Lordington Park Agronomy

03/07/2025

Dry harvest? Don’t be lulled into rushing.

The easy harvest’s over. No drying costs, clean grain... happy days!

But here’s the issue: all soils are now in serious moisture deficit.
At 1% organic matter (Dumas method), your soil holds around 85,000 litres of water per hectare. The crop’s used that up… it’s gone.

Rehydrating that reservoir realistically takes 86mm of rain, not 8.5.

So, before you reach for the metal and start pulling discs just to feel busy… stop.

If you must create a stale seedbed:
• Keep cultivations shallow and minimal
• Cambridge roll immediately after
• Then do nothing until just before drilling
• Drill, roll, walk away

Why? Because the old crop’s roots are still in the soil. They’re your natural drainage and structure. Stirring everything up now destroys that and risks leaving seed to germinate in dust and die off.

If you can form a seedbed in the top 75mm and drill into remaining moisture, those roots will guide the new crop down fast.

Think moisture, not movement!

30/06/2025

"Healthy Soil, Healthy Crops, Healthy Profits"

Jonathan helps farmers, as well as equine, deer and livestock grassland owners, understand, interact and balance their soils and crops/ pasture grass to help preserve the environment and boost productivity.

Get in touch to learn more 👇🏽

jonathan@lordingtonparkagronomy.co.uk

27/06/2025

Great to be part of recent Future Food Solutions walks in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire... talking healthy soils, healthy crops and making a profit without over-relying on fertilisers. Well organised and, as always, good conversations.

26/06/2025

After the driest start to spring in nearly 70 years, many grassw**ds didn’t absorb herbicides as expected. Most graminicides couldn’t fully translocate within the plant, the dry, stressed conditions reduced uptake and movement inside the w**d.

That’s left survivors. To tackle them effectively, your cultivation strategy must match the brome species still in the field.

This quick guide shows how timing and depth make all the difference.

23/06/2025

Most people walk fields. Jonathan sniffs them.

Why? Because smell reveals whether the soil is biologically active or microbially inert. Sweet and earthy? Great. Acrid or lifeless? There's likely something going wrong underground.

Want your soil (sniffed) assessed? Get in touch! 👇🏽

📧 jonathan@lordingtonparkagronomy.co.uk

20/06/2025

Looking forward to a visit to Australia next month, to catch up with agroecologist Will Elrick and learn more about some of the work being done with waste wool and soil regeneration.

There are some fascinating trials going on over there using waste wool not only as a soil conditioner, but also to improve moisture retention. Wool contains around 14% nitrogen, along with a mix of other nutrients and high levels of carbon due to its lignin content, so there's huge potential in how it can support soil health.

They're also pairing this with Carpathian clover, which is particularly interesting because unlike most clovers (which either have deep tap roots or above-ground stolons), this one has rhizomes - below-ground stems. That makes it ideal for stabilising soil and helping to lock the wool in place, while also fixing nitrogen.

Curious to see how it all works in practice... how long the wool takes to break down, how it's applied and what the long-term impact is on soil structure and productivity.

More to come…

06/06/2025

Join Jonathan Holmes on a farm walk and discussion exploring the benefits of cocksfoot in diverse leys, resilient pastures and the latest on-farm research.

It's taking place at High Crookleith Farm, a 375 acre tenanted farm in the North York Moors National Park on Monday 16 June from 10:30am to 3pm.

Find out more and book your place here 👇🏽

Join us farm walk and discussion exploring the benefits of cocksfoot in diverse leys, resilient pastures and the latest on-farm research.

27/05/2025

Join Jonathan Holmes on Tuesday 24 June at Breckenborough for the Sustainable Landscapes Topcliffe Group Farm Walk.

09/05/2025

Are sycamore trees really poisoning horses or is poor grazing to blame?

By analysing your grass, you can see what the nutrient levels are - this is important to understand WHY the horses are eating the sycamore seedlings or leaves.

Once you know what the grass is short of, and remedial action is taken then the likely hood of your horse contracting Atypical Myopathy are going to be significantly reduced.

Atypical Myopathy is a truly distressing disease – horses that have ingested sycamore seeds display many symptoms, including a lack of muscle function.

24/04/2025

The Moore Unidrill at work, direct drilling into an existing sward to fully renovate it; no ploughing needed.

The thinking is that even tired grass has already built the right environment for new growth.

Preparation is key: knife aerate 10–14 days ahead to get air and microbial life back into the soil. Then harrow in both directions before drilling at right angles for the best seed-to-soil contact.

This seed mix is designed for low-nitrogen, horse-friendly forage on light, drought-prone soil. It includes Timothy, meadow fescue, sheep’s fescue, creeping red fescue (to bind the soil), and creeping bent (to retain moisture).

Want to know more about getting the most from your sward? Get in touch with Jonathan 👇🏽

jonathan@lordingtonparkagronomy.co.uk

08/04/2025

We are conducting a study to understand how the gut microbiota influences the development and health of foals, potentially paving the way for significant advancements in equine healthcare.

We are collecting samples at key early life stages immediately after birth, and again at seven, 14 and 28 days – to map the developmental trajectory of the foal’s gut DNA microbiome.

04/04/2025

A 66kg foal born last Friday to the lovely ‘in-house’ mare that is Stella.

Phenomenal conformation, demeanour and structure to the young foal. Colostrum score of 32 and an IgG of 16.7.

All combine to serve testament to value of the LPA sward management strategies.