An introduction to soil health monitoring and carbon management practices for your farm, with Becky Willson, Technical Director at the Farm Carbon Toolkit.

With the Soil and Nutrient Health Scheme getting underway in Northern Ireland, this training day will help you understand how to check the indicators of soil health yourself. With a focus on practical in-field learning you will learn how to visually assess your soils in terms of soil structure and texture, as well as look at biological indicators, soil organic matter, infiltration rates and understand the importance of pH and nutrient analysis. You will also hear about the practices adopted by recent winners of the Soil Farmer of the Year Award and the data coming back from farms involved in the Farm Net Zero and Soil Carbon Projects in England.

Hosted on Hillmount Farm, you will also hear from new entrant William Frazer about plans to improve the carbon management of the farm, including through rotational grazing, direct drilling new swards, hedge coppicing, and incorporating clover into the farming system. He will talk through the results for his farm from the NFFN Carbon Audit completed earlier in the year and what actions he intends to take as a result.

Bring wellies and a spade.