Cereals News

With high aphid pressure forecasted for the UK this autumn, an Agrovista expert explores key options to minimise yield losses from BYDV in autumn cereals. 

New precision breeding technology to increase food production, reduce costs to farmers, and allow drought- and disease-resistant crops to be grown will be brought forward under new laws, the government has just announced. 

Many farmers are intending to drill cereals earlier this season, so effective weed control will depend on a successful residual programme. Good chemistry is available, but it needs a clear strategy to get the best result, arable experts said. 

Waterford Distillery has launched the latest bottling in its Heritage barley series, Heritage: Goldthorpe. It is the first time the goldthorpe barley variety has been used in drinks production in over 100 year.

High-yielding soft wheat has overcome torrential rain and high septoria disease pressure to secure the top award. 

New winter feed barley Aleksandra from Agrovista has delivered impressive yields and excellent quality grain in Yorkshire after the toughest of seasons, recovering strongly from the effects of heavy and prolonged autumn and winter rainfall, an expert said. 

Tom Turner of seed breeder KWS offers advice on varietal choice and outlines the new SFI maize options.

Wheat growers are being urged to manage risk by taking on board the lessons of the challenging 2023/24 season when making this autumn’s drilling and variety decisions. 

Harvest 2024 was undeniably an interesting but also challenging time for UK farmers. For some of them, like Cambridgeshire farmer Stephen Briggs, harvest had to be put on hold due to equipment theft, but others call the season very “straightforward”. 

As harvest is well underway, there are several lessons starting to emerge to explain the variability in wheat yields, said Hutchinsons technical support manager. 

Martin Lishman provides five key areas to focus on, to improve your post-harvest practices.

With some colour sorters struggling to identify modern grass ergot, it’s time for everyone to find a solution to this problem.