Although artificial intelligence can help achieve wondrous things, it’s only as good as the information it’s learnt from. Tech Farmer looks at how synthetic imagery could take green-on-green precision to new levels. Written by Lucy de la Pasture Although per plant farming may have suffered a setback with the loss of the Small Robot Company, …
High yielding, profitable early-sown winter wheat crops are once again a regular feature on the heavy land rotations at Lamport AgX, Agrovista’s flagship trials site in Northamptonshire, despite a huge background population of blackgrass. Speaking at a recent open day, Niall Atkinson, consultant and Lamport AgX trials co-ordinator, said: “Historically, if wheats weren’t drilled by …
Early sown winter wheat returns to heavy land blackgrass site Read More »
Slender Foxtail has put in its annual appearance with great vengeance this year. It’s that time of year where we all can see the results of each other labour’s. With wheat now out in ear, fields that are normally clean are showing the effects of the long & wet winter. Grass weeds are out in force, particularly Slender Foxtail AKA Blackgrass. The lack of herbicide activity and lack of conditions to get the applications on in a timely manner are showing. No doubt the mild wet autumn also played a part in reducing the longevity of herbicides.
Written by Rothamsted Root structures and genetics give the weed an advantage over wheat and explain field patches. Black-grass thrives on heavy land, particularly where drainage is poor. Now a new study has shown that this problematic weed uses specific adaptations to flourish even when soil is totally saturated for up to three weeks. The data …
Getting to the Roots of Black-Grass’s Waterlogging Tolerance Read More »
Coping with the ups and downs of the farming industry necessitates being as efficient as possible, says Jeff Claydon, Suffolk arable crop producer and inventor of the Claydon Opti-Till® direct strip seeding system. The contrast between this season and last is dramatic, not just in terms of the weather but also the finances of farming. …
Written by Dr Alastair Leake from The Allerton Project “There’s a reason why we use the plough” a colleague sagely advised me when I questioned this fundamental agricultural practice; “It works” – and I was treated to a history lesson to-boot. Having transitioned from growing heated glasshouse salad crops in hydroponics, the ultimate zero-till system, …
The evolution of tillage techniques on heavy arable land in the East Midlands Read More »
April 2023 As this magazine is entitled Direct Driller I’ll start off with a couple of drill comments. The CO4 has had a set of replacement Dutch 2” tips fitted as the first set had worn very thin in places and changing the odd failed one resulted in uneven depth across the drill. I’d deliberated …
April 2023 Since my last article we have taken delivery of the new Horizon disc drill and used it for Autumn and Spring drilling of cereals and Beans. Initial results have been good and I have been pleased at the lack of blackgrass germination behind the drill ( One of the main reasons for the …
Home-made compost, massively reduced tillage and determined cover cropping have been central to the single-minded drive to improve the arable sustainability of the Green Horizons Network farm at Salford Lodge, Pitchill just outside Evesham over the past decade. A combination of challenging silty clay land contract-farmed with heavy kit for many years and lighter sandy …
Soil-Centred Worcestershire Sustainability Drive Read More »
Farmers are reporting positive benefits of drilling primed seed Despite 37 years’ industry experience, Agrii agronomist David Vine readily admits that growing oilseed rape successfully year-in, year-out can still be a huge gamble for many growers with significant challenges posed by slugs, pigeons, cabbage stem flea beetle (CSFB) and, given this year’s weather, the …
