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How To Start Drilling For £8K

Clive Bailye’s seed drill of choice is his 6m John Deere 750A , which has been used exclusively for 3-4 seasons. Last year, with an increased acreage, the founder and publisher of this Direct Driller magazine thought a second seed drill was necessary. Having just the one machine was a risk and in a difficult season would mean drilling was delayed. He looked around and found a good condition Horsch CO6 tine drill advertised in Germany.

Words and pictures by Mike Donovan

After delivery he rebuilt the coulters to a narrow profile so as to reduce soil disturbance. He says the tine drill is very useful driling after straw crops such as osr and also through the straw on second crop cereals.

Buying the drill from a German farmer was not particularly complicated, and provided him with a higher spec machine than Horsh sell in the UK. The seed dart tyres are much wider, and the machine is fitted with blockage monitors as well as full width front packers and also a liquid fert application system.

A sheaf of photos were taken, and Clive then asked for some of specific parts to show wear. The deal was done at under £5,000 which Clive says is the market value of these machines which are too large for small farmers to buy. Original owners like to buy new and sell when the machine is still in good condition.

Narrow tines with wear tiles

@Clive knew he wanted to make changes, substituting the Horsch tines and coulters for something far narrower, and has ended up getting his own design of tine made, which has a wear tile made from Ferobide, far harder than tungsten. The drill is on the farm primarily for osr and 2nd crop cereals drilled into chopped straw and the 25cm spacing is okay for these crops.

Comments on Clive’s on-line forum, TFF, said the drill many not be so good with beans, as the slot is a mere 12mm wide. And in barley the spacing may well be too wide as it needs to be thick. Clive points out that the seed pipe can actually be a bit wider than 12mm as it is in the shadow of the point. It would be good to have the option of using it for beans.

Above left: The cheap CO6 is being calibrated ready for its first outing

Above right: The adapted Horsch is being filled by the home built drill logistics trailer with seed and liquid starter fert.

Getting around the German instructions

The Horsch came, of course, with a control box and instructions in German. More on-line discussion revealed that English instructions were available on the Horsch website, and another explained that Horsch was sourcing some of these parts from Agton in Canada anyway. Zealman from New Zealand explained that the button marked with callipers should be held down for around 5 seconds. The menu is where you adjust the tramline sequence, valve layout and row numbers.

Ball hitch is a continental standard and provides a positive connection between tractor and drill

The Stocks Wizard has a rotor modified for Avadex which otherwise leaks everywhere

A Stocks Wizard is on the back of the drill and used for Avadex. Here again the knowledge of actual farmers is helpful. Alistair Nelson warned that the rotor and the surrounding shroud need to be changed, and he got good advice “from Rick at Stocks”. Clive has the same setup on the 750A and says that the Avadex leaks everywhere unless the modification is made. The drill was acquired and modified in 2016 and the results have been excellent.

The machine went through the residue without many problems and having the second drill has meant more timely planting. Clive has shown that moving into No-Till is not the expensive exercise so many farmers think it might be. The total cost, after modifications which included replacing all tines and coulters, was under £8,000.

Author Mike Donovan writes: we have featured a number of home made direct drills in @Practical Farm Ideas, and are always interested in seeing more. Please contact mike editor@farmideas.co.uk or 07778877514.
Ecoacoustics – a new underground horizon for soil health

Following on from a farm trial undertaken by Andy Cato’s Wildfarmed farms, (as mentioned in our Farmer Profile issue Nov’ 24) we’re drilling down (pardon the pun) into the technology behind a new technique for measuring soil health – ecoacoustics.

Ecoacoustics is an emerging science which investigates natural and anthropogenic sounds and their relationship with the environment. Ecoacoustics has been used as an ecology tool for decades in the marine environment and now more recently for recording bats and birds and other above-ground wildlife. As the technology has developed and become cheaper, Baker Consultants, along with a small group of like-minded researchers and soundscape artists around the world, saw the potential to apply this method to the soil.

Winning a DEFRA Farm Improvement programme grant in 2022 with University of Warwick Crop Centre, Baker Consultants embarked on a research project to determine whether this technology could be used commercially to assess earthworm populations, instead of just using more traditional methods, such as digging worm pits. The study has discovered that the diversity of soil invertebrates can be measured using ecoacoustics, and is also usefully paired with existing methodologies for assessing above-ground biodiversity using soundscape recordings.

The premise being ‘A healthy soil is a noisy soil’ was born, and large-scale farm trials were undertaken to gather data from the full range of geologies and soil types, on arable, pastural farms, vineyards and agro-forestry, as well as those under regenerative management practices.

As well as a sample of Wildfarmed farms, organisations including Rothemsted, The National Trust, Yeo Valley & Ruinart Vineyards have been part of the trial and have contributed to amassing a large database of thousands of soil-sound files. This has been used to develop a brand-new Soil Acoustic Quality Index (SAQI) score system, against which each new recording can be compared. This score will be able to show farmers how the acoustic diversity of your soils compares to the rest of the UK and allow you to target the areas most in need of help, or track changes in the soil, following different interventions. The soil database & acoustic analysis is AI-driven and the service will be supported by automated reporting, with each sample generating a dedicated SAQI scorecard.

This month, in time for World Soil Day, a hand-held device has been launched for farmers and agronomists to start recording their own soils and creating baseline scores for their fields. Regenerative farmers are often the first to adopt new technologies and the importance of baseline data is recognised as a key step to changing farming practices effectively. Knowing the effect of certain inputs and being able to take recordings before and after treatments will cut down the ‘guesswork’ element.

Rob Bray, People & Sustainability at Wildfarmed, said “At Wildfarmed we see the difference when farmers transition to regenerative farming, with more birds, bugs and bees in their fields through the introduction of pollinating flowers amongst our arable crops. Wildfarmed grows food in a nature-friendly way that’s better for you and the planet. We can’t know what ‘nature friendly’ means unless we can measure it. It’s been fascinating to work with Baker Consultants to understand better what is happening below ground and start to quantify the benefits of our approach.

The SAQI reporting will be run through a subscription service and the Soil Acoustic Meter scorecard system has been designed to align with the same approach taken in the current AHDB Soil Health Scorecard system. Collaborations with other standard data collection portals are also in the pipeline, so that this data can be viewed alongside other soil metrics, such as organic carbon. The new Sustainable Farm Incentive also includes a soil management plan payment, and it is hoped that soil acoustics will soon be able to support the monitoring methods that can be used for demonstrating compliance with this SFI scheme.

Soil Acoustics Ltd has launched a Kickstarter campaign this month (which is a type of crowdfunding) to fund the production of this new hardware and enable it to get it to market in Summer 2025. To sign up as an early-adopter and get unlimited data uploads for the first 12-months, go to their Kickstarter link here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/soilacoustics/sam-the-ecoacoustic-device-for-listening-to-your-soil

A multi-buy deal is also available for agronomists and farm advisers with multiple sites to manage.

Gavin Ward, Director at Soil Acoustics Ltd says “We are excited to see this technology enable land managers to track how their topsoil invertebrates respond to both environmental events and their own farming interventions. By monitoring how these communities respond, these rapid and cost-effective insights will hopefully help famers to optimise the timing of their activities, so that the resilience, productivity and overall health of their soil is improved.”

For more information on soil acoustics email ecoacoustics@bakerconsultants.co.uk or visit: www.soilacoustics.com
Farmer Focus – John Cherry

Well, 2024 was a bit rubbish on the farm. We didn’t get all our planned cash crops planted, either autumn 2023 or spring 2024 and some of our summer cover crops (grown instead of profitless break crops) were disappointing, to say the least. The spring linseed was a bit patchy too, but the weather ensured that we’d never get round to harvesting it…eventually, come a relatively dry spell in November, we just cut some wheat into the standing linseed. I thought the seed in the pods was going mouldy and won’t be worth the hassle of cutting and cleaning. As it turned out, quite a bit has germinated but most has fed the big flocks of finches etc that are cleaning the place up. I’m also pleased, though it may sound surprising, to see large flocks of pigeons grazing away on the linseed cotyledons. Having given up trying to grow oilseed rape, I’ve become much calmer about seeing pigeons. They are doing a great job pruning back the small-leaved clover that is meant to be an understory for some of our Wildfarmed wheat. We got the cattle to graze it down hard before we drilled the wheat with the Weaving GD (we tried the Horsch CO but it dragged too much of the living mulch up), but the clover came back fast with the mild autumn. The wheat has all emerged nicely and is much happier now the clover is getting the pigeon haircut.

It might be that I’m getting old, but I found that trying to manage 1000 hectares regeneratively was getting too much. Getting old also means getting serious about succession planning, so Paul and I are attempting to split the farm in half so our children can do their own things on their own patch without having to consult cousins. It turns out that it’s not that straightforward of course and the budget has stirred things up further so I can see that the professional fees column in the accounts is going to be bulging.

I know that there are several people on here who can manage far more acres successfully and all that I can say is that they are cleverer than me. We are going ahead and farming our own halves anyway and it will help us ascertain what works best on our land. Paul stirred things up for the neighbours by parking a plough in his yard. He had a couple of fields that he reckoned needed a reset so the plough went in. I must say, after 14 years of no-till, it turned over lovely and the wheat went in beautifully and is zooming away with all that mineralised N.

We got all our drilling done on our half (no-till), despite it being slightly later than intended and everything has come up nicely. The ground is in good nick on the whole, despite a wet year with not enough cover. I’m confident that we’ve learnt valuable lessons about getting on with increasingly unpredictable weather. Herbal leys are a joy, especially now there’s government money in them and the beef price climbs skyward, I’m tempted to increase cattle numbers and plant more.

We’ve just pregnancy tested the cows and, it turns out, next year won’t be a number boosting year. I thought I’d tighten up the calving by taking the bulls out a couple of weeks early (I know this is Direct Driller magazine so I shouldn’t be talking about animals, but seriously, it isn’t that hard to run some cattle and it makes life much more interesting). As a result we will lose a few more cows than I planned and half the new heifers we added didn’t take, so the herd will stay much the same size.

There are some real old friends amongst the culls, our oldest cow at 15 has thrown in the towel. We’ve had 13 calves off her and now she’s off to cow heaven, with 7 others, 12, 13 and 14 year olds and a couple of younger ones. The pastures are still quite soggy, so we’ve brought them onto the outdoor corral where they’ll now stay until it dries up a bit. The culls are going in the morning, so I went out and had a quiet word with them to thank them for their hard work. They took the news kindly but I still feel dreadful!

Joanna has been on a Listening to the Land course and is backing me up on this business of talking to the animals. Although apparently I should go further and talk to the fields and find out what they are thinking. This makes perfect sense to me, but I think I need a bit of practice. Anyway, we’re planning a one day course on 1st July, just before Groundswell in case any of you out there wants to tune into the subtle energies dancing under your feet.

It should set you up for the best Groundswell yet (get it in your diaries: 2nd/3rd July 2025), which we’re working on inbetween all this farming and other stuff.

Applications to run a session are pouring in (there’s a form on the Groundswell website if you want to apply) and they are nearly all brilliant so choosing which to put on is again going to be very tricky. We are also working out how Groundschool (the new educational wing of the broader Groundswell project) is going to happen, we are about to apply for planning permission for phase one with classrooms and teaching kitchens etc. Never a dull moment…
Potato cyst nematodes (PCN): The hidden enemy of potato crops
PCN damage to potatoes

Potato cyst nematodes (PCN) are a major threat to the UK potato industry, often invisible and hidden away from plain view. These microscopic pests live in the soil and attack potato plants, leading to lower crop yields and reduced tuber quality. The danger of PCN lies in their ability to remain in the soil for eight years or more as cysts—dead females containing eggs (Fig 1a), making infestations difficult to detect and eradicate. The main period of plant damage is caused when second stage juvenile (J2) nematodes (Fig 1b) emerge from cysts and infest plant roots. In England and Wales, approximately 65% of the land used for growing ware potatoes is infested with PCN.

Figure 1: a) Potato cyst nematodes typically found in the soil and contains hundreds of eggs. b) Potato cyst nematode juvenile that infect potato roots and initiates damage

PCN belongto the Globodera genus. There are two PCN species, white PCN (Globodera pallida) and yellow PCN (G. rostochiensis), with the former being the most common. They begin their life cycle as eggs in the cysts (Fig 2), hatching into juvenile nematodes when the conditions are right—usually when potato plants are growing nearby. These juveniles invade the plant’s roots and feed on them, disrupting the plant’s ability to absorb water and nutrients. This weakens the plant, resulting in stunted growth, wilting, and yellowing leaves, which can easily be mistaken for other issues such as nutrient deficiencies or diseases. The juveniles feed, develop into adults and mate. The adult females turn into cysts that can hold hundreds of eggs. These cysts allow the nematodes to survive for years in the soil, waiting for the next potato crop.

Figure 2: Life cycle of PCN in relation to its potato host.

The economic impact of PCN

The presence of PCN in a field can have disastrous consequences. Yield losses can reach up to 80% in heavily infested areas, causing up to £31M in damage annually. Farmers not only face reduced harvests but also suffer financially from the lower quality of the potatoes that survive. Potatoes from infested fields are often smaller, deformed, or blemished, making them less appealing to buyers and lowering their market value. Additionally, nematode feeding can create entry points for soil pathogens, further compromising tuber quality. Managing PCN infestations is expensive, requiring costly measures like crop rotation—planting non-host crops such as cereals—and the use of nematicides and soil fumigation, which adds to the financial burden.

The spread of PCN is facilitated by their ability to transfer easily between fields. Infested soil can be moved via farming equipment, machinery, and even boots. Seed potatoes are another common source of PCN spread, introducing the pest to new fields if infected. This makes strict phytosanitary measures essential. Farmers are encouraged to regularly test their fields for PCN and adopt strict hygiene protocols, including thoroughly cleaning machinery and equipment and using certified seed potatoes free of PCN. With quality land becoming scarce, proactive management is crucial to protect the remaining PCN-free fields.

PCN management options

With only one granular nematicide (fosthiazate) remaining approved for use, potato growers face a critical juncture in sustainable PCN management. Responsible nematicide use is important. This means adherence to best practices and safety protocols and calibration of application machinery.

Controlling volunteer (groundkeeper) potatoes is essential for managing PCN. Volunteer potatoes left in fields can harbour PCN and allow the pest to persist across growing seasons. Effective control involves removing all tubers post-harvest, monitoring fields regularly, and eliminating any regrowth through manual removal or herbicide application. This reduces the risk of PCN buildup and spread.

Using certified seed potatoes produced on PCN-free land is another critical practice. Certified seeds are rigorously inspected to ensure they are PCN-free, minimising the risk of introducing nematodes into uninfested fields. Growers should source seed from reputable suppliers, verify soil testing documentation, and comply with certification standards to protect their crops and sustain yields.

Planting resistant or tolerant potato varieties is another key strategy for managing PCN populations. Varieties like Buster, Lanorma, and Cinderella have demonstrated better performance under PCN pressure, providing acceptable yields even in infected fields. Trials conducted by The Potato Partnership have identified varieties like Lady Luce and Bruar, exhibiting dual resistance to PCN, as potential long-term solutions.

Biofumigation and trap cropping methods are gaining traction in PCN management. Biofumigant brassicas, such as Indian mustard, can significantly reduce PCN populations through the production of volatile isothiocyanates. Trap crops like prickly nightshade (Solanum sisymbriifolium) can stimulate PCN hatch without allowing them to complete their lifecycle, potentially reducing populations by up to 85%.

By combining these methods into an integrated pest management (IPM) strategy, growers can take a multifaceted approach to sustainably manage PCN and stay ahead of infestations.

