In this episode, Agricultural Consultant Malcolm MacDonald chats to Harry Henderson, AHDB's Knowledge Transfer Manager, and later with Gavin Elrick, SAC Consulting's soils, drainage and nutrient management expert.  

Ahead of the Changing Practices for a Changing Climate FAS Event held near Inverness, Harry and Malcolm discussed how arable farmers can adapt to cope with the changes that we are experiencing in our weather patterns.  Options include moving towards min-till and no-till systems and changing the cropping seasons from autumn to spring-sown crops where possible to avoid tillage during the wetter autumn seasons.  Harry has travelled to Finland and was able to share some of the management practices that he's observed from there.

Gavin explains how the use of cover crops can not only help prevent soil erosion, incorporate organic matter into the soil, but with the correct seed mix, can help reduce the impacts of soil compaction while providing a break in the cropping rotation.  Cover crops have been trialled by Gavin on his home farm where he incorporates various mixes as part of his arable rotation.  We hear his experiences of various seed mixes, what works best, and what can cause problems.

There is more information about soil management and cover crops on our webpage: https://www.fas.scot/crops-soils/soils/