We, the readers of Direct Driller, need to give a huge round of applause to Clive and Chris, the energy behind this magazine, together with all the contributors to this issue. The contents is truly awe-inspiring, and the knowledge it contains colossal. It’s impossible to pick individual articles because that relegates the others, and it …
By now the show season should be well underway and in some ways it still is. But not in the way we are used to it. Shows like Groundswell, are for many, the highlight of our year. Not just a place to learn, but a place to meet friends, chat about farming and have a …
Contractor, Litchfield Farm, Enstone, Oxfordshire Litchfield farm near Enstone in Oxfordshire (owned by Nicola and Kevin Knott) is one of four farms I contract farm (of a total of 1,500 acres, this one is 800 acres). Litchfield is an organic arable farm while the others are ‘conventional.’ In general the rotation is a 2-year ley, …
Written by Ralph Early”No one will protect what they don’t care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced.” David Attenborough. Not so long ago, wildlife in Britain was so much more abundant than it is today. Back in the 1960s, in early summer, one could walk the fields of most …
Agricultural Ethics: A Decision Making Tool For Farmers? (Part 1) Read More »
Written by James Warne, Soil First Farming Social media can be a useful source and tool for knowledge transfer, discussion around various topics etc. But far too often it can also be the source of misinformation or confirmation of prejudice, particularly where the discussion deviates from received wisdom. I am referring here to agriculturally based …
by Nick Woodyatt, Soil Fertility Consultant at Aiva Fertiliser Normally when starting an article there is much gnashing of teeth and wandering around the garden, or pub in my case, deciding on how to help and enlighten our industry (hopefully). But seeing as it did not stop raining during the autumn/winter, on this occasion the …
THE FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT The past few months have been challenging for all of us. We were gearing up for a remarkably busy spring with more demonstrations than we could have imagined. However, the arrival of the Coronavirus and the ensuing lockdown meant early on we took the decision to cancel all Spring demos for …
The UK Soil Observatory (UKSO) is an award-winning and free-to-use online service that enables everyone to view soil datasets from nine research organisations. Russell Lawley (Geo-Properties and Resources Team Lead) from the British Geological Survey explains how the resource has developed to provide significant benefits to the agricultural sector, what information you can expect to …
In 2017 the Rodale Institute talked about the use of crimper rollers in organic no-till. They said: “In conventional systems, farmers can practice no-till by using chemical herbicides to kill cover crops before the next planting. Organic no-till, on the other hand, uses no synthetic inputs. Instead, small-scale organic no-till farmers use hand tools, like …
The 2020 season in the Scottish Borders Neil White’s farming is a constantly evolving system which includes a comparison of Mzuri direct drilling with a ploughcombi in this difficult season. It was a long and wet winter here, crops struggled, but most made it through the relentless rain into a bright, dry but cold spring. …
