The Silent System Beneath Your Boots Written by Hugh Goldsworthy, Farm Landscape Contractor and Independent Soil Researcher If you have never heard of quorum sensing, do not worry, you are not alone. Ask a room full of farmers or soil scientists about it and many/if not most, will not have heard of it either. But …
Quorum Sensing: The Soil Network Hiding in Plain Sight Read More »
A new benchmarking report comparing 78 regenerative farms across Europe provides evidence of how regenerative farming can outperform the average conventional system Written by Mike Abram Pioneering regenerative farms across Europe are delivering 20% higher gross margins than the average conventional farm, while using 61% less synthetic nitrogen and 75% less pesticide. Yields were only …
Report suggests regenerative farming pioneers are outperforming conventional approaches Read More »
Joe Stanley, Allerton Project and Graham Redman, The Andersons Centre Joe Stanley Since 2017, the Allerton Project has been conducting a nationally significant long-term rotational field trial in partnership with Syngenta across five fields of our heavy-land site. The initial five-year phase of the trial, as outlined in the June 2023 issue of Direct Driller, …
Revisiting the Syngenta Conservation Agriculture Project. Read More »
Written by Joe Stanley from the Allerton Project ‘I know it isn’t the sexiest subject, but…’ is invariably where any mention of agricultural field drainage begins, invariably accompanied by an apologetic shrug of the shoulders and a gaze cast toward the ground. Personally, I take the opposite view. I have always been fascinated by field …
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 …
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 …
Could hyperspectral imaging revolutionise nitrogen management in agriculture? Clemmie Gleeson spoke to George Marangos-Gilks, CEO of agritech startup Messium to find out.
Hyperspectral imagery can overcome the limitations of existing nitrogen assessment methods, equipping farmers with high level insights that could optimise fertiliser applications according to George Marangos-Gilks.
Soil sampling is an essential tool in understanding the nutrient availability of soils, but unless the results are interpreted correctly it could be a wasted exercise.
That’s according to Simon Francis, Technical and Services Manager for ProCam, who explains that not only is soil sampling required for farm assurance compliance purposes and to meet the statutory requirements of an increasing number of SFI schemes, but it is also time well invested in ensuring crops can perform to their full potential.
Following on from a farm trial undertaken by Andy Cato’s Wildfarmed farms, (as mentioned in our Farmer Profile issue Nov’ 24) we’re drilling down (pardon the pun) into the technology behind a new technique for measuring soil health – ecoacoustics. Ecoacoustics is an emerging science which investigates natural and anthropogenic sounds and their relationship with …
Ecoacoustics – a new underground horizon for soil health Read More »
The new regen agriculture section at Cereals provided growers the chance to receive advice from well-known regenerative farmers and industry experts. We pick out some of the best tips from a session about the Sustainable Farming Incentive Written by Mike Abram How to maximise the benefits from the Sustainable Farming Incentive and make it work …
