As part of the Farm Net Zero project, the Duchy College farm is involved in the Maize Field Lab. The aims of this are to trial lower carbon methods of establishing maize that help to maintain good soil health.
One maize field at the college has been selected for the trial. Half has been ploughed and established conventionally, and the other half has just been cultivated. The aim here is to reduce machinery passes (and so use less fuel), as well as reducing soil disturbance.
At 90° to the ploughed/cultivated line, different undersow mixtures are also being tested. One part of the field has been left bare, as with most conventional maize crops. Then there is a simple grass mix, compared against a more diverse mixture of grass, plantain and clovers. This will be monitored over the winter to assess species establishment and ground cover, as well as the effect on soil structure.
Drone imagery (shown above) over the summer showed an initial lag in plant growth in the cultivated half compared to the ploughed half, although this became less apparent as the crop grew on.
Harvest data will hopefully provide insights into the maize growth, yield and quality.