PCN soil testing as the first defence

Effective management of PCN begins with accurate soil sampling to assess infestation levels. PCN testing also helps assess the effectiveness of management measures employed, ensuring strategies are working as intended and guiding adjustments for better management. Proper sampling techniques are crucial for reliable detection and quantification of PCN populations.

Soil sampling guidelines:
- Timing: Take soil samples between September and March, before planting, to determine PCN risk and inform management decisions.
- Sampling pattern: Use a systematic approach, such as a ‘W’ or grid pattern, to collect samples across the entire field. This ensures that the samples represent the field’s variability.
- Sample depth: Collect soil from the top 20 cm, as this is where PCN are most likely to be found.
- Sample size: Combine a minimum of 50 cores to form a composite sample of at least 1 kg. This increases the likelihood of detecting PCN if present.
- Equipment hygiene: Clean sampling tools between fields to prevent cross-contamination.
Following these guidelines enhances the accuracy of PCN detection, enabling more effective management strategies. For detailed instructions, refer to the PCN Sampling and Laboratory Guide.

ADAS offers comprehensive Pest Evaluation Services to assist potato growers in managing PCN effectively. Our services include soil examination for PCN, determining the number of PCN cysts per soil sample, counting eggs per gram of soil, viability testing using staining techniques, and identifying the proportion of different PCN species present. For more detailed information and PCN advice, growers can email pes@adas.co.uk or call 01944 738646 to submit their enquires and they can visit PCN testing services to order sampling kits for £29 + VAT per sample.
Long-term fall in phosphate use raises concerns

The development of soil-release agents and protected forms of phosphate means growers can meet crop needs without having to apply large quantities of TSP, SSP or rock phosphate.

Disincentivised by higher prices for phosphate (P) fertiliser Britain’s growers have gradually reduced application rates to the extent that many soils now contain worryingly low levels of this essential macronutrient.

Data from the British Survey of Fertiliser Practice (BSFP) revels how, at the national level, phosphate use has fallen by 68% since 1983 and by 62% for potash (K) (see figure).

Overall application rates (kg/ha) for phosphate and potash on crops and grassland in Great Britain between 1984 and 2023.
Source: BSFP; July 2024.

This data supports a wide variation in soil analysis. Of the roughly 30,000 samples collected nationally by Agrii and RHIZA in 2022, more than a fifth (21%) fell below index 2 for phosphate while more than a quarter (26%) were below index 2 for potassium. Crops grown on these soils would require large applications of both nutrients.

Conversely, 16.1% of phosphate samples analysed were an index 4 or higher while 24% of potassium samples were at index 3 or higher. In both cases, growers could continue to take save on the seasonal application, a so-called ‘P & K holiday’.

Avoid the ‘hunger gap’

For Ben Wainwright, Agrii fertiliser product manager, the downward trend in phosphate use is concerning. Growers are only likely to see a visible deficiency if it is severe. There may be a shortfall, only seen in harvested yield, which goes unaddressed.

“For it to be visibly apparent, such as in the form of purple stems or leaves, the deficiency has to be severe,” Mr Wainwright says.

“In these situations, an application high in P₂O₅ such as Triple Super Phosphate is the best course of action, although it is best applied preventatively, rather than as a cure. The optimal approach would be to apply a product with a protective coating such as Agrii Protected Phosphate (APP). This is a coating on TSP or DAP granules that reduces lock-up in the soil by calcium (Ca), aluminium (Al), iron (Fe) and magnesium (Mg) and increases the quantity of phosphate that is biologically available to the crop. Trials indicate that application rates can be cut by up to 20% depending on the soil index,” he adds.

Ben Wainwright

Release P reserves

For those growers with good soil reserves, typically Index 2 or better, an application of Agrii-Start Release as a spray to the soil surface at either the pre- or post-emergence timing up to growth stage 30, will increase the quantity of soil available phosphate 60-days after application.

“Agrii-Start Release is a unique soil phosphorous activator for all soils with less than 30% organic matter. It can be used on high or low pH soils, and it also increases the availability of other nutrients including zinc, manganese, boron and copper.”

Widely trialled across most crops and soil types, Agrii-Start Release has consistently given a positive response (see table 1).

“The yield gains in winter wheat and spring barley have been impressive. Across a range of soil indices, its application has consistently delivered a positive return on investment,” Mr Wainwright says.

Table 1: Yield response from a single application of Agrii-Start Release

Crop Soil pH Soil P index Yield response (t/ha) Margin over input cost (£/ha)
WW 6.9 4.1 +0.7 +102
WW 7.9 1.1 +0.6 +84
WW 7.8 2 +0.5 +63
Spr. Bly 6.1 5.8 +0.45 +40

Reference: Agrii. Assumes winter wheat at £180/t and spring barley at £150/t.

To make efficient use of all sources of crop nutrition first requires an understanding of what is already available in the soil if unnecessary applications are to be avoided. The introduction of the CSAM1 nutrient management action as part of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) has helped to increase the area of soils analysed annually.

“TheCSAM1 action offers a payment of £6/ha to encourage growers to test soils. This is roughly equivalent to a broad-spectrum soil test so can cover the expense while delivering the benefit of a wider analysis beyond the requirements of CASM1,” Mr Wainwright says.

“Good data is the basis of an informed decision. Knowing your exact growing conditions aids your ability to tailor applications and optimise production,” he adds.
The importance of the winter decomposer cycle
Written by Mike Harrington, Managing Director of AIVA Fertiliser

Following on from the beginning of November, and it is reassuring to see that nature’s autumn cycle is beginning. The time where digestion, recycling and humification occurs in active soil systems. We do not require an expensive test to see this. Our eyes tell us that this is an important time of the year with the arrival of the spider’s webs (fantastic predators) worms become active as the organic food source increases and plant growth reduces. 25 earthworms per cube foot is 1 million worms or 30 tonnes earth casts/acre/year and the best castings I have measured to date over an eight-week autumn period is 41 tonnes per hectare. Earthworms create a reduction in bulk density of soil, they increase in cation exchange, increase in structural stability, and increase nutrient availability (can be as high as 5 times more nitrogen, 7 times more phosphorous, 11 times more potassium, 2 times more magnesium). Recently, scientific studies show earthworms can reduce Fusarium protein by 98.8% in five weeks, while DON content was reduced by 99.7% All in all, where could we achieve anything like this with an applied product?

Charles Darwin, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, and Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, a soil scientist and leading advocate of biodynamic agriculture in the early to mid 1900’s, both talk of worms as humus builders and I believe they must be right because all studies show substantial increases in CEC (increased soil holding power). So, whatever nutrients are cycled can be held within the soil until required and because growth is slowing down, lignum and organic matter from the previous season dropped as debris or roots increases. It is the fungal period for digestion without the masses from the biological city interfering, the food source is all theirs. All in all, it is in balance to the spring’s mineralization period (release and utilization). The pictures show nature taking its place in the food web doing what has been done for millennia and without human interference. For those within the ‘regenerative’ or ‘organic’ paradigm this is easily seen because organic matter building becomes the main driver not nitrogen and is a hugely important time in the year for the soil system to function to best effect. Within the more intensive system this must be funded and so if you are on land with depleted organic matter, having crops grown with the increased application of nitrogen and the management of disease with fungicides (chemicals toxic to all fungi) we develop a system wholly reliant on products. The pictures portray very nicely what nature can do, the manure image, for example, depicts a fungal infection. Autumn conditions are currently perfect for this process of digestion and cycling.

Given the opportunity nature will always move into a food source, here we have spiders beginning to colonise a muck heap looking to capture prey. The soil is no different, Merlin Sheldrake, a current biologist and mycologist, talks of over half a billion tonnes of fungal spores being released into the atmosphere on an annual basis. Each breath we take could have 1-10 fungal spores so the potential for fungi to recolonize according to the correct environment is incredibly strong. The issue is our intensive farming systems cause soil environments that are not conducive for colonization and that leads to compromised and unstable systems reliant on inputs. The decomposer slide below is from a Biodynamic calendar charting the year and its biological cycles. We can see clearly the balance between winter being the decomposer building cycle (Humification) and the spring/summer energy release cycle (mineralization), they need to be in balance to function correctly. In many farming systems we do not have the winter system at all, there is not enough carbon/lignum or stability to drive this building cycle and therefore the whole soil food web is compromised.

For those moving into a ‘regenerative’ style system it is important to remember that the foundation of the soil is about renewal and preservation. Adequate air and water are important, but it is the consistent carbon food source that is essential. For compromised systems, having a cover building crop once in three to five years is not consistent enough to build that resilience, it is boom and bust for the soil microbial community. Regular carbon capture or applications of carbon is essential to build a system that is stable, resilient and diverse and this takes time and effort.

Methods to increase microbial populations
- Photosynthesis and Root Exudates
- Increasing Plant Diversity –Rotation, Catch Crops & Cover Crops, Companions
- Organic Manures and Composting
- Liquid Carbon Sources
- Minimising Soil Disturbance but AIR is key
- Keeping Soils Covered – Residues AND Plant Growth
- Reducing Pesticide and In-organic Fertiliser Inputs
- Microbial Inoculants
The solution is not one of the above but all over the above until the system and the cycle of natural fertility begin to recover.
New seed germination model devised

New research from Rothamsted

Novel tool will give breeders more predictive accuracy for seed development and growth.

Scientists at Rothamsted have developed a novel mathematical model for seed germination. The new tool is derived from field data and marks a significant improvement in accuracy over previous models.

Germination models use water and temperature as the main drivers of seed activity. Currently these are based largely on water potential, which is the energy that drives water to move from one system to another. This is challenging to measure accurately in the field. The new model uses water content which is much easier to measure.

These models are essential to the seed industry as it is important to develop lines where each individual seed germinates at roughly the same time and grows uniformly. This is particularly important for crops like carrots or onions where having similar sized plants makes them more profitable.

Seed suppliers must therefore test seed samples to ensure a certain germination rate is met, a process that is difficult and time consuming. So modelling is used to assess each batch based on a given sample.

However, current models do not always accurately reflect field conditions

That is where the new model comes in. Water content is much easier to measure accurately in situ than the drivers of water potential. That makes the new model far more likely to accurately predict germination times in field situations.

“This is the first time a germination model has been able to be developed using field data,” said Dr Xiaoxian Zhang, corresponding author of the new study. “Seed germination is a crucial stage in plant development, intricately regulated by various environmental stimuli. Understanding these interactions is essential for optimizing planting and seedling management but remains challenging due to the trade-off effects of environmental factors on the germinating process.”

The research team created a new model by viewing seed germination as a dynamic process. To validate the model, they conducted field experiments by drilling wheat seeds at different dates to establish a temperature gradient and in different plots to create a soil water content gradient.

Comparisons between the experimental data over a period of seven years and calculated results show that the model accurately reproduces all germination patterns and the subsequent seedling tillering with a 95% fit.

“In germination there a trade-off effect of soil water on bioavailable water and oxygen. Introducing a physiological dimension enables seed germination and the subsequent tillering process to be modelled as a continuous physiological process, providing deeper insight into plant growth dynamics,” said Zhang. “We believe this new approach offers a genuinely new approach to germination modelling and for the first time takes on tiller number. We also hope that it will be more stable than the hydrothermal time models and hence more useful for field application,” he added.

Measured (symbols) and simulated (solid lines) percentage of germinated seeds drilled at different dates in plots under different soil water contents (expressed as % of the field capacity) as shown in the legends.

Read the paper: A new conceptual model for seed germination and seedling tillering of winter wheat in the field

Abstract

Seed germination is a crucial stage in plant development, intricately regulated by various environmental stimuli. Understanding these interactions is essential for optimizing planting and seedling management but remains challenging due to the trade-off effects of environmental factors on the germination process. We proposed a new conceptual model by viewing seed germination as a dynamic process in a physiological dimension, with the influence of environmental factors and seed heterogeneity characterized by a germination speed and a dispersion coefficient. To validate the model, we conducted field experiments by drilling wheat seeds at different dates to establish a temperature gradient and in different plots to create a soil water content gradient. Comparisons with our experimental data and literature results show the model accurately reproduces all germination patterns and the subsequent seedling tillering, with R² > 0.95. Our results reveal that within suboptimal temperature range, the seed germination increases asymptotically with temperature, and that as soil water content increases, the germination speed increases initially before decreasing, illustrating the trade-off effect of soil water on bioavailability of water and oxygen. Introducing a physiological dimension enables seed germination and the subsequent tillering process to be modelled as a continuous physiological process, providing deeper insight into plant growth dynamics.

1. Introduction

Seed germination is critical not only to plant survival but also to post-germination plant development such as fitness, timing of flowering and dynamics of the plant community. Difference between seeds in their response to environmental stimuli is an evolutionary strategy to improve plant survival in natural systems. In managed ecosystems, however, it is desirable for seeds to germinate simultaneously, and germination uniformity is thus a seed quality trait.

Seed germination is a complex physiological process modulated by environmental cues including light, oxygen (O₂), temperature and the amount of water available for seeds to imbibe. The onset is water uptake of the quiescent dry seed and the end is the emergence of the embryonic axis out of the seed coat. Several key stages, including solute leakage during imbibition, initiation of metabolic activity for protein synthesis and emergence of the radicles, are distinguishable in germination, many of which can be visualized non-invasively through imaging technologies. Seed germination has received less attention compared to other topics in plant science, but the advances in molecular technologies over the past few decades have substantially improved our understanding of the genes and interlocked hormone networks that regulate seed germination. The response of gene expression to environmental cues in seed germination has been well documented, and network modelling of the transcriptional interactions involved in seed germination has also been constructed to link specific genes and pathways to seed germination and dormancy. Quantitative modelling of seed germination is largely based on the hydrothermal time concept assuming that temperature and water are the main environmental stimuli of seed germination. A key feature of the hydrothermal time models is that when temperature and water potential exceed their respective base values (below which seeds remain metabolically inactive), the seed needs to accumulate a sufficient hydrothermal time for its radicle to break the seed coat. Seed heterogeneity is described by viewing the base temperature and/or water potential as random variables. The hydrothermal time model was initially developed for seed germination between the base and the optimal temperatures, and has since been generalized to cover a wide range of temperatures as experiments revealed that average germination does not increase linearly with temperature after temperature exceeds a threshold. The improved hydrothermal time models include the halo-time model to account for salinity and the oxygen-time model to represent O₂ stress.

(a) Comparison of the simulated seedling emergence patterns using the proposed model (the solid black lines) and the hydrothermal time model (the red dashed lines) with those measured from the loamy soil under different water potential (the symbols). (b) The average germination speed not only decreases nonlinearly as soil water potential increases but also varies with soil texture.

Seeds need to absorb sufficient water and thermal energy to germinate. Physically, the linear dependence of hydrothermal time on temperature and water potential, as assumed in the hydrothermal time models, means that the rates at which water and heat flow from soil into the seed are proportional to a water potential gradient and a temperature gradient respectively. While this is true for seed germination in polyethylene glycol on Petri dishes, where the seed–water contact area is constant and the only resistance to seed imbibition is the ability of seed coat to adsorb water, its application to the field could be problematic. Seed imbibition of water from the soil occurs through the seed–water interface, and the imbibing rate depends not only on water potential difference between seed and the water–seed interface, but also on the ability of soil to transport distant water toward the seed and the water–seed interfacial areas to imbibe water, both varying nonlinearly with water potential. Apart from this, temperature fluctuates in the field and the atmospheric O₂ needs to overcome various resistances before becoming bioavailable to seeds. Hydrothermal models use an oxygen time to describe O₂ sensitivity, but bioavailable O₂ in the field is not an independent environmental cue; it is controlled by soil water and pore-scale soil structure, thereby varying with soil texture and soil water content.

