Does healthy soil make healthy food?

Episode 111 - Chris Mossman. We take a trip to Llangrannog in west Wales to meet Chis Mossman, dairy farmer and Grassland Farmer of the Year 2023. He talks us through his business and career and the effect of Bovine TB on the way he looked at conventional farming. We are also joined by soil experts Jon Williams and Nigel Howells who talk us through the changes that were made on the farm to journey into the soil to hopefully reduce the incidence of TB and pica in the cattle. We discuss a farm trial that investigated the relative efficiency of foliar feeding nitrogen over conventional prilled fertiliser, and discuss the impact of excess nitrogen in the soil. We then talk about other trace elements and their behaviour, how they are impacted by nitrogen and the soil's pH / acidity. We are shown a Tow and Fert machine that mixes fertiliser for foliar application, allowing trace elements, epsom salts and milk to be applied at a bio-stimulant. We look at a multi-species pasture, look for roots and worms and compare it to ryegrass. We discuss whether regenerative agriculture should actually be 'resilient' agriculture, and talk about the financial problems farmers can face moving away from conventional farming. Contacts: Jon Williams: Agricultural Marketing Wales Tygwn Rhosfach Clynderwen Pembrokeshire SA66 7JR Phone: 01437 532361 / 07831 317548 Nigel Howells: Nigel Howells Consultancy Aberystwyth Rhoswen Llanilar SY23 4PA Phone: 07973 545056 Susan Wilson: https://aphaeas-agri.com/contact/ Scribehound: https://www.scribehound.com/countrysi... Follow the Insta:   / farming_explained   Join the Discord:   / discord   Support the channel: https://buymeacoffee.com/farmingexpla... Read my research article on farmer's attitudes to scientific farming during WW2: https://www.cambridge.org/core/servic... 0:00 - intro 2:47 - Chris Mossman 4:35 - Bovine TB 11:10 - Foliar feeding 24:06 - The impact of Nitrogen in the soil 31:47 - Organic, regenerative and profitability 37:13 - Reducing nitrogen use 44:45 - The Nitrogen-carbon ratio 47:30 - Stimulating biology 54:00 - Phosphate and pH 58:00 - Equipment 1:02:31 - Health improvements? 1:05:42 - Multi-species pasture 1:11:28 - Seeds and ryegrass