Fathers of regen

Advice from the

Regen Pioneers fathers of regen

Regenerative agriculture royalty Gabe Brown and colleagues spoke to 250 farmers and advisers at a special Groundswell workshop in October,hosted by the Cherry family. CPM was there. By Mike Abram

The first thing US regenerative pioneers Gabe Brown, Dr Allen Williams and Shane New do when they start talking to the 250-strong sell out audience at John and Paul Cherry’s farm in Hertfordshire –– site of the Groundswell event –– is to take a picture.

Gabe jokes his wife once said she wouldn’t cross the road to hear him talk, so he wants evidence that UK farmers are happy to travel to hear him speak.

He and his colleagues are visiting the UK for the first time, thanks to a collaboration with Regenerate Outcomes, 3LM (UK Savory Hub) and their consulting business, Understanding Ag.

“Regenerative agriculture is a thinking person’s game,” begins Gabe. “You have to be able to think, and you have to be able to observe. This is one of the missing links in agriculture today. Farmers have lost the power to observe how nature functions.

“In nature there are six principles that are constant. Put us on any continent, you will find these six principles: context, least amount of mechanical and chemical disturbance, armour on the soil, diversity, living roots in the soil, and livestock/animal integration”.

Healthy ecosystems

“These are just constant everywhere –– you must have them to have a healthy functioning ecosystem.

“It’s these six principles, along with the three rules of adaptive stewardship, that drive the four ecosystem processes: the energy, water and nutrient cycles, and community dynamics, or as we call it, biodiversity.”

Gabe admits all of this isn’t rocket science. It’s time-tested ecological principles that drive healthy, functioning ecosystems, he says.

That’s what makes it possible, in his eyes, for three American farmers to provide relevant advice to farmers in very different environments across the world.

“We’re not here to tell you how to run your operation. We share our experiences on how to regenerate soils, and then it’s up to you to apply those principles, rules and processes.

“It’s your management, or stewardship, that makes the difference. Every single decision you make on the farm either has positive compounding effects or negative cascading effects. You need to take those into consideration before changing any practices,” suggests Gabe.

But the number one reason the team works with farmers is to help them make money, he stresses. “We’re not farming for the sake of it. You have to be profitable. Yes, we want to do what’s right for the environment but we have to be able to make

Regenerative agriculture is a “ thinking person’s game. ”

a living. We shouldn’t be embarrassed about making a reasonable profit.”

Talking through their 6-3-4 framework, Shane New begins with the four ecosystem processes, explaining how a plant captures sunlight, water, carbon dioxide and nitrogen, and produces root exudates which feed bacteria and fungi in the soil.

It’s that soil biology that helps build soil structure, starting with the bacteria creating microaggregates which the fungi tie together into macroaggregates, he says. “Once we develop that, we develop a means to enable

The special Groundswell seminar was a sell out as growers flocked to hear from the man whose book has been an inspiration to many of them.

Every single decision you make on the farm either has positive compounding effects or negative cascading effects.You need to take those into consideration before changing any practices, suggests Gabe.

▲ mobility for not only the bacteria and fungi, but also their predators, protozoa and nematodes, which are important for nutrient cycling.”

Good soil structure gives the predators access to the most abundant area for soil biology –– the rhizosheath around the roots. “They’re consuming bacteria and fungi, and the immobilised nutrients tied up in them, and mineralising the excess close to the plant, which can then be captured by its roots. That’s the nutrient cycle.

“Our friend Ray Archuleta said it best:

Q & A with Gabe Brown

The questions from attendees flowed during the 45-minute group discussions in the field. Here are four of the best to Gabe Brown.

How do you deal with slugs?

Slugs tend to proliferate if you have too much thatch building up on the soil surface –– too much soil armour, Gabe says. “That’s a carbon:nitrogen ratio problem.You need to change your crop rotation to increase lower carbon plants and decrease higher carbon plants to cycle through the residue quicker.That will help alleviate some of the slug issues.”

