It’s easy to assume that the textbooks are correct in assuming that very little Phosphorus manages to remain free in the soil to percolate down and escape via the land drainage water.
There is mention in the Rephokus report from Lancaster university that this may not be such a robust assumption with “Herefordshire” soils.
As the geology of much of Herefordshire is varied as it formed predominantly on a Devonian / Silurian coastline and North Herefordshire has been significantly influenced as a result of being at the extent of the last ice age glaciers, I think that it is important to look closely to discover for ourselves how our soils on our farm, behave in relation to this matter.
We are therefore testing water running from the land drains at Throne farm for Phosphorus both with a hand held meter and comparison laboratory sample.
We will analyse results when sampling from a range of dates has been completed.
