Alternative approaches to sustainable land management

Work Package Agricultural systems and land management

Research Deliverable

Introduction

Delivering the desired outcomes of both profitability and a reduction in the adverse environmental impact of food production requires a combination of alternative management practices and approaches to “input substitution” (for example, use of alternative fertilisers or biological pest control) as well as options for redesigning agricultural systems. Agroecological approaches aim to apply our understanding of ecological processes to develop agricultural land management practices that enhance ecosystem services (ES) (e.g. productivity, pest and disease control, pollination) whilst minimising negative environmental and socio-economic impacts. The impact of alternative management practices such as cover cropping and the use of renewable resources and locally sourced wastes is fundamental for “closing the loop” in nutrient management strategies and reducing reliance on inputs derived from fossil fuels and non-renewable resources.

Aim of Research

Our overall aim is to investigate the potential productivity and environmental impacts of the introduction of alternative land management practices including measures introduced as part of CAP Greening. We will investigate both technological and knowledge based solutions, involving participatory approaches with farmers and land managers, in order to deliver profitability and step changes in environmental performance.

The research builds on previous work within the RESAS Strategic Programme and on collaborations with UK and International partners.

Progress

2022

In the last year there has been a growing interest in the development of alternative approaches to land management in Scotland with particular emphasis recently on agroecological and regenerative approaches. A training day for farm advisors was delivered on Regenerative Agriculture in September 2021. Our research provides evidence on the impact of alternative approaches under Scottish conditions. There is also a growing trend in relation to consumption of plant-based foods and the long-term experiments in this project have allowed us to compare the outputs per unit land area (calories, protein, fat) of a traditional mixed farm system with a legume supported arable cropping independent of both manufactured fertiliser nitrogen and any farmed livestock derived products.

Agroecological practices for improving biodiversity and ecosystem services and reducing reliance on external inputs, which were co-developed with stakeholders through research trials in years 1-5, have been tested on farms through participatory research with farmers. An open access online data visualisation tool has been created to share evidence of the agronomic and environmental outcomes of these practices, supported by user-friendly biodiversity monitoring methods. An analysis of agroecological farming amongst Scottish land managers highlighted which practices are used frequently, the social, economic and environmental objectives for carrying out these practices, and where effort is needed to promote wider uptake. We have explored the potential to develop a user-friendly proxy to assess pollinator richness in field margins. Simple counts of pollinator abundance best predicted pollinator richness. Models including flower metrics (e.g. flower abundance, margin nectar score) performed reasonably well and would provide an alternative for verification. A framework was developed to include a pollinator module within the IPM assessment toolkit Experiments showed the value of legumes as forage for pollinators but we recommend their use should be in combination with other agri-environment measures to attract a broad range of pollinator species (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2021.107648).

We continue to use the ScotFarm model to address impact of alternative management on farm income. Four alternative management practices were classified and used in the farm level model, ScotFarm alongside the updated farm level data taken from the most recent Farm Business Survey data. The modelling results showed a positive economic impact under the first two management practices; setting aside ecological land and reducing inputs on farms. However, the other two practices; converting to organic farming and establishing an agro-forestry system were projected to have substantial economic consequences due to higher establishment costs associated with those two practices. A research brief was published online (https://zenodo.org/record/5730170).

Highlights:

Members of the team completed a policy brief for ClimateXChange on perceptions of agroecological approaches to farming and implementation in Scotland (https://www.climatexchange.org.uk/media/5146/cxc-the-potential-for-an-agroecological-approach-in-scotland-a-policy-brief-october-2021.pdf). Team members also carried out a SEFARI fellowship on agroecology which is reported here https://sefari.scot/document/the-adoption-of-agroecological-principles-in-scottish-farming-and-their-contribution. A report was also provided for ClimateXChange on understanding carbon sequestration from nature-based solutions https://www.climatexchange.org.uk/media/5312/cxc-understanding-carbon-sequestration-from-nature-march-2022.pdf

We led the organisation and delivery of the AAB Conference ‘Legume Science and Practice 2” Abstracts, which include several from project members, are available at https://www.legumehub.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Association-of-Appli...