He also notes that the larvae of glow worms are a key predator of slugs,but numbers in the UK have declined.“You have to provide the home and habitat for them both in field and on the edge.”

How quickly can you wean soils off applied nitrogen?

fatty acid analysis) soil tests to help determine the level of nutrient cycling.The PLFA helps determine the total viable microbial biomass and gives a general profile –– important for determining whether the bacterial/fungal predators that help cycle nutrients are present.

The Haney test helps determine the quantity of soil nutrients available to soil microbes.Previously this test was not available in the UK,though Understanding Ag is working with a couple of laboratories to change that.

“We also do a total nutrient digestion test to prove there is plenty of nutrients available. According to what these tests show,we’re able to give guidance on how quickly you can back off. We normally see that in the first year you can cut by 25%,the next year another 25%,the third year another. We can back off fairly rapidly,but it depends on where your system is at.

“You can’t take a heavily tilled system and do it that quickly –– it will be a wreck.”

‘the plant and soil are one’. We can’t build aggregation without plants; we can’t have a plant without soil; and we can’t have microbiology without either one of these, together with a functioning ecosystem.”

Gabe returns to run through the reasonably well-known six principles of soil health, highlighting that ecological, financial, social and environmental contexts must be taken into account when developing a holistic approach.

Recreational tillage

When talking about minimal disturbance he tells a story of how his father-in-law loved recreational tillage. “When he retired, he sold all the farm kit except a tractor. He bought a brand-new disc cultivator and spent his retirement discing for neighbours for free.

When he passed away, he bequeathed Gabe not the tractor but the discs in his will. “I’d been no-tilling for over a decade by that point,” he laughs.

But the serious point is that tillage destroys the biological and ecological integrity of soil, collapsing the pore spaces that allow soil biology to move around, and killing the mycorrhizal fungi that are needed to develop soil aggregates, he explains. Gabe also says that fertilisers kill mycorrhizal fungi.

“Soil aggregates only last about four weeks,” he points out. “I don’t think most growers understand the power of mycorrhizal fungi in building soil aggregates and transferring nutrients.

“No-till systems are the beginning of soil health. But when we consult with clients, are we going to move them immediately to no-till if they’re doing tillage? No, it has to fit their context, but eventually we will move them down the no-till path, over time.”

Over-application of synthetic pesticides and even manures can also be damaging to the soil, he adds. “Manures stored in pits and lagoons can contain a high level of antibiotics, and you can do more harm to the soil by applying it. It’s a real challenge. They need to be applied to living cover crops that can take in and mediate some of those compounds.”

He moves onto the importance of armouring the soil, highlighting that there can be around 7-150C difference in soil temperature between a field with bare soil and one with cover.

“At 210C soil temperature, 100% of moisture can be used for plant growth. As soil temperatures increase, the plant starts shutting down. At 370C, 85% of the soil moisture is lost through evaporation and transpiration and at higher temperatures soil biology is killed. How many farmers are taking soil temperatures into consideration?”

The UK enjoys some environmental advantages, he notes, with usually adequate amounts of moisture and a long growing season. But there are still gaps that could be filled by growing cover crops. “Aim for 12 months of living roots,” he suggests.

Early on when growing cover crops, there’s likely to be too much residue with too

What’s the one thing you must get right in this system?

“Having soil armour. You have to keep the soil covered,” says Gabe.

That helps retain moisture which is vital for soil biology and protects the biology from extreme temperatures, he explains. “The weak point in my system is moisture.I can control having that armour to keep what little moisture I have in the soil.

“But we’re finding that soil armour is critical everywhere.In higher rainfall areas you still need to keep the soil covered to protect the home for the biology.”

What are you most concerned about in UK systems?

Theamount of brassicas in the rotation is a concern, says Gabe.“You have to watch out for oilseed rape as it non-mycorrhizal. I’m not saying not to grow it, but without mycorrhizal fungi you won’t build soil aggregates and therefore soil health.”

