Arable News

Spring 2020 saw the largest area of spring cereals for many years. Although not as large an increase as in spring barley, oats saw a significant increase this year with the English crop seeing a 26% growth in plantings, according to the AHDB, with most of those appearing in spring.

With last autumn’s wet weather significantly impacting winter cereal crop establishment, many growers will be contemplating bringing this year’s drilling dates forward into late September or early October. ADAMA’s Bill Lankford therefore examines why this strategy goes against all best practice advice for controlling black-grass populations and explains why – alongside weed mapping, rotation planning, cultivation technique and herbicide programmes – delaying drilling is still one of the key tactics for beating black-grass.

With the loss of neonicotinoids forcing growers to change the way they tackle pest control in cereals and oilseed rape, pyrethroid insecticides now form the backbone of many aphid and flea beetle control programmes.

The CropTec Show 2020 is the latest show to switch to a digital format due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Farming minister Victoria Prentis has announced that the outdoor use of metaldehyde will be banned in Great Britain from the end of March 2022.

New research from the Processors and Growers Research Organisation (PGRO) has shown that sowing spring beans this autumn could help solve the problem of short seed stocks.

ADAMA Agricultural Solutions UK is developing a new herbicide specifically aimed at controlling black-grass in cereals crops.

Pioneer’s PT279CL winter oilseed rape has proven to be the highest yielding Clearfield variety in independent AHDB Recommended List trials for the third year running.

A crop of oilseed rape has produced a gross output of 7. 04t/ha despite battling against flea beetle damage as it established in the autumn.

A new strategy and improved communication with levy payers on how their money is spent are just two of the significant changes AHDB has pledged to make.

After the sodden conditions last autumn, some arable farmers may consider drilling wheat earlier to guarantee a decent area next harvest. But threats such as grass weeds and virus carrying aphids are both more of an issue in early drilled crops. Bayer’s Darren Adkins gives his thoughts on how farmers can balance the need for wheat area with pest and weed threats.

KWS Parkin fell just short of making it onto the 2020/2021 RL and so could be overlooked by some growers, but this small and mighty variety offers something very much in demand, many industry specialists believe.