The Silent System Beneath Your Boots Written by Hugh Goldsworthy, Farm Landscape Contractor and Independent Soil Researcher If you have never heard of quorum sensing, do not worry, you are not alone. Ask a room full of farmers or soil scientists about it and many/if not most, will not have heard of it either. But …
Quorum Sensing: The Soil Network Hiding in Plain Sight Read More »
Staffordshire FCN’s 30th anniversary Farmers’ Ball brought the agricultural community together for an unforgettable night, raising vital funds and highlighting the growing importance of support for farmers under pressure. Staffordshire FCN held a Farmers’ Ball on 1 November to mark their 30-year anniversary. It was attended by over 400 people who celebrated throughout the night, …
Celebration with a cause: Staffordshire FCN marks 30 years Read More »
Across climates, continents and farming systems, one thing united these Nuffield Presenting Scholars in Aberdeen: soil is no longer just a technical consideration, but a social, economic and cultural one too. From understanding why farmers change their practices, to investigating the future of peatland management, these two scholars offer complementary insights into how soil will …
Christmas time is approaching and yet another year has passed. My last piece was in June, and it was warm, it was dry, then wet, and hopes were high for the approaching harvest time. Harvest 2025 was special to me because it was the first harvest in many years that I did not drive the …
Written by Jack Hind from Indigro In today’s arable farming environment, everyone is feeling the financial squeeze. Reduced yields, lower commodity prices, higher input costs, no BPS and uncertainty over government support all have an impact on one thing – margin. When the pie is getting smaller, but pressure continues to rise, how can we …
Written by Joe Stanley, Head of Sustainable Farming A year ago I wrote in these pages about the relatively neglected state of interest in land drainage in recent decades and the increasingly degraded nature of much of our field drainage network. My hope at the time was to initiate a research project at the Allerton …
Groundbreaking Field Drainage project gets underway at the Allerton Project Read More »
With lacklustre world commodity prices squeezing profitability the situation in farming today parallels that in 2002 when Jeff Claydon was forced to reduce production costs or see his family’s arable enterprise in Suffolk go out of business. The crop establishment system he invented then has ensured that the Claydon farm has made a profit every …
With history repeating itself now is the time to ‘Think Change’ Read More »
Jan 2026 The start of a new year, full of hope and expectation! I always try to stay upbeat and hopeful as that is far better than just moping around the yard, moaning! Yes, we have a lot against us at present but looking at the black side does not do our mental health any …
Written by Kurtis Scarboro from Elsom Seeds As a Crop Manager working for the UK’s largest Independent seed breeder – Elsoms Seeds, I’m delighted that, following the success of Elsoms Group 3 wheat Bamford, we are now able to announce another exciting new Soft wheat, Sparkler, to the 2026/27 Recommended List (RL). Prior to the …
New winter wheat variety aims to continue market resurgence in UK Soft wheat production Read More »
Jan 2025 Holding the line in a year that kept moving the goalposts There’s a moment every autumn, somewhere between the last grain lorry rumbling out of the yard on its way to central storage and the first drill making its opening pass, when I catch myself believing the new season might just play ball. …