Shane New highlights that the plant and soil are one – aggregation can’t be built without plants; plant can’t grow without soil; microbiology can’t live without either of these,together with a functioning ecosystem.

▲ much carbon and not enough nitrogen, adds Gabe. “As your systems become biologically active, it will go the other way. But how do you feed that much biology?”

Cover crops are also the way of introducing diversity into rotations. Monoculture cash crops following monoculture cash crops will continue to degrade soils, he says. “Diversity means warm and cool season broadleaved and grasses within your context. The way to get that in arable systems is growing cover crops.

“It’s the cover crops that cycle solar energy and help drive the system for the years of cash crops.”

When designing cover crops, each species should be used to address a specific resource concern, he says. “Your top resource concern should be feeding biology and cycling carbon. But then consider what was the last crop, whether any herbicide used will carry over, and which of the six principles is lacking.

“If it’s soil armour, you need to grow cover crops higher in carbon. If it’s cycling more nitrogen, then grow more legumes,” he explains.

Usually he would aim for at least six or seven different species as the more diversity, the more benefit to the soils and ultimately better production.

Out in the field, Gabe uses one of John Cherry’s fields as a backdrop to expand on the principles outlined in the morning. The field had come out of oats and is now sown with a multi-species cover crop before a planned winter bean crop. It’s been no-tilled with very little synthetic fertiliser applied.

He highlights that over-applying any synthetic or organic nutrient can be problematic, that it’s difficult to go ‘cold turkey’ on reducing fertility inputs, and that there’s plentiful availability of nutrients from the atmosphere and in the soil. The key to unlocking that supply is soil biology, he says, stimulated by growing diverse crops and plants.

He’s pretty impressed by the Cherry’s progress. “Anybody that has a green living cover cycling solar energy and has cut back significantly on their inputs to drive soil health is a lot further on than most.

“Where I would give them grief, is having a field this size and to not have livestock on it. I don’t care what it took, I’d get livestock grazing. As this grows there is a lot of forage.”

Livestock would help cycle nutrients, he explains. “An average-sized cow cycles 0.23lbs (0.1kg) of nitrogen, 0.15lbs (0.07kg) of phosphorus and 0.5lbs (0.23kg) potassium per day. Start putting 100 head of beef cattle or 500 sheep on here, think of the amount of nutrients you’re cycling.

“And with proper dung beetle populations, that’s going to cycle through very quickly. People wonder how we can grow the yields we do without any synthetics, it’s a combination of the biology in the soil, the earthworms and the livestock.”

He suggests that while you can significantly advance soils without livestock integration, you will never reach full potential without it. “Obviously there will be arable farmers who don’t want to work with livestock, but isn’t there a young person in your community who would love the chance? Why not work with them–– it’s to your benefit.” ■

Flexibility in managing livestock is crucial

Just as with diversity of approach helps with weed control, and diversity in cropping and living roots helps improve soil health, flexibility in managing livestock is crucial,says Dr Allen Williams.

“Adaptive grazing –– being flexible to changing conditions –– brings the greatest results in the shortest period of time,” he explains.

“We’re aiming to re-establish a fully functioning carbon cycle. To do that,we use livestock to stimulate and emulate nature.”

Using different stock densities is a key requirement. “We use all stock densities some of the time, but we use no one stock density all of the time,” he stresses.

“The reason farmers will fail with mob grazing is if you use the same stock density over and over. You’re no longer adaptive and regenerative, you are now prescriptive.”

Other tips for creating disruption in livestock management included altering grazing heights, the length of rest periods for fields,change the pattern of grazing within the rotation and altering the paddock shape,and using different combinations of such tactics.

One of the Understanding Ag team, Dr Allen Williams pioneered many of the early regenerative grazing protocols and forage finishing techniques and now teaches those practices and principles to farmers globally. Gabe Brown’s book Dirt to Soil has been inspirational to many growers as they contemplate changing their farming system.

Real Results Pioneers

I’m trying to drive the narrative, “ rather than sitting back and listening to the backlash against us.”

