Overview: Reduced or minimum tillage requires soils to be in good condition for an efficient and effective transition from more conventionally tilled situations. Promoting healthy, biologically active and aerobic soil conditions is key to all forms of successful farming, and especially important where such activity, allied to vigorous crop root development and growth, can result …
Regen and Tech – Hand-in-Hand Written by Daniel Davies, Arable Division at Lower Pertwood Farm – Nov 2023 The concept of regenerative agriculture is continuing to gather momentum across the globe. To me, it is clear that technology is going to play a bigger part than ever in farming, as methods continue to change and …
The Government has set out a strong desire for the UK to be an agri-tech powerhouse. Tech Farmer looks behind the ministerial announcements to what they may mean for on-farm R&D. By Tom Allen-Stevens UK Agriculture is set to get an Agri-Tech Catapult, following the announcement by the Government that three of the four Agri-Tech …
Knowing basic infrastructural information about fields is a key requirement to unlocking technological progress for an Oxfordshire wine producer. Tech Farmer visits JoJo’s vineyard. By Mike Abram Three simple words explain why Ian Beecher Jones, and his partner Tess, started the 2ha JoJo’s vineyard that nestles on the chalky slopes of the Chiltern Hills, not …
Written by Thomas Gent, UK Market Lead for Agreena As part of a British farming family which has worked the land for generations, we have witnessed firsthand the shifts in weather patterns and the challenges they pose to our farming practices. The threat of climate change is no longer a distant concern; it’s an immediate …
John Miles, Agrii seed technical manager, explains why variety choice is the primary consideration when planning cultivation regime, drilling date and fungicide strategy Not all varieties perform equally. It may seem an obvious statement to make, but it promotes the bigger question: which will do well on my farm, and which won’t? Given the interest …
Trials show value of stronger varieties in ‘lower input’ regimes Read More »
Precision in calculating emissions and sequestration in agricultural soils is crucial for the carbon footprint of crops, grass, and livestock, and for the valuation of natural capital. Dr Alasdair Sykes, Trinity AgTech’s managing director of sustainability, explores the latest advances in quantifying and understanding nitrous oxide emissions. According to industry reports, in 2019 nitrous oxide …
Written by Joe Stanley from the Allerton Project It’s well established, including by our own research (in part discussed in June’s article on our pioneering Conservation Agriculture trial), that a move to reduced tillage or direct drilling (DD) can generally be considered beneficial for the triumvirate of farm economics, soil health and environmental sustainability. With …
After five years of cover crops and reduced tillage cultivations, Kent farm manager Dom Hughes reviews his experience – and how good advice has been vital to not making a mess of it. “Slowly, slowly catchee monkey” has become my mantra. This old English proverb, which is another way of saying ‘be patient’, is perhaps …
High silt content soils make for a slow drilling transition Read More »
Written by James Warne from Soil First Farming Many years of looking at soil proves to me that cultivations never improve soil structure. They may help to overcome an immediate problem – like compaction. But they are only ever a short-term fix; and not a very good one, either. Cultivations always leave some sort of …
