Soils for Profit (S4P) breaks the 500 barrier

July 2010

Good soil, nutrient and manure management is crucial to every farming business. Where this is done well, the result can be reduced cost, increased profit, reduced run-off and a number of other environmental benefits.

Soils for Profit (S4P), a project helping farmers and landowners improve the management and use of their soils, nutrients and manures recently celebrated its 500th on-farm advisory visit. These free advisory visits delivered by Natural England and its contractors provide farmers with practical advice and an action plan written specifically for their landholding. This plan includes detailed technical information on resource use and a set of recommended actions some of which may be eligible for support through a capital grant scheme funded by the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA).

Steve Marston, Natural England lead for Soils for Profit, said: “We are pleased to be working with the Environment Agency to deliver the S4P project over the next three and half years. We have already had a lot of interest in this initiative and to date 575 of the 700 applicants have received an on-farm advisory visit. One example of a beneficiary is a farmer who operates a mixed farm near Salisbury in Wiltshire who took up the offer of a free visit from a Soils for Profit adviser. His action plan contained a number of recommendations including the use of a variable rate fertiliser applicator and a GPS system to spread the fertiliser more accurately. He subsequently made a successful application to the SWARM small grant scheme.”

A survey earlier this year also revealed the positive impact that the farm visits have made with three quarters of those responding saying that the advice they received was helpful. Soils for Profit is one element of the South West Agricultural Resource Management (SWARM) initiative which is open to all farming businesses in the region with over 5 hectares of land. SWARM is designed to help farmers have more profitable and resilient businesses by managing resources more efficiently whilst reducing the impact of their activities on the environment. SWARM is a collaboration between SWRDA, the Environment Agency, Natural England and Business Link and is funded through the Rural Development Programme for England.

Those interested in registering for a free S4P advisory visit should contact Natural England on 0300 060 1244, email: soils4profit@naturalengland.org.uk 
or visit the Natural England website at www.naturalengland.org.uk

S4P is also currently working on a programme of on farm group events including machinery demonstrations to commence later this year.