ECM’s Integrated Crop Management System is a method of farming that balances the
requirements of running a profitable business with environmental
responsibility. It includes practices that avoid waste, enhance energy
efficiency and minimise pollution.
By combining the best of modern technology with good farming practice, we
provide a whole-farm, long-term strategy. It is not a quick fix that can be applied to one crop, or one field or one
season. Although primarily concerned with crop production, livestock management is
equally important on mixed farms because livestock are consumers of crops and
providers of
organic nutrients.
The role of ECM’s agronomists
Our agronomists have vast experience of working in partnership with farmers to
assess, monitor and plan all of their activities in an integrated way that both
respects biodiversity and ensures profitability. Because our system involves the whole farm and is site-specific, there are no
hard and fast rules about how we achieve this. Individual farms differ in many ways: location, climate, soil type and cropping
pattern, to name a few. Even so, we have established general guidelines that can help all farmers and
growers take practical steps to improve their management practices. These cover everything from use of fertilisers and crop protection products to
the maintenance and enhancement of landscape features and wildlife habitats.
Whatever the farm, wherever it is located, planning, taking action and
monitoring outcomes are the vital processes in our system.
Why we need Integrated Crop Management
Providing an expanding population with enough to eat is a huge challenge. How we meet this challenge and at the same time respect biodiversity and take
into account climate change are matters of the utmost importance.
Our Integrated Crop Management System allows farming to be practised in a way
that safeguards the environment. At the same time it recognises that the quality, quantity and price of produce,
the profitability of the farm and the adoption of new technologies are all
essential if the overall stability of agriculture is to be preserved.
ECM’S INTEGRATED CROP MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AT A GLANCE
When advising farmers, our agronomists take into account virtually everything
that happens on a farm or holding.
> Crop rotation
> Soil and cultivation
> Crop nutrition
> Crop protection
> Wildlife and landscape
> Energy consumption
> Pollution and waste
> Organisation, auditing and assessing
The best way forward
For farmers our system can bring economic benefits as well as the marketing
advantages of produce grown in a way considered more acceptable by the
consumer. It represents the best way forward for farming, with society seeing
that farmers are caring for the environment at the same time as assuring a
continuing supply of affordable, high quality food.
