Soil testing should be considered an investment and included in future land valuations, according to Christian Murray, CEO of SOILWATER (SWL), previously known as Rescaype.
“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, as
labs use different methods and you do not want to mix the results. It needs to be consistent.”
SWL has been awarded a UKRI grant to design a circular economy model of soil health and water quality monitoring, making the data available on its GIS smart platform Qsoil. The platform aims to provide farmers with real-time soil health and land value updates for reporting to government and stakeholders.
“Carbon testing should be part of any regular soil sampling process. This provides measurements to five levels of carbon. You can also take water carbon and dissolved solutes samples and between the two it will create a reasonably accurate picture of what the soil is capturing as labile (cycled) and stable (longterm storage).
“The test should be carried out three times per year for the first five years, and then it can be relaxed as new combined monitoring algorithms will be able to make incredibly accurate predictions – particularly if combined with other data points such as weather, production and satellite imagery.”
Christian sees a need for national guidelines for measuring and monitoring carbon
“There is a concern that land owners that rush into agreements now may well suffer from a clawback by 2025-2027, if the regulations and sustainable taxonomies are very different to the range of the agreements being put into place by independent contractors today. We already see the advent of tokens and credit schemes operating independently of any national regulations as they do not yet exist.”
The company decided to rebrand after its soil flocculant gained authorisation from the Mexico Secretary of Agriculture in 2021 for use across Mexican soils, to prevent soil erosion, reduce irrigation requirements and reduce diffuse pollution. It has branded the soil improver Rescaype and changed its name to reposition the company in the market as a technology provider for soil and water solutions.
The company provides soil amendments such as Bio-char, Humic Acid and Rescaype as part of an overall soil management regenerative plan. The plan is based against the new terms and protocols the company has developed based upon the AHDB RB 209 guidelines.
Christian is presenting at the event ‘Agri-Tech and ELMs – the Innovation Enablers’ on Tuesday 22nd March 2022.
The UK’s new “Environment and Land Management” (ELM) scheme will see a see a shift towards incentivising farmers to deliver “public goods” in exchange for public money. This event provides an opportunity to hear from farmers and advisors that have participated in early trials and also from the technologists and researchers that are developing techniques and tools to assist them.
