Written by Chris Fellows We have recently taken part in an Innovate UK competition to try and encourage farmers to read from formal material. Trial results, papers, research, on-farm projects and so forth. The assumption being that farmers who are better informed, make better decisions and thus become more profitable or sustainable (or both hopefully). …
Chris Fellows reviews important research into this ignored gas which pollutes our atmosphere. Reducing tillage could result in less production of a potent greenhouse gas, according to a study out of Penn State University. Nitrous oxide, also known as “laughing gas,” is the most important greenhouse gas after methane and carbon dioxide and the biggest …
Does No-Till Means Less Nitrous Oxide in the Atmosphere? Read More »
Getting a confession out the way. About a third of my meals are 100% vegan. But in balance, an evening dinner rarely doesn’t contain meat. I like to think this is normal. Nutritionally balanced. A healthy diet, that supports a healthy farming ecosystem of arable and livestock. What’s not to like about that? Well, everything …
As executive editor of Direct Driller I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new sponsor Trinity AgTech and its founder and executive chairman Dr Hosein Khajeh-Hosseiny. At the same time, give most sincere thanks to ProCam for their support and inspiration from the magazine’s first issue. Procam have been great from the …
CHRIS FELLOWS We are becoming increasing divided by the type of media we consume. We see this on Twitter, The Farming Forum, LinkedIn and Facebook. Everyone tends to read sites and articles that reflect their own views. Reinforcing what they already think, the way they evaluate problems and how they react. This is often referred …
Some people are born to be leaders, most just learn on the way. The latter seems to be how it works in farming. Our leaders are bred. Groomed though various roles to be the right mix of farmer and business we need to represent us. I’ve had the pleasure in meeting some of the spokespeople …
The “3.5% rule” refers to the claim that no government or organisation has withstood a challenge of this percentage of their population or membership mobilised against it during a peak event. This rule is based on an insight that political scientist Mark Lichbach developed in his 1995 book “The Rebel’s Dilemma”. In it, he speculates …
There is so much talk about carbon at the moment, and there is no doubt that farmers will make some income by changing practices to sequester a bit more carbon. Buying HVO versions of Red Diesel is just an example of a way to do this. It costs you are little more to fill the …
Written by Chris Fellows Farming is becoming as much about what we can’t see as what we can. We as farmers already know that. Many of the articles in this magazine cover what can’t be seen and the complexity of modern-day sustainable farming. Greenhouse gases in the air can’t be seen, our crops and tramlines …
We have featured articles on many different types of robots that will at some point influence the way we farm, but have the simple wins in the arable world have been ignored? Possibly because they don’t benefit the trade, maybe they are simply a bad idea or maybe a bit of both. However, if the …
