Profit and Environmental gains with Andrew Darling

Andrew Darling, alongside his wife Amy, farms an arable operation just south of the Timaru boundary. A variety of crops are grown on farm including wheat, barley, oil seed rape, turf grasses and sunflowers, however, soil health is also a critical component of the Darling’s arable operation with incredible gains coming from practices such as minimum tillage and precision fertiliser use. The use of technology to measure and record various factors relating to soil health has allowed Andrew to increase profitability while also experiencing environmental gains on farm. Andrew is also the Federated Farmers Vice Chair for Arable, and he has also been named a Corteva Climate Positive Regional Leader. Since the recording of the podcast, Andrew and Amy have also been awarded the Environmental and Sustainability Award at the 2023 Arable Awards, showing an awesome recognition of the work that has gone on on-farm to manage and improve soil health through how the Darling’s approach their arable operation. 

The Darling’s farming operation has undergone some big changes over the years, with a change from predominantly sheep breeding to intensive arable. In 2004, Andrew’s father, Warren, went to Europe to look at different ways of managing crop residues as burning was getting harder to do being so close to the town boundary and split by State Highway One. This journey of looking into crop residue management led them down the path they are on now which is seeing really good soil gains of building up organic matter and soil carbon levels. A key part of this approach has been harnessing the use of technology, as well as good measuring and monitoring practices, to aid in land management decisions. 

“That’s near 20 years ago now and we haven’t burned any residue in that time. We’ve done very small amounts of ploughing, so we do the minimum amount of cultivation possible on our farm and we’re seeing some really good soil gains. So, we have gone away from livestock on our farm at this point. So, we are all intensive arable, but we are seeing gains in our organic matter and carbon levels, either staying neutral or with the increases in different areas. We’re not going backwards. I think that comes down to how we do manage our soils, and on top of that, since 2014 we’ve been doing hectare grid sampling on the farm, so all our P, K and pH is variably applied.”

“And then the last couple of years I’ve really worked on our nitrogen management as well using tools available to be a bit smarter and apply nitrogen with the right timing and then also variably applied as well. So, there’s tractor mounted sensors to apply nitrogen and areas of crop growth requires, and we’re seeing an overall reduction in nitrogen applied plus it’s getting in the areas that’s needed. And there’s also other aspects of that, as arable farmers we’re probably pretty good at being too kind to poor areas that aren’t going to yield if it’s not going to, but extra nitrogen is not going to fix the problem, so we turn the fertiliser spreader off those areas. I’ve probably just jumped over quite a few things very quickly there, but that’s been our real journey in the last 20 years. You know it’s reducing some of those synthetic inputs and putting it in the right areas and then really that soil health. On top of that too, there’s been IPM, which is Integrated Pest Management so looking at aphids are a big problem in our cereal programme. So, we were using a lot of heavy synthetic inputs. So instead, we use a lot of our beneficials to manage our aphid species instead of wiping everything out, use more targeted programmes to only target the aphid and get the beneficials to help us keep those aphid species down. So, if that’s been a bit of our journey and I guess what I would call the sustainability side. “

Andrew’s take on sustainability and what has aided on-farm gains

The use of measuring and monitoring may have had a focus on improving profitability initially, but Andrew recognises that a lot of what they have done with their approaches targeting profitability have also had good environmental outcomes. For Andrew, sustainability is driven by a key value of upholding the multi-generational viability of the farm, and in order to do that you need to be profitable.  

“I think that resiliency comes as part of our sustainability as well, that we can manage certain weather events and other things, that we can still be profitable because if we’re not profitable we won’t be here tomorrow or have another crack next year. Someone once told me ‘You gotta be in the black before you can go green’, which I think it’s quite important sometimes that we can get way laid and just look at big future of being 100% green or whatever you want to be, but you still got to return a profit on your farm and otherwise we won’t be here.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t call myself an eco-warrior or anything like that. But that’s just surprising the things you do the majority of the time has, you know, environmental aspect to it as well, I guess.”

This is such an important and interesting comment from Andrew regarding the impact of what you do every day, and a challenge to us all to stop and think about what impact what we do the majority of the time has in our own scenario. It can be very helpful to stop and reflect as to whether your day-to-day management approaches on farm are leading you closer to, or further away, from what you desire for things such as profitability and environmental outcomes. As well as thinking about these things, Andrew has also invested in assessing the state of his environment with measuring and monitoring of various components relating to nutrient management to increase his profitability, but he has also invested in collecting good data. This data collection allows Andrew to tell the story behind his farming operation, such as that yes, quite a bit of synthetic inputs are being added but he has the data to prove that it is being taken up by the plant and utilized.  Data and technology have not only provided a mechanism for increasing profitability, but have improved environmental outcomes on farm, as well as the ability to provide the ‘proof piece’ in the storytelling when it comes to the efficiency and impact of his farming operation. 

