Episode 70: Sustainable Farming Scheme- Delving deeper into the detail
This podcast will be an opportunity to understand a bit more about the Sustainable Farming Scheme proposals and how the scheme could operate in the context of a real sheep farm. We’ll be focusing on the Universal Actions for benchmarking...
A challenging season for the Welsh Pasture Project’s experienced grazing managers
Richard Rees
Farm name and location: Penmaen Bach, Pennal, Machynlleth
Sector: Red Meat (Sheep)
Being lightly stocked, we have been lucky over the last couple of months; we have managed to keep average farm cover fairly consistent around 2200kgDM/ha, with...
Hitting rock bottom: can silica rocks mitigate agricultural emissions?
27th of September 2022
Dr David Cutress: IBERS, Aberystwyth University.
- Silicate and carbonate reactions could offer a route for long-term carbon storage
- Whilst issues surround carbonate minerals, silicates, like basalt rock, appear more promising
- Applying crushed silicates to agricultural...
Nitrogen and agriculture – where do we stand?
27/09/2022
Dr David Cutress: IBERS, Aberystwyth University
- The development of synthetic nitrogen (N) production allowed a boom in agricultural yields and population growth worldwide
- Whilst N is growth-limiting, it is regularly applied at levels where less than half is...
Farm anchors soils by switching reseeding strategy in boost for business and nature
22/09/2022
Welsh farms are losing 5t/acre of soil every time the thickness equivalent of a one-pence coin is eroded from fields left bare in the winter.
“That soil isn’t replaced, and that’s your livelihoods being washed away; you need...
Episode 68 - 'The three elements of sustainable farming, Profit, Planet and People' with Rhys Williams and Aled Picton Evans
This episode will be the first in a series introduced by a range of guest presenter on a variety of topics from Welsh Agriculture and beyond. The first guest presenter will be a familiar voice to the podcast, Rhys Williams...
Monitoring flock performance – including condition scoring ewes at key stages – has been fundamental to improved profitability at Glanmynys
20 September 2022
Monitoring ewes and managing their body condition score (BCS) has helped to reduce the rate of barren and aborted ewes by 6.4% in a Welsh flock, helping to lift profit margin by £3.34 a ewe to...
Mycorrhiza manipulation: nature vs nurture
1 September 2022
Dr David Cutress: IBERS, Aberystwyth University.
- Mycorrhiza can be added to systems physically via inoculation or encouraged from surrounding environments
- Inoculation strategies should be considered carefully given the ecosystem and climate in which they will...