Breaking the Barriers to Soil Testing on Pastures (Breaking-STEP)

SARIC挑战：这个翻译项目是直接针对Duncan Rose （Cawood Scientific）在最近的SARIC沙坑活动上提出的主要行业挑战而制定的。面临的挑战是“理解为什么整个英国畜牧业对土壤分析的吸收不足，并为畜牧业系统设计新的推荐和解释系统”。为了解决这个问题，班戈大学和罗森德研究中心与五个有影响力的工业合作伙伴组织（Cawood Scientific, British grass Society, RSK ADAS, Charlie Morgan GrassMaster Ltd & AHDB）以及一系列合作伙伴（例如NIAB，威尔士政府，Yara-Lancrop, Farming Connect, Eurofins， SoilCares等）合作。他们对这个项目的承诺在众多的支持信中得到了突出体现。问题的本质：土壤是英国畜牧业生产系统中的重要资源，对土壤进行良好管理以确保该行业的长期经济生存是很重要的。最基本的是定期对土壤进行测试，以确保土壤中没有化学、物理或生物失衡，这些失衡会限制生产或造成环境破坏。虽然农民在耕地部门对标准土壤检测的接受程度很高，但有令人信服的证据表明，畜牧部门的情况正好相反。因此，尽管受到政策制定者、监管机构和农业组织的鼓励，但大量研究表明，英国畜牧业生产下的土壤在P和K状态、土壤pH值以及土壤结构方面经常处于次优状态。最终，由于酸度过高、施肥不足和板结，缺乏试验导致产量下降，而在某些情况下，过度施肥导致在肥料上浪费资金并增加环境损失的风险。这导致了农场表现不佳和整个畜牧业的经济损失。在当前的可持续集约化时代，至关重要的是有效利用营养物质，并通过简单地“做好基本工作”来缩小产量差距，从而提高资源利用率和农业收入。这表明目前促进土壤测试的策略没有很好地发挥作用，需要新的方法。展望未来，同样明显的是，畜牧业可能不得不采用土壤农业技术来保持其竞争优势。根据目前的证据，很可能采用这些新的土壤测试方法也会非常缓慢。因此，需要对采用(i)基本土壤测试、（ii）更全面的土壤测试和（iii）新兴技术的障碍进行批判性评估。解决问题和结果：为了应对这一挑战，我们与行业合作伙伴一起设计了六个相互关联的工作包（WP），以从多个角度解决问题。首先，我们将绘制英国土壤测试的时空趋势图（WP1）。其次，我们将确定阻碍农民进行土壤测试的主要障碍（WP2）。第三，我们将建立农场示范，以说明土壤测试在采用率低的地区的好处（WP3）。展望未来，我们还将评估哪些基于土壤的农业技术解决方案即将出现，并评估农民采用这些技术的可能性（WP4）。这些信息将为与利益相关者社区开展一系列参与性研讨会和传播活动奠定基础，以展示土壤测试对草原农民的好处（WP5）。最后，我们将综合WP1-5中的所有信息，制定一个以行业为重点的路线图，以促进畜牧业终身采用土壤检测（WP6）。我们希望在该项目开始后的5年内为该行业带来切实的好处。

THE SARIC CHALLENGE: This translation project was directly formulated in response to a major industry challenge presented by Duncan Rose (Cawood Scientific) at the recent SARIC Sandpit Event. The challenge is to "understand why there is a poor uptake of soil analysis across the UK livestock sector and to design novel recommendation and interpretation systems for livestock farming systems". To address this, Bangor University and Rothamsted Research have teamed up with five influential industrial partner organisations (Cawood Scientific, British Grassland Society, RSK ADAS, Charlie Morgan GrassMaster Ltd & AHDB) alongside a range of associate partners (e.g. NIAB, Welsh Government, Yara-Lancrop, Farming Connect, Eurofins, SoilCares etc.). Their commitment to the project is highlighted in the numerous letters of support. NATURE OF THE PROBLEM: Soils represents a vital resource within UK livestock production systems and it is important that they are well managed to ensure the long-term economic survival of the industry. Fundamental to this is the regular testing of the soil to make sure that there are no chemical, physical or biological imbalances that either constrain production or cause environmental damage. While uptake of standard soil testing by farmers within the arable sector is high, there is compelling evidence that the opposite is true for the livestock sector. Consequently, despite encouragement from policymakers, regulators and farming organisations, numerous studies have shown that soils under livestock production in the UK are frequently sub-optimal in terms of their P and K status and soil pH, as well as soil structure. Ultimately, this lack of testing causes reductions in yields due to excess acidity, under-fertilisation and compaction, while in some cases, over-fertilisation results in wasting money on fertiliser and increasing the risk of environmental losses. This is resulting in underperforming farms and economic losses across the livestock sector. In the current era of sustainable intensification, it is essential that nutrients are used efficiently, and yield gaps are closed through simply 'getting the basics right', resulting in improved resource utilisation and farm incomes. This suggests that current strategies to promote soil testing are not working well and that new approaches are required. Looking to the future, it is also clear that the livestock sector will probably have to embrace soil-based agri-tech to retain its competitive advantage. Based on current evidence, it is likely that the adoption of these new methods of soil testing may also be very slow. A critical assessment of the barriers to adopting (i) basic soil testing, (ii) more comprehensive soil testing, and (iii) emerging technologies is therefore required. TACKLING THE ISSUE AND OUTCOMES: In response to this challenge, and together with our industrial partners, we have designed six interlinked work-packages (WP) to tackle the problem from multiple angles. Firstly, we will map the spatial and temporal trends in soil testing within the UK (WP1). Secondly, we will identify the major barriers which prevent farmers from undertaking soil testing (WP2). Thirdly, we will set up on-farm demonstrations to illustrate the benefits of soil testing in areas where adoption is poor (WP3). Looking to the future, we will also evaluate what soil-based agri-tech solutions are on the horizon and evaluate the likelihood that farmers will adopt these technologies (WP4). This information will provide the foundation for a series of participatory workshops and dissemination events with the stakeholder community to demonstrate the benefits of soil testing to grassland farmers (WP5). Lastly, we will synthesise all the information in WP1-5 to produce an industry-focused road map for promoting life-long adoption of soil testing within the livestock industry (WP6). We expect to see tangible benefits to the industry within 5 years of this project commencing.