Blogs & Case Studies

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Earthworm Engineers #1 – Ecosystem Services

Welcome to the first 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 open access…

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Will Godwin – Hampton Estate

The beautiful family run Hampton Estate is nestled in the sandy soils of Seale, near Farnham in Surrey. Most of the farmland is in woodland or grass and twenty years ago Guernsey dairy cattle grazed the estate. The family have since switched to a Sussex cattle herd and started producing grass fed beef to sell…

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Soil Test Challenge

Try something new this year, start monitoring your soil health. Do you accept the Soil Test Challenge? We challenge you to do 3 easy soil tests on your fields. It takes one day in total and will give you valuable insight into how healthy your soil is and how well it will support healthy plants…

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Chris Leach – Waddesdon Estate Farm

Chris Leach is part of the Forestry Team at Waddesdon Estate in Buckinghamshire. Around 500 tonnes of wood is produced from managing the 450 acres of the estate’s woodland, half of which is used as fuel for the biomass boiler. Chris was keen to find an environmentally sound way to use the waste wood and…

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How do rhizosheaths tell the story of soil health?

If a plant has a large quantity of soil clinging to its roots, where the roots appear brown and not white, this soil coating is called a rhizosheath. Why do we love them so much? They are an indicator of life in the soil: of biological and microbial activity in the rhizosphere, which is also…

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Know your Soils #12: The Soil Health Principles

Welcome to the twelfth, and final, instalment of our Know your Soils series sharing practical tips for monitoring the soil health on your land. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” 7 Soil health mantras to follow on your farm Insights from Niels Corfield, Soil Health Advisor How do you build soil health?…

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Hannah Steenbergen – 42 Acres, Somerset

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…

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Video series: How to monitor your own soils

To help you get started with soil monitoring watch our videos on how to do key soil tests, use the Soilmentor app and look at results on the website.   VESS TEST Learn what to look for when you visually analyse your soil structure:   EARTHWORM COUNT The best technique for counting earthworms in your…

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Know your Soils #11: The VESS Test

Welcome to the eleventh instalment of our Know your Soils series sharing practical tips for monitoring the soil health on your land. Keep an eye out for our bitesize videos and fact sheets on simple tests you can do yourself on farm. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” How to visually assess…

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Know your Soils #10: Soil Test Calendar

Welcome to the tenth instalment of our Know your Soils series sharing practical tips for monitoring the soil health on your land. Keep an eye out for our bitesize videos and fact sheets on simple tests you can do yourself on farm. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” When and how often…

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Soil Health – what’s it all about?

This is the first in a series of blog posts from Jenni Dungait, our resident Soil Health Expert, on the scientific basis for soil tests.   Soil health is different from soil quality because it recognises the key role of soil biology as well as soil chemistry and soil physics. Getting soil health right can…

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Know your Soils #9: The plate meter

Welcome to the ninth instalment of our Know your Soils series sharing practical tips for monitoring the soil health on your land. Keep an eye out for our bitesize videos and fact sheets on simple tests you can do yourself on farm. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” How to maintain productive…

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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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