Arable Scotland was online in 2021 (29 June) but researchers provided online presentations and practical guidance materials and took part in Q and A sessions, large audiences attended despite the online format. This included a panel discussion on “Arable Conversations: Sustainable Rotations - Soils, Integrating Legumes, Cover Crops and Cash Crops”

Additional funding gained in the year included an ERANET project “Mi Bicycle” which addresses circularity in crop livestock systems.

2021

Land use composition scenarios have been defined, based on rotations typical of Eastern Scotland, with a focus on the extent of legume inclusion in cereal rotations as the basis for contrasting arable land use types. Regenerative agricultural management options were reviewed to produce alternative farm system scenarios for testing, focussing on optimal and efficient management of soil, nutrients, weeds and pests and diseases for cereal and cereal-legume based systems. A SEFARI-funded fellowship is exploring the current use of ‘agroecological’ farming practices in Scotland.

The data from our long term experiments is now being included in the GLTEN global network of LTE's, facilitated by Rothamsted Research, which hosts metadata from participating LTE's and allows networking and collaboration between interested parties. This has resulted in several international collaborations comparing the performance of LTE's.

Assessment of alternative management practices at farm and landscape scale shows that agroecological practices to improve biodiversity (reduced soil disturbance, crop diversification, species-rich margins) and activity of beneficial organisms can enhance ecosystem services of pest and weed suppression and pollinator activity while maintaining crop production. Key ecosystem services have been mapped onto a model catchment to assess the social and ecological functions of each land use type as a basis for characterising the effects of different land management interventions.

We recently published work modelling the impact of alternative farm management practices aimed at improving agri-environment aspects of Scottish farms which are i. establishing ecological areas, ii. reducing farm inputs, iii. maintaining soil quality using cover crops (including legumes) and zero tillage, iv. including agro-forestry system and v. establishing organic farming systems. The analysis shows both positive and negative financial outcomes for different options, with results varying sometimes substantially by farm type. The final report is available online at https://www.nature.scot/naturescot-research-report-1201-evidence-post-brexit-agriculture-case-studies-alternative-payments.

Linking with RD2.3.5, 2.1.8 and 2.3.4, mixed cover crops performed better in terms of soil quality and barley yield (following cover crop incorporation) than single species cover crops. Crimson clover- performed consistently poorly compared to other cover crop treatments. A spring barley growth experiment investigating the soil fertility benefits of biochar showed no increases in spring barley yield, but beneficial soil liming effects and additional nutrient provision (and possibly retention) were apparent for biochar-amended soils. We also showed that the number of years since tillage or reseeding affected organic matter stability and decomposition in Scottish agricultural soils, preliminary assessments of respired labile soil carbon were made across a range of sites.

As a result of Covid-19, face-to-face stakeholder workshops were not held. However, three webinars, each with up to 60 attendees, were organised on soil, greenhouse gases and sustainability (12th January 2021), cover crops, and inter-cropping (26th January 2021) and integrated pest management and pollinators (9th February 2021). Recordings are available on the SRUC YouTube channel

(Soils https://vimeo.com/512861733/f5ba2135ee,

Cover crops https://vimeo.com/505137781/37dc67b518

Insects and pollinators https://vimeo.com/510767527/11c676200b).

We successfully established a Rural Innovation Support Service (RISS) group, facilitated by Soil Association Scotland, on the potential of pulse supply chains in Scotland. The group comprises 10-15 stakeholders and researchers across the supply and value chain with a focus on legume and pulse production, processing and consumption. The group provided expert input regarding the contribution of legumes to climate mitigation in the Farmer-led Arable Climate Change Group consultation.

Highlights:

We led the organisation and delivery of the AAB Conference ‘Intercropping for sustainability: Research developments and their application’ and contributed several oral and poster presentations. https://www.aab.org.uk/product-page/aspect-146-intercropping-for-sustainability

We delivered an alternative online AHDB Agronomy Winter Roadshow focusing on Soil health (3^rd February 2021) https://ahdb.org.uk/events/agronomy-digital-roadshow-scotland-potatoes. This included an interactive ‘Ask the Expert’ session. Arable Scotland was online in 2020 (2nd July) but researchers provided online presentations and practical guidance materials and took part in Q and A sessions, large audiences attended despite the online format.

The project activity linked strongly with the Horizon 2020 DIVERSify and ReMIX projects where JHI and SRUC are involved, respectively. Together with the Esmee Fairburn Foundation-funded project SEAMS, researchers worked with farmers to trial legume-based intercrops on farms across Scotland.

