There is a common saying around the industry that “Farmers are slow to adopt technology.” It’s a long standing perception and it’s linked to my last article on step verses incremental change. Step change is difficult. But I do think this is used by companies to explain away slow adoption of their products to their …
Billions are being invested in gene editing globally, but what innovations will that investment deliver? Tech Farmer visited the World AgriTech Innovation Summit to gain a global perspective on what it might deliver for UK farmers. Written by Mike Abram There’s been no shortage of global investment in gene editing, even if venture capital funding …
Farmers and scientists working on the TRUTH Project have revealed some intriguing findings from their first year of working together. TRUTH (Thriving Roots Underpinning Total soil Health) is a three-year £1m project with twin aims of boosting productivity while improving soil health. The project is led by the British On-Farm Innovation Network (BOFIN) with four …
Farmer and scientist collaboration helps to unearth soil secrets Read More »
Could hyperspectral imaging revolutionise nitrogen management in agriculture? Clemmie Gleeson spoke to George Marangos-Gilks, CEO of agritech startup Messium to find out.
Hyperspectral imagery can overcome the limitations of existing nitrogen assessment methods, equipping farmers with high level insights that could optimise fertiliser applications according to George Marangos-Gilks.
Written by the Earlham Institute Genomic advances reveal how similar weeds can dominate wheat fields that are geographically separated by over 5,000 miles. Two new Alopecurus genomes have been sequenced, providing important additions to the growing body of community resources for weed genomics. Access to the genomes for blackgrass and orange foxtail, sometimes called shortawn foxtail, will …
New sequenced genome sheds light on weed resistance Read More »
Jan 2025 It’s been a while since I last wrote a Farmer focus article in Direct Driller magazine. Harvest 24’ Seems like a long time ago, yet we’re now closer to the next harvest than we were the last. 2024 On the farm was a year to forget for many reasons, even before the Autumn …
For a generation, farmers have taken for granted their most valuable resource, often considering it to be simply ‘dirt’. The focus has been on force-feeding the crop and beating the soil into submission, driven by an ethos of yield over profit, with little respect for the aftermath. Inputs for many have typically increased since the …
Written by Tim Stephens NSch, Catchment Management Specialist, Wessex Water A vital element Phosphorus (P) is essential for life in all its forms, but many UK rivers, lakes and wetlands suffer from an excess of this critical element. Too much P causes growth of algae and duckweed, which smothers aquatic life and starves the water …
Unmoved stubbles can often be the driest land on the farm after heavy rainfall. Yet we are told that cultivation helps to dry land out. What are the factors that allow stubbles to move water downwards faster than cultivated ground? It’s now apparent that many cultivated soils are not draining recent deluges fast enough. Crops …
Three practical days featuring US soil biology researcher Dr Elaine Ingham about unlocking the power of soil were run by Soil Ecology Laboratory last November. Direct Driller visited the one held in Norfolk The promise of a day with Dr Elaine Ingham and her team is always likely to attract a crowd and that was …
