Helen Fisher
It's hard to not have noticed the increase in standing water across farmlands in recent years; fields appearing to contain vast lakes during our wetter seasons.
Whilst we might consider ourselves to be at the mercy of changing weather this conversation helps to underline why the cause and solution to this standing water can be much more within our control.
Having monitored the soil and pasture health on over 200 farms in the UK Niels developed the concept of 'The Weatherproof Farm' which puts the focus on addressing compacted and unhealthy soils.
Making changes to a farm management system can be complex and so I really appreciate the way that Niels breaks down the barriers with his practical and accessible approach to understanding both the problems and solutions around soil health.
Niels works with producers and landowners to implement regenerative systems and has a passion to help farmers to understand the root causes of the issues they work with day-to-day, enabling them to create low-input, profitable operations that are nature-friendly and productive.
Learn more with Niels:
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For a further breakdown of this discussion see the timestamps below:
00:00 - Intro
04:44 - The case for 'The Weatherproof Farm'
06:50 - Soil type doesn't have to be the limit
11:31 - What is aggregation in soil & why is it important?
18:31 - Dairy management - soil health, resilience & profitability
25:31 - Arable management - soil health, resilience & profitability
32:43 - The soil doesn't lie!
34:54 - An overview of the solutions
36:22 - Grazing management for supporting soil health
39:48 - Arable management to support soil health
45:49 - Complimentary support approaches
53:53 - Learn more with Niels