Author Posts: Farmers Guide

In times of high volatility in the finance market, Mark Ashbridge of finance solutions firm Ashbridge Partners believes there are still opportunities to be had for farmers wishing to expand their business, and even suggested that raising debt in an inflationary environment can be, on the long term, really quite productive.

A report incorporating views from leading industry experts has predicted a “data-driven and precision agricultural future” where technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) will play an increasingly important role in farming life.

Sheep farmers and industry professionals are invited to a series of free events taking place in Cornwall next month to learn about the results of a pilot study exploring the potential of introducing worm-tolerant genetics into flocks.

With the aim of improving the choice of top-performing rams throughout the UK, AHDB’s Signet Breeding Services have launched new breeding values for abattoir traits, which will form an integral part of the National Terminal Sire Evaluation going forward.

With barely crops forecasted to grow rapidly over the next few weeks, the timing of T2 (GS39-45) spray applications will be critical for both PGR and disease management to effectively mitigate against the risks of big canopies, crop production specialists Hutchinsons have warned.

To support knowledge transfer and benchmarking achieved through the yield enhancement network (YEN) initiative run by ADAS and PGRO, LS Plant Breeding Ltd (LSPB) has extended its sponsorship of the Bean YEN for a fifth year and added sponsorship of the Pea YEN in 2023.

To help address concerns around creating a health and safety policy, the Farm Safety Foundation (also known as Yellow Wellies) have launched a new online ‘Build Your Own Health & Safety Policy’ tool to help farmers create a tailored policy that meets HSE requirements and standards set out by farm assurance schemes.

By cleaning grass seed on-farm using JK Machinery’s JCM VibroMAX vibrating sieve cleaner, Andrew Stovin from N M Stovin Farms has significantly increased crop value and bottom line while meeting the cleaning standards of his grass seed merchants.

Having sold his international pig breeding business in 2014, Jeremy Barber and his wife Sarah diversified into holiday lets and have managed to achieve consistently high bookings and customer reviews. We spoke to them to find out the secret to their success.

John Deere will be holding an open day at its Apprentice Training Centre this May in a bid to recruit the next generation of technicians to work across its agriculture, turf and parts business.

As part of A-Plan Insurance’s Rural Community blog they spoke to Shirley McNiven about her family farm based in Fyvie, Scotland.

Speaking from personal experience, farmers shared tried-and-tested strategies for reducing emissions at the Innovation for Agriculture and Royal Agricultural Society of England’s (RASE) ‘Farm of the Future: Net Zero in Practice’ event, where improved efficiency, production of renewable energy and carbon sequestration were identified as key factors in achieving net zero in agriculture.