Agricultural machinery manufacturer Claydon welcomes the Sea2Soil team as co-hosts of two open days in May, at its factory and farm in Wickhambrook, Suffolk.
Fully-booked across both days, these events offered up a great opportunity for growers to consider a change of establishment system and to learn more about the agronomic benefits of Claydon Opti-Till direct drilling and stubble management machinery, as well as find about other important aspects of soil health and managing soils better, learning from the activity currently being practiced and trialed on Claydon Farms.
Sea2Soil has been used by Jeff Claydon for two years, and is being utilised in several different fields and situations in sprayed blocks. The aim? To see if it can add even more soil health and economic yield benefits to the already successful farming system in place across the farm.
More than 80 growers participated in the four sessions, which took place across the two days, with each session including a crop walk, factory tour and presentations from three guest speakers. Dick Neale, from crop protection specialists Hutchinsons, discussed soil health and cover crops from soil demo pits in the field, James Lane, from Omnia, outlined the benefits of using their farm management system featuring soil mapping, and Grant James, from Sea2Soil, spoke about the benefits of using organic soil improvers across different farming systems, outlining the product technology and constituents.
During the field tour part of the visit, research agronomist Guy Gibson also spoke about and discussed with growers the ongoing trials Claydon Farms is conducting with the Sea2Soil product, specifically at the Wickhambrook site. Guy outlined how increases in tiller counts, last season in winter wheat, in Sea2Soil-treated blocks led to a 4% yield increase vs the standard farm practice control block. This season, recent tiller counts in the spring oats crop being trialed have shown statistically significant tiller count increases of 20% with Sea2Soil compared to the control block, so Guy is hopeful this will again lead to an even higher yield increase, perhaps at harvest this season. More to come on that later in the year.
During the day, Claydon took the opportunity to outline to growers some of the main challenges on-farm at the moment, including changing weather conditions, combating climate change and the need to farm in a way which maintains profitable income in an environmentally sustainable way, looking after soil health. A shift that is seeing hybrid and adaptable approaches to farming systems emerge.
Sea2Soil, for example, fits perfectly with the Claydon system and their solutions for sustainable crop production, which can lead to increased productivity, better soil structure, reduced costs, increased water holding capacity and soil health improvements such as increased soil organic matter. Using the Opti-till leading tine system of direct drilling, this ensures that columns of well-structured, undisturbed soil are left in place between drilling rows to aid machinery travel and build better soil health around the growing crop and root structure. Much like the cover crops, catch crops and companion crops used on Claydon farms above-ground within their rotations, Sea2Soil is an ideal ‘soil companion solution’ to use alongside this type of farming.
Packed full of vital amino acids and nutrients, Sea2Soil acts as a soil improver to feed the beneficial soil fungi and bacteria around the plant rooting zones, which in turn benefit and feed other vital parts of the soil microbiome, such as earthworms, which improve soil structure, drainage and organic matter. The product provides a vital boost to plant growth and health, especially in the crucial early crop establishment phases and works across a wide range of different crops including cereals, potatoes, oilseeds, pulses, grassland and maize. Applying a soil improver in a planned way each season, in a split programme approach in both autumn and spring, can lead to consistent improvements in soil health and crop performance over a long-term period, as Claydon is discovering. Soil health is too important to simply react to, a proactive and planned approach is needed.
For more information about sourcing Sea2Soil to try it out on your farm, please contact Grant James grant.james@pelagia.com