I should begin with a declaration: I’m a fan of Groundswell. (I cheered the Cherry family when the event won the Food Innovation Award at the BBC Food & Farming Awards last December.) I’ve attended since it was little more than two blokes and a spaniel (OK, a few hundred people in year one), and over …
October 2025 I am sat here writing this and it’s raining; raining for what feels like the first time this autumn! But I am sat here content. Land work here in East Anglia is generally all up to date, and it’s finally a quieter week for most of the arable farming network. 2022 was the …
Jason Pole, AHDB Technical Content Manager, explains how knowing what makes the ergot pathogen tick can help target management to reduce disease pressure, limit crop infection and keep clean grain clean. Ergot (Claviceps purpurea) grows in and replaces grain with its own fungal tissues, which eventually form a hard, purple-black sclerotium (with a white interior) known …
Written by James Warne from Soil First Farming Some of you may be aware that Steve has taken a small step back from running Soil First Farming in recent years. I have been left to steer the ship and try to keep the business true to its original aims. More recently, Paul has joined us, …
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 …
The Fungus That Fights Back: Harnessing Soil Biology to Tackle Crop Disease Read More »
From the Field to Westminster: A Year That Changed Farming It’s been about 18 months since my last contribution to Direct Driller, and during that time, a lot has changed — both on my farm and in British agriculture. I’ve always tried to be open and honest in these pieces. They’re not polished PR, not …
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 …
When Farming Meets Gardening: How Regeneration Took Root in My Garden Read More »
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 …
How Soil Testing is Evolving into ‘Predictive Agronomy’ Read More »
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 …
Unlocking the Genes Behind Wheat Growth and Grain Size Read More »
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 …
