Farmer: Tom Sewell
Location: Kent
Aim: Reduce inputs by utilising soil health whilst keeping yields and quality improving.
Tom, a Nuffield scholar, is a very biologically minded farmer, I have worked with him for a number of years and he is always looking for new ways to improve his soils and reduce chemical inputs where possible. He was one of the first farmers to buy a cross slot NZ style drill, which uses as a zero-tillage establishment system. He has huge number of earthworms and soil health is a priority.
Tom has used L-CBF BOOST™ this year in with his liquid fertiliser. He has applied it at 4% by volume and cut his nitrogen back by 10%, which means that that the reduction in fertiliser pays for the L-CBF BOOST™. His agronomist was slightly sceptical but Tom was bullish.
He said, “We’ve looked after the soils for years, the structure and biology is as good as it’s ever been, it’s time to see what it can do!”
Results were good, even in a difficult year he achieved top quality milling spec wheat at over 10 t/ha. No reduction in yield and a big cut in chemical inputs. Now he is going to add L-CBF BOOST™ into herbicide and fungicide, so every time he goes through the crops he will be applying a small amount of L-CBF BOOST™.
He is going to cut Nitrogen back by a further 5 % this season as he is confident that his soils’ fertility in combination with the use of L-CBF BOOST™ will deliver the results he is looking for. We are going to hold a small-scale farm walk and talk with Tom in January, looking at his winter crops, some interesting cover crops and see his establishment system.
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.