Press articles were published in the Scottish Farmer https://www.thescottishfarmer.co.uk/arable/18731492.successful-soil-nutrient-management---healthy-soils-better-environment/ and Friends of the Scotsman article ‘National protein plans could benefit our health and the environment’ coinciding with World Pulse Day.

Additional funding gained in 2020 included research carried out with NIAB and funded by Defra on underutilised crop and forage (ForaGIN) species in UK agriculture. Funding was also gained by researchers to carry out assessments at Balbirnie ‘Strategic cereal farm Scotland’ as part of the AHDB Strategic Farm platform (collaboration with ADAS).

2020

Our research now clearly shows the potential of alternative approaches in maintaining crop yield and quality while enhancing above and belowground biodiversity and improving soil health. The agroecological approaches tested including the use of forage and grain legumes and the application of naturally derived fertilisers and we address their impacts on both individual elements of crop rotations as well as whole rotation effects. Crop rotations typical of lowland arable Scotland were used as a basis for model simulations to assess and map the impact of agri-environment schemes at landscape scale. These maps show the effects of different crop rotations on ecosystem service delivery and will form the basis of stakeholder discussions on agri-environment options. A decision tool to assess the economic and environmental performance of alternative management approaches has been introduced to stakeholders. The tool allows qualitative testing of the transfer of 'best practice' agroecological approaches from research to commercial settings. We have also used the ScotFarm model to complete a comparative analysis of alternative farm management practices aimed at enhancing agri-environment aspects of different farming systems including dairy, beef sheep, arable and crofts.

Work on the inclusion of legumes (nitrogen-fixing crops) into agricultural systems showed that these crops varied in their flowering timing, the resources offered and accessibility of these resources to pollinators. The value of N-fixing treatments was strongly influenced by intraspecific interactions, both in sown species and weeds. Research highlights that carefully targeted agri-environment initiatives focussing on increasing resource-rich legume species could conserve pollinators in intensive agricultural landscapes. Intercropping cereals with legumes increased crop productivity (‘overyielding’) compared with monocultures, improved soil phosphorus availability and attracted more natural enemies of pests into the crop. The research has highlighted the important contribution that legumes can make to improve the biodiversity of crop systems.

We have tested tools for soil management developed elsewhere in the programme on experimental sites and on farms. A published review explores how agroecological management practices influence soil health (Stockdale et al. 2019).

Highlights:

Several scientists from RD 2.3.8 were instrumental in the organisation and delivery of the first European Conference on Crop Diversification in Budapest in September 2019 https://www.cropdiversification2019.net/. The input from 2.3.8 linked strongly to ongoing activity in the Horizon 2020 DIVERSify and ReMIX projects where JHI and SRUC are involved, respectively.

Exhibits by researchers were held at the Royal Highland Show (21^st – 23^rd June 2019) and at Arable Scotland (2^nd July 2019) attracting large audiences including farmers, schools and the wider public.

Additional funding gained in 2019 included a SusCrop ERANET Increasing productivity and sustainability of European plant protein production by closing the grain legume yield gap (LegumeGap), a Mains of Loirston Charitable Trust project to develop novel winter cereal-legume mixtures for Scotland (NOVELLA), and GCRF funding for feasibility testing of a knowledge-based assessment tool for climate-smart agriculture in Kenya.

Researchers took part in a very successful 'Intercropping Field Lab' event on Lismore in June with Soil Association Scotland, the Scottish Crofting Federation and the Seed Sovereignty Programme of The Gaia Foundation. A film on practical intercropping was produced as a result of the event and is available at https://sefari.scot/media/practical-intercropping.

