Livestock in arable systems
Find out more about how livestock can benefit arable systems, improving soil health, saving money on inputs such as fertiliser and providing alternative income streams and diversification.
Download Livestock in arable farming how to guide
Published 01 Jan 2024
With information on where to start, what to expect, common approaches, timescales, costs and further resources.
A mixed farming system, based around livestock and cropping, is a key part of organic, agroecological and regenerative farming. This 'whole farm' approach can improve soil health, increase revenue and reduce input costs.
Two common approaches:
Adding grass and clovers into arable rotations
By adding grass and clovers into arable rotations we can break disease cycles, improve soil structure, add organic matter and produce additional income. Lengthening the rotation can also help with weed control, particularly grass weeds like blackgrass. Herbal leys or simple diverse leys such as red clover/ryegrass ley can produce large yields of forage without fertiliser which can be sold or fed to cattle or sheep over winter, producing farmyard manure (FYM) as an additional resource. Longer term species like lucerne and sainfoin give the opportunity to sell high quality forage to others.
Using over-winter crops to protect soil
Overwinter cover crops protect soils from the risk of erosion. Their roots provide anchorage and also help feed key elements essential in soil biology. They can help recycle nutrients, reducing pollution risk. The plant material, when incorporated or left as mulch, in turn improves soil organic matter. Where cover crops are grown over winter for their soil health benefits, grazing can be used as a means of terminating covers, reducing the need for chemical methods. By converting plant material into dung and urine, you are recycling nutrients so that they become more available to plants. By using winter crops as feed for cattle and sheep you can also increase farm resilience by reducing expensive housing periods or reducing costs associated with winter feed production or purchase.
Integrating livestock in arable systems
Farmer Johnnie Balfour shares his experience of managing arable crops and livestock, some of the challenges, outcomes and benefits.
Diverse and drought tolerant pastures
Sharing knowledge from Innovative Farmers field lab, investigating the best ways of grazing their sheep on lucerne, a legume valued for its high yield, drought tolerance, protein content, and digestible fibre.
Find out more and watch Tips Grazing Sheep On Lucerne film