Edaphos

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by Edaphos's best practice article

The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from Edaphos is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.

Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett, MP

Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles, MP

www.edaphos.co.uk

1EDAPHOS |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE

Mike Harrington collecting

regular tissue and soil samples

Mike Harrington, managing director, presenting

at an Edaphos “soils workshop” event

Edaphos, an agronomy-based consultancy company, was set

up in 2005 after ten years of trying to implement change

through the current distributer suppliers of chemicals and

fertilisers. The company has a specialist interest in soil health

and the restoration of soil and fertile growing systems. It offers

a full agronomy service to customers, including chemical, crop

and fertiliser planning, with a particular focus on the biological

management of soil fertility. It works with the worldwide

farming community to help restore constituents that are

essential to the soil’s health. The company’s goal is to create

solutions that facilitate the best of any farm system, from

organic agriculture and biodynamics to agroecology. Managing

Director Mike Harrington tells

The Parliamentary Review

more.

Through a balance of consultancy and knowledge, we provide a range of services

aimed at targeting a farm’s specific requirements. Our philosophy is to improve soil

and plant health, while harnessing the soil’s stored resources to achieve a healthy,

well-balanced system.

Getting the best out of systems

Carbon drives all systems: funding microbial digestion, recycling and releasing

nutrients in the soil. Without life in soil, soil cannot be maintained to grow crops.

By understanding the nutritional and biological connection between the soil and

plants, we can create a process to manage and restore a successful system –

continually reviewing and refining.

FACTS ABOUT

EDAPHOS

»Managing Director: Mike

Harrington

»Established in 2005

»Based in Ginge, south

Oxfordshire

»Services: Agronomy and

biological consultancy and

sampling

»No. of employees: 7

»Advocate of the view that

field testing is necessary

to understand the unique

scenarios between plants, soil

and their nutrients

»www.edaphos.co.uk

Edaphos

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

2| EDAPHOS

When the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio

is not balanced, microbes accelerate

carbon consumption, respiring carbon

dioxide back to the atmosphere,

depleting carbon and causing long-

term degradation. Organic matter

levels are so low in many arable soils

that there is not enough energy

or air to allow biological activity to

function. As such, soil begins to slump

and become lifeless, leading to poor

rooting, poor plant health and poor

nutrient utilisation. Growers end up

buying more inputs to replace what

the soil cannot provide – and this goes

on and on until the farm is buying in

almost everything, adding significant

expense to the operation. To begin

to get out of this spiral, the emphasis

needs to shift from high yield to

efficiency, bringing biology to the fore.

Over the last 30 years or so, the

emphasis has been on growing for

maximum yield – any problems can be

overcome by increasing output. This

has placed a big emphasis on increased

nitrogen applications and associated

inputs. However, what we are trying to

achieve is to place more emphasis on

efficiency by building fertility and the

associated soil health.

Change from within the

industry

Essentially, there is only one person

who can change farming, and that’s

the farmer. Our role as agronomists

is to advise and support them so they

can have the confidence to make the

decision to change – something that is

lost when farming is driven by inputs.

One could ask why we need to change

when science and the industry believes

yield is most important. This high-

input system has been tremendously

successful, but it can only work when

soils are healthy and function as a

living entity.

As soil health deteriorates, the costs

of soil management and chemical and

fertiliser inputs begin to accelerate.

With this, the use of chemicals and

associated problems escalates, which

leads to increased issues with toxicity

to the environment. There is also a

build-up of resistance to pests and

aggressive recovery of problems after

treatment. The solution isn’t to keep

on doing more of the same, which

is what many are doing. In fact, the

industry tends to promote disease and

insect problems rather than control

them. As natural predators and

soil health deteriorates, the system

becomes completely unsustainable.

We have been treating symptoms

without due attention to their causes.

Fortunately, farmers across the world

are realising this cannot go on. This is

a system change driven by farming and

not the associated industry or science.

This change is not a fantasy, but a real

paradigm shift in thinking. It has been

developing for some 20 years now. We

have found that by changing farming

practices through emphasising carbon

rather than nitrogen, and through

farming with nature rather than turbo-

charging and burning the life out of

soil, inputs can dramatically reduce.

We begin to change from applying

products in order to grow a crop, to a

systems approach whereby the system

becomes the driver for growth and

products support the system. We have

lost and bypassed natural resources

and placed the emphasis on inputs to

achieve output.

Mike Harrington walking

a field of cover crops

with owner, Charles

Hunter-Smart, discussing

the benefits the crop will

bring

It is a whole-

system change,

as all things

become

interconnected,

which is an

important shift

in thinking

“

3EDAPHOS |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE

New thinking is required

The reason we use the term “paradigm

shift” is that it is not just about

buying a drill, growing a cover crop

or planting some wild flowers. It is a

whole-system change, as all things

become interconnected, which is an

important shift in thinking. The whole

support system to the farm has to

change. Through knowledge, we are

moving away from the chemical era

into a biological era – understanding

that balance and interconnectivity is

everything.