Targeting the low-hanging sustainability fruit 

One of, if not the greatest, resource that we have on farm is our soil and it is top of mind for Andrew.

“I think the soil and the soil quality, it’s a big thing when you talk about low-hanging fruit, but I think it’s a massive resource that’s under our feet that we seem to be learning more and more about every day, and how we’re using different inputs and things and more about the biologicals and other things that are happening below us. Yeah, I think that’s the big resource that’s below us and a lot of it is just unlocking it and managing it correctly, which can be hard with weather events and other things as well. Best practice one year might be a bit different the year after. So yeah, that’s why I bought myself a no-till drill now, so we’re moving away from cultivation, but I’ve still got the cultivation gear there when it’s minimal till as well. Because if I need to because of a wet harvest event, you know I need might need to go through and do a bit of cultivation to fix up some wheel marks and those sorts of things and rotational cultivation. Yeah, try and look after the soil the best we can. That’s what I would call a real low-hanging fruit for us, that soil health.”

“I think once again, I’m not a soil scientist, but I think that it’s the returning the residues into the ground and that’s really got the organic matter, the microbial activity, just break that down with its own composting. I think that’s been a real step forward first, and then you’re just more how just keep working that in, getting the plant life underneath and just digging… that you dig down, do get your shovel out and have a look at that worm activity, look at how the root structures going down, is it a hard pan? is it getting through? You know, just doing some real soil health visual assessment.”

The best farming advice Andrew’s received 

Farming advice is something Andrew says that can be received a lot and there can be a lot of noise, but advice that resonated with him has been ‘celebrate your small wins and gains’. 

“It can be overwhelming and some of the things we do, whether it’s regulatory or just the day-to-day of farming. And I think it’s important that when you’ve got a big workload and you achieve something, just sit back for couple of minutes and think ‘Oh, that’s another thing ticked off your list’, or you do have good yields or anything like that. I think just celebrating those wins, it just makes the day a bit smoother or the year or whatever it may be, or the challenge that’s ahead of you.”

Taking stock of those wins and gains is so important, and Andrew and Amy will go out for lunch or dinner to take stock and reflect on their achievements or when they’ve had a win. 

Andrew’s Sustainability Tip: Get out there and have a look

When it comes to giving advice on an actionable on-farm sustainability tip, of course it relates back to the soil. For Andrew, understanding this resource more has been a combination of getting out there and observing, taking measurements, good record keeping, and also engaging with different information such as FAR resources and different podcasts while he’s in the tractor. 

“I think it’s soil health. And gauge where you are today or if you haven’t done, look at it, get in there, dig some holes, get maybe some lab test done and those sorts of things. Do some visual assessment. Take photos and that I think that’s something I’ve been taking on board here for the last couple of years and probably we’ve been doing it in the past, but being a bit more focused and recording now because we’re always learning in that space and there’s different science that’s coming out all the time and you know different ways to look at things and it is overwhelming, but the more you get involved with it, the more you seem to pick up.”

Andrew’s Farming Business and the Sustainable Development Goals

When looking at how the SDGs are integrated through Andrew’s farming business from the full podcast conversation, there are five of key importance: 

Goal #8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

• Being a family farm going through succession, profitability is really important to Andrew and Amy. As Andrew said ‘you have to be in the black to go green’ so profitability will keep them sustainable into the future so that they’re here to carry on farming. 

Goal # 3: Good Health and Well-being

• This was reflected in the importance Andrew places on celebrating the small wins and gains, in order to increase resilience and provide motivation to keep going. 

Goal #15: Life on Land 

• This goal shone through with the importance that Andrew places on soil health. Every aspect of this conversation came back to the soil so it is obvious he is very passionate about Life on Land. 

Goal #9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

• Innovation through technology is a key mechanism that Andrew uses to guide land management decisions, whether it be auto sensors under the tractor, hectare grid sampling, precision fertiliser application, or farm nutrient mapping. 

Goal #12: Responsible Consumption and Production

• If you dig into the targets under this goal, it has one about environmentally sound management of chemicals, which through precision agriculture Andrew has managed to optimize his chemical usage, ensuring it is only applied when needed and where it’s suited. Additionally, he has identified that using beneficials to help with aphid management has a positive impact for not only reducing aphids but keeping more of the good insects around.