Soil preparation

Very long term tillage soil here (with a long history of power harrows and draza).

Plenty (enough in my opinion) worms present. I think they’re more important in soils with a high clay content as they aid friability and drainage of the soil.
I think they’re being a bit over rated by some commentators.

Are there any trials to show yield (or reduction in fertiliser requirement) versus worm numbers?

I saw someone saying that you should find a worm in every handful of soil - where was this metric proven?

I wouldn’t be happy with a soil that had none present but I think they’re being over sold.
 
Very long term tillage soil here (with a long history of power harrows and draza).

Plenty (enough in my opinion) worms present. I think they’re more important in soils with a high clay content as they aid friability and drainage of the soil.
I think they’re being a bit over rated by some commentators.

Are there any trials to show yield (or reduction in fertiliser requirement) versus worm numbers?

I saw someone saying that you should find a worm in every handful of soil - where was this metric proven?

I wouldn’t be happy with a soil that had none present but I think they’re being over sold.
You need the big deep burrowing Anecic worms and ploughing and deep Tillage wrecks their Gaff . You probably have lots of small shallow working worms that make short lived burrows but the Anecic worms make deep vertical burrows and live in them for years . They have opened up burrows down to the old stone shores and that is why our farm is dryer than it is used to be .
 
Of course, keep ploughing it’s great for the soil and the environment. Ffs
It would be very difficult to successfully establish a crop after all the damaging compaction and bogging that arises from using tillage fields as collateral damage for the Celtic Cow, slurry tankers, dungheaps, loaders, spreaders, bale trailers - all in less than optimal conditions, unlike a full time tillage farm the fun and excrement goes on all winter. The resultant yields are very good and the dark cloud of crows are the biggest danger to the fat worms.
 
Interesting thread - often remember the aul fella telling me in the days before bagged fert that you could tell the best fields by the amount of mushrooms growing there in the autumn. And yet you rarely if ever hear the so called "experts" mentioning the important role of fungi for soils:scratchhead:
 
I am ashamed to say I have a bottom corner of a field like that . It’s 30 acres with a hill from top to bottom and with the lowest point being a corner beside the road... it has a winter barley in it and a very good stand of plants and it still happened, well the rain actually cut tracks down the tramlines and then it ran down the small furrow that was In the field( headland was ploughed to the ditch) and everything ending up in the corner and some out onto the road and into drainage shores on the side of the road. Never saw it happen before..
 
Back
Top