PHILIP WRIGHT, former technical director at farm machinery company Simba International, has gone from designing heavy metal machinery to encouraging plant root growth with a lighter touch.

Mr Wright will be discussing his new focus on soil structure and health at an open day being held on South Redbog Farm near Fraserburgh in Aberdeenshire – AgriScot’s Arable Farm of the Year 2017 - on June 7.

The 'Soil, Slugs and Metal' event, run by Soil Association Scotland, will explore the relationship between soil and cultivations and how to get the best out of both with Mr Wright, alongside Mel Keenan of Keenan Recycling and Dr Andy Evans of SRUC, who will also be looking at slug control.

“You need cultivations – you need to drag metal through the soil to plant stuff,” said Mr Wright, now an independent advisor on soil and cultivations. “But what I have learned over the last 20 years is that we probably don’t need to be doing it as much as we do.

“Having designed machinery and vehicles to rip through soils I can safely say it’s not that that improves soil structure! Nature – especially a plant root – does that, but we can help it along through careful use of tyre pressure, the choice of equipment and awareness of when to cultivate and what to look for in the soil.”

Host farmer Peter Chapman will be on-hand to discuss his award-winning approach to soil health: “I’m just making a conscious effort to buy in a lot of muck!” he explained, a tactic that has improved the 'difficult loamy soil' locally by increasing organic matter through compost, using precision farming, reducing compaction (including using wide tractor tyres) and paying particular attention to drainage.

The June 7 event is free to farmers and land managers, but must be booked via the Soil Association Scotland website or by calling Sarah Millar on 07800 841 822.