This paper aims to propose a new conceptual model to simulate seed germination in the field. We view the metabolic reactions associated with seed germination as a dynamic process in a physiological dimension. The fluctuations in environmental stimuli and seed heterogeneity result in uncertainties in the metabolic reactions, in that physiological advancement that a seed makes at different times and physiological stages varies. We show that such variations can be modelled by a partial differential equation, with the mean of the variations represented by an average germination speed and the variance by a dispersion coefficient. To test the model, we conducted field experiments to measure the germination and seedling development of winter wheat seeds drilled at different dates (to generate a temperature gradient) in plots with different soil water contents (to generate a soil moisture gradient). The novelty of introducing a physiological dimension is that it allows seed germination and subsequent seedling development to be modelled as a continuous physiological process.

The challenge for hydrothermal time models, which require water potential, is that, due to technological limitations, measuring soil water potential higher than 200 kPa in the field using the best available methods is difficult. This value is much lower than the optimal soil water potential for wheat seeds. Additionally, in situ measurement of dissolved O₂ is also challenging. This is why most hydrothermal time models were derived from Petri-dish experiments and have limited applications in the field. This paper aims to bridge this gap.

You can read the full paper here: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.240723
Worcestershire-based family business wins industry award

Chadbury-based agricultural machinery manufacturer, Weaving Machinery, has been awarded Gold in the British and Irish Manufacturer of the Year category in the LAMMA Innovation Awards 2025.

Family business, Weaving Machinery, has launched several new products and innovations over the past five years, with widespread recognition.

The Sabre drill debuted in 2020 and quickly became one of the best-selling drills in the UK being suitable for conventional, minimum tillage and direct drilling systems.

Meanwhile, the mounted GD disc drill has attracted international attention, gaining traction across Europe, particularly in Germany for those running min-til and direct drilling operations.

Adding to their success, the business was also awarded Silver in the Arable Establishment of the Year award category within the same awards with the cast roller used within its Subdisc.

Made up of three pieces the 700mm British cast iron V ring packer roller works to achieve a firm and level seed bed before drilling takes place.

LAMMA Innovation Award judges stated the standard across the board this year was extremely high, and congratulated Weaving for their achievements which will be formally presented at LAMMA with a trophy and certificate.

Simon Weaving, director at Weaving Machinery, said: “We are very grateful for the LAMMA Innovation Awards for recognising the product developments we have achieved at Weaving in recent years.

“We are always looking ways to improve the results our customers can achieve, particularly for those making use of min-til or no-til systems which our products really lend themselves to.”
BASE Conference 2025
Written by Chris Fellows

It’s always great to be back at the BASE Conference, where over 100 soil-focused farmers, agronomists, and researchers gathered to discuss the latest advancements in regenerative farming. The event provided an excellent opportunity to hear from leading experts, exchange ideas, and, of course, enjoy the lively conversations in the bar! Below is a summary of the key talks from the two-day event.

Day 1

Living Mulch

Speaker: Frederic Larson – Danish Agronomist with Agroganic and Farmer

Frederic Larson opened the conference with an in-depth look at living mulch systems, specifically using lucerne (alfalfa) to create a sustainable and resilient farming system. His 250-hectare farm in Denmark has been fully no-till for over a decade, starting as an effort to prevent soil erosion but evolving into an integrated system focused on maximizing plant growth and soil health.

He began with the fundamentals of intercropping, emphasizing how plants always compete for resources, but with careful selection of species, farmers can minimize direct competition while increasing overall resource use efficiency. He demonstrated that competition isn’t just about above-ground biomass but extends to root systems, which can have a greater impact when water and nutrients are limited.

The living mulch system allows for a winter cereal-dominated rotation without the need for summer cover crops. The key benefits include deeper nutrient capture, nitrogen fixation, and enhanced photosynthesis from year-round green cover. When managed correctly, lucerne can fix up to 400kg of nitrogen per hectare. However, balancing biomass is critical—too much mulch can lead to yield reductions.

Frederic detailed his four-year rotation strategy, highlighting the importance of mowing after harvest to encourage regrowth. Within two weeks, fields are covered in a dense green mat, quickly shifting from light to dark green. Mowing also contributes to silage production, yielding up to 8T/ha, with an agreement in place with a local dairy farmer to return slurry to the fields in March, effectively recycling nutrients.

He also explored the impact of glyphosate on lucerne, noting that it is relatively tolerant, allowing for low-dose applications to clean up the field after harvest. Additionally, increasing the seed rate of winter wheat by 25% helps counteract the reduced tillering caused by lucerne. Chemical mowing using ALS herbicides can replace mechanical mowing, but careful timing is essential to prevent the living mulch from overtaking the cereal crop.

The financial breakdown showed a significant economic advantage, with nitrogen savings, dairy feed revenue, and reduced cover crop costs outweighing the expenses of mulch establishment, mowing, and seed drilling. However, Frederic cautioned that this system introduces complexity, requiring careful management and adaptation.

Key takeaways:
- Living mulch can generate up to 400kg of nitrogen per hectare.
- Mowing triggers rapid regrowth, enhancing ground cover within weeks.
- The system presents challenges in balancing biomass and yield, requiring careful nitrogen and mowing management.
- Financially, the system resulted in a net gain of 910 euros per hectare through nitrogen savings, dairy feed production, and reduced cover crop costs.
- Long-term implications include weed suppression, improved soil structure, and potential for multiple lucerne cuts annually.
Conservation Agriculture Systems Research Experiment

Speaker: Dr. Joe Collins, Harper Adams University

Dr. Joe Collins presented a long-term research trial comparing conventional and no-till farming systems. Conducted on a 10-hectare site with 24-meter tramlines, the experiment aims to provide real-world economic data for farmers transitioning to no-till. Unlike many small-scale academic studies, this trial uses local contractors and standard farming equipment to reflect commercial realities.

Early findings suggest that while there are already observable differences in soil structure, input use, and crop yields, the most significant divergence is expected after three years. Interestingly, while no-till reduces fertilizer, fuel, and pesticide use, the differences are not as drastic as some proponents claim. The real value of this study lies in tracking the transition process over time, offering practical insights into long-term soil health and economic viability.

Key insights:
- Notable divergence in yields and input reductions emerges after three years.
- Early data shows fuel, fertiliser, and pesticide reductions, though initial yield differences are minor.
- Long-term insights will help farmers make informed transition decisions.
Commercial Regenerative Vegetable Production – Oxymoron or Reality?

Speaker: John Sansome, Farmer from Worcestershire

John Sansome tackled the challenge of applying regenerative principles to vegetable farming. Given the intensive nature of vegetable production, some argue that true regenerative farming is impossible in this sector. However, John demonstrated how integrating diverse crop rotations, cover crops, and livestock can significantly reduce inputs while maintaining profitability.

Through strip tillage, cover cropping, and sheep grazing, John has successfully reduced soil disturbance and improved soil biology. His conclusion? Regenerative vegetable farming is not an oxymoron—it’s a challenging but achievable goal. Success requires adapting principles to specific crops and business conditions rather than following a rigid framework.

Key Points:
- Strip tillage, cover cropping, and sheep integration as key strategies.
- Business-driven decision-making is essential for sustainability.
- While challenges remain, regenerative vegetable production is a viable and evolving reality.
Building Soil Health to Build Farm Resilience

Speaker: Stuart Johnson, Farmer from Northumberland

Stuart Johnson was refreshingly candid about his motivation for adopting regenerative agriculture—it started purely as a financial decision. Over time, however, he has witnessed profound improvements in soil health, resilience, and overall farm profitability.

By integrating agroforestry, diverse livestock species, and compost teas, Stuart has built a more self-sustaining system. He emphasized that while mixed farming allows for more comprehensive regenerative practices, arable farmers can still adopt many principles to improve soil health and profitability.

Key points:
- Mixed farming systems offer greater flexibility in regenerative practices.
- He has integrated agroforestry, compost teas, and diverse livestock.
- Regen practices have built long-term farm resilience.
Using SFI to Stay Afloat While Underwater

Speaker: Rob Buckley, Farmer from Yorkshire

Rob Buckley shared his journey from aerospace engineering back to his family farm during COVID-19. His talk focused on the challenges and opportunities within the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme.

His farm has suffered from severe flooding, but he highlighted how SFI measures such as overwinter bird seed mixes have unexpectedly helped control ryegrass weeds. He cautioned that while SFI payments are helpful, once enrolled, flexibility is limited, making it difficult to pivot when conditions change.
- Highlighted bureaucratic rigidity in SFI schemes.
- Showcased the positive impact of AHL2 bird mixes on ryegrass suppression.
- Used humour to reflect on the adaptation challenges faced by many farmers. Which is a good point – I think you need a good sense of humour to be a regen farmer – as you do have your failures along the way.
Day 2

Regenerating Soil with Soil Biology – Back to Basics

Speaker: Dr. Kris Nichols, Food Water Wellness Foundation

Dr. Kris Nichols delivered a captivating talk on soil biology, emphasizing the role of mycorrhizal fungi in nutrient cycling and plant health. She challenged misconceptions, including the claim that soil formation takes thousands of years, arguing that with proper management, soil can regenerate much faster.

Takeaways included the importance of maintaining continuous plant cover, promoting carbon sequestration, and fostering beneficial microbial interactions. She stressed that no-till “stops the bleeding,” but true soil regeneration requires active biological management.

Key points included:
- Carbon is the foundation of soil health, and regenerative soils store more carbon.
- No-till prevents further loss but must be combined with biological inputs.
- Farmers should embrace biodiversity to enhance soil function.
Nature-Based Food Solutions

Speaker: Professor Wendy Russell, University of Aberdeen

Professor Russell explored how crop selection can enhance both human health and agricultural sustainability. She discussed research on barley-based bread, showing its potential health benefits. She also examined alternative protein crops such as fava beans, lupins, buckwheat, and peas.

Hemp emerged as a promising crop, offering a sustainable alternative to imported soy. Trials showed that feeding hemp meal to chickens improved egg nutritional quality, raising vitamin and omega-3 content. Despite these benefits, supply chain inertia remains a barrier to widespread adoption.

Key points:
- Barley bread trials showed potential health benefits.
- Hemp production presents a low-carbon alternative to imported soy.
- Feeding trials on chickens demonstrated significant nutritional improvements in eggs when using hemp-based feed.
The Impact of Regenerative Farming on Soil Organic Carbon

Speaker: Charlotte Cook, Indigro Agronomist

Charlotte Cook presented compelling data from Indigro’s farm network, demonstrating that regenerative systems can maintain high yields while reducing inputs. She highlighted how strategic use of SFI schemes can improve break crop margins. Her message was clear: regenerative agriculture isn’t just about sustainability—it’s also good business.

Charlotte presented survey data from Indigro farmers showing that regen farms can maintain high yields while reducing inputs.
- Farms with over six years of regenerative practices showed improved resilience.
- Leveraging SFI schemes can enhance financial returns.
- Regen agronomy is economically viable when applied strategically.
Some great results on the sequestration of regen farms and their ability to still hit high yields. This data allows Indigro to show their customers that you can move to a regen system on the basis of its economics. “It’s just good farming”. But it was noted that these regen farms are doing a lot of regen activities and have been doing it for over 6 years. So have already built in resilience to their soils.

Reaching Across the Aisle

Speaker: Tom Martin, Farmer and Storyteller

Tom Martin gave an engaging talk on farmer communication. He emphasized that farmers are among the most credible sources of information about food production. By sharing their stories, they can build consumer trust and demand for regenerative products.

Tom emphasized the importance of farmer-led communication in educating consumers.
- Farmers are among the most trusted sources of agricultural information.
- Encouraged farmers to share their regen journey with the public.
- Demonstrated how storytelling enhances consumer engagement.
- You are a credible voice and that you should get involved in sharing your voice to your consumers.
This talk also showed that practice makes perfect. Tom was easily the best speaker over the two days. He natural and compelling way of speaking was clearly from the amount of it he has done before and probably a natural talent to begin with. But I know from my own experience the more you do, the better you get.

Report from Sustainable Food Conference

Speakers: Ana Reynolds & Seb Richardson
Ana and Seb summarized key takeaways from Sustainable Food 2025:
- Retailers struggle with Scope 3 emissions and regenerative transition goals.
- Supermarkets lack clear strategies and await government mandates.
- Farmers’ groups like BASE UK could play a role in shaping UK policy.
It seems that the processors and supermarkets are waiting for the government to push changes to them. They can reformulate if they want to, but only seem to change when they have to. Again they could change labelling if they wanted to. The big questions is where is the money for systems change going to come from? Retailers don’t want it to come from them.

Wrap-Up

Speaker: Edwin Taylor, Chairman, BASE UK
Edwin closed the conference with a simple yet powerful message:

“It’s all about better farming.”

Not just from a profit basis, but also for future generations to inherit the farm in a better condition as well as producing better food for the public as well.

Regenerative agriculture is about profitability, sustainability, and improving farms for future generations. The conference reinforced that success in regen farming comes from continuous learning, adaptation, and farmer-to-farmer collaboration.

Final Thoughts

The BASE UK Conference 2025 provided insightful discussions on soil health, regenerative practices, and policy challenges. Each speaker brought unique perspectives, reinforcing that regen farming is an evolving journey rather than a fixed destination.

As always, it wasn’t just the talks that made the event—it was the conversations, connections, and, of course, did I mention the time spent in the bar!
How an arable farming system in Kent is balancing nature and financial viability

Written by Nature Friendly Farming Network

Under the stewardship of award-winning farmers James and Emma Loder-Symonds, Nonington Farms exemplifies how farming can embrace nature-friendly practices while maintaining profitability and producing high-quality crops. Their multi-generational farm serves as a vibrant showcase, welcoming everyone from school groups to farm clusters.

In 2013, James and Emma Loder-Symonds made the decision to transition their conventional, multi-generational family farm in Kent to a fully nature-friendly operation. While the farm had traditionally focused on maximising food production to navigate the challenges of volatile global markets, James and Emma were determined to pursue a more sustainable path. Their vision prioritised nature, enhanced the environment, and strengthened the local economy.

The result was Nonington Farms, nestled in the rural countryside between Canterbury and Dover. Initially spanning 160 hectares, James and Emma expanded their operation by establishing a contract farming business, adding an additional 1,000 hectares. This predominantly arable enterprise involved working on a diverse range of soils, from brick-earth to chalk.

About three years into their journey, James and Emma made the decision to enroll Nonington Farms in the Higher Tier of the Countryside Stewardship (CS) scheme. By around 2017, they began implementing fundamental changes to their farming system. Previously, the business had been driven by the pursuit of high yields, but the significant inputs required often led to sharp fluctuations in costs, exacerbated by volatile market prices.

“When we were fully reliant on high-input farming, we had no guaranteed income and were completely at the mercy of the global market,” James explains. “Some areas of the farm were a constant struggle, requiring significant inputs just to break even.”

The first major change was eliminating artificial phosphorus and potash, which immediately saved around £70 per hectare. Next, the farm’s nitrogen inputs came under scrutiny. At the time, their Group 1 milling wheat received about 300 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare, but with yields plateauing, a detailed analysis of nitrogen use and soil health revealed opportunities for a more precise and efficient approach. By adopting variable rate technology, nitrogen application was reduced from 25-30 kilos per tonne of wheat to a much leaner 14-17 kilos.

This shift not only curbed input costs but also stabilised profitability, as James notes: “With prices fluctuating wildly, this strategy has made our business far more consistent.”

When we were fully reliant on high-input farming, we had no guaranteed income and were completely at the mercy of the global market. Some areas of the farm were a constant struggle, requiring significant inputs just to break even.

