‘Undies the surface’
Unlike your typical cereal or legume crop, Signpost Tillage farmer, Darren Allen has ‘planted’ a novel ‘crop’ that he hopes will provide useful insights into the soil health on Ballymaloe Farm, Ballymaloe, Shanagarry, Co. Cork.
The other day, along with my Teagasc Advisor and in preparation for a joint Signpost/Dairygold farm walk we are hosting in June, we carried out a procedure for the national GroundTruth project aimed at checking our soil health.
It is called ‘the underwear degradation test’ but most will call it the ‘underpants test’. All you need to do is dig a hole to three inches deep, place a pair of cotton underpants into it and refill the hole. Leave them there for a certain number of weeks before digging them back up.
The cotton is a source of food and carbon which will be eaten by bugs and microbes if they are present in the soil! This won’t give you a scientific result, but it will give you an indication whether or not the decisions you are making are helping your soil or not.
We have buried two underpants, one in a field that is under a plough-based establishment system and the second in a min-till system to see if we notice any differences.
Crop progress
We are after a great spring in comparison to last year. The weather gave us ample opportunities for cultivating, setting and spraying. As a result, crops are looking extremely well. We did run into a small bit of trouble with one field of spring barley that got heavily infected with leather jackets. With all chemical control options now gone due to the increasing loss of chemistry in the EU, our only option was to give that field a roll with a flat roller which thankfully stopped any further loss of plants.
Upcoming event
The Teagasc/Dairygold Signpost Tillage evening will take place on Wednesday, June 18, starting at 6.30pm. The theme of the event is ‘Managing Soils to grow Profit’. Topics on the evening include soil health, crop establishment systems, crop nutrient, along with intercropping legumes and water quality. All are welcome and we look forward to welcoming you to Ballymaloe for what promises to be a very informative and enjoyable evening.
Darren Allen is a participant in the Teagasc Signpost Programme, working closely with Laura Whelan, Teagasc Tillage Advisor, and John Mahon, Teagasc Signpost Tillage Advisor.
The above article was adapted for use on Teagasc Daily from an article first published in the Farming Examiner.
Find out more about the Teagasc Signpost Programme here.
Find out more about the Teagasc/Dairygold Signpost Tillage evening here.
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