Baseline for soil carbon vital ahead of changes, says Hutchinsons conference chair

There was an emphasis on soils at the Hutchinsons National Carbon Conference. “Many things we can do to reduce emissions make perfect business sense,” said chair of the conference, Gary Mills-Thomas, Arable Business Director at H L Hutchinson Limited.

However, before making changes, he, and others, advised farms to assess their individual carbon situation to identify areas to focus on and provide a baseline to measure changes against. TerraMap Carbon and Omnia Carbon management offer an ideal means of doing this.

Hutchinsons’ Head of Soils Ian Robertson said well-managed healthy soil fulfilled four functions:

1. Plant production
2. Carbon sequestration
3. Filter and buffer water
4. Biological habitat and diversity

Healthy, well structured soil meant better crop rooting and improved nutrient use efficiency, potentially creating opportunities to reduce fertiliser applications while maximising yield. Healthy soils were also more resilient and could facilitate management changes that reduced carbon emissions, such as zero tillage, he said.

Cover and catch crops, plus regular organic matter additions are vital for feeding soil biology, retaining moisture, and improving structure and workability.

Steve McGrath, Principal Research Scientist at Rothamsted Research, agreed and said soil was important for sequestering carbon, but soil type and land use affected its storage ‘capacity’.

He explained that different soils had their own “saturation point” for soil organic carbon (SOC) and levels would gradually decrease if organic carbon inputs fell as material was degraded. Soils with high clay or fine silt content were good at protecting SOC, as it became bound to mineral particles.