The research was used to update the FAS (Farm Advisory Service) biodiversity portal https://www.fas.scot/environment/biodiversity/ Biodiversity videos were also produced with the Soil Association https://www.soilassociation.org/our-work-in-scotland/scotland-farming-programmes/resources-for-farmers/farming-for-wildlife/increasing-pollinators-on-arable-farms/

Research on benchmarking soil health was demonstrated in the field at the Coldstream Farmers' Weekly ‘Soils in Practice’ event. https://agri-epicentre.com/event/soils-in-practice-north/

2019

Research on soil and vegetation management is being translated from small-scale experimental trials to larger-scales that are more relevant to farm settings using experimental and modelling approaches. Initial findings from the diverse vegetation mixtures are showing promising outcomes for ecosystem services. In particular, increased floral diversity (wild flower strips) are encouraging pollinating insects and increased crop diversity (cereal-legume intercrops) are improving productivity and soil nutrient status. Theoretical analysis using mathematical modelling has highlighted that the effects of diverse vegetation on pest biocontrol depend on its spatial placement in the landscape. Promising results have been detected for the effects of alternative soil nutrient management on soil quality and enhancing crop and non-crop vegetation diversity on beneficial insects and crop productivity. Assessment of soils with long-term addition of alternative fertilisers (green manure or compost) shows that there is accumulation of nutrients in the surface of treated soils but these bulky organic fertilisers provide relatively small amounts of nitrogen to crops. We have been developing farmer-friendly tools for assessing changes in soil quality and testing these in our long-term trials and on-farm. As soils rise up the political agenda this is a way of helping farmers understand the impact of changed management practices. These include VESS (visual evaluation of soil structure (Hargreaves et al. 2019) and a tea bag index (this involves measuring the rate of decomposition of two different kinds of tea as an indicator of biological activity). We also developed a framework for understanding direct and indirect connections between soils and the people who use them for livelihoods or recreation (Ball et al. 2019)

Highlights:

Several scientists from RD 2.3.8 gave presentations at the European Society for Agronomy Congress in Geneva in 2018 on a variety of topics including nutrient budgets and cropping system design with grain legumes.
Joanna Cloy won an award to attend the International Society for Soil and Tillage research (ISTRO) conference in Paris in September 2018.
Additional funding gained in 2018 included an H2020 Thematic Network on Translating knowledge for legume-based farming for feed and food systems.
Research on the benefits of enhancing crop and overall biodiversity in production systems was presented at the SEFARI Showcase ‘Food and drink’ event at the Scottish Parliament building on 30th May. (see https://sefari.scot/blog/2018/06/20/scotlands-food-future-showcase-at-the-scottish-parliament).
Research on intercropping was demonstrated by MRPs at the Royal Northern Agricultural Society EcoAgritech event in Huntly, Aberdeenshire on 18 July 2018. An intercropping Field Lab with Soil Association Scotland was initiated by Hutton and SRUC researchers in October 2018 to assist farmers and crofters with trialling cereal-legume intercrops on their own land.
Hutton held an IPM@Hutton and Centre for Sustainable Cropping stakeholder group meeting on 13th December 2018, attended by stakeholders from farming, land use and industry organisations, as a basis for discussion on IPM research that is needed to address industry needs (see http://ipm.hutton.ac.uk/news/inaugural-ipmhutton-and-csc-stakeholder-group-meeting).

2018

Field experiments are being used to investigate both short-term (alternative fertiliser treatments including green manure and compost application) and longer-term (rotation combined with different management inputs) management approaches. These alternative practices have the potential to enhance the environmental sustainability of Scottish agriculture by reducing the need for inorganic inputs, and by locking up carbon in soils. Importantly, these benefits are achieved without a large penalty in yield, and in some cases (rotation) can enhance the overall impact positively.

Research has continued to identify the optimal composition of Nitrogen-Fixing mixtures and catch crops for beneficial invertebrates (e.g. insect pollinators and natural predators). Cereal and legume varieties that perform optimally in mixtures (e.g. improved crop yield and weed suppression) have also been identified from the work.

It is important that managed ecosystems not only provide outputs for the farmer and the food quality chain (crops, grain, food, drink, etc.), but also improve the environment (water, pollution) and benefit wider society (the cultural landscape, iconic biodiversity). To allow us to compare the capacity of differently managed ecosystems to provide these services a decision-aid which compares the pros and cons of future cropping systems in Scotland was developed based on frameworks used by regional (e.g. EU) and global organisations (e.g. the United Nations).

We have built population dynamic models of key pest predators and parasitoids species inhabiting a specific arable landscape where we can simulate the effect of introducing ecological focus areas (EFAs). The production of high resolution maps (5m x 5m) and the analysis of data at the land parcel scale illustrated the response of natural enemy abundance to EFAs and other habitat features in the landscape.

