Good bolting characteristics for flexible drilling, beet cyst nematode (BCN) tolerance and a jump in yield are among the traits found in the seven new varieties added to the 2021 sugar beet Recommended List (RL).

The Government has announced it will relax the crop diversification requirements known as the three crop rule for farmers for 2020.

Hemp, or Cannabis sativa, was widely grown across the UK throughout history and once upon a time it could be found on many farms as a staple crop. But despite its multitude of uses from culinary to construction, it has struggled to gain traction in more recent years.

Farms will need to monitor their costs more than ever as challenges greater than the weather set to perturb arable incomes in 2020 and beyond.

Despite the challenging season, around 90-95 per cent of AHDB Recommended List (RL) cereals trials are on track to reach harvest this summer.

Farmers whose crops have failed or are unable to get seed in the ground are now faced with the added stress of meeting crop diversification requirements in order to qualify for greening payments

The threat posed by potential resistance to key residual herbicide, flufenacet, could bring harvest weed seed management further to the fore in the UK

Integrating livestock into arable systems can improve farm productivity, generate opportunities for new entrants and create diverse rotations that feed and heal soils.

Late-drilled and backward wheat crops will need careful management to get them kick-started this spring. Arable Farming asked arable nutrition specialist Ross Leadbeater of CF Fertilisers for some pointers.

Australian wheat production is set to rebound more than six million tonnes on improved soil moisture to a four-year high of 21.35mt after this year’s catastrophic harvest.