Focus on crop nutrition to build root mass
Arable 04/03/2024
A focus on key nutrients could help to pull lethargic crops out of the cold, wet winter. Without a strong root system to scavenge for nutrients and reach water as summer droughts take hold, no amount of fertilisers or other inputs will deliver vital growth and yield potential, says... Read more
Maize could be a good choice for many growers this spring – stacking up well against more conventional crops with additional benefits from the Sustainable Farming Incentive. “Significant reductions in nitrogen use, low-input agronomy and soil improvement opportunities are just some of the appeal and managed properly maize can... Read more
Companion crops in direct drilled oilseed rape could help reduce damage by cabbage stem flea beetle, say scientists. Results from a Rothamsted Research study suggest relatively simple changes in crop management could help control a ubiquitous pest which has seen many farmers abandoning oilseed rape altogether. Field trials, conducted... Read more
The next generation of sugar beet tolerant to Virus Yellows disease could be commercially available in 2026 – helping to end reliance on neonicotinoid seed treatments. Breeding companies across Europe and the UK are making good progress in the development of beet varieties tolerant to all three yellowing viruses,... Read more
Wide variations in drilling dates, the wet winter and the early appearance of disease mean winter wheat crops will need managing on a field-by-field basis this season. The best growers will be paying close attention to every crop – not just those that are struggling. Just as much effort,... Read more
Large amounts of land are being taken out of food production and put into the government’s flagship agri-environment scheme, the Sustainable Farming Incentive, say agronomists. Contractors and farmers could struggle to survive where large areas of arable land are being put into the scheme, which is being seen by... Read more
Gene-editing techniques have uncovered a temperature tolerance trait that could protect wheat from the increasingly unpredictable challenges of climate change. Researchers say UK growers could benefit from the discovery – made at the Norwich-based John Innes Centre during experiments examining wheat fertility in plants exposed to high and low... Read more
A Cambridgeshire grower has soil mapped his farm to help future-proof the business against economic and environmental challenges. Farm director Jack Smith, of AG Wright and Son (Farms) Ltd, grows 250ha of potatoes across 1,850ha of varying soil types – from black fen peat around Haddenham, near Ely; to... Read more
A high-yielding early maize variety could help growers overcome the risk of late drilling and delayed harvests caused by wet spring and autumn weather. Bred by MAS Seeds and marketed by Elsoms Seeds, Mojito could tick all the boxes for farmers wanting to avoid a repeat of the weather-related... Read more
A big increase in spring cropping this season is expected to give growers a welcome opportunity to boost grass weed control. More spring wheat, barley and oats are forecast to be drilled this year after the wet autumn and winter storms left fields unworkable and flooded. Many growers still... Read more
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