FORGET increased applications of nitrogen fertiliser to up production levels in both arable and livestock units, farmers have to go back to basics and improve overall soil management if they are to improve future profit margins.

In the past, artificial fertilisers have always been seen as the key component to increasing production, however experts now believe many soils are in fact 'worn out,' producing crops well below their potential.

Add to that an increase in soil acidity, with fewer farms monitoring soil pH and the growing problem of compaction, poor drainage and short grass grazing, on all farms, and most soils no longer have the water holding capacity they used to leading to increased risk of flooding.

"There is only one problem in agriculture in this country - there is not enough carbon in our soils," Steve Townsend, an agronomist with Soil First Farming, told delegates at the QMS 'Rising to the challenges' conference.

"Soil management is carbon management so if you want your soils to improve you need to put more carbon in them. If you manage your carbon correctly, you can reduce your nitrogen requirements by 50%," added Mr Townsend.

Carbon, or organic matter, he said, was lost in intensive arable situations where there is little, if any, grass in the rotation and too much artificial nitrogen is applied. Mr Townsend also warned against ploughing, which is one of the biggest ways of reducing carbon or organic matter levels with deeper ploughs enabling more air to get into the soil, increasing oxidation losses.

Instead, he said, arable farmers should reduce oxidation losses by chopping all straw and crop residues into the soil along with any farmyard manure. Direct drilling of crops rather than ploughing and other cultivation work, before drilling crop seed will also help reduce carbon losses. In addition, Mr Townsend said nitrogen applications should be matched to potential yields per ha.

On livestock farms, he said farmers need to concentrate more on growing grass with a bigger root mass, which deposits more carbon.

"Root growth should match grass growth but you also have to allow grass time to recover. Set stocking has had its day - mob grazing with intensive short interval grazing of up to a maximum of three days is far better with 18 days recovery at the start of the season and up to 36 days after June 21," said Mr Townsend.

In trials, soils with much improved carbon content can produce five times more grass than low carbon soils and with 16 times better drainage. Such soils can also produce this amount of grass without artificial fertiliser and without reseeding. The last time one field trial had been reseeded was 1961.

By concentrating on producing better quality and more grass, livestock farmers can also reduce their reliance on expensive concentrates, according to Charlie Morgan, of GrassMaster.

"Everyone is of the opinion it costs too much to reseed a field of grass but with nitrogen (34.5%) costing £200 per tonne, the cost of grazed grass at this price is now around 5.7p/kg of DM, which when you think the price of fertiliser has come down, and concentrate feeds work out at 20-22p/kg of DM is a good four times cheaper."

Grass quality is however key to animal performance, he said, with 1 point of D-value equivalent to 20g liveweight gain per day in lambs; 40g in cattle and 0.3litres of milk per cow per day in dairy cattle.

"The first point to consider when you are looking to produce quality beef, lamb or milk is soil management - that has to be top of your list, but after that you need to look at your pasture and grazing management and then animal husbandry, genetics, health and welfare."

Mr Morgan also encouraged producers to grow brassicas and more clover and herbal grass mixes to feed livestock outwith the grass growing season.