A project to reduce grassweeds by exploring harvest weed seed control is being undertaken with help from a Suffolk farm. Previous research and experience in Canada and Australia has shown that seed control units (SCU) mounted on combine harvesters render 98% of seed that passes through the harvester unviable.... Read more
Decision to grow Mayflower pays off
Arable 06/10/2023
A Northamptonshire grower is drilling double the amount of winter wheat Mayflower this autumn after the variety performed well in difficult conditions. Emma Bletsoe, of Denford Ash Farm, near Kettering, was delighted with her first-time crop of the Group Two variety which bucked the recent negative trends of sliding Hagbergs... Read more
Twelve new forage maize varieties have been added to the British Society of Plant Breeder’s descriptive lists for 2024. The lists describe the performance of different maize varieties across a range of locations. Sites are classified according to different factors – including length of growing season and spring soil... Read more
Fewer cultivations can be good for soil structure and health – but ploughing still has its place and can bring dividends, suggests the latest research. Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) and greenhouse gas emissions both depend on crop productivity. And despite the ups and downs of grain markets and input... Read more
Reset fields hit by resistant ryegrass
Arable 06/10/2023
Cultural controls are helping to rid fields of herbicide resistant ryegrass on a Nottinghamshire farm. It comes after father and son team Peter and Rob Barlow took on 160ha of land infested with the weed. Soil types vary from gravel through to heavy loam across the farm which encompasses... Read more
A ground-breaking partnership has seen a group of farmers team up with pet food company Nestlé Purina to undertake environmental work in Suffolk. Known as the High Suffolk Farm Cluster, the farmers are providing sites for bird boxes made by retired carpenter and naturalist Jim Peart and funded by... Read more
Growers are reminded to avoid short gaps between spraying off and drilling, which can leave a green bridge for aphids to survive and spread barley yellow dwarf virus into new crops. Cereal volunteers and some weed species can host grain aphids and bird cherry-oat aphids – both of which... Read more
Late-drilled rape can still be profitable
Arable 06/10/2023
Growers unable to drill oilseed rape until last month due to the wet summer can rest assured that sowing the crop in September is not necessarily a bad thing. Later drilled oilseed rape can still produce a profitable crop – if it is a phoma-resistant hybrid variety variety with... Read more
Hedgerows must be protected, says farm group
News 06/10/2023
A farm conservation group is urging the government to encourage hedgerow creation and maintainance. Responding to a Defra consultation, the Nature Friendly Farming Network says the government should maintain hedgerow protection as an absolute minimum, arguing that hedges are crucial natural assets which require well-designed regulations. The government has... Read more
An Essex farming couple have grown Frankenstein-shaped pumpkins to give their customers an extra bit of fright this Halloween. Guy and Emily French, owners of Foxes Farm Produce, have perfected the art of the Frankenstein pumpkins over the last seven years. They were the first UK farmers to attempt... Read more
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