Arable News

AHDB has issued new guidance to help growers plan their nitrogen (N) applications, following a sharp increase in the cost of fertilisers.

Bury St Edmunds MP Jo Churchill, visited Limagrain UK to see how plant breeding is helping UK farmers to be more sustainable.

Dr Cathy Hooper, RAGT Seeds technical sales manager, reviews the late Septoria tritici epidemic that hit many wheat crops this season.

A vision to feed Britain in a more resilient and sustainable way lies behind multimillion-pound plans to create the world’s largest vertical farm, which has been launched by green energy expert and Fischer Farms CEO, Tristan Fischer.

It is widely recognised that the increasing consumer choice for clean, freshly packed potatoes of a certain shape and size has led to increased demand on growers to supply the right potato in the right condition at the right time. As a result, equipment manufacturers have had to improve the output and efficiency of their products in order to remain competitive.

For some crops, like maize, sugar beet and field brassica, the risk of wet soil at harvest and the resultant damage is ever present… But should we accept the risk and resign ourselves to rectifying as required, or think about building resilience into soils to better cope with the risk? Hutchinsons technical manager Dick Neale discusses.

The way in which we grow and store potatoes is changing dramatically, but there is no time to be nostalgic. Agrii’s Nick Winmill, a crop scientist with over 35 years’ experience in agronomy, considers some of the changes still to come.

British Sugar is inviting sugar beet growers to produce additional tonnes in 2022 at a fixed price of £27/t; a 33% increase on the previous year’s contract price. Farmers interested in growing beet are also welcome to apply for their own contract or explore other growing options on offer.

Feed barley yields with a good premium from difficult ground ill-suited to traditional malting production for an input cost of less than £65/tonne. The Budweiser barley-growing maths certainly adds up for farm manager, Chris Singer and his team at the Carington Estate in Buckinghamshire.

Pumpkins might still be seen as a quintessentially American crop, but the last 30 years have seen their slow, steady rise in the UK arable sector. This rise has led to a now booming industry providing diverse income for farms across the UK.

An aftermarket on-board tyre inflation system is helping one of the UK’s largest vegetable and salad producers protect vulnerable black fen soils. David Williams reports.

As a specialist in pest control, farm hygiene and animal health, Dave Reece, technical advisor to Lodi UK and owner of Oakwood Farm Services, offers his advice this season.