18 months ago, it came to our attention that a new revised soil management and cultivation guide was needed for the UK. The last comprehensive guide on soil structure was produced in 2001 by National Soil Resources Institute. The remit was challenging. • It had to work for all farmer and land managers, engaged in …
AHDB’S New Soil Management Guide Now In Print. Read More »
Evolution or revolution? Two AHDB Monitor Farmers (Richard Payne and Hew Willett) tell their story of theirjourney to direct drilling, with an introduction from Harry Henderson, AHDB There was once a time when establishing a cereal crop was a straightforward standard process. Bale or burn the straw, subsoil if necessary, plough press, power harrow, and …
AHDB Knowledge Exchange Manager, Teresa Meadows paid a visit to the New Zealand Foundation of ArableResearch to understand how they are tackling key agricultural challenges faced by UK farmers. Soil health, improving soil structure, wider environmental concerns and high-quality yields are certainly at the front of New Zealand arable farmers minds, as they are ours. …
If you want to know how healthy you are, there are a myriad of tests and tools to help you ‘quantify’ yourbody condition – blood pressure, body mass index and cholesterol level, for example. Now there is a move todevelop ways to quantify the health of your soil, too. In 2016, AHDB and BBRO funded …
Soil Health: Let’s Get Physical (Chemical And Biological) Read More »
AHDB Animal Scientist, Siwan Howatson, takes a closer look at the potential to incorporate livestock into the arable rotation through establishing a grass ley, while improving soil organic matter and increasing soil resilience. Soil organic matter (SOM) is an essential element because it provides the soil with the resilience it needs to sustain a crop, …
Cost of production? Cash only net margin? Machinery depreciation per hectare? Holly Shaw, AHDB’sKnowledge Exchange Manager for Benchmarking in East Anglia looks into the detail. AHDB’s Farmbench online benchmarking tool hopes to take the mystery out of physical and financial performance of multiple farm enterprises. The updated tool now incorporates cross-sector recording, including combinable, potatoes, …
Charlotte Rowley, AHDB Crop Protection Scientist runs the rule over CSFB in 2019 If you are a regular Twitter user, you might be wondering how there is any oilseed rape left in some parts of the country following the onslaught of cabbage stem flea beetle this year. Pictures have been posted from across the country …
All that glitters is not gold. Harry Henderson, AHDB Technical Knowledge Exchange Managerdiscusses the latest thinking in machinery costings. With all the debates held at Monitor Farm meetings, which rumbled on about machinery costs a couple of spin-off debates came to fruition. A recent visit to Scotland found me standing in front of farmers talking …
We are all in need of healthy soils but how can we create that magical organic matter cocktail,Dr James Holmes from AHDB shares some simple advice on what to look for Soil organic matter is a mysterious substance with legendary qualities yet practical guidance on how to manage it has been thin on the ground. …
AHDB’s Crop Protection Scientist, Charlotte Rowley, assesses new methods of control against slugs in the face of theindustry losing metaldehyde. Following the announcement from Defra on the withdrawal of metaldehyde in 2020, thoughts are again turning towards slug management. The good news is that there is an effective alternative: ferric phosphate has been shown to …
