Chris Stoate - SS6

Chris Stoate - SS6

Introducing grass leys into arable rotations has the potential to improve soil structure and organic matter. This has benefits to the arable rotation, but can also increase water infiltration rates during storms, with resulting benefits in terms of flood risk management at the catchment scale. Reduced runoff from agricultural catchments can also result in improved water quality and aquatic ecology.

In one of our replicated plot experiments in the EU funded SoilCare project, we selected five modern deep-rooting agricultural grass cultivars as being the most likely to create pathways for water to reach deep into the soil profile, rather than running off the surface. Each cultivar was represented as a 50% component of an otherwise standard ryegrass and clover mix, with control plots comprising this standard mixture alone. The whole area was grazed by sheep and cut for silage following standard practice, but in years three and four of the experiment, we fenced off a three-metre wide strip that was ungrazed and uncut.