Arable Farming

The advent of robots is set to revolutionise how farmers grow crops and could be a game changer for the public’s perception of farming.

The vision of only applying plant protection products to crops where they are needed may be some way off, but the use of variable rate application technology in fungicides is evolving.

A few drier interludes in late January and early February allowed us to get a bit more wheat drilled into our lighter land, along with much needed fertilisation and spraying. If we are lucky, we may end up with 40% of our planned winter wheat acreage.

Nutritionally, digestate provides crops with organic manure and a combination of readily available nutrients, but it is not without its challenges.

Four years on from the aftermath of the Boxing Day floods, Richard Bramley, who farms 200ha at Kelfield, near Selby, North Yorkshire, has once again been watching 20ha of his promising winter wheat crop disappear under water

Boosting early grass growth using a natural growth regulator is helping a Yorkshire farming business maximise milk yields from forage.

Developments in plant transformation and insights gained from the pharmaceutical sector are helping to give a deeper insight into herbicide resistance in black-grass and how it might be combatted.

High rainfall experienced throughout most of the UK this winter has left soils saturated and crops struggling.

In 2019, the AHDB GB Fight Against Blight programme received 229 reports of blight outbreaks across 68 varieties, compared to just 40 outbreaks in 2018.