
Groundswell 2022: soil-first agriculture
Join us for the ‘Agri-TechE Innovation Insights’ Wed 22nd June at 4pm
Join us for the ‘Agri-TechE Innovation Insights’ Wed 22nd June at 4pm
Trinity AgTech enables farmers to measure, optimise and report all aspects of natural capital across their farming enterprises, including carbon, biodiversity and water protection. One of the technologies to be discussed at the ELMs event on 22nd March.
Should the agri-tech industry take the lead and develop a set of environmental standards to support the transition to net zero agriculture? This would create an evidence-base of good practice for retailers and consumers and underpin a movement towards food production with lower environmental impacts, argues Agri-TechE.
It would also help to remove the limbo for farmers during the transition to the Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme.
As the UK government starts the transition to Environmental Land Management (ELM) we look at the emerging agri-tech that will enable farmers to measure, monitor and manage change to increase their natural capital assets.
“I am nervous that the new ELMs scheme will focus on environmental improvements over the need to produce food locally in the UK,” says regenerative farmer Thomas Gent, who aims to do both.
Measuring water quality should be a priority for ELMs as it provides an objective and rapid metric for environmental health, argues Lizzie Emmett, Advisor to the Wensum Farmers, a group of 29 farmers covering 10,000ha along the beautiful River Wensum in Norfolk.
Soil testing should be considered an investment and included in future land valuations, according to Christian Murray, CEO of SOILWATER.”Soil testing is the best starting point data without a doubt, however it is important for a land manager to pick one service and stay with it – it needs to be consistent.”
“Understanding what is happening below the surface is critical to smart water management. We have developed a sophisticated monitoring system that can provide a detailed view of water infiltration, drainage, soil temperatures as well as root development.”
Our goal is to apply our tools to drive mass adoption of regenerative farming practices, says Matthew Guinness, VP of Sustainability for Hummingbird Technolgies, who will be presenting at the upcoming event ‘Agri-Tech and ELMs – the Innovation Enablers’.
Over 70 percent of the nitrogen applied in early Spring can be lost to the air or water, says Samuel Leadbeater of Timac Agro UK. He is urging farmers to consider phased release nitrogen that will remain in the soil…