SoilEssentials is urging farmers across Scotland to have their soils tested and analysed in the face of continuing high input prices and ahead of changes to agricultural support schemes.
SoilEssentials – an Angus-based agricultural advice service, has said that farmers should book soil sampling now ahead of the establishment of spring crops.
Catriona McLean, precision agronomy manager at SoilEssentials, said farmers should book sampling now ahead of spring sowing and planting, especially given the availability of the Scottish government’s ‘Preparing for sustainable farming’ scheme which supports soil sampling.
“Knowing and monitoring the make-up of soils is crucial to ensuring the better use of increasingly expensive inputs and could also be key to unlocking future, post CAP, government support schemes,” she said.
“I would challenge any farmers to justify maintaining an ‘aye-been’ approach to fertiliser or lime applications, for example.
“With eye-watering prices for fertiliser here to stay, at least for the 2023 cropping year, surely it is better to know precisely what is needed and where.”
The role of soil
McLean said the make-up of soils can vary significantly, even across individual fields. Soils are a farm’s most valuable resource, she said, so knowing more about them and how they can be nurtured is critical to the long-term future of a farming business.
“Our involvement in sampling of Scotland’s monitor farms should, we believe, help to demonstrate the key role that soil sampling plays in making better, more informed business decisions,” she said.
Beth Alexander, Monitor Farm Programme manager, said: “To improve productivity above the ground we need to first dig deeper and look at our soils.
“Soil health is key and will be a fundamental theme of the Monitor Farm programme.”
“We are delighted to be working with SoilEssentials to establish baseline soil health across all nine farms and look for opportunities for improvement.”