James Loder-Symonds

The CS scheme, which provides payments to farmers for implementing a range of nature-friendly practices, has been instrumental in gaining the support of landowners contracting James and Emma to farm their land. According to James, what resonates most with people about the nature-friendly approach is how it enhances the financial resilience of farm businesses. “They were receiving a guaranteed income through the CS scheme for taking relatively unproductive land out of arable rotations,” James explains. “It was a win for them and a win for nature.”

At Nonington Farms, one-fifth of the land is now dedicated to stewardship. This decision was guided by a detailed analysis of yield maps, which highlighted areas where production simply wasn’t justifying the input costs. By removing these less productive sections, the farm has also optimised the use of machinery.

The crop selection at Nonington Farms has also evolved to align with the nature-friendly approach. While wheat remains the primary crop, some varieties with low disease resistance – and thus a higher fungicide requirement – have been removed from the rotation. The farm now cultivates a diverse range of crops, including spring barley, spring oats, oilseed rape, and winter beans, alongside the establishment of herbal leys.

Between 30% and 40% of the grain commands a premium price by being marketed under sustainable schemes. The farm balances contracts with major players like national bakeries and smaller initiatives, such as growing heritage wheat – a venture they hope to expand in the future.

Nonington Farms employs a long crop rotation cycle of six to seven years, interspersed with cover crops between cash crops. Where soil health is poor or fertility needs improvement, James uses annual cover crops or establishes herbal leys to allow the land to rest and regenerate.

Cover cropping at Nonington Farms began with catch crops planted between wheat and winter beans. Maintaining living roots in the soil year-round improved its health, enhanced water filtration, and contributed to overall sustainability. A key benefit of this practice is the guaranteed payment available under the CS and Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) schemes for both herbal leys and cover cropping, providing crucial financial stability in an often unpredictable agricultural market. Additionally, the farm receives support from Southern Water through a nitrogen minimisation and reduction scheme.

Livestock owned by new entrants grazing on two of James and Emma’s farms play an integral role in this system. They feed on overwintered cover crops and herbal leys, naturally fertilising the soil without relying on artificial inputs. While monocropping persists in some areas of Nonington, the expansion of herbal leys is being encouraged to increase biodiversity, introducing a wider variety of plants, grasses, and wildflowers.

James highlights the tangible benefits of this approach, noting that the combination of livestock grazing and cover cropping has boosted yields on their winter wheat, further demonstrating the value of this nature-friendly strategy.

James and Emma are also enhancing the landscape at Nonington, planting around a kilometre of hedges and adding approximately 400 trees each year. These hedges, along with beetle banks, play a vital role in their integrated pest management (IPM) strategy, which relies on beneficial insects to control pests and diseases instead of using synthetic pesticides or chemicals. As a result, Nonington has not applied insecticide for four years, a significant achievement in their commitment to sustainability.

The diversity of production on the farm has also increased. Award-winning young nature-friendly farmer Jack Scott began his journey at Nonington, where he grows vegetables for local restaurants and markets. This move toward diversified, sustainable farming practices reflects the broader shift toward nature-friendly agriculture on the farm.

And it’s not just new entrants to farming that James and Emma are eager to engage with at Nonington. Co-sharing the farm with other small-scale food producers is one of the ways they aim to bring the local community closer to the farm’s work. Educating the public about the importance of nature-friendly farming and where their food comes from is central to their mission. Emma, a qualified teacher, oversees the educational side of the business. Each year, more than 1,500 visitors come to Nonington for educational tours, a part of their work supported under the CS scheme.

“There’s a real disconnect between food production, the environment, and the consumer,” Emma says. “Our visits cover everything from stewardship options like cover cropping and wildflowers to discussing the importance of buying locally produced, nutritious food. Being based in east Kent, we often welcome schools with children from deprived backgrounds, giving them a rare opportunity to experience open space. We also have a flour mill on site, so we take them there to make bread and show them how real, unprocessed food is made.”

James believes that if farming has an image problem, it is largely one of its own making, and he and Emma are determined to help repair the damage and bridge the divide. “If we’re honest, the general perception of farmers is that they don’t want people on their land,” James reflects. “The public has picked up on this, so it’s now up to us to break down that barrier. We hold open evenings on most of the areas we farm at least once a year, and we also organise farm welcomes, inviting the local community to visit us.”

He acknowledges there are challenges, such as when people stray off footpaths and damage crops, but emphasises the importance of communication. “We need to explain our farming system and what we’re doing,” James says. “We make it clear why we prefer people to keep their dogs on leads near nature habitats and pregnant livestock. We also explain that when the sprayer is out, it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re applying pesticides. It’s about having good signage that helps people understand what we’re doing.”

There’s a real disconnect between food production, the environment and the consumer. Our location in east Kent means we get schools with children from deprived backgrounds visiting, and it gives them a rare opportunity to enjoy open space.

Emma Loder-Symonds

Biodiversity at Nonington is flourishing, with James and Emma particularly proud of the habitats they’ve created for turtle doves – once common on agricultural land but whose numbers have sharply declined due to decades of intensive farming practices. Ground-nesting birds like skylarks are abundant, while one of the farms hosts small blue butterflies, and the entire farm is home to grey partridges. The diverse habitat of hedges, grass margins, and wildflowers is also a haven for yellowhammers. Experts regularly visit Nonington Farms to monitor and ring bird populations and to survey wildflowers, bees, and butterflies.

For James, seeing nature thrive on the farm is a key part of their vision. “Having records of the wildlife we’re supporting gives us a real boost, showing that our system is benefiting nature,” he says. “At some point, we hope to receive greater financial recognition for these efforts too.”

James also credits the work of Natural England for driving the biodiversity protection efforts at Nonington and other farms in the area. “They have been instrumental in developing our wildlife areas. By working one-on-one with farmers and encouraging them to join stewardship schemes, they are helping to transform the landscape around us through cluster groups,” James explains. “It’s about creating continuity from one farm to another. Even a 12-metre strip can become a nature corridor. The key is adopting a collective approach rather than focusing solely on individual farm efforts.”

James highlights that the East Kent Cluster Group, which Nonington Farms is part of, has been running for 25 years, and the positive impact across the landscape is becoming increasingly evident.

Ultimately, all this work stems from James and Emma’s vision of sustainable farming, encapsulated by the image of a three-legged stool. The three pillars of Nonington Farms are Grow, Learn, and Protect. ‘Grow’ refers to the economic and business sustainability of keeping the farm profitable, ‘Learn’ represents the educational and social sustainability efforts, and ‘Protect’ focuses on the environmental approach to farming in harmony with nature.

James and Emma’s efforts have been recognised, with them receiving the Environmental Champion Award from leading trade publication Farmers Weekly in 2023. “We were really thrilled to receive that recognition for the value we’re adding through what we’re doing,” James says. “For us, awards are a way of demonstrating that the system we’ve adopted really works.”

James and Emma have ambitious plans for the future. They have used two carbon toolkits to analyse their farms, and both have concluded that the farm is carbon-negative, sparking James’ growing interest in pursuing certification and credits for carbon sequestration. Their work with new entrants to farming and the local community has laid the foundation for what they hope will eventually become a more extensive local food network in Kent. Their efforts also aim to futureproof the farm, ensuring it remains a viable and vibrant place for generations to come, continuing the family tradition of involvement in agriculture.

“For us, the future is about adding more value, both in terms of the price of sustainable products and nutritionally rich food,” James explains. “We need a premium for what we’re doing, which enhances the environment while producing food. This approach has to be profitable. If we’re not economically viable, we won’t be here in a year or three years’ time. If our children want to take it on, we want to hand them something we can be proud of.”
Enhancing Carbon Sequestration Through Regenerative Agriculture

By Indigro Ltd

Regenerative agriculture is proving to be a game changer in enhancing soil carbon sequestration and farm sustainability. Over four years, Indigro Ltd conducted a comprehensive survey of their clients, gathering invaluable data on how different practices influence soil organic carbon (SOC). The study, led by agronomist Charlotte Cook, provides a compelling case for integrating regenerative methods into modern farming.

To ensure accurate comparisons of crop carbon footprints and measure the impact of in-field changes without introducing too many variables, Indigro analysed the 637 separate carbon footprints, utilising the Cool Farm Tool. As members of the Cool Farm Alliance (CFA), this approach allowed Indigro to benchmark emissions, sequestration, and productivity across different farming systems with confidence. The tool provided critical insights into how regenerative practices influence emissions and sequestration, reinforcing their benefits for both economic and environmental sustainability.

The survey results demonstrated that the best regenerative farms consistently achieved the highest yields, the lowest emissions, and the best sequestration levels over all four years. This combination makes them the most profitable, as they produce better yields with lower input costs. Notably, the highest-emitting farms yielded an average of 9.2T for winter wheat, whereas the lowest-emission farms achieved a higher average yield of 9.7T across the four years, reinforcing the economic and environmental advantages of regenerative farming. Additionally, these farms are more sustainable, as they actively build soil carbon, improving long-term soil health and resilience. The study demonstrated that regenerative practices can be implemented without negatively impacting yield, proving that sustainability and productivity can go hand in hand.

Several regenerative techniques have emerged as particularly effective in improving sequestration. Cover crops and catch crops not only reduce erosion but also enhance microbial activity, leading to healthier soils. Spring barley under sown with herbal leys has been found to improve soil structure while reducing dependency on synthetic inputs. Permanent white clover understoreys offer a natural solution for nitrogen fixation and ground cover. Moreover, sustainable farming incentives (SFI) present a valuable opportunity for farmers to align financial benefits with environmental gains.

Clay content further determines a soil’s ability to retain carbon, highlighting the importance of tailored soil management strategies. A key factor in assessing a soil’s sequestration potential is the clay-to-carbon ratio. Clay particles protect organic carbon from microbial breakdown, allowing for greater long-term storage. Research suggests that a SOC-to-clay ratio of 1:8 corresponds to very good soil structure, while a ratio of 1:10 is the threshold between good and medium structural quality. Understanding this relationship enables farmers to benchmark their soil health and set realistic management goals for carbon sequestration.

The road ahead for carbon sequestration in farming lies in refining measurement techniques and enhancing confidence in carbon trading markets. With better tools and methodologies, farmers can be empowered to make informed decisions that not only improve soil health but also contribute to climate change mitigation.

At Indigro Ltd, we are committed to supporting farmers on this journey, integrating cutting-edge research with practical solutions to drive meaningful change in agriculture. Whether you’re looking for expert and independent agronomic advice or innovative strategies to enhance your farm’s sustainability and profitability, we’re here to support you.

Please visit www.indigro.co.uk for more information or connect with us on LinkedIn (@Indigro-Independent-Agronomy) and X (@Indigro1) to stay up to date with the latest insights and industry updates.
Issue 29 Contents
Found In:

Inside this issue:
Step or Incremental Change: A Strategic Decision

When many people think about technology in farming, they envisage the big step changes such as the complete move from manual picking
to robotic picking. Or big tractors to little robots. And these changes have happened before in farming. But more often, technological change has been incremental, giving a small benefit over previous actions.

Understanding the difference between step change and incremental change is a lot like knowing when to use a big tractor versus when to take a more careful, hands-on approach. A step change is like bringing out the big tractor, making a big impact, and able to transform things fast. On the other hand, incremental change is like walking the fields and tending to the crops by hand—slow, steady, and deliberate, leading to gradual but steady progress over time. Both have their place on the farm, depending on what’s needed to get the best results.

But let’s face it we all love big tractors!

You as farmers are confronted with a choice, a strategic crossroads that can significantly influence the direction and ultimate profitability of your farms: should you embrace a radical rethinking, known as a step change, or choose the measured journey of progressive evolution, the path of incremental change?

When you think of technology on your farm, are you thinking big or incremental. A step change often requires a comprehensive rethinking of farming processes and commitment to whole new machinery. Even getting the timing right of such a big change is a massive decision. But this sort of decision has the power to change a business overnight, ignite new feeling and renew business growth. With these big rewards, step change carries inherent risks as well.

How will staff react to the change, how stable and reliable is the new technology? Lots of things to consider. In contrast, incremental change is a journey of progressive evolution, promoting the process of continuous improvement. This approach excels in stable environments where change is slow and where predictability is critical.

For farms constrained by limited resources, incremental change offers a path to controlled growth. It also acts as a safety net, offering a cautious progression when the risks associated with drastic changes loom large. Crucially, incremental change allows a farm to evolve while preserving its core values and staff culture. That said, changing slowly may be too slow if others around you are moving faster.

The agricultural landscape does change around you and farmers need to make sure they aren’t left behind. A balance is required and knowing when you can take small steps and when bigger ones are needed is complicated. And so, the choice between a dramatic decision —step change, and a graceful slide—incremental change, isn’t a binary decision. You are going to need to make a some big changes and lots of little steps. Many of these will be dictated by the latest technology available and we discuss many of these in this magazine. From choosing a different wheat to grow next year, though to adding a vertical farming container to your farm.

There are now so many ways a farm can change what it grows, with some of these changes being a radical shift based on the history of what you have grown. But you have the land, the power and the resources (like this magazine) to choose what decisions suit you (and your family). Farms have lots more options than many businesses as they have space.

That should be seen as a good thing, even if it complicates your decision-making process. Have a read of the rest of this magazine and see what makes you think of taking some big steps on your farm and what will help you make those smaller incremental changes. While remembering, the ideal strategy harmonises the radical transformation of step change with the steady progression of incremental change. Get this right and your farming will thrive and you will also learn a lot along the way.
Can Tech save Carbon from a crisis?

Tom Allen-Stevens travels forward to 2030 and looks for the farmers who would emerge strengthened if the bubble burst on the carbon market.

Here in 2030, it’s very easy to claim the benefit of hindsight. But it’s fair to say few could have foreseen the depth of the scars that would lash the farming landscape when the carbon bubble f inally burst. In the UK, this wasn’t helped by the disastrous and now notorious family farm tax the incoming Labour government introduced in its first budget, back in 2024. As land rapidly changed hands, its value as a carbon sink was overplayed by unscrupulous traders, keen to sucker in a new generation of hapless landowners.

The deregulation brought in by the Trump administration in the US fuelled worldwide growth in carbon markets that many economists warned was dangerously unstable. Following market collapse, the question many in the food industry are now asking is whether the measures brought in by the new Lib/Lab coalition will stem the current meteoric growth in food prices. It’s probably too late for family farming businesses to come back into land ownership and make a credible difference to food security, following its dive to a reported 40%.

The NFU has also dismissed the proposed food security capital fund the government is intending to pour billions into – this won’t be incentive enough for new landowners to rebuild the farming infrastructure lost over the past five years, they say. But the carbon market has now stabilised in the US, thanks largely to measures the new president brought in shortly after she took office. So could confidence in carbon tempt landowners to make the investment needed for farmers to grow the nation’s food on so much of the UK’s land that’s just been left to deteriorate? There is a glimmer of hope.

One sector of the carbon market that remains rock-solid is where it’s built on the new Regenerative Carbon Standard. This came about because scientists worked directly with farmers to develop on farm new technologies in measuring and understanding the soil microbiome. And that’s where the benefit of hindsight comes in. If you have retained your 2024 copies of Tech Farmer, you can leaf through the pages of those early editions and remind yourself of the tech you saw first, and that’s now underpinning the standards of more sustainable farming systems. It was why we featured Rachel and Jacob Holmes back in November 2024.

At a time when there was precious little scientific measurement of practices claimed to build soil health, they were determined to bring this into play across A more scientific understanding of the soil microbiome could be the key to a rock-solid carbon market. their farm on the Isle of Wight (see Issue #31 p41). Photosynthetic promoters are another example (see p6). Working with scientists, farmers trialling those early, pre-commercial products developed an understanding of their crops’ biosynthesic pathways. It’s this knowledge that now forms the backbone of cropping solutions for carbon capture that can be reliably measured and consistently improved.

