Written by Joe Stanley, Head of Sustainable Farming A year ago I wrote in these pages about the relatively neglected state of interest in land drainage in recent decades and the increasingly degraded nature of much of our field drainage network. My hope at the time was to initiate a research project at the Allerton […]
Groundbreaking Field Drainage project gets underway at the Allerton Project Read More »
Written by James Warne from Soil First Farming Some of you may be aware that Steve has taken a small step back from running Soil First Farming in recent years. I have been left to steer the ship and try to keep the business true to its original aims. More recently, Paul has joined us,
An Inversion Conversion? 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 »
Cutting per-tonne costs, boosting yields, maximising income and building healthier soils; these should be key priorities given the challenges facing the farming sector, says Jeff Claydon, Suffolk arable farmer and inventor of the Claydon Opti-Till® direct seeding system. 25 May 2025 Hanslope series clay certainly brings significant challenges and makes timeliness essential, but this spring
Time to Focus on key priorities Read More »
Written by Dr David Cutress: IBERS, Aberystwyth University. • Seaweeds have long had suggested benefits for agricultural use• Research suggests green seaweeds to be beneficial for soil/plant amendments and redseaweeds to have some potential for animal feeds• To be able to include at meaningful levels, the production and supply chain ofseaweeds needs to be researched
Seaweed in agriculture Read More »
By Anna Woodley from Trinity AgTech For generations, farmers have been finely tuned to the physical and financial cycles of their land – balancing input costs with yield, timing the market, and managing unpredictable weather. The ability to manage complexity and make it pay is a defining skill of British agriculture. But in a rapidly
June 2025 It has been over a year since my last DD article and rather a lot has happened in that time which is affecting all businesses and especially farming. I think there are opportunities out there if you are prepared to take on the challenge but there is a lot of uncertainty in the
Farmer Focus – John Farrington Read More »
With harvest well under way in parts of the country we, once again, are thinking about autumn establishment. With commodity prices under pressure, and support measures falling away, what are you doing to cut cost and attempt to maintain profitability. Being a soil consultant, I am always going to argue that the soil is the
Can you afford not to…? Read More »
Written by James Warne With zero-till the answer is probably never. The reason behind the question is that once again seed drills have been out in the field before the soil conditions are suitable. Putting seed into the ground and getting it to emerge consistently and evenly is all about seed to soil contact, and
When can you have too much tilth?  Read More »
As farmers worldwide face the dual challenges of maintaining productivity while transitioning to more sustainable practices, SoilPoint has emerged as a leading innovator in the field of soil health and regenerative agriculture, transforming agricultural practices across the UK and beyond, helping ensure a sustainable future for farming and food security. Who is SoilPoint? SoilPoint Humic
