Articles & Case Studies

Soil Biodiversity #1: An Introduction 150 150 Soilmentor

Soil Biodiversity #1: An Introduction

Soil Biodiversity #1: An IntroductionIn this 6-part series we will delve into the role soil biodiversity and microbial activity plays in maintaining healthy soil. Read on to find out why focusing on soil biology is a must for all farmers! Biodiverse soils are home to a rich tapestry of soil organisms – there are more…

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Want to know more about Regenerative Farming? Here are our top resources! 595 596 Soilmentor

Want to know more about Regenerative Farming? Here are our top resources!

New to all this? These resources are a great place to start: (scroll down for more in-depth info) What is regenerative agriculture?  Still not sure exactly what it means to be a regenerative farmer? This is a great Groundswell short video to get you up to speed;  the key messages of regenerative farming are laid…

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The value of biodiversity in agriculture 1024 512 Soilmentor

The value of biodiversity in agriculture

Farmland across the world has potential to host a fantastically complex network of plants and animals, and this complexity provides many ecosystem services that we humans rely on: decomposing our waste, cleaning our water, and purifying our air. Invertebrates such as hoverflies, bees, moths and butterflies pollinate our crops, and others such as beetles, spiders,…

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Introducing the biodiversity tool! 2560 1707 Soilmentor

Introducing the biodiversity tool!

With the launch of Soilmentor comes the biodiversity tool – helping you to farm in tune with nature! We’re so excited to be launching the new biodiversity monitoring tool on Soilmentor, which will help you to record the range of different species present on your farm. Our vision of a resilient farm of the future…

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After the rain — How to get more forage from your pasture – Guest post by Niels Corfield 2592 1936 Soilmentor

After the rain — How to get more forage from your pasture – Guest post by Niels Corfield

This is a guest post by Niels Corfield, soil health, agroforestry and whole farm planning advisor, researcher and advocate. What can we do to capitalise on rain when it comes; so we can get more forage and improve the health of our pasture and animals? I’m going to present some observations from pastures around the…

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Don’t think you’ve got time to go out and dig holes? Think differently! 559 397 Soilmentor

Don’t think you’ve got time to go out and dig holes? Think differently!

What does the future hold for farming? Well, the truth is, we don’t have a crystal hoof! But, there is one way to make our farming enterprises resilient, through the wettest of winters and driest of summers. A way of reducing inputs, increasing biodiversity and building a healthy planet. Farming with a focus on regenerating…

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How to store water in your soil and prevent erosion 4032 3024 Soilmentor

How to store water in your soil and prevent erosion

As the weather in the Northern Hemisphere gets rainier going into the Autumn months, the question of our soils’ relationship with water springs to mind. We know that healthy soils absorb much more water than unhealthy soils, and that healthy soil is less likely to degrade into runoff, but what’s the science behind this? We’ve…

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What is soil health and why should farmers and growers care about it? Guest post by Niels Corfield 2379 1770 Soilmentor

What is soil health and why should farmers and growers care about it? Guest post by Niels Corfield

This is a guest post by Niels Corfield, soil health, agroforestry and whole farm planning advisor, researcher and advocate. In this article I’d like to lay out the main tenets of soil health, but before that I want to present what I feel are the main motivations for “going to all that effort”! Why bother…

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Soil Science Latest: How Can We Sequester More Carbon and Build Soil Health? 3024 2257 Soilmentor

Soil Science Latest: How Can We Sequester More Carbon and Build Soil Health?

A few weeks ago we presented at Wageningen Soils Conference with Elizabeth Stockdale, Head of Farming, NIAB. We shared about the work we had done together converting the AHDB soils scorecard into an interactive Soil Quality UK Dashboard, with the main focus being “How can we get farmers talking about their soil health, based on…

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Use maps to save your sample locations 4032 3024 Soilmentor

Use maps to save your sample locations

Mapping field boundaries & soil samples with GPS The Soilmentor app includes a handy map, so you can save your soil sample locations & field boundaries, and easily return year after year to the same spots to accurately monitor changes in soil health.  As all farmers know, there can be huge amounts of variability even…

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Defragmenting UK soils policy – the journey so far… 4896 3268 Soilmentor

Defragmenting UK soils policy – the journey so far…

Much of what we do is about empowering farmers in the field to build soil health, but of course we realise that we are all part of a bigger system and government policy can have a massive impact on the way land is farmed. We have always admired the work of the Sustainable Soils Alliance…

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Earthworm Engineers #4 – Manure & Earthworm Populations 1600 1067 Soilmentor

Earthworm Engineers #4 – Manure & Earthworm Populations

Welcome to the fourth and final post in our Earthworm Engineers series, where you can learn from some of the best science about the value of these amazing creatures. We’re so excited that Professor Jenni Dungait is now the editor of the European Journal of Soil Science – and she’s made some important earthworm papers…

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    “In 30 years of farming I have never looked at my soils in this way and with the app I can easily collect information and learn from it.”
    Fidelity Weston, Romshed Farm
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