Then there’s the World AgriTech Innovation Summit (p26), the biennial event that takes place in San Francisco and London, now recognised as the stimulus for pioneering farmers on both sides of the Atlantic to take on new tech. Few growers in 2030 would trust anything other than RNA diagnostics for a truly accurate and measurable picture of crop health. This was first presented at WATIS San Francisco in 2024. Perhaps the most promising tech for sustainable and reliable soil carbon capture is now coming from precisionbred crops, however. Cast your mind back to November 2024 and the launch of #PROBITYPledge, the campaign that encouraged farmers to find out about this new technology and help shape how it should be introduced on farm (p39).

These are among the technologies we now consider as fundamental to delivering a robust and sustainable agriculture. But five years ago, in 2024, they were seen as fairly remote, with the opportunities they held unclear. They would never have made it into the field had it not been for pioneering farmers who diligently undertook the trials to acquire the knowledge the entire industry now relies on. So what were you testing in your fields back in 2024, and what will you glean from the pages that follow in this issue that could stave off a catastrophic crisis in five years’ time? Happy hunting.

Tom Allen-Stevens farms 170ha in Oxfordshire and leads the British On-Farm Innovation Network (BOFIN).
Harnessing the power of the sun

Farming in a greener way generally involves increasing efficiencies in pursuit of the goal for crops to produce more from less. Tech Farmer explores some novel technologies that use energy from the sun to enhance crop production.

Written by Lucy de la Pasture

About 93 million miles away the sun powers all of life on Earth, providing solar energy for plants to capture and turn to chemical energy through the process of photosynthesis. And it’s this solar energy that’s being harnessed to develop products that can help crops be more efficient in a surprising number of ways.

Photosynthesis is naturally an inefficient process, with plants only able to use about 1% of the solar energy available to them. That’s because plants evolved to harness the sun’s energy for the sole purpose of supporting growth sufficient to produce seeds, thus ensuring continued survival of the species. But humans ask much more of plants as they push the boundaries of food production, farming at scale, and despite the tremendous advances in crop production, a biological limit to yield remains because of a plant’s natural ability – or inability – to process light.

But what if the photosynthetic process could be more efficient, remove more carbon from the atmosphere and increase crop yields without using more fertiliser? This is exactly what ex-Bristol University researchers Dr David Benito and Dr Imke Sittel set out to achieve and they’ve been so successful in their quest that they founded Glaia in 2019 to commercialise a photosynthetic promoter.

The company is licensed to use the technology in biostimulant products to help increase crop yields in a sustainable way. The first product of this kind, Fragaria, has just been launched in the UK and Netherlands for use in strawberries, with availability in Spain and the US soon to follow.

“If we could increase the efficiency of photosynthesis to 2%, we could double the yield of crops. But we’re not there yet,” explains David.

Drawing inspiration from the carbon-based nanomaterials found in nature, the photosynthetic promoter uses a nanocarbon material derived from sugar. These sugar dots open up the photosynthetic process inside plant cells so they can take in more solar energy and convert it into more biomass. Essentially, it fine tunes nature’s engine, giving plants the potential to increase efficiency at a molecular level.

So how does this happen? David explains that plants capture energy from sunlight in the leaf, causing electrons in the chlorophyll to become ‘excited’. “It’s this energy stored in the chlorophyll that’s used to split water and generate oxygen. Additionally, electrons are transported down the photosynthetic chain and incorporated into high energy molecules that are then used with CO₂ and nutrients to form carbohydrates.

“But the biological processes involved in transporting those electrons can’t cope with all the available energy, so the plant uses mechanisms to protect itself against light. What it does in very simplified terms is to stop photosynthesis when the light is very intense,” he explains.

A feedback loop switches the process back on when light intensity falls and it’s this ‘on/off’ switch that contributes to the inefficiency of photosynthesis, adds David.

“Our photosynthetic promoter allows plants to process more of that energy because it facilitates electron transport, enabling plants to capture more solar energy and transform it into chemical energy. And because less damaging, unused energy is left in the leaf, the plant doesn’t have to switch off photosynthesis for so long and there’s an overall improvement in photosynthetic efficiency.”

Although the technology hasn’t yet improved photosynthetic efficiency enough to double the yield of crops, trials are producing a very respectable 20% yield increase with no additional nitrogen inputs, effectively producing more food without increasing CO₂ emissions, he says.

“We saw an opportunity for this technology to change the way we produce food in the sense that it can help reduce the climate impact of agriculture. Its mode of action improves the photosynthetic efficiency of plants by allowing them to utilise more sunlight, capture CO₂ and increase yields sustainably because no extra nitrogen is required.

“By applying the Glaia technology, there’s an increase in yield and that’s because it improves nutrient use efficiency as well. It translates to an overall reduction in CO₂ emissions per tonne of produce by at least 15%,” he claims.

The company aims to bring its biostimulant technology to all crops, with the biggest impact on CO₂ emissions possible in arable crops, highlights David. Trials in winter wheat are underway and earlier work has already shown average yield increases of 18%, underlining its potential in broadacre crops.

“Because there’s a more limited opportunity to apply a photosynthetic promoter in wheat than in strawberries, we’re developing an application protocol that won’t involve an extra pass for growers,” he adds.

Another biostimulant technology with solar radiation at its heart is being developed by Hertfordshire-based SugaROx. The company was spun out of Rothamsted Research and Oxford University in 2021, bringing together the knowledge gained by researchers to improve sucrose allocation in crops, thereby increasing yield.

T6P marries up with innate plant chemistry, causing T6P levels to spike and supercharging the grain fill process, explains Dr Cara Griffiths.

The technology is patented and licensed and will be the only authentic trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P) synthase technology available to growers, born out of the decade of research undertaken to develop it, explains Dr Cara Griffiths, co-founder and chief technology officer of SugaROx.

T6P is a signalling molecule and an intermediary of the trehalose biosynthesis pathway, in which endogenous levels are synthesised to match sucrose content. “You can think of T6P as a sucrose fuel gauge and it’s a mechanism that’s present in all plants to regulate sucrose use and allocation.”

It does this by interacting with an enzyme called SnRK1, explains Cara. “It’s a major sucrose utilisation enzyme, and it has two kinds of modes – feast and famine. This is where T6P comes in; it can switch the plant from famine into feast mode by telling the plant that there’s lots of sugar around so that it can transport it to where it’s needed and store more sucrose in its tissues.”

The discovery of the role of the signalling molecule highlighted the potential for manipulating the T6P mechanism for crop improvement purposes.

“Our aim was to find a way of increasing T6P and carbon allocation in a non-genetically modified way. To achieve this, we had to create a novel version of T6P,” she comments.

The products SugaROx is developing are a modified version of T6P, with a chemical group added to the molecule. “Essentially, it’s a caged T6P compound which acts as a T6P delivery system,” explains Cara.

This was needed as in unmodified form, T6P can’t be taken up by plants when applied as a foliar spray, she adds. “T6P itself is very polar, so once sprayed onto a leaf it will just sit on the leaf surface rather be taken up by the plant. The chemical addition that we’ve added changes the charge of the molecule, helping the uptake of T6P within the plant.”

And this is where solar energy has an important role. “Sunlight is needed to cleave this group off the modified T6P, which was added to aid its transport. The T6P is then released into the plant where it’s biologically active.”

The SugaROx technology is particularly suited for crops with a sink-based yield, such as wheat where Cara describes it as “a magnet for sugars and nutrients”. By applying during grain development, the applied T6P marries up with innate plant chemistry, causing T6P levels to spike and supercharging the grain fill process.

Dr Imke Sittel and Dr David Benito are commercialising a photosynthetic promoter to help plants process more light into sugars.

“It switches on the SnRK1 enzyme which pulls everything that supports good yield production into the ears of the plants, producing yield increases of up to 22% in the field,” she claims.

The interaction of T6P and SnRK1 affects a number of plant pathways, including sucrose use and allocation, starch conversion and storage, as well as a general nutrient uplift into the area, explains Cara.

“Essentially, T6P is signalling to the plant that there’s lots of nutrition around and it should turn on all of its processes to do with growth and resource allocation. We’re just enhancing processes the plant already uses itself.”

The use of solar energy isn’t limited to influencing photosynthesis and sugar metabolism, it can actually initiate a process that simultaneously removes pollutants and greenhouse gases from the air while also fertilising the crop.

Photocatalysts such as titanium dioxide have long been known for their powers of detoxification but can only absorb light in the ultraviolet spectrum. This would limit their efficiency as an application to UK crops.

And it’s this problem that Crop Intellect has solved by processing titanium oxide in a way that makes it able to function as a photocatalyst under normal daylight conditions. The technology is available as R-Leaf, a sprayable suspension concentrate which acts as an alternative source of nitrogen and can replace 25% of the total nitrogen applied, according to the company’s trials data.

The science behind sucrose levels and allocation, Source: SugaROx

“This is the first time that photocatalysis has been used in agriculture as a way to generate nitrates, but the story does not stop there,” says Alvaro Montero Bockos, Crop Intellect’s chief operating officer and sustainability lead.

“While the conversion of NOx air pollutants into nitrates produces an input to support crop growth and reduce fertiliser usage, R-Leaf brings a key difference to traditional fertilisers through its capacity to remove N₂O greenhouse gas at the same time.”

The effectiveness of the photocatalyst used in R-Leaf has also been verified by researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University. Their work has shown the R-Leaf material is 10 times more effective in photocatalysis, both under UV light and normal daylight, compared with the unprocessed material. The results confirm that under daylight the product works close to that of the performance of titanium dioxide under UV light.

R-Leaf has been six years in development and is already on the market, with limited quantities available in the UK and Europe since 2022. This year up to 60,000 litres is scheduled for production and looks set to grow as distribution also begins in the United States

According to Alvaro, the technology is already firmly embedded in some agricultural supply chains because of its unique sustainability credentials.

“Instead of being a source of nitrous oxide, as all synthetic nitrogen-based fertilisers can be, R-Leaf converts these and pollutant NOx gases from the air into plant fertiliser, with an overall environmental impact of 5.4 t CO₂e removed per year,” says Alvaro.

The company’s claim has been verified by the Climate Impact Forecast Tool and relates to the recommended two applications of R-Leaf at 1 l/ha and 25% nitrogen reduction.

So how does it work? “When R-Leaf is sprayed onto the crop, the photocatalysts it contains are charged with daylight. Electrons and hydrogen ions are produced which react with oxygen and water from the air to form powerful oxidising agents which break NOx down into nitrate and water,” he explains.

When R-Leaf is sprayed onto the crop, the photocatalysts it contains are charged with daylight. Electrons and hydrogen ions are produced which react with oxygen and water from the air to form powerful oxidising agents which break NOx down into nitrate and water.

The nitrate produced in this reaction solubilises on the leaf, enabling foliar uptake by the crop. Because the photocatalyst is persistent on the leaf, lasting around six weeks, plant growth is supported by a slow daily release of nitrate.

“During the same process, when interacting with N₂O gases, R-Leaf breaks it down into inert nitrogen and oxygen gases, effectively removing a GHG from the air. This brings additional sustainability benefits by reducing the overall carbon footprint.”

This removal has been confirmed by Ostrava University which showed a daily 10% removal capacity in the laboratory under simulated outdoor conditions. “Pollution is transformed into a positive. We have seen in the past three years of trials that we are able to generate 50-100KgN/ha and we have data that shows R-Leaf supports plant growth in a better manner than current fertilisers,” he adds.

Photocatalysis experts at Imperial College London have also quantified the amount of nitrate produced by R-Leaf under a system that simulates conditions in the field. They showed that R-Leaf provided the equivalent of 90kgN/ha over three months, explains Alvaro.

Cutting back on nitrogen from the bag may require a leap of faith for some farmers but Alvaro is confident the agronomic benefits from R-Leaf application add up. “Normally our recommendation is a 25% reduction in synthetic fertiliser when using R-Leaf and we consistently see an increase in yield of 5-10%,” he says.

The novel product is tank-mixable and the company recommends applying with T1 and T2 fungicide applications so that no extra sprayer passes are required.

The product has been trialled in a number of other crops including potatoes, carrots, peas, brassicas, and grassland with good results, the company claims. Interestingly, peas have also shown a yield response to R-Leaf application. It’s a surprising finding given the leguminous crop is often adversely affected by nitrogen application which reduces its nitrogen fixation and makes it more susceptible to disease. In three years of trials in the crop, yield responses of up to 20% have been obtained, according to Alvaro.

R-Leaf peas trial – nitrate. The additional nitrogen available to the pea crop after R-Leaf application seems to have a beneficial effect on growth and yield.

Crop Intellect has just been awarded funding from Innovate UK for a project which will investigate the use of R-Leaf with endophyte products to further boost the sustainability of growing arable crops by potentially halving nitrogen inputs.

The project consortium is led by Crop Intellect and includes Barworth Research, University of Lincoln, CHAP, The Allerton Project, and Dyson Farming Research.

Multi-location field trials hosted at Dyson Farming will test how R-Leaf can be used with endophyte prototypes to combine their nitrogen-fixing benefits. The trials aim to reduce an estimated 50% of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser applied to wheat under standard farming practice.

Richard Meredith, head of Dyson Farming Research, adds: “We see large potential in how this can help reduce farm input costs while improving soil health through reduced synthetic nitrogen fertiliser use. It will contribute directly towards net zero emission targets in agriculture and impact positively across the entire agri-food supply chain, from farm to retailers and end consumers.”

And that’s the exciting potential of agricultural innovations such as these, believes Alvaro. “Potentially R-Leaf could be a simple solution to help limit farming’s GHG emissions – every leaf could be an R-Leaf.”
A Revolution in Bio-Positive Agriculture

In today’s rapidly evolving landscape, farmers and agricultural professionals are always looking for innovative solutions that build better soil resilience and improve crop health whilst striving to lower their fertiliser inputs and their environmental impact. ActiV8-Bio, a unique biological product designed by SFS, is one solution that sparks curiosity and gains significant traction with a revolutionary approach to revitalising soil and boosting crop growth. But… before we get on to that, let’s delve deeper into what drives some of these decisions and promotes poorer growing conditions.

A ruler’s strength typically comes from the power of its subjects, so, if yield is king, yield is subject to this and subject to that.

Take a plant, for starters; as a seed, it gets thrust down into the soil’s hostile environment, fending for itself and scavenging for essential elements, all with one aim, to reach upwards and get its solar panels out of the ground quickly so that it can begin to make its food and support itself via photosynthesis. Sounds easy, right? After all, it’s a natural process; plants will do it anyway.

When you’re a young seed, the soil is not a nice place to be; everything down there wants to support itself first before lending its new neighbour a helping hand. Our new inhabitant has limited resources, so to bolster its dwindling reserves, it is keen to make new friends (quickly). Still, with all good relationships, things need to be mutually beneficial, which can be a bit of a sticking point for this fledgling seed; it ends up giving away some of its supplies to barter and attract the correct type of supportive partner, and unfortunately, the simple act of spending to survive, negatively impacts our seeds performance, but what choice does it have?

How about if there wasn’t such a panic to go upwards, and instead, the young seedling had the available resources to leisurely extend its rooting further, optimising its nutrient cycling capacity first, rather than desperately scrabbling for the surface? And what if the soil environment already contained billions of biological helpers supporting the seed and stimulating better soil health? Imagine building hardier growth with a plant that’s now less susceptible to stresses, insect and pathogen attacks.

Innovative biological starter products are more than fertilisers. They provide both soil and plant nutrition while reinforcing the soil microbial workforce. This departure from conventional fertilisers offers a more holistic and sustainable approach to agricultural production, inspiring a sense of responsibility and environmental commitment.