Finding a better balance

There’s a lot of talk about farming in a more sustainable way but how does this translate into practice? CPM visits the winner of BASF’s inaugural Rawcliffe Bridge Award for Sustainability to find out. By Mike Abram

One thing becomes clear early on in conversation with Colin Chappell –– he’s not afraid to try new things to improve the economic, environmental, and social outcomes for his farm.

The three are often the pillars used to measure sustainability but getting the balance between them is not always straightforward. Understandably, many farmers will try to maximise one of the three, and that’s usually –– but not always –– economic success. But this can often inadvertently come to the detriment of the other two pillars.

It’s perhaps telling then that Colin, who farms in the Ancholme Valley, near Brigg in North Lincolnshire, doesn’t see himself as particularly outstanding in any one of these areas –– but his competence in achieving success in all three was part of the reason he won the inaugural BASF Rawcliffe Bridge Award for Sustainability earlier this year.

The farm is a mixture of owned, contracted and tenanted land covering 810ha, while also doing 75% of the work on a further 140ha. Much of the farm is on what Colin describes as “tough soil”, including some areas with an up to 62% clay fraction.

More sustainable path

His path towards farming more sustainably has been helped by two industry initiatives, he says. Entering ADAS’ YEN (Yield Enhancement Network) programme five years ago opened his eyes initially. “I was thinking I knew everything. Our wheat was doing 10t/ha every year and I thought I’d cracked it –– put on a bit more nitrogen, a bit more chemistry and I’ll get to 12.5-15t/ha.

“But I got 52% –– Mr Middleman. And I realised the system of putting more and more on to achieve that little bit extra didn’t fit –– there’s often a point where you’ve reached the maximum your soils will do, while there’s something that will be holding you back, for example, blackgrass.

“So I realised I needed a more targeted approach to try to sort out problems one by one.”

That’s where the second initiative helped, says Colin –– becoming an AHDB Monitor Farm from 2017 to 2021. It provided some of the tools, access to expertise, and conversations to improve farming skills and confidence to try new practices.

Agronomically, his three interlinked key challenges have been to improve blackgrass control, increase soil health and reduce nitrogen inputs after a carbon audit three years ago highlighted that improvements could be made to reduce carbon emissions.

“I’m not where I want to be with my carbon footprint –– we’re still the wrong side –– but I learned nitrogen was the key. You either sequester carbon in your soils or reduce emissions. When you look at growing a tonne of wheat, 50% of the emissions are associated with nitrogen.” ▲

Colin Chappell has proven his competence in achieving success in balancing the economic, environmental,and social outcomes of his farm.

Nitrogen use has been cut across the farm by 20% but grain monitoring suggests nitrogen use efficiency in wheat last season was 84%,up from 60%.

▲ With 8% organic matter in some soils, sequestering more carbon into the soils is likely to be a challenge so he’s concentrated on trying to reduce emissions by monitoring nitrogen use through the season. He’s cut nitrogen across the farm by 20% and adds a carbon source in the form of molasses to make its use more efficient.

Grain monitoring suggests nitrogen use efficiency in wheat last season was 84%, a marked improvement on the previous 60%.

He also grows crops that have minimal or no nitrogen requirements as part of the rotation, which is now much more diverse –– including combining or vining peas, beans, canary seed, spring oats, winter oats, forage maize and forage barley, alongside the arable staples of oilseed rape and winter wheat.

“Winter wheat is still our bread and butter –– we grow mostly milling wheat for Warburtons, but also some feed and biscuit wheat,” says Colin.

As well as reducing nitrogen requirements, the diverse rotation is part of the blackgrass strategy, growing three spring crops consecutively to get on top of the weed, followed by winter wheat, OSR, then winter wheat again and winter barley. “We’re on a seven to eight-year cycle,” he adds.

The forage barley crop plays a crucial role in “walking the blackgrass off the farm”, he says. “It’s a cultural control that not many others use.”

