Key practices:
– avoids ploughing and bare soil to maintain soil C;
– uses rotational grazing but to residuals of no less than 2500 kg DM/ha, or to whatever covers are necessary to avoid the occurrence of bare soil above 5% of any farm at any one time. Overgrazing encourages nutrient and soil losses, compaction, pugging and reduction in soil C ;
– pasture seed mixes sown should contain a minimum of (i) red and white clover, (ii) two persistent ryegrasses, (iii) cocksfoot, and (iv) plantain;
– allows pasture to grow taller between grazings, which encourages diversity, shades out weeds, increases root mass and depth. This increases soil C and reduces gaseous losses from animal urine patches and dung deposition by reabsorption;
– maintains pasture covers in winter by feeding out hay and silage rather than growing winter crops;
– limits soil Olsen P levels to 20 and maintain optimum production, by the use of sustained-release non-leaching fertilisers such as RPR. Soil particles in the top 2cm (often with Olsen P much >20 from using excess soluble P), are the main source of particulate P in run-off.. The high levels of water-soluble P in the top few cm of soils to which water-soluble P is applied is by far the greatest source of soluble P run-off. Water-soluble P is also easily leached through and out of soils with low-medium P retention (ASC);
– minimises nitrate leaching and run-off, and gaseous losses of ammonia and nitrous oxide, by using new-gen N ferts such as prilled, inhibitor-coated urea. Fertiliser N application to not exceed 100 kgN/ha annually;
– applies effluent to as much of the farm as possible, with 10ml application rates.
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