Participation in the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme (SNHS) will be a requirement to receive future farm support payments, with the added condition that farmers must also complete the associated training, an online event on Tuesday night was told.

“Get the training done sooner rather than later,” advised Dr Steven Johnston from DAERA, one of three speakers at the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) event.

That training comes in two phases, the first of which looks at understanding nutrient management, while the second considers how to complete a nutrient management plan.

Ideally, most farmers will undertake the training online, via the CAFRE website. For those with poor internet connection, the training can also be accessed by booking an appointment at a local DAERA Direct Office, while there are also plans for some face-to-face training events to be organised this autumn and winter, said Johnston.

While only around half of all farmers have their results from the SNHS, with Zones 3 and 4 yet to be sampled, farmers do not have to wait on results from the scheme – if they have their own soil sample results, they can still do the training, advised Johnston.

At the end of the process, a certificate is generated showing that training is complete. “Save it electronically or print it out. It is quite important to have a copy of that going forward,” he said.

Lime

The UFU event also heard from soil expert, Mark Tripney (ISoils Ltd.) who encouraged farmers to look beyond the standard indexes for phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) in their soil analysis reports.

His main message is to make sure soil is at a target pH of 6.5 and to regularly use calcium based lime products to maintain pH at this level.

“Calcium has been an ignored nutrient over the last five decades,” said Tripney, who added that it helps to reduce soil compaction by improving soil structure, while also benefiting overall soil biology and plant health.

Granulated

That message was reinforced by Jonny Rice from Larne based Kilwaughter Lime, who pointed out that at a pH of 6, studies show 11% of the nitrogen and 48% of the P is still locked up in the soil and unavailable for plant growth.

If applying 27-4-4, costing £400/t, it means £80 of this is effectively lost.

“If you take that money and invest it in lime you will be much better off,” said Rice.

He said there is a recent trend where farmers seem to be going to the “tweaks” and applying new products such as soil conditioners and biostimulants, but forgetting what is really important – soil drainage, key macro nutrients and pH.

To fix a low pH soil (below 5.7), he said that conventional ground limestone should be used, but once pH is above 6, farmers should apply 80 to 100kg per acre of a calcium-based, granulated product, as a maintenance dressing each year.

“Save yourself the hassle and pain of peaks and troughs of pH. Use granulated lime little and often. You do it with fertiliser – why not lime? You can sow in any weather at any time. You have got to fix pH first,” said Rice.

“If I was a regulator, I wouldn’t allow people to put fertiliser on fields that are under pH of 6,” added Mark Tripney from ISoils Ltd.