Forage crops

Originally, he was growing hybrid rye for a local anaerobic digestion plant, but discovered that blackgrass was already shedding by the time of harvest. “Growing barley for forage moves the harvesting period forward two weeks in June.

“It’s a hybrid crop as that has thicker stems to generate more methane, and we grow it slightly differently as growth regulation is minimal. We ease back on herbicides and only use one fungicide instead of two. Around 120kg/ha of nitrogen is applied,” he says.

He also grows forage maize with its late drilling date helping control blackgrass before drilling.

It’s important to change tactics regularly, he stresses. “Blackgrass is a clever plant ––it follows what you do. If you grow tall crops, it grows tall. If you grow spring crops, it germinates in the spring. If you plant early, it will come early.

“Ben Taylor-Davies, whom I follow for advice, always says you need to mix it up to get on top of it.”

Chemistry is the last resort, but he’s pleased new chemistry is arriving to bolster and diversify the armoury. He’s finding, even after three years of spring crops and other cultural controls, he still needs more than a cheap pre-emergence of Liberator (flufenacet+ diflufenican) to keep on top of it in wheat.

A Real Results trial this season will compare Liberator plus Proclus (aclonifen) with Luxinum Plus (cinmethylin) plus pendimethalin, he confirms.

One of the other things that has changed in recent years is his soil management, he says. “I want to do as little as I can to get the crop established, but as much as required, so I’m not a 100% direct driller.”

He’s trying to get to a one-pass system where one drill does everything. Currently he uses either a Väderstad Rapid with a set of system discs on the front, or a Triton Side-Press. “We use the Väderstad where we can, although it probably moves too much soil for true direct drillers, and when it gets too wet, we move to the Triton.

“Recently we’ve started using a Grange low-disturbance subsoiler, which runs well in tandem with both drills by improving drainage channels in the soil.”

Combined with the diverse rotation

What is the Rawcliffe Bridge Award?

BASF’s Rawcliffe Bridge Award for Sustainability was launched to mark the 20-year anniversary of BASF partnering with Rawcliffe Bridge Farm in East Yorkshire,which aims to help demonstrate how to balance productive farming with wildlife management,says Mia Belfield,BASF Marketing Communications Manager.

“It’s part of the work we do to help give farmers a platform to advocate for themselves and the industry,”she says.

“Our view is that sustainable food production must go hand-in-hand with preserving the environment.”

This year’s award had around 20 initial applications,with two standing out –– Colin and the runner-up Guy Prudom,from Northfields Farm in North Yorkshire.

“Colin just edged the judging through his approach to the environmental,economic and social aspects to sustainability –– he had the full package to move forward with this idea of people,planet and profit.”

Winning the award is already opening doors for Colin,with his local MP contacting him for a visit to the farm after hearing about him winning the award.

“That’s exactly the kind of thing we’re looking to achieve,”says Mia.

She adds that the award fits into the global BASF campaign,Biggest Job on Earth.“The idea with Biggest Job on Earth is to allow farmers to share their success stories, their challenges, and their impact on food production and the environment.

“In the UK, we’re using it as a platform for farmers to share their story,and the Rawcliffe Bridge Award fits perfectly into the initiative.”

Entries for next year’s Sustainability Award will be open in the spring.“Our hope is to create a group of like-minded farmers through the award who can learn from each other and share their knowledge and strategies Two applications for the Award for Sustainability stood out – Colin (left) and runner-up Guy Prudom.

for sustainability more broadly.”

To find out more about Biggest Job on Earth and to show your support visit www.agricentre.basf.co.uk/en/Biggest-Job-on-Earth/

Flowering margins build “an army of minibeasts” that can get into crops and potentially help reduce insecticides. Frequent visits to the farm help Colin Chappell tell the story of how he farms to turn the tide on negative things he hears about farming.

and use of cover crops, he’s finding improvements in water infiltration rates and water holding capacity, allowing him to drill beans and wheat into November, which wasn’t possible previously.

Economic health is benchmarked against other farms, including those in his local group, using AHDB Farmbench. His full costs of production per tonne compare well with his peers, he says.

