Written by Thomas Gent, UK Market Lead for Agreena As part of a British farming family which has worked the land for generations, we have witnessed firsthand the shifts in weather patterns and the challenges they pose to our farming practices. The threat of climate change is no longer a distant concern; it’s an immediate …
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 »
Written by Jeff Claydon April 2023 Issue Spring is the ideal time to check your soils and consider how to improve them, says Jeff Claydon, Suffolk arable farmer and inventor of the Claydon Opti-Till® direct strip seeding system. Spring is an excellent time to focus on soil health and how to improve it, because regardless …
Steve Holloway puts the case for biology and foliar KSM – potassium solubilising microbes – for a more natural supply of phosphate and a way of reducing the fertiliser bill. For a generation, farmers have taken their most valuable resource for granted, often considering it to be simple dirt. The focus has been on force-feeding …
Written by Emma Adams on behalf of The Farm Carbon Toolkit The second in our series of farm walks was with David Miller in Hampshire. This year’s Arable Soil Farmer of the Year, David is keen to demonstrate how a regenerative system can be both simple and profitable even on challenging soils. Managing 700ha of …
Arable Soil Farmer of the Year – A farm walk with David Miller Read More »
Pasture and Profit in Protected Landscapes is a free, farmer-led programme of farm walks, events and webinars open to everyone farming in the Protected Landscapes of Surrey Hills, High Weald and Kent Downs. The programme is being run by Pasture for Life in partnership with the Protected Landscapes. We believe that farmers learn best from …
Pasture and Profit in Protected Landscapes Programme Read More »
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 …
Written by Steve Hollaway, Soil Fertility Services Ask anyone to define healthy soil and you will get a multitude of varying replies that will probably include having a good number of worms; friable soil with a texture that’s similar to chocolate cake; unhindered vigorous crop rooting and so on… But, have you considered what must …
In the first week of August a range of farmers and industry professionals met at Moor Farm in south west Wales to hear the 2022 Runner-up to the Soil Farmer of the Year competition, Andrew Rees, explain how he has developed a dairy system with soil health at the centre. Moor farm is a 160 hectare grassland …
Farm walk with 2022 Soil Farmer of the Year Runner-up Andrew Rees Read More »
