Establishment and management of productive diverse swards in Cumbria

From late May and the second week of June, the group are busy doing 1m x 1m quadrat assessments, sharing photos via WhatsApp to help each other identify species within the quadrats, which have included cuckooflower and thyme-leaved speedwell.

Information is being recorded on management (livestock, cutting, topping, manure application, liming, etc), vegetation and VESS via the free Survey123 app or data sheets - a template can be found in the 'Documents' section of this page.

Quadrat location is recorded either through the app, GPS on mobile phones or by measuring paces and direction lined up to features in the field such as gateways and trees. VESS samples are taken outside of the quadrats so to not disturb the plants growing in it.

The group are also taking photos from directly above the quadrats and for VESS tests.

Interim meeting – learning so far

The group met at Newton Rigg to discuss their reflections from the monitoring done so far.

Due to the really wet soil conditions since September last year, only 3 farmers have managed to practice the data collection technique and use the tools.

Main learning points:

• it’s easier with more than 1 person doing the recording.
• it’s very difficult to identify the grasses in the autumn. The Field Studies Centre booklets are useful - especially with a small magnifying glass.
• there is potential to compromise on detailed measures (particularly of hard to identify species) possibly by just assessing by groups – grasses, legumes, herbs especially at difficult times of year (autumn). Shifts between these groups in terms of cover (an assessment of the % cover of the quadrat) would be useful data.
• it would be useful to share what we are seeing and doing on the monitoring e.g. by setting up a WhatsApp group

The meeting helped to clarify what the farmers are trying to understand about their diverse ley in their farm situation.

Data collection workshop

Some of the group met at Gowbarrow Hall, Ullswater, for a training in plant ID and recording workshop with Lisa Norton (field lab researcher).

We learned:

• how to decide where to site the quadrats that we will be monitoring
• how to assess what is growing
• how to do the soil health tests (Visual Evaluation and Soil Structure)
• how to use an App or spreadsheet and photos to record

Methods finalised – record management and baseline data

The group have agreed to keep the following records of management throughout project:

• Grazing - number of animals grazed
• Inputs - manure, fertiliser, any additional sowing
• Sward measures -(quadrats) - species and cover, bare ground, litter, vegetation height, biomass (dry matter) – measurements will be carried out annually or bi-annually (see above, dry matter will be measured in early and late summer).
• Growth rate 3 times in summer in cages where fields are grazed set-stocked

Field/ farm level measures:

• Ave growth rate of animals (including period of days grazing - to link growth rate to specific target fields where possible)
• Bales or trailers of silage/ hay produced on the target pasture fields

The group intend to establish a baseline at the start of the project for (at least) one pasture field on each of the farms. They will compare the fields across time and look at how different management on different farms influences the composition of the sward and soil in each pasture.

Baseline data:

• Soil Analyses - organic matter, nutrient content , texture, pH, profile
• Site description - altitude, slope, aspect, history of management, including sown species, numbers and types of grazers, cutting, inputs (much of this data is already available but will be formalised with the help of the researcher so that all farmers have data in a common format by the December meeting).
• Sward measures -(quadrats) - species and cover, bare ground, litter, vegetation mat on soil surface, vegetation height, biomass (dry matter) Initial baseline measures would ideally take place in May, but a baseline for a reduced set of measures could also be established this autumn for comparison in forthcoming autumns. Farmers will gather this data, with training and support provided by the researcher and co-ordinator.

Productivity will be measured in comparison with previous offtake from the fields under study (when not sown with diverse swards) and where appropriate with non-diverse swards under management by the same or neighbouring farms. Species richness of swards and the desirability of the species present together with sward and soil parameters will be compared with previous data (where available) and with extensive data held on pastures by the researcher. We will also seek to integrate with other data/possible sampling on the nutritional quality of sward species.