Improving plant and soil health at Culreach Farm

In July, through the Climate Adaptation Fund, the Park Authority awarded £370,000 to 18, farmers, land managers, businesses and community groups to fund immediate and positive action to address the challenges of climate change.

Committed to improving plant and soil health, the Smiths from Culreach Farm by Nethy Bridge wanted to embrace foliar feeding (a method of fertilising plants by spraying a water-based solution directly onto their leaves), helping boost nutrient efficiency while reducing chemical fertiliser use. They successfully applied to the fund for a grant towards the cost of a Tow n’ Fert spreader.

We spoke to Neil Smith to find out more about the benefits the new spreader will bring, as well as plans for Tow n’ Fert and grazing hub learning days with the agricultural community in the Cairngorms over the next few years.

Economic sustainability

In November, we took delivery of the new Tow n’ Fert spreader. The spreader breaks down nitrogen-based granular fertiliser using water and applies it in a way that helps plants convert the nutrients provided. The machine also has the capability to apply other forms of liquid fertiliser, including digestate, seaweed, fish waste and bio-stimulants, helping to reduce dependency on artificial fertiliser.

Based on independent studies of others who have used this machine, the dependency on artificial nitrogen fertiliser should be reduced by at least 40% within the first year of use. Beyond this initial saving, the machine has multiple applications from overseeding small seeds to applying lime to maintain optimum soil pH.

Environmental sustainability

The use of the Tow n’ Fert spreader has huge potential to improve environmental sustainability. Firstly, plants will be able to uptake nutrients much more efficiently increasing nitrogen use efficiency and decreasing the need for excess applications. Secondly, excess nutrient leaching is more than halved and given the foliar form of application, even with adverse rainfall close to application timings, the nitrates should not be available to leach.

The reduction in artificial nitrogen in the soil will reduce soil pH degradation, equating to improved soil fertility. This, coupled with our experience and skills in grazing management, will increase soil organic matter benefitting future crops.

Knowledge sharing in our community

To make sure the project has a wider impact in the agricultural community, we plan to hold grazing hub events over the next three years. These hubs will be open to anyone wishing to learn more about the system – both the Tow n’ Fert itself, its benefits for fertiliser reduction and wider knowledge sharing around grazing management in general.

We’ve practised rotational grazing for 10 years now and a number of family members have learned innovative grazing management techniques both here in the UK and abroad. We welcome anyone interested in learning about the machine, its applications and the grazing system we utilise in the business to come along and take part in the hubs. Whether you’re a believer, a sceptic or undecided, the hubs will aim to create honest open discussion.

The grazing hubs will be planned to coincide with key seasonal timings on farms. The first year will focus on grassland production and the second year on the combined benefits of good grass management and the Tow n’ Fert system. The final year will focus on what we’ve learnt through the three years of the project. It will include any improvements we believe should be made, based on the data collected since we started using the Tow n’ Fert spreader.

I am looking forward to getting started in the spring of 2025 and sharing our learnings with other farmers on the potential for this new spreader to positively impact both the environment and our bottom line as a farm business.

The Smith family, Culreach Farm by Nethy Bridge