SOLUTION: Agriculture and Environment | My Assignment Tutor

School of Life and Medical Sciences Module Code: 7LMS0207Agriculture and EnvironmentIntroduction, explanation and guidance for Assignment 2:Identification and prioritisation of environmental impactson a farm.Module Coordinator: Dr Doug WarnerFor MSc/PgD/PgC students on the MSc in Environmental Management forAgriculture pathway, full-time and part-time by distance learning in theworkplace, as well as students sitting this module as a standalone module.March 20217LMS0207 Agriculture and Environment15 March 2021 2 University of HertfordshireDisclaimerThe information given in this Guide and the on-line learning materials are believed to be correct atthe time of going to press. The Faculty reserves the right, at its discretion, to make changes totimetables without prior notice and in particular:• To make changes to syllabuses and modules, including meeting technological or academicdevelopments; and• Not to offer options, specialisms or selective modules within a programme where there isinsufficient student demand.Any changes to the timetable or other important notices will be communicated to students via theModule News facility on the Environmental Management StudyNet pages for this module.CopyrightCopyright of the online learning materials is vested in the University of Hertfordshire. No part of themodule materials (hard copy or electronic versions) may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,or transmitted in any form, or by any other means, and the module materials may not be lent, resold,hired out or otherwise disposed of for commercial purposes without prior written permission of theUniversity Secretary and Registrar.©University of Hertfordshire Higher Education Corporation (2021)7LMS0207 Agriculture and Environment15 March 2021 3 University of Hertfordshire1.0 Assignment 2 reportFor assignment 2 you are required to undertake a farm environmental risk identification andmapping exercise which will be completed during the field trip. This will be in combinationwith a background desk study using a selection of online tools designed for farmers andconservation advisors. The objective is to identify key areas of environmental risk on thecase study farm near St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK.The assignment should be structured in report format to include:• Introduction (brief description of what was done and why)• Methods (including site description)• Results (data gathered from the desk study, your three maps and observations, summarytable(s))• Discussion (expanding the results to evaluate the broader environmental impacts andpriorities for mitigation including summary table)• Conclusions• References• Appendices (as necessary)Please refer to Departmental guidelines in your course handbook for guidance onreferencing.The word count excludes tables so you are advised to summarise data in tables and makereference to them in the text.The following section provides examples for guidance purposes only.7LMS0207 Agriculture and Environment15 March 2021 4 University of Hertfordshire1.1. Site descriptionSite details: Redbournbury Mill, HertfordshireGrid Reference: TL 12076 10729Postcode: AL3 6RSAn Ordnance Survey map of the site including the farm boundary and dominant soil typesare shown in Figure 1.Figure 1. Farm map, boundary of the assessment (yellow line) and divisions of soil type (blue dashedline). Ten fields are labelled A to J.This map is provided in Powerpoint format on Canvas. Use and annotate further as you think isapplicable.1.2. Desk studyA good source of information concerning legislation and designations applicable to a givensite is the JNCC MAGIC interactive mapping tool available athttps://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspxWhen you access any of the maps, zoom in on the area just to the north of St Albansbetween St Albans and Redbourn (Figure 2) or input the postcode into the search facility inthe top left hand corner. The icons (top centre) include a drawing tool to mark the siteboundary (select line and a colour), and a measurement tool to determine its area or thelength of features e.g. watercourses.7LMS0207 Agriculture and Environment15 March 2021 5 University of HertfordshireFigure 2. Screenshot from MAGIC (the Ctrl and PrtSc keys together will perform a screen capture).On the left hand side you will see a list information on environmental designations. Click onthe + symbol to reveal sub-menus for each. Limit your selections to relevant maps i.e.applicable to local inland water quality. You may need to zoom in and out in order to revealthe map data. To select a map image press Alt + Prt Scr simultaneously then paste the imageinto e.g. Powerpoint. It is suggested as a minimum you look at:Designations – statutory and non-statutoryHabitats – grassland and woodlandLandscape – geology and soilsWithin the above menu sub-headings extract maps for issues related to groundwatervulnerability and nitrates, surface water and nitrates, phosphates, sedimentationThe MAGIC tool also provides information on designations for conservation purposes. Suchdesignations have implications for where agricultural operations may be conducted and willneed to be included on a farm environment risk map. It includes details of the type ofhabitat present on the farm and location.You will be able to construct a profile of the farm site, showing which legislation of relevanceto farming is applicable to the site or the areas adjacent to the farm boundary. This isimportant since some activities may be prohibited within a specified distance of anenvironmental feature, the feature may not be a part of the farm but activities undertaken7LMS0207 Agriculture and Environment15 March 2021 6 University of Hertfordshireon the farm may exert an