Arable Farming

Damage to crops brought by Storm Francis has added further misery to a difficult growing season but analysts have warned imports may place a cap on domestic price rises.

Sugar beet growers are disappointed by the price on offer for the crop in the 2021 contract - £20.30/adj tonne for a one-year contract and £21.18/adj tonne for a three-year contract.

The autumn and winter of 2019 is not one many will forget in a hurry, with farms throughout the UK struggling to get crops in the ground and conditions compromising establishment.

September 2020 Arable Farming Issue

With the wet weather continuing, large areas of cereals remain to be harvested, providing a headache for farmers as they watch quality fall away.

With the wheat area for the 2019/20 season falling by an estimated 17 per cent as a result of difficult planting conditions, considerable amounts of overyeared seed remain on farm.

Farmers in the Severn Trent region have until September 15 to sign up for the Farm to Tap scheme, which pays out up to £5/hectare for protecting water quality

Assessment of a high number of black-grass seed samples shed this summer and collected from winter cereals has shown that dormancy is high at 24 per cent germination.

The first harvest results for AHDB Recommended List (RL) winter wheat trials have been published. Results include three treated sites, two from Lincolnshire and one from Hampshire.