Autumn Crops Despite another wet autumn crops are relatively clean and well established. OSR had reduced CSF grazing this year and pigeons/slugs aside, looks well. The dry spring has kept diseases down throughout flowering and crops are now podding up nicely. Harvest will soon be upon us and we’ll see how yields have fared. Premium …
A comprehensive Agrii trial focusing on different combinations of drilling date, cultivation technique and drill options is delivering vital insight into the best management strategies for achieving the most effective blackgrass control while encouraging strongly early crop growth. Delaying drilling to give the best options for blackgrass control or simply because of challenging autumn conditions …
By Louise Penn I’m still undecided on how I feel about this season, and from an agronomic perspective, I can’t quite predict where yields will land. On one hand, crops have faced relentless pressure: a wet autumn followed by a record breaking dry spring. But on the other hand, some crops have surprised me and …
Looking Ahead: Building Resilience After Another Testing Season Read More »
Time to give soils a lift? After two incessantly wet winters followed by virtual drought conditions, soil biology is approaching an all-time low in many fields, says Chris Martin, Agrovista’s head of soil health. He urges all growers, including the most ardent regen enthusiasts, to check they are not heading for a costly backward step …
By Tim Ashley, Edaphos Agronomy Introduction The 2025 wheat season has revealed significant vulnerabilities in cereal production systems across the UK. Yellow rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) has emerged as the most problematic disease of the year, affecting a wide range of wheat varieties, including those previously considered resistant. The widespread reliance on fungicides, …
Yellow Rust: A Symptom of Systemic Weakness in Cereal Cropping Systems Read More »
Spring cropping provides one of the best opportunities for control of problem grassweeds, but with only a few of the selective herbicides used in the autumn authorised for application in the spring, growers need to plan carefully if they are to achieve the high-level control needed. Spring weed control requires different tactics because there are …
Newer herbicides and multiple modes of action are the key to grassweed control success Read More »
Written by George Hepburn, Crop Nutrition Consultant with AIVA. The time has come to think about crop nutrition and the questions that I hear year on year are: should I be doing tissue tests? Or sap analysis? Which crops? At what stage? How many fields? Is it even worth it? If you are looking to …
Responding to the challenges of climate change and extreme weather with versatile varieties Although it’s fair to say that growing cereal crops in the western half of Scotland has always been a challenge with unpredictable weather and a shorter growing season, it’s now apparent that “tough” is becoming “very tough” following two out of …
“Roots, Rotation and Resilience: The first steps to a more productive and profitable future. The need for a more resilient and productive farming system is clear, but moving forward requires a shift from short-term yields to long-term sustainability. Transitioning to a regenerative or more sustainable system involves practices that rebuild soil health, enhance biodiversity, and …
Drone technology is unlocking the potential of traditional crop trials and helping to bridge the gap between detailed laboratory studies and field trials. Drones were used to assess an oilseed rape trial this spring at a site in Yorkshire, gathering data that hasn’t been possible before. The trial is a collaboration between Envirofield, Agrii and …
