BEETSOIL: a decision support tool for forecasting the impact of soil conditions on sugar beet harvest

Sugar beet in the UK is harvested in autumn and winter, when soil moisture is usually close to field capacity. This, together with the heavy machinery used can lead to serious environmental problems such as topsoil disturbance, subsoil compaction and soil erosion. BEETSOIL is a decision support tool (DST) developed to help plan the sugar beet harvest campaign by assessing if soil conditions are suitable for harvest whilst minimising the occurrence of soil damage. The core of BEETSOIL is a soil water balance model that, using a rainfall source selected by the user, predicts soil water content in a determined prediction window. The resulting soil water content is used to predict soil trafficability, wheel sinkage, soil stickiness and soil loss due to harvest on a daily basis. The soil water balance module was validated with measured soil water content at three field sites with contrasting clayey, silty and sandy textures and showed RMSE of 0.91%, 0.96% and 0.52%, respectively. The sensitivity of the trafficability modules of BEETSOIL were tested using several scenarios using different initial soil water contents at the start of the harvest campaign combined with rainfall amounts that simulate wet, median and dry conditions during the harvest period. Analysis of the scenarios showed the trafficability module was very sensitive to changes in texture, initial soil water content of the simulation and rainfall. This information can be used to assess the suitability of new sugar beet growing areas, where the proportion of time during which fields can be trafficked by vehicles (harvested effectively) can be predicted under different scenarios and therefore give an indication of any consistent harvest difficulties. The model outputs of sinkage, trafficability and soil loss by harvest have yet to be validated, but the first outputs provide indications of how the DST can be used across the whole growing area to schedule harvest operations to target areas that can be harvested most effectively

The implications of a changing climate on agricultural land classification in England and Wales

The agricultural land classification (ALC) of England and Wales is a formal method of assessing the quality of agricultural land and guiding future land use. It assesses several soil, site and climate criteria and classifies land according to whichever is the most limiting. A common approach is required for calculating the necessary agroclimatic parameters over time in order to determine the effects of changes in the climate on land grading. In the present paper, climatic parameters required by the ALC classification have been re-calculated from a range of primary climate data, available from the Meteorological Office's UKCP09 historical dataset, provided as 5 km rasters for every month from 1914 to 2000. Thirty-year averages of the various agroclimatic properties were created for 1921–50, 1931–60, 1941–70, 1951–80, 1961–90 and 1971–2000. Soil records from the National Soil Inventory on a 5 km grid across England and Wales were used to determine the required soil and site parameters for determining ALC grade. Over the 80-year period it was shown that the overall climate was coolest during 1951–80. However, the area of land estimated in retrospect as ‘best and most versatile (BMV) land’ (Grades 1, 2 and 3a) probably peaked in the 1951–80 period as the cooler climate resulted in fewer droughty soils, more than offsetting the land which was downgraded by the climate being too cold. Overall there has been little change in the proportions of ALC grades among the six periods once all 10 factors (climate, gradient, flooding, texture, depth, stoniness, chemical, soil wetness, droughtiness and erosion) are taken into account. This is because it is rare for changes in climate variables all to point in the same direction in terms of ALC. Thus, a reduction in rainfall could result in higher grades in wetter areas but lead to lower classification in drier areas

Soil water and available nitrogen during cover crop growth

A field trial in Ely, Cambridgeshire was set up to investigate the soil moisture and nitrogen dynamics of a frost sensitive cover crop compared to a control of an over winter stubble. Cover crops were established in late summer following wheat harvest and a summer tillage operation. Soil and aboveground biomass sampling commenced in September 2017 was continued at 2–3 week intervals until May 2018. The results highlight the fast growth of cover crops which rapidly reduced the total oxides of nitrogen present in the soil by late autumn. During winter a gradual increase in total oxides of nitrogen is measured as the cover crop residue is mineralized. The use of the frost sensitive cover crop permitted ease of management and termination, though it is not completely reliable and termination times can vary from year to year

Using frost sensitive cover crops for timely nitrogen mineralisation and soil moisture management