impact. An example scenario for spring wheat grown on the farmis provided in Table 1, identify the issues of relevance with reference to these farm activities(not all will be relevant, please focus on those that are).Table 1. Summary of inputs per ha to spring wheat. DateActivityProduct and active ingredientper haAugmoldboard plough (25 cm)Auglime (incorporated)ground limestone 750 kgAugP & K fertiliser base maintenance(incorporated)35 kg P2O5 as triplesuperphosphate45 kg K2O as muriate of potashSept – Octharrow (tine)grain drill160 kg seed ha-1Sept – Octinsecticide (spray)sprayFebruaryFarmyard manure, surface spread25 tonnes ha-1Aprherbicide (spray)Aprherbicide (spray)MayN fertiliser granulated (broadcast)40 kg N as ammonium nitrate33.5% NMayN fertiliser granulated (broadcast)40 kg N as ammonium nitrate33.5% NAugfungicide (spray)Augfungicide (spray)Augharvest:gross yield 5.5 tnet yield 5.0 t(residues removed from field) Cattle are grazed in the areas of permanent grassland at an equivalent 0.5 animal per habetween May and September, they are housed within the main farm building area for theremainder of the year. No supplementary nutrients or crop protection products are applied.Also consider the direction of flow of the river Ver and features or designations immediatelydownstream. You are advised to select one layer at a time from the menu on the left handside (i.e. uncheck each box after viewing before selection of a further layer).Further information on soil type is available from http://www.landis.org.uk/soilscapes/.It is suggested that the results are summarised in a table (e.g. title of designation, briefdescription, applicability to site i.e within site boundary / applicable to area downstream /within 1 km of site boundary) in combination with what you consider to be the key mapsfrom MAGIC included in the main body of the report. If the environmental feature does notapply you can still list it in the table and state not applicable.7LMS0207 Agriculture and Environment15 March 2021 7 University of HertfordshireTable 2. Example table for farm observations. DesignationDescriptionApplicable to siteNitrate Vulnerable ZoneLand draining into nitrate polluted waters,or water susceptible to nitrate pollution…Source Protection Zonesmerged (England)Provision of additional protection tosafeguard drinking water quality,constraints on activities that may impactupon a drinking water abstraction You may identify other potential risks that are not necessarily subject to legislation but thatmay be covered by for example, environmental best practice.Add further details that you feel are relevant e.g. local climate, background information onthe River Ver which passes through the site (suggestion – use Google to search e.g. ‘RiverVer, Hertfordshire’), details of relevance from the information board (included in thepresentation)…1.3. Field assessmentFor the farmland adjacent to Redbournbury Mill, St Albans you are required to identify keyareas of environmental risk and potential sources of agricultural pollution based on thelecture content during the shortcourse. Three maps are provided, you are advised to useeach one separately as outlined below:Map 1: Defra Nitrate Vulnerable Zones Guidelines (2013) manure spreading zone risk areasMap 2: Defra (2005) Environmental Stewardship farm soil erosion risk mapMap 3: other features of importance e.g. farm buildings and content, habitats, livestock,agricultural land use (please reference the assignment brief) with an accompanying tablesummarising the importance of each feature specific to the case study farm. The completedmaps should be included in the results section of the report.7LMS0207 Agriculture and Environment15 March 2021 8 University of HertfordshireMap 1: Defra Nitrate Vulnerable Zones Guidelines (2013) manure spreading zone risk areasOn Ordnance Survey map 1 mark a risk map for spreading manures following the method inthe Defra (2013) NVZ guidelines Annex 4 pages 96 – 101. An example with extracts fromDefra (2013) is given in Figure 3. Add your own map and key in the report and include anorth arrow. It is suggested you annotate the map provided in Powerpoint format onCanvas using e.g. the drawing tool to create boundaries for each section and selecting theappropriate colour for the highest risk category identified within that section.Figure 3. Example farm risk map for spreading manures in a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (from Defra,2013). Note this is for illustrative purposes only, you will need to create your own map.7LMS0207 Agriculture and Environment15 March 2021 9 University of HertfordshireMap 2: Defra (2005) Environmental Stewardship farm soil erosion risk mapOn Ordnance Survey map 2 mark the soil erosion risk (one category for each field A to J)following the method in Defra (2005) Producing a soil management plan pages 7, 10 – 17.An example map and reference to risk associated with soil texture is shown in Figure 4. Thedominant soil texture is included on your farm map and should be used in your assessment.Add your own map with key in the report.Figure 4. Example farm soil erosion risk map (from Defra, 2005). Note this is for illustrative purposesonly, you will need to create your own map.Appendix 3 on page 16 of Defra (2005) provides details of susceptible land use types. Note ifany of these were observed during the visit and mark on the map. Also note areas at risk toflooding.To calculate slope percentage divide elevation change (each contour line on the OrdnanceSurvey map represents a 5 m change in altitude) by the distance between them and multiplyby 100. The guidance specifies degrees, guideline distances per 5 m elevation change (see7LMS0207 Agriculture and Environment15 March 2021 10 University of Hertfordshirealso the farm map) are: very steep (>12o) 7o)