Highlights:

A research note entitled "Can Agro-Ecology Deliver Multiple Benefits for Scottish Agriculture?"
Staff from 2.3.8 led the CREW funded farmer output on “Valuing Your Soils”, as well as contributing to a number of events that took place as part of the FAS network and Nutrient Network Farms.
Christine Watson gave the keynote address at the AAB conference on Legume Science and Practice in Glasgow and two talks were presented with accompanying conference papers were published in the conference proceedings.
A paper on the effects of off-farm work on farm input intensity was presented by Abdul-Salam and Roberts at the 2018 Agricultural Economics Society conference, University of Warwick.
Some examples of funding success include BBSRC Global Food Security funding on Sustainable economic and ecological grazing systems - learning from innovative practitioners (2018-2020).
The Cereals in Practice event at Saphock Farm (Oldmeldrum) was hosted by SRUC on its main arable trial site and showcased plot demonstrations of SRUC and JHI experiments to farmers and agriculture stakeholders.
Results were presented to scientists at the Royal Entomological Society Insect Pollinator Special Interest Group Meeting at the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, 24 October 2017 (Cole et al. 2017. Safe-guarding pollinators in intensive agriculture: implications of CAP Greening).
Research fed into a collaborative response to EU consultation on modernising and simplifying the common agricultural policy (CAP), and have informed discussions at Scottish (through the Griggs Greening Group) and EU level about crop diversification strategies.
A talk was presented to growers and industry at the Scottish Society for Crop Research Combinable and Energy Crops Winter Meeting in Dundee on 6 March 2018 (Hawes. 2018. Crops yield and weed responses to an integrated cropping system and implications for system functions).
The LEAF Open Farm Sunday event (11th June 2017) was held to communicate research to the public. The event was successful with over 1000 visitors, and the event was disseminated via the Hutton website and social media accounts.

2017

Policy changes have short and long-term impacts on the agricultural industry. To aid our understanding of these effects, cropping and livestock numbers from the June agricultural census data and the Scottish farm accounts survey were analysed. This showed for example that the subsidy for energy crops resulted in the introduction of new crops e.g. rye into Scotland.

We talked to a range of stakeholders to find out what they understood by "alternative" management and found many different interpretations. For example, even the term "agroecology" has a plethora of different meanings from a scientific discipline through management practices such as green manuring and cover cropping to an alternative socio-political movement.

Long-term experimental platforms are key to our ability to understand the long term impact of changes in management practices. We make extensive use of the JHI Centre for Sustainable Cropping (established 2009) and 3 long-term experiments at SRUC at Aberdeen on organic farming (established 1991), soil pH (established 1961) and fertilizer combinations (established 1922). These are used not only for scientific enquiry but are a key part of knowledge exchange strategy.

Research findings have provided scientific evidence to Scottish and EU policy consultations regarding CAP Greening. In this year we established several trials on the use of nitrogen fixing crop species (legumes) to address impacts on productivity, soils and beneficial insects e.g. pollinators. Modelling and mapping work has also been initiated which will help us to assess the impact of agri-environment schemes in future years

Highlights:

Work in RD2.3.8 led to a number of successful EU Horizon 2020 involving MRPs and starting in Year 2 of this programme. For example, DIVERSify and ReMIX both of which investigate intercropping using co-innovation with agricultural industries and stakeholders, and optimising the opportunities for impact in the agricultural supply chain.
MRP researchers from 2.3.8, along with representatives from Scottish Universities and environmental charities, contributed to the Field of Enquiry public engagement event (August 2016-March 2017). This project was funded by the Climate Challenge Fund, awarded to Whitmuir Organic Farm. Specific 2.3.8 contributions involved soil management and biodiversity.

Future Activities

We will focus on the consolidation of experimental data and modelling to help develop practical messages and policy briefs in two main areas i) biodiversity enhancement ii) soil health and nutrient management to optimise the use and success of alternative land management strategies. Our research in Scotland has been a springboard for developing collaborations with researchers and stakeholders in the UK, Europe and further afield, and we will use these networks to communicate our research widely and emphasise its global relevance and impact. Data management procedures are being established to ensure maximum use of the data now and in the future. We will partner with organisations such as the Soil Association through Field Labs and other events to optimise KE opportunities. Links to organisations such as SASA and SNH will help us to deliver research which will be useful in deriving policy post-BREXIT.

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