Cover crops can be utilised to lower soil nitrate leaching. However, depending on the species grown and cover crop termination management this may lead to nitrogen (N) immobilisation and/or depletion of soil moisture available to the following cash crop, potentially impacting on crop yields. Cover crop management is also dependent on using herbicides to terminate growth prior to planting the next crop. We used an alternative method for cover crop termination by capitalising on plant senescence by frost in a multi-species cover crop established over-winter between wheat and maize. The cover crops accumulated greater quantities of N than the control. However, upon cover crop senescence due to cold temperatures, the partially terminated cover crop significantly increased topsoil available N from December to late February. This available N in the topsoil could be susceptible to leaching although this was not observed in our study. Cover crops did not have a significant prolonged effect on soil moisture over winter and late spring. The following maize yields were not significantly different between the control and cover crop treatment. Frost sensitive cover crop species could not be reliably terminated under a temperate climate, but provided a continuous supply of soil available N as the plants senesced. Depending on the soil moisture and weather conditions in the spring there could be a N leaching risk although this could be mitigated by establishing early spring crops

Do cover crops give short term benefits for soil health?

Cover crop use in the UK is increasing with establishment often before spring cereal crops. Therefore trials were implemented to assess two different cover crop mixtures for i) their ability to remediate soil compaction, ii) aid water management and iii) increase earthworm numbers. Two cover crop mixtures; frost sensitive (black oats, oil radish and mustard) and winter hardy (forage rye, oil radish and berseem clover) were compared to control plots. This replicated trial was based at G’s Growers on an organo-mineral soil with a cover crop sown between wheat harvested in August 2016 and maize sown in May 2017. The results suggest that in the short term there are small differences in soil physical characteristics. Notably at a depth of 10–20 cm there is a reduction in soil strength as measured by the penetrologger and shear vane following the frost sensitive cover crop mix. Juvenile earthworm population was significantly greater in the control treatment compared to the frost sensitive cover crop treatment. In May 2017 maize was established across all plots

The use of cover crops in the UK: a survey

A sustainable soil management survey targeting UK arable farmers was distributed via online platforms throughout the winter of 2016–2017. The main focus of the survey was the use and management of cover crops along with tillage practice and aspects of soil health. Following harvest in 2016 two-thirds of participants used a cover crop, with 56% of those using a cover crop having 3 years or less experience. There is evidence that the species selected as a cover crop is linked to soil type whilst the benefits to soil structure is related to the extent of farmer experience. Of the participants using cover crops 81% used herbicide to terminate the cover crop. Participants provided suggestions for improvements to ecological focus area rules (based on the 2016 Basic Payment Scheme) for cover and catch crops with 70% of participants suggesting they are not suitable

Developments in land information systems: examples demonstrating land resource management capabilities and options

Land Information Systems (LIS) provide a foundation for supporting decision-making across a broad spectrum of natural resource applications: agronomic, environmental, engineering and public good. Typically, LIS constitute a computerized database repository holding geospatial components, ‘mapping unit’ geometry and related georeferenced materials such as satellite imagery, meteorological observations and predictions and scanned legacy mapping. Coupled with the geospatial data are associated property, semantic and metadata, representing a range of thematic properties and characteristics of the land and environment. This paper provides examples of recent developments of national and regional LIS, presenting applications for land resource capabilities and management. These focus on the ‘Land Information System’ (LandIS) for England and Wales, and the ‘World Soil Survey Archive and Catalogue’ (WOSSAC) and consider Agricultural Land Classification in Wales, an Irish land and soil information system, and a scheme to optimize land suitability for application of palm oil biofertilizers in Malaysia. Land Information Systems support purposeful environmental interpretations, drawing on soil and related thematic data, offering insight into land properties, capabilities and characteristics. The examples highlight the practical transferability and extensibility of technical and methodological approaches across geographical contexts. This assessment identifies the value of legacy-based natural resource inventories that can be interoperated with other contemporary sources of information, such as satellite imagery