Centre for Sustainable Cropping
- Local identifier
- CSC
- Years operational
- 2009—
- Objective
- To design and test an integrated cropping system that aims to optimise biodiversity, soil health and productivity relative to standard commercial practice
- Description
- The Centre for Sustainable Cropping, based at Balruddery Farm near Dundee, Scotland is a long-term experimental platform comprising a 42 ha block of six fields, established in 2009 to integrate cross-disciplinary research on sustainability in arable ecosystems. The Centre is based on a framework for designing and testing a cropping system to optimise crop yield, biodiversity and ecosystem services, whilst reducing the environmental footprint of crop production by minimising inputs and the loss of non-renewable resources. Measures currently include direct drilling, cover cropping, legume under-sowing, crop residue incorporation, compost amendments, targeted weed management, wildflower margins and IPM. We use a long-term, whole-systems approach to address the potential conflicts between food production and environmental health. The platform provides an open research facility to test and demonstrate the economic, ecological and environmental trade-offs in sustainable land management over many decades.
- Data Access Statement
- Available to collaborators only
- Data Access Notes
- Data and archived samples are freely available to researchers on request and in collaboration with the data owners, provided there are no conflicts of interest with existing users.
- Data license
- Don't know
- Data URL
- https://cscplatform.hutton.ac.uk
- Data policy
- Don't know
- Organizations
- Person
- Dr Cathy Hawesprincipal investigatorJames Hutton InstituteEcological Sciences
Site: Centre for Sustainable Cropping, James Hutton Institute, Balruddery Farm
- Type
- research station field
- Local code
- CSC
- Location
- DundeeScotlandUnited Kingdom
- Geographic location
- 56.480141, -3.123679
- Slope
- (south facing)
- Visits permitted?
- Yes
- Visiting arrangements
- Visitors are welcome to the site. Please contact the co-ordinator: Cathy.Hawes@hutton.ac.uk to arrange a visit.
- History
- The site comprises 6 fields over 42 hectares in an arable farm, with a history of cereal and potato production. Details of the research farm can be found here: https://www.hutton.ac.uk/about/facilities/balruddery-farm
- Management
- Each field is planted with one of the 6 crops in the rotation and divided into two to compare an integrated cropping system on one half with standard commercial practice on the other. Integrated management includes no-till, cover cropping, legume under-sowing, straw incorporation, compost amendments, IPM strategies, targeted weed management and wildflower margins - all designed to meet multiple goals of enhancing biodiversity, improving soil function and reducing losses whilst maintaining production. Treatments are imposed at the half-field scale and are flexible over time, adapting to changes in legislation and technology.
- Soil type
- cambisol
- Soil description
- Sandy loam, top soil depth 25-38 cm, top soil stone content 5-12%
- Soil properties
Variable Depth Value (range) Units Ref year Estimated? Baseline? soil pH 1 – 20 Centimetres 5.6 soil total carbon 1 – 20 Centimetres 2.8 % - Climatic type
- temperate oceanic climate
- Climate properties
Variable Time period Value (range) Units average annual precipitation 761 millimeter wind speed 4.9 miles per annualair temperature 8.6 (5 – 12.1) degree Celsius
Design period:
- Design Type
- Split-plot
- Design description
- Integrated management compared to standard practice in a split-field design with year on year replication over a six year rotation
- Number of plots
- 6
- Number of subplots
- 12
- Number of replicates
- 1
- Number of harvests per year
- 1
- Crops
Crop Years grown potatoes winter wheat barley rapeseed beans - Crop Rotation
- CSC rotation 2010—
- 1potatoes
- 2winter wheat
- 3barley
- 4rapeseed
- 5beans
- 6barley
- Factor
- Factor name
- Factor levels
- cropping system Two cropping systems are compared over multiple 6 year rotations
Integrated crop
Combination of a range of best practice agroecological practices: direct drill, compost amendments, straw incorporation, cover crops, clover undersowing, IPM, biofortification, targeted weed management and wildflower marginsStandard commercial practice
Control treatments based on standard agronomic practice typical of the geographic region for each crop in the rotation
- Measurements
Variable Material Units Frequency Scale Comment soil pH Soil N/A annually bulk soil measurements to 20 cm depth from 350 GPS grid locations across the site in March every year soil organic matter Soil mg/kg annually bulk soil measurements to 20 cm depth from 350 GPS grid locations across the site in March every year soil total carbon Not specified % annually Elemental Analyser on 350 GPS bulk soil samples collected in March total soil nitrogen Not specified % annually Elemental Analyser on 350 GPS bulk soil samples collected in March soil plant nutrients Not specified mg/kg annually P, K, ,Mg, Ca, Mo, S, Mn, Cu, Bo, Zn, Fe, Na, CEC from bulk soil measurements to 20 cm depth at 350 GPS grid locations across the site in March every year weed seedbank Not specified count annually Glasshouse emergence method used on bulk soil samples collected from 350 GPS locations across the 6 fields to give number of viable seeds per species yield Not specified count annually Crop yield maps gathered from the combine for all crops except potatoes. pollinators Not specified count 3 times a year Transect walks to record bees and butterflies foraging within the crop and in field margins; coloured pan traps in the crops to sample all pollinating insects flying between 10 am and 4 pm on the day of sampling. earthworms Not specified count twice a year Number of individuals per species (adults only) and total number of juveniles sampled in each half field in the spring (April/May) and autumn (August/September) litter decomposition Not specified rate annually Estimated as the change in weight of tea bags buried in the spring (April/May) and collected after crop harvest (August/September). Rate of decomposition reflects microbial activity. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Not specified ppm 5 times a year Cover boxes are sealed and collected gas is then analysed for NH4, NO3 and CH4 approximately once a month through the cropping season. Nitrates in soil water are monitored at the same time in the same locations using ceramic cup lysimeters and data are used to estimate N budgets. financial margins Not specified Sterling annual All input costs (agrochemicals and seed) plus tractor time and fuel use are recorded and use alongside crop yield/sale prices to estimate gross financial margins of the two cropping systems
Related publications
- Centre for Sustainable Cropping website