A blend of carefully selected ingredients that work synergistically to improve soil health and promote plant growth must be at their core. These elements should include humic and fulvic acids – crucial for enhancing soil structure and increasing aeration and water retention. These acids also play a vital role in chelating essential minerals, making them more accessible to plants.

In addition to humic and fulvic acids, ActiV8-Bio is enriched with a diverse range of beneficial micro-organisms, including
Phosphate fixers, Nitrogen fixers, plant protectors, and soil pathogen combatants. These micro-organisms work tirelessly to improve soil quality, enhance nutrient uptake, and safeguard plants from diseases and pests.

Trace elements may only be needed in tiny amounts, but this doesn’t make them any less critical to crop productivity, which can suffer when many of these elements are deficient in soils. For example, Zinc, Boron, and Manganese are all vital for early growth and development, and by providing a readily available source of these elements, growers can effectively address nutrient deficiencies and optimise plant health.

It all sounds good, but how does it work? Well, by establishing a symbiotic relationship between the soil and the plants, micro-organisms can do what they do best, and that means that both parties are kept happy: The plant gets an available version of the element it needs, like calling in a food delivery driver – Our driver (microbe) gets paid in sugars from the plant exudates.

Still, it goes further…those microbes will defend their territory and meal ticket, leading to a healthier root zone with fewer pathogenic organisms where a plant can prosper better. An excellent biological product will contain billions of these helpful microbes. Still, an exceptional one will go that one step further and provide the biological army with food, so that it doesn’t need to rob soil resources and can get to work immediately.

Imagine you’ve planted your seeds, and they’re starting to grow; but you’re worried about pests and diseases that could harm your crops. But what can a biological product do to protect them? One way is to introduce beneficial micro-organisms to your soil. These tiny creatures can help your plants grow stronger and healthier.

One such beneficial micro-organism is Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens. I like to call this one the guard dog: This bacterium can recycle nutrients in the soil, making them more available for your plants to use. It can also create a protective layer around plant roots, shielding them from harmful pathogens. It produces substances that can kill harmful bacteria and fungi. By doing all these things, Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens can help your plants grow bigger and stronger and improve soil quality.

The opposing argument would suggest that using N, P, K, S, and Mg fertilisers as a starter will do the same job; the plants would grow, and the soil would be fine. I am not suggesting that fertiliser is not required, but available nutrition is, and many fertilisers are inefficient – with losses expected, not only wasting money but also increasing the risk of environmental contamination.

Biological starters such as ActiV8-Bio provide accessible nutrients in a form a plant can readily use without oversupplying or forcing feed, creating a more harmonious ecosystem.

Whether you adopt it now or sometime in the not-too-distant future, biological products that offer a sustainable and effective solution for modern agriculture are the way forward. By enhancing soil health, improving crop growth, and reducing the reliance on chemical inputs, growers can improve profitability and contribute to a more bio-positive, sustainable system. If you want to know more about biological products supporting today’s plant and tomorrow’s soil, contact us at SFS.
Living up to the SFI and its actions

The SFI offers financial payments to those who adopt variable rate applications, but demonstrating compliance is more than a tick-box exercise, explains Rhiza product manager Ben Foster

The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) has much to offer growers from payments for environmental actions, to incentives that improve sustainability, productivity and, importantly, business resilience.

With 102 actions available across a multitude of activities, the SFI has something for every farm and with a defined payment schedule, participants can plan with confidence.

A core pillar of the SFI is the module on soils and the actions to help you ‘increase the long-term health, productivity and resilience of your soil’. Who could object to that?

The complementary nature of the three soil actions – SAM1, SAM2 and SAM3 – broadly support the same objective but offer different levels of participation depending on the interest of the land manager. The actions for nutrient management – NUM1, NUM2 and NUM3 – have similar objectives but with a specific focus on ‘increasing nutrient management knowledge, supporting more efficient use of nutrients and encouraging more effective use of organic sources of nutrition’. Again, who could object?

At its core, the SFI offers payment for actions that many consider good farming practice, such as maintaining desirable landscape features or demonstrating adherence to an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan. There are some that the land manager can complete themselves and there are others, such as the soil and nutrient management actions, which need to be demonstrated in the form of a plan produced by a suitably qualified person, such as FACTS registered adviser. Fortunately, Agrii’s team of FACTS-qualified crop input specialists and agronomists are trained in the finer details, so are well-placed to help.

Soil acidity

Central to both the soil and nutrient management actions is the requirement to maintain the long-term health of the soil and support the wider environment such as surface water and air quality. Although not a specific action, soil acidity (pH) and its role in supporting a functioning soil is widely recognised through these modules.

After a difficult season, many soils are likely to need some remedial action. Where soils experienced excessive water logging, compaction is likely to be the most obvious damage, with those transitioning to reduced tillage systems likely to be the most affected. Waterlogging can also adversely affect soil acidity. Addressing both compaction and soil pH is a key part of any soil remediation and should feature in a soil management plan.

Analysis of soil sample data reveals that the health of our soils has been declining for many years. Data from the 2023 British Survey of Fertiliser Practice supports this observation. Of the farms surveyed, only about one in 20 fields are limed each year. This is insufficient for pH values to be maintained in the desired range. Soil acidity is only one measure of a soil’s ability to function properly, but it is a useful proxy for overall soil health. The average pH value of UK soils has dropped by more than 0.4 pH units over two decades (see Figure 1). If the effect of high pH brash or calcareous soils were stripped out, the decline would be even greater – from an optimal 6.7 to a sub-optimal 6.3. The pH scale is logarithmic, meaning an increase of one unit, from 7 to 8, for example, means the soil is 10 times more alkaline. A decrease from 7 to 5 means the soil is 100 times more acidic.

Figure 1: The average pH of UK soils has fallen below the optimal score of 6.5

The acidity of our soils needs to be addressed. As values fall closer to 6, essential nutrients such as phosphorous and calcium and micro-nutrients such as magnesium and molybdenum are rendered increasingly unavailable to the growing crop – see Figure 2.

Figure 2: The influence of soil pH on nutrient availability

Soil pH also has an influence on nutrient utilisation, applied as either organic manures and wastes or as mineral fertilisers – see Table 1.

Table 1: The impact of soil pH on NPK utilisation

Soil pH N P₂O₅ K₂O
4.5 30% 23% 33%
5.0 53% 34% 52%
5.5 77% 48% 77%
6.0 89% 52% 100%
Optimum 100% 100% 100%

The effect of acidic soils, however, extends beyond nutrient availability. A requirement of a soil management plan for loamy soils is to ‘encourage earthworms’ and for clay soils to ‘maintain earthworm activity and water infiltration’.

As a soil becomes acidic, earthworm numbers fall, and survival is unlikely below 4.5. The ability of micro-organisms to break down organic matter and convert nutrients into plant available forms is directly influenced by pH. Failure to correct soil acidity could be seen as a breach of the actions outlined in a soil management plan.

The Rhiza Lime Planner

Restoring soil pH is a straightforward task. The SFI pays for soil organic matter testing as part of a soil management plan. Adding a basic nutrient analysis (P, K, Mg pH) is a relatively low-cost addition, and is also a requirement for Nutrient Management Planning, so most land managers will have up-to-date data on the status of their soils. This data can be imported easily into Rhiza’s Contour platform to give a digital record, visualise nutrient maps and use the data in Rhiza’s suite of planning tools, such as the new Lime Planner tool.

Figure 3: Soil pH values can be displayed as a list and colour-coded map in Rhiza Lime Planner

Once the soil sampling data has been uploaded to the Lime Planner module, the user can set a target pH value to create a job sheet report and an application file (in shapefile format) for either variable rate or flat-rate application. This can then be sent to the machinery controller.

Satisfying the PRF1 requirement

The use of data from soil analysis performed in previous seasons is sufficient for variable rate lime and P and K application because the pH value and soil indices won’t change significantly during the season. This is not the case for variable rate nitrogen.

Nitrogen requirement will depend on the crop situation and available soil reserves coming out of the winter. Therefore the PFR1 action requires that where remote sensing is used to calculate the nitrogen requirement it is carried out no more than 14 days before application.

The above-average rain and heavy cloud cover that marred spring 2024 meant those relying on optical imagery derived from the Sentinel-2 satellites struggled to secure images of sufficient value to meet the PRF1 action. Roughly 80% of the imagery produced was rejected.

ClearSky

The only source of guaranteed cloud-free imagery able to meet the requirements of the SRF1 action is from ClearSky. It delivers accuracy through full-spectrum optical and infrared imagery, including NDVI and GCVI from synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) – see Figure 4. It removes the need for a clean line of sight as is the case with imagery from Sentinel-2 satellites.

Figure 4: A ClearSky image showing NDVI values needed to support a variable rate application file

This innovation means that farmers using ClearSky are guaranteed to receive an image showing them how their crop is developing every six days, whatever the weather because SAR data is not incumbered by cloud.

Unlike other ‘cloud-free’ derivatives, ClearSky does not rely on intermittent clear optical imagery to calibrate predicted changes. This enables a greater degree of confidence in the data supplied to customers.

Analysis by Agrii on 900,000ha revealed that the Sentinel-2 system produced, on average, roughly 13.3 clear images per farm in 2023. Using the ClearSky platform increased this to 60.8. This number is improved further if the cloud-free images captured by Sentinel-2 are included.

The adoption of technology that improves the performance and resilience of agriculture is an objective of the SFI. Being able to demonstrate adherence with its actions is more than a tick-box exercise. Participants are expected to demonstrate that they are fulfilling the actions on demand. In some cases, this means producing a report while in others it means producing the actual data employed in the fulfilment of the task. ClearSky ensures that variable rate applications are consistent with crop requirements while making it easy to demonstrate compliance with the PRF1 action.

PRF1: What you must do to get paid and how to do it

PRF1 is the action for the variable rate application (VRA) of nutrients. It is a three-year agreement for which the recipient will receive £27/ha/year. There are specific eligibility criteria, mainly relating to land type, but to comply, all major nutrients (N, P, K and Mg) must be applied using VRA equipment pre-programmed with a VRA file using data from zonal soil or crop testing and analysis, or remote sensing. The VRA equipment must be connected to a tractor or sprayer-mounted crop reflectance sensor. The PRF1 does not cover micro-nutrients or lime. The data informing the VRA file must cover a minimum of P, K, Mg and pH. If the data is from zonal soil testing analysis, it must meet the action’s requirements and be less than five years old. For nitrogen, the VRA file must use data from crop testing and analysis or remote sensing of crop reflectance. Remote sensing should be carried out no more than 14 days prior to application to achieve the action’s aim.
Using Farm Tech to Maximise and Manage the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) Opportunity
With harvest wrapping up and the new farming season underway, many farmers are turning their attention to implementing sustainability practices through the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), which is set to become integral to many farm’s businesses. As the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) phases out, the SFI provides a valuable opportunity to support farm incomes while benefiting the environment. According to Defra’s most recent Farmer Opinion Tracker, 82% of farmers reported they were participating in or planning to apply for an agri-environment scheme.

Starting with basic actions like soil testing or nutrient management allows entry into the scheme without major changes to current practices. The scheme’s flexibility means you can begin with smaller commitments and expand over time. For example, a 200ha farm implementing basic actions could generate an extra £6,718 annually. More ambitious approaches, such as cover cropping and companion crops, can significantly boost earnings.

Some farms report net incomes over £48,000 per year by adopting land conversion options and stacking multiple SFI actions. You can layer actions, such as no insecticide use (IPM4) with companion crops (IPM3) and flower-rich margins (IPM2), to increase payments while enhancing biodiversity and encouraging beneficial insects.

The SFI 2024 offer introduces new options such as no-till establishment (£73 per hectare), variable rate nutrient application (£27 per hectare), and camera or sensor-guided herbicide spraying (£43 per hectare). These changes reflect an increased emphasis on precision farming and technology-driven land management.

Additional income sources, such as soil carbon schemes, further enhance this strategy. These schemes, which reward practices that sequester carbon in the soil, complement SFI actions like no-till farming and cover cropping, providing diversified revenue streams that are less vulnerable to changes in government policy.

Whether you’re drafting your first application or recording evidence for compliance, farm record-keeping tools like fieldmargin can streamline the entire process.

Planning Your SFI Application

Start planning your SFI application by identifying which actions best fit your farm and then where they can offer the most benefit.
1. Analyse underperforming areas: Review field gross margin reports, yield maps, and satellite imagery to spot consistently underperforming areas. These could be ideal for SFI actions like legume fallows or grass buffer strips, where reduced agricultural production can be offset by the environmental and financial benefits of the scheme. Tools like fieldmargin allow quick assessment of variation in field performance using NDVI analysis from satellite imagery, helping you make data-driven decisions.
2. Review historic field data: Notes on past issues like erosion, runoff, or pests, can help inform which SFI options might be most effective. Targeting areas with recurring challenges can help address these problems while fulfilling SFI requirements.
3. Consider your farm strategy: If you’re planning a transition to regenerative practices, look for SFI options that align with these changes. Explore opportunities to enhance public funding with private schemes, like carbon credits.
Mapping and Managing SFI Implementation

After selecting SFI actions, mapping them across your fields is crucial. Fieldmargin’s tools allow for streamlined mapping, note-taking, and record-keeping, all in one place.
- Map field divisions for environmental actions: Having a digital map that you and your team can work from which includes SFI actions, such as grassy field corners (AHL3) or flower-rich margins (IPM2) means nothing gets missed and you have the correct areas for field operations. With fieldmargin’s sub-fields you can quickly mark these divisions out on your fields including automatically adding in margins.
- Plan work required for compliance: Planning tasks like field work and soil sampling ensures that the necessary actions for your SFI agreement are not missed. Fieldmargin allows you to plan, set due dates, and assign tasks to your team members, keeping the workflow organised.
- Map hedgerows and watercourses: If your SFI plan includes hedgerow or watercourse management, incorporate these features into your digital map to keep track of assessments and improvements.
Record Evidence for inspections

With the right system in place, keeping evidence of your compliance with SFI requirements is easy.
- Record field work: Plan and log field operations, including inputs and attaching files or photos, such as seed invoices or establishment photos, so all required evidence is stored centrally.
- Use Geolocated Notes: Document actions with geolocated notes across your farm. Attach photos of flowering pollinator strips or log hedge assessments directly in the field.
- Track Income and Costs: Incorporate SFI payments and related costs into your gross margin calculations. Using cost tracking in a tool like fieldmargin helps you assess the financial impact of the scheme easily.
The Sustainable Farming Incentive presents a valuable opportunity to enhance farm environmental impact and financial resilience. With the right planning and tools (such as fieldmargin) in place, you can get the financial benefit for your farm without the administration being a burden.
In pursuit of pixel perfect

Although artificial intelligence can help achieve wondrous things, it’s only as good as the information it’s learnt from. Tech Farmer looks at how synthetic imagery could take green-on-green precision to new levels.

Written by Lucy de la Pasture

Although per plant farming may have suffered a setback with the loss of the Small Robot Company, the vision for this ultimate precision in spray application is far from dead. While there are over 300 agricultural robotics companies globally and that number is increasing, uptake of a technology many view as progressive remains slow.

In the meantime, major players in the sprayer manufacture market have green-on-green solutions available or in the pipeline, all with the aim of significantly reducing the quantity of pesticides applied, paring costs and diminishing environmental impacts.

Current green-on-green technology is dependent on artificial intelligence (AI) which has been trained to recognise targets within a crop. This machine-learning process is underpinned by the analysis of huge data sets to develop algorithms relevant to different crops and the agronomy challenges faced. It’s a long and slow process, not just because of the time it takes to gather the imagery. Currently to get an accurate data set, cameras attempt to cover all possible scenarios such as growth stages, lighting and shadows, and then manually label every one of those images. A near impossible task and it’s these limitations of vision systems themselves that add to the challenge when training AI.

