Sustainable beef systems on arable units

The Problem:

High costs and increasing competition for land means that starting or expanding beef enterprises can be challenging. Integrating beef enterprises into arable rotations provides new opportunities for both beef producers and arable farmers. For beef producers, this represents an opportunity for new entrants to the beef industry or for enterprise expansion. For arable farmers, beef cattle may be able to achieve the same or higher net margin per hectare compared to traditional arable rotations, with the additional benefits of better weed control and improved soil condition resulting from the establishment of grass leys.

Aims and Objectives:

The project will investigate the practical, economic, environmental and agronomic implications of integrating beef enterprises into arable systems on two farms in Cambridgeshire. Both sites will be grazed with ‘growing’ cattle for around 6 months with the aim to achieve >1kg DLWG at a value of £1/day to the beef operator

Approach:

There are two sites, one of which is located in Cambridgeshire and the other in Somerset. At the site in Cambridgeshire, a multispecies ley is already established so baseline soil measurements are not possible. The ley will be grazed with growing cattle and their growth performance will be measured. A cost-benefit analysis will also be carried out. Detailed measurements will be taken to assess forage yields and quality. At the site in Somerset, six fields will be sown either to grass and clover or to multispecies leys. Detailed measurements will be taken to assess the impact of the leys on soil physico-chemical properties, black grass weed populations and yield benefits to the subsequent arable crop as well as assessments of livestock performance and a cost benefit analysis of integrating beef cattle into the arable enterprise.

Results: 

Introducing temporary leys into arable rotations bring numerous benefits to both the arable and beef farmer.  Assessments at Somerset site showed significant improvement in soil properties after three years of grass and clover and multispecies leys.  Topsoil organic matter increased by 6 tonnes/hectare in the top 15cm of soil, earthworm numbers increased by 60% and earthworm biomass tripled.  There is also benefit to the following arable crop, with spring barley yields being increased by 0.7t/ha following the grass and clover ley compared to continuous arable cropping.  Additionally, there were reduced numbers of black-grass heads after the ley.  Cost-benefit analyses at both sites show that integrating beef into arable rotations brings a positive net margin of approximately £250/ha (before rent and finance).  This can be further increased by entering the land into a subsidy scheme and increasing the length of the ley. This cannot match returns from a winter wheat crop but is as good as some other combinable crops including winter beans.