Calling farmers and growers!
Take part in the Perennial Green Manures (PGMs) Crop Trials
Following on from initial scientific research, we now need to find out how practical and effective the PGMs are in real life. We are looking for arable farmers and horticultural growers who would like to try fertilising an area of one of their crops with PGMs.
Participants can be any type of grower from small scale vegetable producers to large field-scale arable farmers. Together we will choose the most suitable type(s) of PGM(s) for your crop and design the trials with you. We’ll compare them with your usual method of crop fertilisation, whether that be animal manure, compost, traditional green manures, a conventional fertiliser or any other method.
We’ll supply the PGMs for your crop as dried or pelleted leaves, set up the trials with you and return to monitor the crop growth and soil nutrient levels.
As well as measuring the crop yields, we’d also like to you to tell us about your experience of using the technique, how you think it could fit within your cropping system and how it may be improved in the future. You’ll receive all the data on your crop growth and soil nutrient levels, and there will be opportunity to discuss your experiences with other trial participants.
Funding for crop trial participants
Farms are busy workplaces and any kind of trial will risk a reduction in crop yields. As the success depends on you sharing your time and knowledge with us, and accepting the risk of some lower yields, we’ll be offering some financial compensation to for you to take part.
Processing clover into pellets
Previous PGM field trials
Funding to plant your own PGM production
"bio-service" area
After the crop trials, participants with access to suitable land will have the opportunity to plant their own PGM producing “bio-service area” with species suited to their own land and crop requirements. The bio-service areas can be anything from a few square metres to large plots of half an acre or more. Plants, seeds and materials will be provided by the PGM project in winter 2023/4, and we can assist with ground preparation and planting too.
As not all crop producers have land to devote to PGM production, we will also be funding other land managers to plant bio-service areas to provide PGMs to arable and horticultural growers in the Dyfi Valley.
Upcoming events:
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We are currently busy designing the trials ready for spring
Alder coppice can be planted as ‘bio-service areas’, fixing atmospheric nitrogen and sequestering carbon on unused areas of the farm.
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