peter Nixon, Programme Sponsor.
Fieldwork: May 2009
417 soil samples taken for %SOC
40 samples taken for bulk density calculation
174 samples analysed so far: Preliminary results!
Soil Carbon Map
Wimpole Estate Preliminary Results:
Wimpole Estate
Wimpole Estate Earth Worm study on Rectory Farm
Combine yield map Spring Wheat 2016
Putting agroecological solutions into practice: Knowledge exchange for
productive arable systems
Katie Bliss and Tim Field
All farmers in the UK are adopting agroecological practices to
improve economic, social and environmental bottom line
Farmers have the knowledge and inspiration to make changes to
their farming systems
Farmers have easy access to
independent, world-class
information on ecologically-
orientated production in a clear
and practical format
Farmers exchange knowledge
and experience on
agroecological practices
Thank you for your attention
Acknowledgement
We gratefully acknowledge support
• Of the EU under Horizon 2020 for OK-net arable
• Of the Daylesford Foundation for
• We also thank all the farmers and collaborators in both projects