Arable

Arable Farming at Balgay

The soil here is highly fertile and capable of growing outstanding crops of cereals. Extensive soil sampling shows that the ground comprises of fine alluvial soil, which can make it quite heavy to work. Continuous addition of organic matter from the cattle, combined well defined crop rotation and cover crops has resulted in a fantastic improvement in soil quality, making it lighter and easier to manage. 

Grass is an extremely important part of our rotation. Grass and stock are the key foundation to successful farming at Balgay and on top of cattle grazing, Farm Manager, Iain Wilkinson grazes 1000 lambs (Texels and Suffolks) at Balgay to add to soil fertility. We have moved away from the rye grass monoculture and instead are experimenting with various herbal leys, including Sainfoin, Chicory, Birdsfoot Trefoil and clovers.

In these mixes, the grasses provide carbohydrates and clovers contribute protein. In addition, adding forage herbs such as chicory, ribgrass and burnet we improve quantities of vital minerals in the forage, which helps increase daily live-weight gains and milk production. Just as vital is their ability to build soil fertility and promote biodiversity across whole fields. An added benefit is the ability to withstand drought, amusing though that might sound in Scotland! The deeper rooted species deliver drought tolerance and help the crop remain palatable longer than other forage mixtures.

The deep rooting herbs, notably Chicory, mine the soil for important nutrients and minerals, making them available to the grazing livestock and lowering the need for bought in concentrates. The high legume content of these leys reduces the need for expensive artificial nitrogen, since they fix their own N, feeding the other grasses and herbs in the mixture, and again helping to reduce external input and costs.

The crops grown in rotation at Balgay include:

• Multi species grassland
• Winter Wheat
• Winter Barley
• Winter Oats
• Winter Oilseed rape
• Spring Barley