Farmer: Simon Cowell
Location: Essex
Aim: Encourage soil biology to release nutrients while minimising chemical inputs
Simon is current ‘Soil Farmer of the Year’ which is fair reward for all the work Simon has done over the years not only to improve his own soils fertility, but also to encourage others to look at their own systems. He has given huge amounts of his time educating other farmers and advisors.
Simon was one of the early adopters of L-CBF BOOST™. He has always been in favour of putting biological products on his soil, where possible, and L-CBF BOOST™ fits nicely into his system. He applies it with fertiliser and fungicides to buffer the effect of the chemicals while at the same time feeding the soil biology.
He is on some of the heaviest clays around, but you wouldn’t know it looking at his soil. This is due to a long-term regime of no-till, making and applying his own compost, and growing a wide range of crops including grass and lucerne in the rotation.
Essex and Suffolk water have been testing the run-off from his soils, and where the L-CBF BOOST™ has been used there was less than half of the glyphosate in the water. We are doing more tests this autumn to see how far we can go, but the L-CBF BOOST™ is helping by feeding the biology, allowing these chemicals to be broken down more easily.
To read more on other farmers’ experiences with L-CBF BOOST™ click on the links below.
To purchase L-CBF BOOST™ online click here, or to talk to one of our expert team click here.