Arable Farming

As I write, combines in our area are making their first tentative starts into this year’s harvest.

A new emergency authorisation of a desiccant for linseed seed crops has been secured.

The last season has really highlighted where soil health can be improved, particularly when coping with both too much and too little water. Soil expert Dick Neale offered his top tips on soil management ahead of the drill.

AHDB Recommended List (RL) harvest results are showing very variable yields in winter barley in a difficult season.

With growers starting to harvest wheat crops, specific weights are holding up well, while there is some concern about protein levels - although it is early days.

A research project in the USA exploring the feasibility of vertically farmed wheat has found yields of 39 tonnes per hectare could be achieved within just 70 days when grown under optimum artificial conditions.

Yields of both winter barley and winter oilseed rape are highly variable, both within and between farms.

Symptoms of what is believed to be stem rust disease were found in untreated plots of winter wheat at four sites at Oak Park Crop Research Centre in Carlow, Ireland last week.

A public consultation into post-Brexit regulation of precision breeding techniques such as gene editing (GE), will take place this autumn Government has announced.