Written by Mike Donovan I have some sympathy for the new Defra Secretary Ranil Jayawardena. He got the job on Sept 6 and before the month was out was facing questions over ELMS – the greatest change in UK farming since the 1947 Agriculture Act. Ranil’s knowledge of farming is scant and he was surely …
There’s quiet confidence in farming at present, and it looks like there will be more money than normal available for investment. Andersons ‘Loam Farm’, their virtual 600ha of combinable crops, is forecast to have a business surplus of £840/ha (on an output value of £1966/ ha) this year compared with £573 in 2021 – but …
Farming is not the only industry to face tsunami-sized variations in product prices and input costs. Think airlines, oil, retail, manufacturing, restaurants, hair dressers, theatres… I recently had a very interesting conversation with a very senior oil man who explained the hugely difficult and expensive process of shutting down a refinery and the equal cost …
If this issue of Direct Drilling says anything, it is that farmers are not afraid of change. Every one of the farmer focus articles describes how the contributor has made changes to many of the inputs under their control. It provides a vast amount of highly relevant and valuable information for all involved in arable …
Despite the pandemic and the likely economic crises in its wake, people continue to experience a growing anxiety concerning greenhouse gases (GHG) and climate change, which extends to include farms and food production. While farming, and the process of photosynthesis, is one of the few ways of reducing CO2, livestock production and soil cultivation release …
Substituting the plough, power harrow, sub-soiler and cultivator for a one-pass machine makes sense for any farm. Creating a soil environment which allows nature to do the hard work is, as we all know, beneficial to farm profitability, farming lives, greenhouse gas emissions, birds and bees. These benefits fit with the thinking of Defra minister …
Once again I am delighted to be involved with the production of this issue, Direct Driller #12. These pages are filled with facts and figures that have the power to direct arable farmers towards more profitable and long term goals which will stand the test of time. They very much fulfil the original purpose of …
Welcome to another 100 pages of Direct Driller magazine. Pages that tell farmers so much about the mysteries of soil and the ways ingenious engineers and scientists have devised to handle it. This story has only recently become news. In recent years the world of media, politics and education have begun to grasp the story, …
We, the readers of Direct Driller, need to give a huge round of applause to Clive and Chris, the energy behind this magazine, together with all the contributors to this issue. The contents is truly awe-inspiring, and the knowledge it contains colossal. It’s impossible to pick individual articles because that relegates the others, and it …
No-till farmers are increasingly seeing grass as a useful arable break crop. The mat of grass roots created by No-till provides a fertile top layer of soil for the cash crop, which also benefits from the deep rooting pasture species. Grass builds soil structure and fertility, and also provides a useful income. Hence our cover …