Colin Herbert

Alongside the big brands, specialist agri-tech companies are bringing some typically out-of-the box thinking, allowing more novel approaches to potentially disrupt the market. One of these is Suffolk -based AgriSynth, which aims to bring a highly accurate but lower-cost solution to the pinch point that all the AI-driven systems have – teaching the AI.

It was a Star Wars movie that triggered the idea that the AgriSynth concept has been built on, explains Colin Herbert, Agrisynth’s founder and CEO. Watching the movie, the computer-generated imagery struck him and then it just clicked that there was a way of making up images by using a computer to generate them.

With the seed of an idea, Colin began to research the field of synthetic imagery, which is where pictures are generated using computer graphics, simulation methods and AI to represent reality. To his surprise he found that although synthetic imagery was being developed in the medical field, for example, it wasn’t being looked at in agriculture.

The use of synthetic images in machine learning solves two major problems – image acquisition and labelling, explains Colin. “A raw image means nothing to AI software; it has to learn how to classify different objects in an image and this is done by a process of labelling.”

Traditionally, there are several ways to annotate images to teach AI systems. Bounding boxes are rectangles drawn in software around an object – a weed, a stone, and so on – and it’s a relatively quick and easy thing to do. But there are limitations when it comes to accuracy.

“Bounding boxes can’t account for things like an object in part shadow, leaves that are overlapping, or the leaves of a weed that are mostly hidden behind a weed of another species. It can be very difficult to see where one plant starts and another one finishes in many images, especially with grassweeds.

An infinite number of real-world scenarios can be produced as demonstrated in this image of four different species.

“A better development is to draw a polygon around the object, and this allows us to account in some way for some of these real-world scenarios. We can also take it a step further and classify every pixel within the polygon, but even with this degree of accuracy there are edge effects. For example, drawing a polygon either just inside or outside a leaf margin may lose shape information that’s crucial for AI feature extraction and classification.

“The advantage of synthetic images is that they can deliver 100% accurate annotation at a pixel perfect level, something that’s not possible with real-world images. That’s a breakthrough,” says Colin.

As well as providing very precise information for machine learning, synthetic images can be produced for numerous different scenarios, such as crop or disease progression – even simulating scenarios that haven’t yet happened – removing another weakness in the real-time or historic imagery currently used in agricultural AI systems and potentially enabling a rapid response to a new agronomic threat.

Currently AgriSynth has developed three imaging engines; one is for broadleaf plants, another is for grass-type plants, and a third is for grain quality characteristics.

“For the broadleaf weed engine, we’ve developed lots of rules so that it knows how a typical plant develops. We can texture the leaves and configure it to mimic a growing plant, rather like a time-lapse photographic sequence for a particular species.

“We define plant characteristics such as leaf shape, texture, thickness, and the number of leaves per plant, as well as the variance that can be found around these characteristics as the plant grows. We can even produce leaves with blemishes to mimic disease issues or damage from insect pests. With many thousands of parameters, we can configure the engines to produce huge datasets of images very rapidly for specific species with variances seen in the real world.”

Grassweeds within cereal crops pose a particular problem when training AI systems due to the additional layers of complexity in identifying them compared with broadleaf weed recognition. AgriSynth has just completed a SMART project funded by Innovate UK, in collaboration with Real-Time Tech and Crop Health and Protection (CHAP), which set out to develop a blackgrass engine which can be used to train AI at <10% of real-world costs.

Grain samples can be synthetically generated to contain quality defects.

The project involved field trials where blackgrass was photographed in winter wheat crops, some of which were facilitated by CHAP, explains Agri-Tech Centre’s innovation sector lead, Dr Richard Glass. Further trials were conducted Oxford Agricultural Trials (OAT) who undertook three trials at Woodstock, Stratton Audley & Shillington. The team captured over 108,000 high quality images from structured plots that allow AgriSynth to classify both wheat and blackgrass in every image.

“These real-life images were used to validate the accuracy of the synthetic imagery generated to train the blackgrass engine,” explains Richard.

The ability to target blackgrass precisely within winter wheat crops is something that’s attracting the interest of farmers, not just because of the cost burden of an overall programme of the herbicides needed to control it, but also because of the relentless progress of herbicide resistance.

“Blackgrass costs farmers £400M a year in lost yield and increasing levels of resistance means that controlling using a dwindling number of selective herbicides is unlikely to be sustainable in the long-term, so we have to find new ways of controlling it,” explains Colin.

Delayed drilling is an effective cultural tool to reduce the blackgrass challenge but changing weather patterns are upping the risk of not getting a crop in when drilling into October. The pressure is growing to plant wheat in September to make sure a crop is established before it’s too wet.

One of the major advantages of synthetic imagery is the level of detail that can be labelled to facilitate machine learning. It’s greater than the human eye can see.

The ability to target blackgrass precisely opens the door to using non-selective herbicides, such as glyphosate, or even herbicides not normally used in the crop. These methods are already practiced in Australia to help control resistant ryegrass.

“By precision, I mean the ability to target an area of 5mm x 5mm and using the synthetic imagery developed in this project, we can clearly recognise, distinguish and classify blackgrass in wheat in a precise pixel-level manner,” explains Colin.

“We’ve developed a targeting system where we can alter the resolution of the treatment from 25mm down to 1mm depending on the grid system we overlay. This gives us the ability to be more aggressive if there’s lots of blackgrass and the farmer could accept losing say 10% of the crop in these areas if an active such as glyphosate was applied.”

The company is now ready to develop the hardware to square the circle and make such precise applications a reality. “We’re looking at the concept of what would essentially be an inkjet printer or micro-spray system for crops,” he adds.

Blackgrass is the first use case and further development within the project will enable other species to be classified in a wide range of conditions.

AgriSynth has also worked with a Canadian company to develop a grain ‘engine’ which will be used to help tackle the problem of grain quality, explains Colin. “Canadian red wheat has about 85 quality characteristics, including things such as chalky grains, broken grains, fusarium grains and green grains. And depending on the profile of those characteristics, it will affect the value of the wheat,” he explains.

“The grain trading process, end to end, is based on sampling the grain, assessing its quality and coming up with a price. And currently the farmer doesn’t have much say in that. The quality assessment is carried out by skilled humans that train for 6-7 years but it’s still subjective, based on the quality of the sampling and generally funded by the buyer.”

Synthetic imagery could improve the accuracy of the assessment and because some quality characteristics are rare, it’s perfectly placed to produce a data set to train AI that would take years using real life imagery, believes Colin.

“We’ve produced these images and trained a model on some of the characteristics and can then link to a camera on the combine to take images of the grain as it comes into the tank. Assessing the quality on the farm in this way could change the whole value chain of grain trading and that’s what we’re trying to achieve.”

Colin’s realistic that these changes won’t happen overnight and will meet resistance from the grain trade but he’s confident that over time, this information will be to the benefit of growers when it comes to selling their produce. And it’s just one example of many different crops where it would be to the grower’s advantage to adopt a similar approach.

“Vertical farming is an example where we could produce synthetic datasets to be certain the produce is blemish-free and of perfect quality for the supermarkets,” he adds.

So far AgriSynth is only touching the tip of the iceberg of what could be possible using synthetic imagery in agriculture – part of the company’s ethos is to stimulate innovation by making AI and machine learning more accessible to researchers and other companies.

The concept also extends to any area where subjective assessments are made by humans, such as those made in replicated small plot trials. “Identifying the percentage of a leaf infected by a disease is a skilled job but it’s subjective. Differentiating between two types of one disease is very skilled. Synthetic imagery opens the door to the whole of R&D being camera-enabled and objective, rather than human-enabled and subjective.

“And with billions of research plots around the world, that is a potential gamer-changer in the way we develop a range of solutions,” concludes Colin.

Green-on-green in practice

One of the companies at the forefront of bringing green-on-green technology to the field is French company Bilberry, bought by Trimble in 2022. With algorithms well-developed for crops in Australia and the US, the UK market is more of a challenge with its crops predominantly drilled at relatively narrow row spacing.

Keen to assess the technology early doors, Dyson Farming Research added the Bilberry system to its new Dammann Profi Class self-propelled sprayer. Since its arrival in September 2020, the team – led by trainee agronomist George Mills, who was previously a sprayer operator for the company – has been assessing its capabilities and helping Bilberry build an image database to further develop and refine its set of algorithms for the UK.

The Bilberry system has been independently evaluated by Dyson Farming Research since 2020 and has advantages in maize but doesn’t yet offer the capability to spot spray blackgrass in wheat crops.

The Bilberry system is capable of green-on-brown and green-on-green applications. The green-on-brown gives the ability to spot spray weeds in stubbles so has primarily been used with glyphosate to create stale seedbeds in the autumn. It’s a capability that George rates as ‘really successful’ and has a lot of confidence in using.

When it comes to green-on-green, the algorithms are still limited but the Bilberry set-up currently has the capability of spotting broadleaf weeds, grassweeds in oilseed rape, any weeds in maize, and broadleaf weeds in grassland.

“Developing the algorithms is very slow because it requires images to be taken in the field, which then have to be labelled by a human to enable the AI to learn for itself,” says George.

The Dyson team has helped Bilberry with algorithm development by sending images to Bilberry as the sprayer goes through crops. “The cameras take images every 30 seconds as the sprayer goes through a field and these are stored on a hard drive in the sprayer which we later download and send to France for algorithm learning,” he explains.

The 36m sprayer boom has RGB cameras mounted above it at 3m spacing, which means that when the booms are folded the cameras are above the cab. “It’s one of the drawbacks we’ve found with the system,” says George. “The cameras are vulnerable because of where they’re mounted and you have to be very careful not to damage them accidentally. If a camera needs repair, it has to go to France which isn’t a quick process and means the sprayer may have to work with a camera missing.”

The 36m Dammann sprayer boom has RGB cameras mounted above it at 3m spacing, a position which can make them vulnerable when the boom is folded.

It’s fair to say green-on-green application has been a learning experience and success has been mixed. “We’ve targeted volunteer potatoes in winter wheat with fluroxypyr between the T1 and T2 timings which worked to some extent for volunteers that were showing above the canopy. The drawback is shading which meant it wasn’t possible for the AI to spot most volunteer potatoes below the canopy – these had a 90-95% miss rate.”

The extra pass needed also highlights another downside of green-on-green applications, he highlights. “Generally, spot spraying herbicides means an extra pass because we’re targeting the whole crop when we’re applying fungicides and PGRs. The cameras also require good light levels to function which may mean missed opportunities early or late in the day.”

The farm grows oats and vetch for its anaerobic digester and a problem with charlock in a field provided an opportunity to test the broadleaf weed algorithm. “It’s possible to set a threshold for the algorithm to trigger a spot application and we used this to find out whether we could target charlock by its larger size, hopefully limiting any damage to the smaller leaved vetch. By setting the threshold at 60%, we managed to take out the largest charlock and although we did sacrifice some vetch it was at an acceptable level.”

Testing the grassweeds in OSR algorithm has had limited testing, admits George, but the system has really come into its own for weeds in maize. “It’s easy for the camera to see weeds in the maize crop and we’ve found a 90% hit rate on flagged weeds when we’ve conducted efficiency tests. With a potential 60-90% saving in herbicide costs, we’ll be using the system as much as is logistically possible in maize.”

It’s the degree of those potential savings in herbicide costs that need to be considered carefully before investing in a green-on-green system. “The Bilberry set up on the sprayer cost around £100,000 in 2020. – the system itself was around £70,000 and additionally we had to specify options on the sprayer that we wouldn’t otherwise have needed.”

There are lots of advantages to having the Bilberry system over and above the potential to reduce pesticide use and the environmental benefits that brings, says George. “Spot spraying could be a way of increasing the longevity of active ingredients and the sprayer components aren’t working as hard as when broadcast spraying, potentially meaning sprayers could have longer lives or a move to a smaller machine may be feasible.”

For many growers, the capability to spot treat blackgrass would offer the biggest potential savings in herbicide but George reckons it’s still not close to becoming a commercial reality.

“Bilberry has developed an algorithm for grassweeds in cereal crops, but it relies on weeds being visible above the canopy. That’s too late for treating blackgrass in the UK as we’re applying chemistry in the autumn when the blackgrass is still very small.”

Although it’s still early days for green-on-green technology, the degree of development in this area is a promising sign that any current weaknesses may soon be overcome.
Agronomist in Focus – Simon Francis

New ‘boots-on-the-ground’ precision farming service

A new service makes the benefits of precision farming accessible without growers having to master all its complexities, says ProCam’s UK Technical and Services Manager, Simon Francis.

Using satellite mapping of soil and crop variability across fields, the new FieldSense service derives tailored variable rate input applications to improve economic crop output across the field and bring environmental gains.

However, what makes FieldSense particularly appealing is that the system is based on a collaborative approach between the agronomist and grower.

It will be the ProCam agronomist who makes sense of the field data, drawing on their boots-on-the-ground experience of the field and ground-truthing any anomalies that the data might reveal. This can be combined with the farmer’s own knowledge of the field as necessary. Once the data has been interpreted, the agronomist will produce variable rate files for downloading directly to the tractor that is controlling the drill or fertiliser applicator. It is precision agronomy through partnership.

Growers can also cherry pick only those parts of the package relevant to their farm and machinery and can begin by trying FieldSense over just a few hectares.

This first phase launch will focus on four key areas for combinable cropping: grid-based soil sampling; variable rate seeding; variable rate nitrogen, phosphate, potash and lime applications; and yield mapping input.

The process starts by mapping fields into various sized grids – for example one hectare squares for soil sampling, 24 metres squared grids for variable rate fertiliser spreading, and 6 metres squared grids for variable rate drilling, or the most appropriate grid size tailored for the width of machine.

The variable rate drilling package in FieldSense uses historical field performance maps to show the variations in crop biomass that have occurred in that field over multiple years. From these, the agronomist will create a variable seed rate plan – to drill proportionally more seed in historically lower biomass grid squares and less seed where needed – with the aim of achieving a uniform, optimum tiller density over the whole field.

In one test, we’ve found that almost double the seed rate was needed in poorer areas of a field to bring tiller numbers back up towards the better areas. Without this knowledge, poorer areas would have been drilled at sub-optimal density, risking sub-optimal yield.

Variable rate seed drilling and fertiliser application are just two of the packages available in ProCam’s new FieldSense service

For soil sampling, the location of where samples were taken from in each hectare is captured by GPS and shared back to the FieldSense platform. Samples can be analysed using ProCam’s SoilSense service, with the resulting gridded nutrient maps used by the agronomist to create variable rate spreading files to correct phosphate and potash deficiencies, and for liming if required.

Variable rate nitrogen application, on the other hand, uses satellite NDVI measurements of the growing crop. These are taken every five to seven days on a 10m x 10m grid or every three to five days on a 3m x 3m grid. Here, the aim is to use variable rate nitrogen to produce the optimum green area index (GAI) over the whole field. Farm-testing in oilseed rape where GAI in March was found to vary from a near optimum of 3.0 to just 1.0, showed that by varying nitrogen between 60 and 90 kg/ha, crop uniformity was corrected by early June.

In fields where yield mapping is carried out on the combine harvester, yield data can also be uploaded into FieldSense to guide future agronomic decisions.

Simon Francis explains that it will be the ProCam agronomist who makes sense of the satellite images, drawing on their boots-on-the-ground experience, rather than growers having to do everything themselves

The launch of FieldSense is the latest in a sequence of technical introductions from ProCam, following on from the launch of the soil testing and nutrient planning service, SoilSense, last year.

