Is regen farming producing more nutritious food?
Can how you grow crops impact on the nutrient and health value of food? It’s…
Long awaited clarity for carbon accounting tools
Farmer Focus – Tim Parton
February 2024 Water, water everywhere! I bet it turns off just when we need it!…
A sky-high revolution in crop research.
Farmer Focus – Anna Jackson
March 2024 February is supposed to be quiet? For those that I haven’t met before,…
BYDV-Resistant Wheat
The Challenge of Wet, Compacted Soils
Tech defines how inputs are applied
With Amazone notching up 140 years of machinery manufacturing last year, Direct Driller takes a…
Achieving the potato impossible
Written by Harry Barnett I never dreamt that a soil disturbing potato farmer like myself…
Farmer Focus – Phil Rowbottom
March 2024 It feels like a very long time since my last ramblings in the…
Crop nutrition after the storm…
As the daylength increases we are all now waking up from what feels like the…
New biological foliar treatment to boost nutrient use efficiency
British farmers will soon benefit from a new biological foliar treatment, proven to enhance nutrient…
Drill Manufacturer in Focus – Jeff Claydon
Farmer Focus – John Farrington
BASE-UK – Conference 2024 – Learning from Experience!
International expertise, as well as UK-based knowledge and practical experience, was on the agenda at…
Revolutionising Farm Purchases: How Farmdeals is Changing the Game for UK Farmers
In the evolving landscape of agricultural technology, a new player, Farmdeals, is making significant waves…
Sustainable Dairy: The Key Role of Soil Carbon
Dairy farmers and the wider supply chain are under huge pressure to reduce their emissions…
Farming’s fungi focus: Considering belowground to benefit aboveground
Dr David Cutress: IBERS, Aberystwyth University. • Symbiotic fungi mycorrhiza have important interactions with many…
Farmer Focus – Billy Lewis
Agriculture has landed at an interesting turning point – where do we go now?
Signs of Spring are everywhere, and while work in the world of agriculture never stops,…
Farmer Focus – Neil White
I’m not going to dwell on the weather but as it is a major factor…
Navigating the Storm: Challenges in agriculture
Drill Manufacturer – Dale Drills
DD Conference Area within Cereals
TIMETABLE AND WHAT TO EXPECT Each session will have a main guest speaker who will…
Agronomist in Focus – Mike Thornton
High yielding Bamford signals landmark change in UK soft wheat sector Written by Mike Thornton,…
Welcome to the first tech focussed edition of Direct Driller Magazine. From now on, issues will rotate between soils issues and tech issues.
Contents –
Old-fashioned farming with modern technology – page 4.
It’s 2030, so how have we done? – page 4.
Labour pains push robotic pickers – page 6.
Industry-leading research in robotics and automation – page 12.
Flash, crackle, pop – page 14.
Agronomist in Focus – Todd Jex – page 16.
The win-wins of regenerative agriculture – page 19.
Robots find their way into farmers fields – page 22.
Bayer and Microsoft forge a new frontier – page 26.
Robitics and perception in agriculture – page 28
What will appear at FIRA24? -30
Farmer Focus – Thomas Gent – 36
From hands-free hectare to aerial delivery – 37
Farmer Focus – Daniel Davies – 39
Catapult plans for UK agritech – 41
Shedding light on LED grow lighting – 46
Drilling down into fixed costs – 48
Farmer Focus – Simon Beddows – 50
Making methane practical – 52
Hitting rock bottom – 53
Basics best for hi-tech wine – 56
Biochar venture wins equity investment – 59
Farmer Focus – Clive Bailye – 61
Manufacturer Focus – Vaderstad – 63