The strong financial position is part of the reason he’s been able to take on the 110ha tenancy without extra labour or machinery, and also purchase 16ha of land, a self-propelled spray and tractor without any finance in the past three years.

That doesn’t mean improvements couldn’t be made, he adds. Farmbench data suggests his fungicide costs are still relatively high, considering he’s using less nitrogen and sap and tissue analysis to bolster disease control with trace element applications.

He’s experimented with applying a “cocktail” of fish hydrolysate, humic acid and Carbon Balancer (enhanced molasses) just after a crop comes through the ground. “It feeds the microbes in the soil so they can then feed my plants. On spring beans last year, it lifted yields by 2.5t/ha, and 1t/ha on canary seed.”

Around 5.5% of his area is in environmental measures, situated in awkward and/or low performing fields or in areas taken out of production to create wildlife corridors around the farm.

“We’ve all got parts of the farm that aren’t as productive as others. For example, I have an 11ha field, where 2ha routinely floods. When the whole 11ha was last cropped with wheat, it averaged 8.25t/ha. We took that 2ha out and devoted it to biodiversity. The next time we cropped the 9ha left, it did 10t/ha.”

Identifying those areas started in 2006, with four fields planted with miscanthus, and further areas now in the Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier scheme.

“One part of the farm is effectively a link from the River Ancholme to the village of Hibaldstow so wildlife can move between the two.”

He’s sited wild bird food mixes under powerlines to give birds a place to escape to when predators are around, with insect mixes next to them. It seems to be working, with an increase in wildlife being seen on the farm.

“The RSPB did a survey on the farm and the miscanthus was holding a lot of red list species, which hadn’t been seen here before. Last year, I saw egrets and the ditches now have fish in them again, so we are moving in the right direction.”

Reducing insecticides

It’s also helping to build “an army of minibeasts” that can get into crops and potentially help him reduce insecticides. He’s not completely there yet –– barley yellow dwarf virus is a challenge, but he doesn’t spray for cabbage stem flea beetle or bruchid beetles.

The social benefit of the environmental areas on the farm plays into one of his driving passions –– helping to educate the public and especially children about agriculture.

“I’m trying to counter a lot of the criticism levelled at farmers by educating the public about what we do and attempting to drive the narrative, rather than sitting back and listening to the backlash against us.”

The primary activity he’s involved with is working in partnership with the Country Trust to bring schoolchildren on to his farm. The charity helps organise visits to real working farms for disadvantaged young people and Colin hosts 8-10 visits per year from schools in the surrounding area, including from Hull, Grimsby and Scunthorpe.

“We walk around the farm and explain what we do and why,” says Colin. “The first thing you see is these children’s faces when they step off the bus and see the wide-open spaces.”

He puts all the crops he grows on a table to explain the connection to the food they eat, and why there are nettles all over his farm. “Look at the ladybirds and the caterpillars and the biodiversity that is enhanced by just one nettle,” he says.

Equally important is the understanding the teachers and assistants gain from the visits. “The narrative is coming from other people at the moment, and we need to tell our story to turn the tide on negative things we’re hearing. By educating the kids, hopefully in 10-15 years that generation will grow up to understand what we’re doing and why,” he concludes. ■

The Real Results Circle

BASF’s Real Results Circle farmer-led trials are now in their sixth year.The initiative is focused on working with farmers to conduct field-scale trials on their own farms using their own kit and management systems.The trials are all assessed using ADAS’ Agronomics tool which delivers statistical confidence to tramline,or field-wide treatment comparisons –– an important part of Real Results.

In this series we follow the journey, thinking and results from farmers involved in the programme. The features also look at some other related topics, such as environmental stewardship and return on investment.

We want farmers to share their knowledge and conduct on-farm trials. By coming together to face challenges as one,we can find out what really works and shape the future of UK agriculture.

To keep in touch with the progress of these growers and the trials,go to https://www.agricentre.basf.co.uk/en/ Real-Results-Circle/ or scan the QR code.