Growers face increasingly heavy workloads and pressures from legislation and environmental scrutiny, while at the same time, farm profits are volatile and under pressure.

FieldSense provides a way for ProCam agronomists to take some of the complexity out of precision farming for growers, while bringing greater accuracy to agronomic decisions. In the case of variable rate application of nutrients, there are also potential SFI payments available of £27/ha.

In essence, FieldSense offers focused use of key inputs for optimum crop output through partnership, technology and boots-on-the-ground collaboration. Satellite image field maps are one element of precision farming, but they are just the start. They need underpinning with solid field experience to interpret and make sense of them.
We can benefit from innovation

Our production systems must become more resilient in order to combine productivity, climate protection and biodiversity. How can this be achieved, what role does digitalisation play, and where are the new opportunities? We pose these and other questions to Hubertus Paetow, President of DLG in Germany.

The advancing climate change, increasing loss of biodiversity, the growing population and the associated global demand for resources will shape future arable farming. How can these challenges be met?

I believe we need to become much more open to everything that can be roughly categorised as innovation in the direction of greater sustainability. The theme of the field days “Out of the box” shows this. We naturally find it difficult to understand progress in terms of questioning the familiar and looking for something new. Especially when the familiar works quite well in the short term.

In the entire toolbox of innovations, we must never exclude anything from the start because the problem determines the solution, and not the other way around. Neither 100% organic farming, 100% smart farming nor 100% genetic engineering will help us, but it will probably be a mixture of everything.

DLG President Hubertus Paetow manages an arable farm in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Photo credit: DLG

Are there only conflicting interests between production and ecology. Which innovations benefit both goals equally?

Admittedly, some conflicts of interest cannot be resolved even with the best formulations, nor can they be resolved with technical progress. The trivial wisdom that where there is a dense crop of wheat, there will not be enough flowers for pollinating insects is a fact. And the fact that we need this wheat population for land productivity is not something we can change much with innovations.

It is much more a question of achieving a better balance. The concept of productivity plays a role here. We are used to measuring productivity in tonnes per hectare, but that is only half the truth. Of course, the breeding pairs of skylarks per hectare are just as much a part of ecological productivity. Or the avoidance of nitrate input into the groundwater, and so on. As always, when we have such conflicts, it’s best if we measure and balance them somehow.

Are innovations a Unique Selling Point?

Absolutely, and in Germany, we have to make sure that it stays that way. After all, we don’t have the lowest land costs or the lowest labour costs – we can only be competitive through efficiency and that depends on innovation. Any political measure that limits the scope for innovation really needs to be very well justified. We can still score points through innovation, we just have to make sure that we handle the delicate plant carefully.

If sustainability can be evaluated objectively, does it matter whether our systems are organic, conventional or regenerative?

It is not a given that an organic farm will perform better in the overall sustainability assessment than a well-managed conventional farm. In this respect, this system of indicators is dependent on agreement being reached at some point. That is the biggest problem, because the indicators are described, as is the methodology for recording and evaluating them.

Let’s take farm-to-fork as an example. Indicators were wildly plucked out of the air for this. Is a 50% reduction in pesticides really a useful indicator for biodiversity conservation? I say no, because it can develop just as well if I don’t reduce crop protection so much, but instead establish a wider crop rotation, for example.

The use of chemical crop protection will become more challenging in the future. How can production and environmental interests be balanced here?

It is always extremely damaging to think in rigid categories about improving sustainability. If you publicly announce that you want to reduce the use of pesticides and see this as an end in itself, then no company will develop new active ingredients because they know they can’t sell them, even if this active ingredient is ‘biodiversity friendly’. That is the great disadvantage of losing sight of the actual goal – namely biodiversity conservation – when creating political instruments.

The world won’t get any better just because we only spray half as much. It may well be that we can achieve this target in a different way, which may be better than with a rigid reduction or territorial framework.

Many see ‘digitalisation’ as the key to the future. Where is the problem and what promises success?

It always becomes difficult when several components have to work together and data cannot overcome certain restrictions between different systems. There is still a lot of catching up to do. Let’s take the example of combined chemical-mechanical weed control in sugar beet, i.e. band spraying and hoeing. Here you always have different machine and equipment manufacturers involved and no one can offer you a system ‘out of the box’. As the DLG, we are trying to make progress in this area with a platform like FarmRobotix.

I see the greatest potential in AI-supported decision-making systems. Is the pest below the damage threshold? Can I do without treatment? Many farm managers still find it difficult to make this decision and take the risk. If they had greater certainty through the use of AI, it would be easier. And of course, the most biodiversity-friendly measure is the one I don’t take at all.
First look: Innovations that might be on your farm

Around 2,500 delegates attended the World AgriTech Innovation Summit in San Francisco in March. Mike Abram went along to hear about some new exciting innovations.

If you’re the CEO or founder of an agritech start-up, or looking to find such companies, it’s the place to be. If you’re the global head of sustainability or digital agriculture for a global food brand, retailer, machinery or ag input manufacturer it’s also a more-than-useful event to be seen and perhaps heard.

If you’re a farmer, it’s probably not even on your radar, at least based on attendance lists, although any farmer interested in new tech will find a huge amount to be interested in. The price of entry might put you off though.

The place is San Francisco in March, where the largest of five World AgriTech Innovation Summits around the world takes place.

Around 2,500 attendees meet for an event that is a mix of conference – panel sessions discussing topics such as regenerative agriculture, artificial intelligence, new breeding techniques and future of agtech funding – and exhibition both for established agtech companies and start-ups looking to tell the world about their big idea and hopefully encourage new investment to help make it a reality.

Among those firms was Crop Diagnostix, which is attempting to bring crop intelligence to a new level by analysing hole punch size leaf samples to understand plant health.

But unlike more traditional plant health tests, which rely on visual symptoms for diagnosis or tissue tests that could give inconsistent results, Crop Diagnostix analyses the plant leaf’s RNA to reveal the plant’s gene expression, CEO Brandon Chi explained.

“We help plants communicate with farmers and agronomists,” he said. “The power of gene expression is that genes within the plant are turning on and off in response to environment constantly.

“A plant can look green and healthy but be feeling some signs of nutrient deficiency or starvation. Through gene expression we can look at all facets of plant health at the earliest possible stage and because we don’t need visual symptoms to make a diagnosis, we can see that at a much earlier stage,” he said.

For example, in corn, growers could start to understand plant health from the V2 to V3 stage rather than V5 or later. “This gives the farmer weeks of actionability in advance compared with other technologies.”

Once the leaf RNA is analysed, Crop Diagnostix uses machine learning to mine through gene expression data to understand which genes are switched on or off to figure out what’s happening in the plant.

That could help answer questions around nutrient stress or even whether a plant was able to reach maximum yield potential based on the current gene expression, Brandon suggested.

With an infinite number of possibilities for the technology, Crop Diagnostix is initially concentrating on helping growers with nitrogen applications and other nutrient deficiencies in corn, after the initial research by co-founder Joseph Swift for his PhD found biomarkers that could predict yield and nutrient stress based on genetic expression in rice.

“We hope to launch a commercial product in 2025, and then rapidly scale up for 2026,” Brandon said. Samples will cost around $20 (£16)compared with $30-60 for a spectroscopy sample, with the added benefit that it is non-destructive and it doesn’t matter which leaf is sampled.

Other areas of trials include club root in oilseed rape and fusarium in onion where the company is involved in trials in the UK.

“These are high pain point pathogens with long asymptomatic periods that growers aren’t able to detect early on.”

Another company providing crop intelligence to farmers is Taranis, which uses drones to capture crop imagery at submillimetre resolution to monitor fields through the entire season, complemented with data from satellite imagery.

Already a commercial offer covering millions of acres of corn, soybeans and cotton in the USA and Brazil, the company had more recently started providing a service to sugar beet and potato growers in Germany, with France likely to follow soon, CEO Opher Flohr told Tech Farmer.

“Our biggest differentiator, which I’m not aware of anyone else doing, is offering very high leaf level resolution at 0.3 mm/pixel.

“To give a little perspective we would be able to read your business card from the sky or see the spots on a ladybird. There’s no difference between that and a human being standing over a weed and looking with their own eyes.”

The same kind of resolution is possible using the firm’s proprietary imaging pod on a plane which has patented technology to fix the image in the same position even while the plane is flying at full speed.

“It uses mirrors, gyros and different lasers to take the same, perhaps even slightly better imaging than we can with off-the-shelf drones,” Opher said.

Once a grower has signed up for the service, which in the US costs around $13/ac (£26/ha) through an ag retailer, and provided field location, crop and planting date, Taranis automatically schedules all the drone or plane flights.

“We operate all the pilots,” Opher said. “Making sure the pilots arrive at the field at the right crop stage to deliver insight and value to the farmer, while building the right software and tools to optimise flight plans and image quality is a huge task, which is probably why we haven’t seen anyone else provide a service like this.”

As well as weed identification, Taranis also offers accurate, AI-powered insights into plant stands – extremely useful to help provide precise information about replanting decisions that can provide a large return on investment – and disease, pest and nutrition insights.

Soils are, not surprisingly, a big growth area for investment in agtech with new ideas at the event aiming to potentially help farmers improve soil health or understanding and management of their key asset.

Mexican/American biotech start-up Solena is using its AI-driven Prometheus platform to analyse and compare the functions of microbes from two different performing areas of a field or farm, for example the highest and lowest yielding parts.

“All farmers know what the best or worst performing areas on a farm are,” chief financial officer Gerardo Guerrero told Tech Farmer. “So if the seed is the same, the climate, the irrigation system, the difference is in the microbiome.”

That information can then be used to recommend how to improve the poorer performing areas with customised inputs, including dose and timing, based on the soil microbiome.

Initial use cases have concentrated on finding differences in pathogens to help target biological or chemical input use to boost crop performance, or, in the case of a potato project with PepsiCo in north Mexico to help growers identify when they don’t need to apply pesticides.

“We were able to reduce chemical applications by 30% compared with the previous season, while maintaining yields,” Gerardo said.

That kind of in-season analysis would help PepsiCo to drive regenerative agriculture adoption without losing productivity, he noted.

Californian-based Biome Makers is on a similar path with its soil microbiome analysis. Over the past 10 years the firm has analysed soils from six continents, 56 countries and over 200 crops to build a database of over 24m microorganisms, making it, according to Biome Makers, the largest database of soil data.

“What we do is decode soil biology to optimise farming practices and improve soil health,” explained Sarah Basiri, global head of marketing. “We extract microbial DNA from the soil, analyse it, and then using our BeCrop Technology, we analyse the functions of microorganisms to understand what is happening below ground.”

Ralph Weir Zayndu credit Zayndu

The results provide key agronomic insights, such as early disease detection, identification of beneficial microbes with positive impacts on pests or diseases, or ones that mobilise a whole range of nutrients, including nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, as well as micronutrients.

It also helps farmers understand whether there are microbes present that are linked to withstanding stress conditions or promoting or regulating crop growth, such as auxins, cytokinins and gibberellins.

“Farmers and advisers can use these results to understand how management practices and ag inputs impact the soil microbiome,” Sarah said. “And we can also help advisers provide tailored recommendations and place the correct product based on these biological insights.”

A single introductory test cost $199 (£159), although buying the service through an ag retailer in the US brought the cost down to $3-9/acre (£6-18/ha), Sarah said.

Pluton Biosciences is also trying into tap into the world of microbes, but this time in pursuit of consortia of microbes that will solve particular challenges. “Why try to rediscover the wheel when you can search for microbes that are already doing what you’re looking for,” suggested Adam Blaszczak, Pluton Bioscience’s vice-president of R&D.

One of the first development products emerging from the micro-mining process undertaken by the firm was a microbial consortium that will capture carbon from the atmosphere, Adam told Tech Farmer.

The concept, which started as a collaboration with Bayer, is based on the observation that soil microbe pioneers in the desert can live off carbon and nitrogen from the atmosphere, forming a film of crust on the soil surface.

Pluton’s proof of concept research predicts the right grouping of microbes, applied in a spray at planting and harvest can scrub 1t/acre/year of CO₂e from the atmosphere to help address climate change while replenishing nutrients in the soil, potentially earning farmers carbon credits.

“The idea is they could be an alternative to cover crops, while also helping to reduce soil erosion and fertiliser requirements in following crops,” Adam said.

Field testing of the first generation was due this spring, while next generation development was already underway with the potential to add microbes that secreted a molecule that looked like coal to store carbon more permanently in the soil, he added.

Could next generation seed priming improve crop performance?

Both biostimulants and elicitors have had their fair share of challenges in gaining the trust of farmers, mostly because the performance of both has been inconsistent at best.

But two start-up companies at the World AgriTech Innovation Summit were suggesting that they had developed products that would change that perception.

UK-based start-up Zayndu uses cold plasma – a kind of ionised gas – to activate the air around seeds, explained CEO Ralph Weir.

“That improves seed health in a number of ways. Firstly, it kills off any pathogens that might be on the seed surface.

“It also removes the waxy layer that seeds are coated in, which is there to waterproof the seed. That’s counterintuitive when you think seeds need water to germinate.”

Ralph Weir Zayndu credit Zayndu

The plasma creates micro fissures on the seed surface which helps moisture get into seeds, with the combined effect of enabling the seed to germinate more quickly.

“Activating the air also re-arranges the nitrogen into nitrates and nitrites, which are noted for being fertilisers, and by also creating these little fissures, it enables the fertiliser to get close to the embryo,” Ralph said.

“Now the seeds have quick and easy access to water and fertiliser just as we are about to plant them.

“We also tweak the hormone balance in the seed a little bit, effectively saying it is your time to germinate – it removes any conservatism in the seed. A lot of seeds hold back energy when germinating in case of drought or other stress, but our technology is mostly designed for greenhouses or other controlled environments so you don’t need to worry about those things.

“The end result is quicker germination, and bigger, stronger seedlings and roots. And it turns out if you do that in the wild and there is a drought, it’s actually in a better place because of the stronger roots. We typically see something like 20% uplift in yields, or it allows a grower to hit spec size or weight more quickly – say in 20 days rather than 23 days in a greenhouse , which means you can do more cycles in a year.”

Zero Gravity Solutions, meanwhile, is using a plant priming platform originally developed for NASA to grow robust, nutrient-dense plants in hostile environments.

“We offer a next generation biostimulant technology,” CEO John McLean claimed. “It’s a product that allows plants to protect themselves.

“The way our product works is we developed a set of chemical elicitors that the plant perceives as a stress signal,” he explained.

That signal causes the plant to grow faster to get to the next generation by producing seed more quickly, and in some cases, depending on the nature of the stress signal, encourages the plant to produce antioxidant molecules which resist disease, he said.

“As climate becomes more variable in terms of temperature and water availability, it’s helpful for plants to be able to activate its natural defences. The plant can react to diseases and stresses but pre-priming acts like a vaccine, and allows the plant to respond quickly and aggressively to these kinds of stresses and challenges.”

Elicitors in the past had struggled with the natural conflict between energy used to produce defence mechanisms and the energy needed to produce yield, he said. “We’ve addressed both of those issues.

“Our elicitors are designed to activate a number of pathways simultaneously inside the plant, so you get a broader set of protections against disease. Secondly, we have been able to understand the mode of action sufficiently to optimise the balance between improving yield and fighting disease.”

While the main focus for the product is high value fruit and vegetable crops, the firm has also investigated row crops, such as soybeans and wheat. “We’ve exciting data on soybean rust showing we can reverse infections and recover yields, while in wheat trials in India that showed yield increases of 30% when using the elicitor in combination with fertiliser over fertiliser treated wheat alone.”