With many experiencing the after-effects of the worst sea flooding in a generation, Agronomist Mark Tripney reminds farmers to look beyond just draining the ground.

Tidal surges in the North West and East coasts of England as well as North Wales were estimated by the NFU to have flooded in excess of 2,000 ha of farmland. Efforts to clear the land and aerate the soil compacted by the flood waters have been further hampered by the wet weather since Christmas - leaving some soils with a challenging mineral imbalance.

“The problem we’ve got is that soils with a high silt or clay content are prone to retaining high sodium concentrations and it will become increasingly difficult to grow crops of any type if the sodium is not replaced with calcium,” says Mark. “Guidelines advise spreading gypsum to replace sodium within the soil structure as it is more soluble in water that calcium carbonate (lime). However, this involves applying for permits and also incurs fees if you intend to use a waste derived product. A better option in this situation might be to use a granulated calcium sulphate product, which is often more soluble and reacts quicker than gypsum. You can also apply these types of product with your own spreader and they don’t require any permits.”

With many factors affecting the way individual soils recover after sea flooding, Mark advises farmers to test their soil and speak to an agronomist before taking any remedial steps to restore their land.