Issue 34Oct 2025

The Fungus That Fights Back: Harnessing Soil Biology to Tackle Crop Disease

Research, Soils Farmer / By

Based on a paper by Dr Gareth Thomas et al., Rothamsted Research, University of Exeter and University of Warwick — adapted for Direct Driller readers Across the UK, farmers are dealing with one of the most stubborn and costly fungal problems in modern agriculture: Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. This soilborne disease causes white mould and stem rot […]

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When Farming Meets Gardening: How Regeneration Took Root in My Garden

Other, Soils Farmer / By

By Donna Harvey-Bailye For as long as I can remember, I’ve been happiest with soil under my nails and a design plan in my head. Gardening has always been my creative outlet; a place where I can paint with plants, sculpt with texture and choreograph the seasons. My large farmhouse garden in Staffordshire has long

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How Soil Testing is Evolving into ‘Predictive Agronomy’

Agronomist Focus, Research, Soils Farmer / By

By Dan Crummett from No-Till farmer USA Takeaways Big changes are under way in the soil testing industry as digital technology demonstrates the importance of viewing farm fields as a living system — requiring more than a yearly grocery list of plant nutrients. No-tillers and strip-tillers take soil biology seriously and many of them are looking beyond

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Unlocking the Genes Behind Wheat Growth and Grain Size

Research, Soils Farmer / By

Adapted for Direct Driller readers based on a paper by Dr Stephen Pearce from Rothamsted Research and the Czech Institute of Experimental Botany If there’s one crop that keeps British farming grounded, it’s wheat. From milling and feed markets to exports, it sits at the centre of most arable rotations. Yet after decades of breeding

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Challenging Season Highlights

Manufacturer in Focus, Soils Farmer / By

THE NEED TO CONTROL COSTS Below-average yields and low prices this harvest underline the importance of maximising efficiency across every aspect of crop production, emphasises Jeff Claydon, Suffolk arable farmer and inventor of the Claydon Opti-Till® direct seeding system. August 2025 In the article I wrote last August I mentioned that after an exceedingly difficult

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