RAU Organic Soil matter

Today I am going to talk about improving organic matter in soils. My parents have a small holding where they farm sheep roughly about 50 ewes. Alongside that we have Horses and some chickens. During the winter months where it is cold and the grass doesn’t have so much nutrients in it and that the animals need a lot of energy to keep them going and also the fact that the ewes are usually pregnant we make hay for them and we sell hay to locals mainly for their horse and because horses are quite fussy with their hay quality it is need to be in tip top condition. One of the most important factors is all of the soil creatures that live in the ground most commonly known ones are worms. The ways in which we make sure that we improve the organic matter in the soil is to firstly over the winter we graze it so that we make sure that the nutrients are put back into the ground through the animal’s dung. Other ways in which we make sure that the nutrients are put back into the ground is to spread the muck in which has accumulated over the winter months from the barns which the sheep have been in while they were having lambs. By spreading muck onto the field it encourages soil creatures such as worms which are vital for good soil and bacteria which again is vital. As you can see that this field is covered in clovers and red clover which is a good indicator that the fields are in good condition and this is also a good source of protein for the sheep which is useful. Also even though compaction of heavy vehicles is not this topic it has an important role in which if we had heavy tractors and farm machinery rolling over it all the time the soil structure is compacted which again means the worms and other soil creatures cannot get through easily. Other sources that could improve the organic soil matter which we don’t do is to plant cover crops and what this does is to provide living vegetation in the field and the roots break up the soil which is good for the worms because it makes it easy for them to pass through. Another way is to eliminate tillage this is because even though you are ripping up the ground and all those layers of soil that the plant couldn’t get through you are also killing lots of worms and other soil creatures which in turn means you won’t have anything to break down the organic matter which is essential for good soil.