Improving soil health and structure is essential if farmers are to reduce artificial fertiliser use and increase profitability on-farm.

Grassland Agro has launched a new app for mobile devices designed to help farmers examine the health and structure of their soils.

Using the GrassVESS (visual evaluation of soil structure) method, the app helps farmers evaluate soil and root structure using visual and textural assessment.

All you need is a spade, a ruler and your smartphone.

The app will help farmers decide the impact their farm management practices are having on soil structure, which, if in poor condition, will lead to sub-optimal soil fertility and biological activity in the soil.

Management

The app also allows for the diagnosis of management practices which can counteract compaction, whether that be allowing the soil to repair itself naturally or by using mechanical methods. In some cases it may be a suggestion to apply lime.

Speaking on the launch of the GrassVESS app, which is free to download, John O’Loughlin at Grassland Agro stated: “Soil structure is a key component of overall soil health and needs to be taken into consideration as we aim to meet our environmental targets and increase sustainability on-farm.”