A New BYDV Tool Arrives This Summer
New AHDB BYDV management tool
Biofungicide performance pilot for wheat
AHDB-funded trials will provide independent information on the potential of biofungicides in winter wheat. Jason Pole, AHDB Technical Content Manager, explains. Options are good for disease management because they provide flexibility, add strength to integrated pest management (IPM) and help reduce fungicide resistance risks. Biofungicides are an emerging area of interest, but they must get …
Generating lower-input variety data
Jason Pole, AHDB Technical Content Manager, explains how innovative trials aim to pinpoint elusive crop characteristics to help farmers reduce input use. Every year, efforts are renewed in the quest to grow profitable crops. The fundamental ways to achieve this are well-understood but there is always scope for improvement, which includes turning towards genetics even …
The four weaknesses of ergot
Jason Pole, AHDB Technical Content Manager, explains how knowing what makes the ergot pathogen tick can help target management to reduce disease pressure, limit crop infection and keep clean grain clean. Ergot (Claviceps purpurea) grows in and replaces grain with its own fungal tissues, which eventually form a hard, purple-black sclerotium (with a white interior) known …
Reboot for CSFB management
The strongest set of cabbage stem flea beetle (CSFB) management strategies to date has been released to help reverse the fortunes of oilseed rape (OSR). Jason Pole, AHDB Technical Content Manager, explains. We have seen large year-on-year reductions in the OSR area over the last decade. For harvest 2025, the AHDB Planting and Variety Survey …
What makes RL trials tick?
AHDB is demystifying the Recommended Lists for cereals and oilseeds (RL) by bringing the processes that underpin them to life. Jason Pole, AHDB Technical Content Manager, explains. With a focus on the RL protocols, our winter wheat on trial initiative is revealing how we decide which varieties to sow and recommend – and everything in …
Cover crop champion update
A network of cover crop champions is providing a practical view on the impact of cover crop approaches. Technical Content Manager Jason Pole provides an update on the AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds’ initiative. During summer 2024, we asked farmers growing cover crops ahead of various cash crops for harvest 2025 if they would be willing …
OSR monitoring network strengthened to help predict CSFB migration
AHDB will monitor cabbage stem flea beetle (CSFB) at several winter oilseed rape sites across England to track migration this autumn. Work to track the cabbage stem flea beetle is part of a long-term effort to determine the factors affecting adult migration, with the ultimate ambition to provide a way to predict the start, duration …
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Adapting nitrogen at Strategic Cereal Farms
Senior Knowledge Transfer Manager Henny Lowth introduces the nitrogen trials at AHDB Strategic Cereal Farms, ahead of the release of this year’s results in November. How nitrogen behaves in farming systems is often variable and hard to pin down. With nitrogen prices stuck above pre-Ukraine-war and pre-energy-crisis levels, there is an emphasis on the nutrient …
AHDB outlines biostimulants basics
The reviewers found that nine of the 11 product categories were associated with a statistically significant increase in yield in at least one experiment. For the most common product categories – seaweed extracts, humic substances, phosphite and plant-growth-promoting bacteria – statistically significant yield responses were observed for 3/7, 3/4, 4/17 and 13/15 cereal experiments, respectively. Data for oilseed rape was found to be lacking for all products, and no firm conclusions could be made.