A COLLEGE farm has enjoyed record yields – and saved £30,000 – after switching from inorganic fertiliser to targeted farmyard manure and slurry from its livestock.

Bishop Burton College, near Beverley, achieved yields of 3.5 tonnes per acre with spring and winter barley, and up to 4.3 tonnes an acre of wheat.

Improved soil structure and fertility were said to be responsible for the yields despite the difficulties of establishment last autumn after two very wet summers.

Farm manager Dominic Naylor said: “Slurry was applied at either 12 or 24 metres using a dribble bar system.

“This has led to a 40 per cent reduction in nitrogen usage and has brought an end to the use of inorganic potash and phosphate – a saving of some £30,000.”