5 of the best farmer tweets on World Soil Day
Farmers across the country have combined the United Nations’ World Soil Day on Thursday (5 December) with the recently launched social media campaign #farmingcares, to demonstrate the good work they are doing to improve soil health.
Organised by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), World Soil Day intends to “raise awareness on the importance of sustaining healthy ecosystems and human well-being by addressing the increasing challenges in soil management”.
See also: Campaign launched to show off farming’s best practice
This year’s theme focused particularly on soil erosion, a process in which the most fertile top layer of soil may be removed through wind, water, tillage and overgrazing.
As part of the effort, UK farmers also used the #farmingcares campaign, co-ordinated by NFU South East, to show how they are improving and monitoring soil health, using techniques such as overwinter cover cropping and winter grazing to return organic matter to the earth.
The special nod to soil maintenance is just a small part of the campaign’s larger goal, to provide a platform for farmers to voice how they deliver public goods through their care of animals and agricultural land, and provision for wildlife and natural spaces.
We’ve rounded up five of the best from Twitter and Instagram on #farmingcares to recognise World Soil Day:
These Sussex cattle will spend the winter grazing stubble turnips, returning organic matter to the soil before the field grows a crop of spring barley #farmingcares pic.twitter.com/jOKGFT3TKK
— Ben Taylor (@ifordben) December 2, 2019
Carbon capture, building soil health and feeding the environment #farmingcares pic.twitter.com/KdV4kZsZ5a
— Nick Wilson (@Nick_Wilson3) November 27, 2019
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5adBOcBXXr/?igshid=ot5a0hohvm5o
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5saNGFlEh1/?igshid=p2c5h1p50zlz
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3ruJ82BpPc/?igshid=1o38y0f3f274x
Shining a light on farming
Here are five more general tweets from the #farmingcares campaign
New baby calves arriving this morning,plenty of deep warm straw in the pens for them to nest down in, keeping them warm keeps them healthy, which means less antibiotic usage in the fight against antibiotic resistance🐮#farmingcares #AntibioticResistance pic.twitter.com/w28198BJNL
— Joanne Pile (@pile_joanne) December 3, 2019
We’ve committed to ~3km of new native hedge plantings over this winter and next, that’s 18,000 plants…why? Because #farmingcares pic.twitter.com/AeWzaVrkVV
— Owen Piper (@MApiperandson) December 3, 2019
I created this pond 20 years ago one weekend home from college. Was a hole in ground with a small ditch, now teeming with bird and invertebrates. A pair of Egyptian geese are back for their 4th year. #farmingcares pic.twitter.com/rsgOvW25oU
— Lee Dallyn (@DallynLee) December 2, 2019
Here in beautiful Berwickshire we leave some corn unharvested to help the birds through the lean winter months #farmingcares pic.twitter.com/eIpIniGIFC
— Tim Gue (@TimGue1) November 30, 2019
Laying a hedge does make it a strong barrier to keep stock in, but you could do that with a fence. A good thick hedge is a great place for all sorts of wildlife! #farmingcares pic.twitter.com/Fy9VhMzr2C
— Lord Philip Onions (@PhilipOnions) November 27, 2019
BOX How to get involved
Join in the #farmingcares campaign by using the hashtag on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Upload a photo, video and/or a short description of how you or a farmer you know is contributing to the public good by providing beneficial outcomes to wider society.