Hannah Steenbergen is the farm manager at 42 Acres Farm , a 170 acre working farm and garden which is home to the 42 Acres Somerset Retreat Centre. Until this year much of the land was untended and wild, so there is an amazing amount of wildlife. Hannah’s plan is to create a small-scale diverse regenerative farm where they use minimal inputs, foster biodiversity and increase the fertility of the land.
“After we made hay the field was a buzzard playground! Hay making revealed all these small mammals. There’s amazing wildlife at the farm, we want to keep it that way whilst also bringing the land into production.” – Hannah, 42 Acres
On the farm she has introduced a small beef herd of Shetland cattle, which are 100% grass-fed and managed with ‘mob-grazing’.The garden, greenhouse and polytunnel are filled with delicious vegetables, salads and plants grown by Head Gardener Arek. There’s also a flock of Khaki Campbell ducks waddling around the garden and laying eggs. Hannah grew up on a biodynamic farm in North Yorkshire and is committed to following regenerative agriculture principles as she takes the 42 Acres farm forward.
The aim is to build soil health through clever grazing management with their growing number of livestock, moving them around the pasture regularly, ensuring grass has time to regrow and organic matter is continually incorporated into the soil. The farm is in a very wet area, so increasing the soil’s capacity to hold water is very important, that way they can prevent run-off and keep topsoil and nutrients on the land.
The Soilmentor app allows Hannah to monitor how the soil is changing, and if she is in fact moving towards her goals to build soil health at the farm. Her first soil tests clearly show where she started, and with testing every 6 months, she will quickly get an idea for how the soil is changing with each new farm decision and management practise put in place. Plus it can be fun! Hannah said “I particularly enjoy the earthworm tests, identifying the different types of earthworms is very interesting. The infiltration rate is also very interesting, it was completely different in our pasture vs roto-tilled veg plots. I feel like I’m understanding more about soils all the time.”
For Hannah it’s very important to become a financially viable small scale and diverse farm, with a social impact. As the farm is in its first year, Hannah and the team are figuring out what the land would be best used for, and the soil tests will give a good indication of things to try out. By monitoring and understanding the soil health now, she has taken important first steps to ensure healthy soils on the farm.
What are Hannah’s management objectives?
- Increase soil health on the farm
- Understand best grazing techniques and optimise grass growth
- Maintain and increase biodiversity above and below ground
What is Hannah measuring?
- % of undesirables % of bare soil
- % of grasses, broadleaves, no. of species of each
- VESS (1-5)
- Earthworms
- Infiltration
- Plate meter
Interested in using Soilmentor to monitor soil health and manage your farm both above and below ground?
