AHDB-funded trials will provide independent information on the potential of biofungicides in winter wheat. Jason Pole, AHDB Technical Content Manager, explains. Options are good for disease management because they provide flexibility, add strength to integrated pest management (IPM) and help reduce fungicide resistance risks. Biofungicides are an emerging area of interest, but they must get […]
Biofungicide performance pilot for wheat Read More »
Written by Chris Fellows The term “regenerative agriculture” is on everyone’s lips, from the halls of government to the supermarket aisles. With it comes the tantalising promise of premium prices for our crops and livestock. But as the market floods with a dizzying array of certifications, standards and claims, many of us on the ground
Can Certification Truly Pay for UK Farmers? Read More »
This is one of the questions being explored by 2026 Nuffield Scholar Matthew Steel. As agriculture faces increasing pressure to reduce emissions, cut input costs and improve efficiency, many farm businesses are already evolving. Renewable energy is already part of the picture on many farms, from solar to AD, but what if the next step
What if farmers weren’t just producing food, but fuel too? Read More »
Over the past thirty-five years, the Allerton Project has been at the forefront of many developments in how we now manage the farmed landscape. In that time, we’ve collected a huge volume of often quixotic data on everything from farmland bird and insect numbers to the rooting depths of plants under different biostimulant treatments. However,
The Allerton Project Read More »
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 »
Across climates, continents and farming systems, one thing united these Nuffield Presenting Scholars in Aberdeen: soil is no longer just a technical consideration, but a social, economic and cultural one too. From understanding why farmers change their practices, to investigating the future of peatland management, these two scholars offer complementary insights into how soil will
Jason Pole, AHDB Technical Content Manager, explains how innovative trials aim to pinpoint elusive crop characteristics to help farmers reduce input use. Every year, efforts are renewed in the quest to grow profitable crops. The fundamental ways to achieve this are well-understood but there is always scope for improvement, which includes turning towards genetics even
Generating lower-input variety data Read More »
Written by George Hepburn and Olivia Bye from Aiva Fertilisers A simple topic made to be complex, carbon underlies the health and value of our soil ecosystems. Building reservoirs of carbon, and the variety of options available is where things become shrouded. The sliding scale of carbon begins at its simplest form, molasses. Components of
Carbon, simple or complex? Read More »
The much-awaited report from Minette Batters on farm profitability was released by Defra shortly before Christmas. Tom Allen-Stevens summarises what it means for soil pioneers. Building soil health at pace is central to improving the resilience and long-term profitability of English farming, according to the Farming Profitability Review led by Baroness Minette Batters. It calls
SOILSHOT approach key to profitable, resilient farming Read More »
Written by Chris Fellows The promise of a high-tech farming future is here, but for many UK farmers it remains tantalisingly out of reach. We are caught in a dangerous limbo: a “Gramsci Gap” where the old ways of farming are dying, but the new, tech-driven world is struggling to be born. As a farming
Mind the Gap: Why UK Agritech is Stuck in the “Time of Monsters” Read More »
