Arable News

As a farmer, you’d have to have been living under a rock for the past few years not to notice the intense pressure the agricultural industry is coming under to reduce its carbon footprint.

With Brexit, Covid-19 and, more recently, the Russia/Ukraine conflict, British agriculture is being strained more than it has been since the outbreak of World War 2. With volatile input markets and labour shortages causing farmers to question whether high input crops such as potatoes are a viable long-term option, efficiency and adding value to produce will be key to survival; but what can automation and robotics do for you?

Grazing forward crops with sheep is part of the extra flexibility Staffordshire grower, Rob Atkin, is building into his oilseed rape growing at Field Hall Farm, just outside Uttoxeter, to cope with the increasingly uncertain climate.

Maize Growers Association agronomist, Jon Myhill, reviews the options available for maize growers hoping to achieve the best weed control in this year’s crop.

As crop production specialists, Hutchinsons has been addressing the issue of farm profitability and resilience amid rising input costs, at a farm-scale level through its Helix Farm network.

LG Typhoon is a high yielding Group 4 hard wheat from breeders Limagrain UK, that joined the AHDB Recommended List in 2022–2023 and will be available to UK growers this autumn.

Be flexible and tailor pre- and post-emergence sprays to specific weed burdens on fields, advises independent agronomist Richard Cromie.

This is the premise of the Helix Agroecology Farm hosted by Harry Heath of Whitley Manor Farm, Newport, Shropshire.

Sterling Suffolk, the county’s largest tomato producer, was forced to cease production last month, just three years after selling its first fruit, due to soaring gas prices.

Although barley varietal resilience has improved over recent seasons, there’s still no Extase-equivalent in recommended winter and spring barley lists, so the frontline for defence remains with disease control and an effective fungicide armoury – which has been strengthened by the launch of Ascra (prothioconazole + bixafen + fluopyram).

Net zero has never been a primary goal for Richard and Lynn Anthony and their team at Tythegston Farm, near Bridgend, on the South Wales coast. But the latest Farm Carbon Toolkit calculations show the 1,200ha they own and manage are annually sequestering over 21,000t CO2eq.

Farming leaders have broadly welcomed a series of Defra announcements today (30th March) on key issues affecting British farmers and growers, particularly the rising cost and tightening availability of fertiliser for the coming growing season.