South Downs Farmers Group - Autumn meeting

Last week we attended the SDFGs autumn meeting!

We started with a great presentation from Cathy, our catchment officer on nitrate levels in Portsmouth Water's drinking water supply. She shared trend graphs and real data, explaining future projections and how we can work together to reduce levels.

Next, Stephen Woodley updated us on the urea trials. Results are so far inconclusive, so we're planning new trials. If you are willing to host these trials on your farm we would love to hear from you.

Finally, Tom Scrope from Soil Benchmark gave an interesting talk on "Why Farmers Change? Ideas from Soil Management Shifts Around the World.” He also introduced Soil Benchmark’s software, which integrates datasets and maps to support soil and nutrient management.

We then headed out for a walk at Hundred Acres Farm, kindly hosted by James Bray. A highlight was seeing the 3-in-1 cover crop seeder funded through Portsmouth Water’s capital grant scheme; which ploughs, sows, and rolls in one pass, making cover crop planting far more efficient and cost effective. The seeder helps to improve germination. The turnips that had been planted had established beautifully.

We also explored impressive wildlife margins under the higher-tier SFI scheme and got to see some of their lovely cattle!