Visitors to Tillage-Live will be able to see working demonstrations of cultivation equipment from leading manufacturers, together with industry leading experts on hand to discuss the latest agricultural developments at the technical-trade static exhibition area.
This year’s ‘Knowledge Trails’ will also provide practical insight into areas such as soils and cover crops as well as tyres and soil protection with NRoSO and BASIS points being available.
Organised by the Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA) on behalf of the industry, the event takes place on Wednesday 26th September 2018 at Dunbar, East Lothian.
Soil health targets
The government’s 25-year environment plan launched earlier this year, indicated that future agricultural policy will focus on soil health and structure, with targets on soil health likely to be set when the Agricultural Bill, is published later this year.
Soil health is at the forefront of the Tillage-Live knowledge trails, visitors can join Gavin Elrick and Seamus Donnelly of SAC Consulting, part of Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), as they take turns in the soil pit looking at compaction, soil structure, rooting depth and solutions such as tillage and green cover crops.
Tray grown examples of all the Scottish EFA green cover crops will also be on display, with local consultants available to discuss cover crops from an IACS / Greening point of view.
Practical insight into soil health and structure
SAC Consulting will also be launching their Soil Health Test or ‘MOT’ service, building on routine testing for pH and nutrients (P, K, Mg) already delivered by SAC Consulting, the soil MOT also measures soil organic matter, soil physical structure, earthworms and potentially mineralisable nitrogen.
The results are presented in an easy to understand ‘traffic-light’ format, giving a simple overview of soil health, together with detailed descriptions and information on each of the factors.
As well as providing management advice and soil health benchmarking, such as regional comparisons, SAC repeated sampling and data collection would enable long-term analysis of the effects of management changes on soil quality. Additionally Professor Bryan Griffiths (Chair in Soil Ecologyat the SRUC Crop and Soil Systems Research Group) and other local SAC consultants will be on hand throughout the day to discuss the Soil Health Test and research that is going on in this area.
This year’s Tillage-Live takes place on Wednesday 26th September 2018 at Dunbar, East Lothian. The site is directly off the A1 at Spott Roundabout; please follow the road signs to the visitors’ entrance to the event. More information can be found at http://tillage-live.uk.com
