Improving soil resilience
Soil is fundamental for crop production, supporting delivery of 95% of the UK’s food, and storing around 80 years’ worth of GHG emissions in the form of carbon (Environment Agency statistics).
Globally it is estimated that 26% of the carbon stored in the top one metre of soil has been lost since pre-historic times (FAO 2015).
Our soils are at risk of further compaction and erosion, which will reduce fertility and increase the risk of flooding. Conversely, our soils also face the challenge of more drought episodes, with 40% of the fields in which we grow crops being at risk of drought, even under current climatic conditions. It is therefore vital that we protect such a fundamental resource to maintain food production and protect the environment.
Improving the health of our soils also provides us with a huge opportunity in terms of carbon sequestration, and helping us reach net zero.
Insight Report 1: Improving Soil Resilience is the first of five Insight Reports that we will be releasing over the course of the next year as part of our Green Horizons Initiative.
It also gives an overview of Agrii’s Soil Health Resilience Strategy (SRS): a novel approach that utilises carbon:clay ratios and active carbon to measure soil health on your farm. You can also find out more about the Agrii SRS here.
Access the report:
Agrii Green Horizons Insight Report 1: Improving Soil Resilience
 Insight Report 1 describes our practical approach to improving soil resilience, considering:
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Useful supporting documents:
- Agrii Essential Guide to Regenerative Agriculture
- Weaning off cultivations – article with Agrii’s Andrew Richards published in Farmers Guide
- Weaning off cultivations – article with Agrii’s Andrew Richards published in Farmers Guardian
Useful videos:
Strip till maize trials in Evesham
The latest update from our Kent team’s stripper header work