What are the key characteristics of the perfect wheat variety for a regenerative system? For most growers, yield is often the first and most important data point to look at when judging which wheat variety to grow, along with end market suitability. In a regenerative system yield, while still important, is perhaps no longer the …
Three farmers championing soil health and regenerative practices have been recognised in the 2025 Soil Farmer of the Year competition, with the awards ceremony taking place at this year’s Groundswell event. The competition, jointly run by Farm Carbon Toolkit and Innovation for Agriculture, and proudly sponsored by Cotswold Seeds and Hutchinsons, celebrates farmers across the …
Soil Farmer of the Year 2025 announced at Groundswell Read More »
Since last harvest:• Oats bales• Rain• Budget and consequences• Our values• Winter• Concrete and tanks• Poor prices• From wet to four very dry months• Reunion and cereals• Purchase of a bowser• Where we are today• Harvest planning• Future outlook, basics good limecompost balance soil indices• Do less better! Assess priorities,given past week and budget.• Other …
The strongest set of cabbage stem flea beetle (CSFB) management strategies to date has been released to help reverse the fortunes of oilseed rape (OSR). Jason Pole, AHDB Technical Content Manager, explains. We have seen large year-on-year reductions in the OSR area over the last decade. For harvest 2025, the AHDB Planting and Variety Survey …
Jamie Stokes – 2024 Nuffield Farming Scholar Getting an invite to write about what I have learnt from the last 18 months travelling for my Nuffield Scholarship is always welcome. I am a farmer from Cambridgeshire, running my family’s 1000ha ‘high-input, high-output’ arable farm, where we grow both target site and enhanced metabolism resistant blackgrass. …
A comprehensive Agrii trial focusing on different combinations of drilling date, cultivation technique and drill options is delivering vital insight into the best management strategies for achieving the most effective blackgrass control while encouraging strongly early crop growth. Delaying drilling to give the best options for blackgrass control or simply because of challenging autumn conditions …
June 2025 It doesn’t seem possible, but it is 10 months since my last article. I was at that point concerned whether our late summer drilled Pollen and Nectar mixes would be good enough for the year ahead, and indeed while some were good, a few areas unfortunately looked poor. In late October I drilled …
By Louise Penn I’m still undecided on how I feel about this season, and from an agronomic perspective, I can’t quite predict where yields will land. On one hand, crops have faced relentless pressure: a wet autumn followed by a record breaking dry spring. But on the other hand, some crops have surprised me and …
Looking Ahead: Building Resilience After Another Testing Season Read More »
This growing season has proven to be the driest most of us have ever seen, bringing its own challenges and shortages within the plant. Magnesium has been short across the country and is a shortage that needs to be addressed, in my opinion, since to grow a healthy crop, magnesium is the power house of …
Time to give soils a lift? After two incessantly wet winters followed by virtual drought conditions, soil biology is approaching an all-time low in many fields, says Chris Martin, Agrovista’s head of soil health. He urges all growers, including the most ardent regen enthusiasts, to check they are not heading for a costly backward step …