From the issues developing with

climate change, many countries have

no choice but to try to farm in a way

that builds organic matter in order

to retain and utilise precious water –

covering the ground with a growing

crop, and having a mulch to reduce

the effects from high temperature and

moisture loss. It is essential to change

if farming is to be maintained in some

of these regions. The knock-on effects

are a reduction of stress and increased

health, with chemical and fertiliser

inputs beginning to tumble.

What the future needs

As a company, we are very proud to

have been involved in the original

concepts for change and are

continuing to work to develop new

principles and ideas for future farming

techniques. The goal is foresight:

create a plan that anticipates needs,

rather than a plan that patches up;

create a plan that manages purpose-

made nutrition, specifically taking into

account the farm’s own requirements;

and make carbon management and

soil health a priority.

Many farms with over ten years of

change are delighted with what has

been achieved. Huge changes in how

the soil has responded have led to a

new understanding of agronomy and

how plants can be managed with

benefits to the environment. Dramatic

increases in wildlife have occurred,

allowing the soil food web and above-

ground life to proliferate, with true

integration occurring. With this level of

beneficial predators around, chemical

intervention becomes superfluous.

This challenges the largest farm units

and those on high-yielding land that

can still make good profits within the

intensive arena. However, if smaller

farms can make a better living more

sustainably and survive, then it is only

a matter of time before it attracts

change for all.

The government should support

and give flexibility to those who are

already ahead with environmental

and soil management, rather than

restricting it and imposing change

that they’re already ahead of. These

farms are leaders in innovation, and

many farmers are now far beyond the

advice and knowledge currently being

given to government and shared by

scientists. Science is good at measuring

components of a system, but it isn’t

good at interpreting within a systems

approach and is unable to consider

how all factors integrate. Farmers are

beginning to remember that they are

the caretakers of earth. If we use soil,

we cannot grow crops for long outside

nature’s influence.

The government

should support

and give

flexibility to

those who are

already ahead

with

environmental

and soil

management

“

Ben Harrington,

agronomist at Edaphos,

discussing soil fertility

and structure with

Edaphos client Chris

Parker of Earth Trust

www.edaphos.co.uk

This article was sponsored by Edaphos. The Parliamentary Review is wholly funded by the representatives who write for it. The publication in which this article originally appeared contained the following foreword from Rt Hon Michael Gove.

Rt Hon Michael Gove's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By Rt Hon Michael Gove

This year's Parliamentary Review comes at a momentous time for parliament, as we collectively determine the destiny of the United Kingdom.

On October 31, the UK will leave the European Union. The successful implementation of this process is this government's number-one priority.

Three years after a historic referendum vote, we will deliver on the decisive mandate from the British people. Trust in our democracy depends on it. Until that final hour, we will work determinedly and diligently to negotiate a deal, one that abolishes the backstop and upholds the warm and close relationship we share with our friends, allies and neighbours in the EU. But in the event that the EU refuses to meet us at the table, we must be prepared to leave without a deal.

As the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, it is my job to lead on this government's approach, should that scenario happen. Preparing for Brexit is my department's driving mission. But while I am leading this turbocharged effort, the whole of government is committed to this endeavour.

Ministers across Whitehall are working together to ensure that every possibility is considered, every plan is scrutinised and every provision is made. A daily drumbeat of meetings means that we are holding departments accountable, so that preparations are completed on time.

The chancellor has confirmed that all necessary funding will be made available. And we have mobilised thecivil service, assigning 15,000 of our most talented civil servants to manage our exit from the EU.

We will make sure that on November 1, there is as little disruption to national life as possible. Our trade relationships will continue to thrive, thanks to agreements with countries around the world worth £70 billion. Our country will remain secure, thanks to nearly 1,000 new officers posted at our borders. And the 3.2 million EU nationals now living and working among us can remain confident, with absolute certainty, of their right to remain in the UK.

Above all, our goal is to be transparent. Soon, we will launch a public information campaign so that citizens, communities and businesses are ready and reassured about what will happen in the event of “no deal”.

In my first few weeks in this role, I have travelled to ports and tarmacs, borders and bridges, all across the UK –from the seaside of Dover to the rolling green hills of County Armagh. I have heard from business owners and border officials, farmers and hauliers. They are ready to put an end to uncertainty. And they are ready to embrace the opportunities ahead.

Our departure from the EU will be a once in a lifetime chance to chart a new course for the United Kingdom. Preparing for that new course will be a herculean effort. But this country has made astounding efforts before. We can do it again.

Rt Hon Michael Gove
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster