Managing soil fertility is not a “sexy” element of farming, but it is the “cornerstone of sustainable production”, a Teagasc scientist has said.

Speaking at the Teagasc Soil Conference this Monday, Dr David Wall said farmers need to focus on basics such as soil fertility right above other, more attractive parts of food production.

“Soil fertility management is the cornerstone, I would say, of sustainable [food] production.

“My personal opinion is that this stuff [soil fertility] is not sexy. However, when we do the research and look at it, 99% of efficiency gains are achieved through the basics.

“You can add on more sexy stuff - tools, technologies, machinery, variable rate - I’m not knocking these, they will give advantages and get more precision, there’s no doubt about it, but 99% of it is still gotten through the basics.

“We need to engage the generation that’s out there farming at the moment, they probably grew up in an era where technological advancement came on.

“It certainly catches my eye and I’ll move towards it. However, we must not forget to get the basics right here and the basics will actually pay you the big bucks,” he said.

‘Back in vogue’

Wall said Irish agriculture prides itself on the productivity of its soils and soil fertility “has to come back into vogue”.

The Teagasc scientist added that as soil fertility is a key driver of nitrogen use efficiency, it will form an important part of meeting lower targets with regard to nitrogen usage in the future.

“Policy signals lower maximum available [use] of nitrogen on farms in the future. We need to protect our family farm model by careful management of nitrogen and phosphorus.

“If we don’t do that, then our production potential will be eroded in terms of cutting stocking rate or further restrain[t]s on farmers through regulation to achieve the environmental goals,” he said.

The conference was part one of a three-part online Teagasc Soil Conference. The other parts will take place on Monday 4 March and Monday 11 March.