Building resilient and competitive farm systems was the focus of the Farming for a Better Future Open Day at Teagasc, Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford.

The event today (Wednesday, June 10) showcased the latest research and practical solutions to help farmers improve soil health, protect water quality, reduce emissions and build more resilient farm systems for the future.

Agriland was in attendance at the event to see the latest research and innovation that Teagasc has to offer and to hear what farmers think about it.

Some of the other demonstrations at the event involved:

Existing technologies for reducing gaseous emissions;
Protecting biodiversity and building carbon;
Grassland management in Dairy, Dairy-beef and organic systems.

There was also a selection of practical demonstrations and tips for maximising productivity and sustainability and new technologies for slurry and manure management were also demonstrated on the day.

Local water quality and soil knowledge

Today's event emphasised the importance of more local knowledge of soils and water quality.

An area of the open day was allocated to ‘Know your Soils’ where discussions on local water quality were one of the major talking points.

Speaking at the event, Teagasc director, Professor Frank O’Mara said: "Competitiveness and resilience are critical to the future of our farming system and agri-food industry and both healthy soils and clean water are necessary building blocks for sustainable farm systems.

Also speaking at the open day, Dr. David Wall, head of enterprise at Teagasc, Johnstown Castle, said: "Farmers face challenges such as rising costs, climate, volatile markets, and changing policy demands and today’s event is an opportunity to look at how we can build more resilience into farm systems to deal with these pressures.’’

Separately Dr. Karen Daly, head of the Teagasc Environment, Soils and Land Use Department, said: "Many of the actions on display here today will have co-benefits for water, soils, gaseous emissions and biodiversity and we really encourage farmers to take one or two actions from today’s event that they can adopt on their farm system.’’

Local soil knowledge key to building resilience

One of the key messages delivered to farmers at the open day was that soils are one of the most important resources around farms and that local knowledge of soils is the first step to good soil management.

Farmers were encouraged to get more familiar with what soil types are on their farms and where they are located.

According to Teagasc this is the first step in learning how to manage these soils better.

It has also advised that looking for visual clues in soils such as texture; clay, sand and silt are good indicators of soil drainage and organic matter that help avoid compaction and store carbon.

Knowledge of local water quality is essential for farmers in a catchment to select the right measures to protect water quality in their local rivers and streams.

Role of lime in improving soil health

Amongst the range of technologies showcased at today's event, was one of the most beneficial ones highlighted was one many farmers take for granted.

Liming soils to optimise soil pH was highlighted an example of a technology that improves nutrient cycling, crop growth, soil health and reduces gaseous emissions.

"Well-managed healthy soils have multiple benefits, not just for production, but for water quality, biodiversity and reducing gaseous emission," according to Teagasc.

Ways of avoiding soil compaction were also discussed as soils that are not compacted will better support good crop yields, leave air space for microbes and bacteria, allow water infiltration and reduce runoff risk to protect water quality.