Arable

OSR growers at the latest Syngenta iOSR group meeting highlighted their commitment to their most profitable break crop, but reinforced the need for a better understanding of establishment to achieve more consistent results.

NFU crops board chair, Matt Culley is a fourth generation farmer from Hampshire working in partnership with his parents and brother. The 720-hectare enterprise produces wheat, barley, oilseed rape, forage maize and rye for AD across varying soil types, from chalk and chalk loam to clay cap.

The coronavirus has shown we can pull together as a community to get things done. We must keep the same spirit to push on with Brexit, says David Herbert, a South Welsh smallholder producing eggs and poultry.

Farmers will need a serious cash injection from the Government if they are to survive this pandemic, then Brexit, says Deirdre Brock, SNP rural affairs spokesman in Westminster.

Scaled back Scotch Whisky production due to the coronavirus outbreak has left many barley growers wondering if there will be a market for their crop.

The Government is being urged to protect agriculture and environment budgets over the coming years, with spiralling spending on the coronavirus pandemic prompting fears of a new round of austerity.

EU member states recently voted to restrict the sowing of seed treated with fungicide metalaxyl-M to glasshouses, meaning it will be lost as a seed treatment to sugar beet growers in just over a year’s time.

Three years’ worth of trials across three-five sites in Scotland found that yield responses to GS30/31 applications were unlikely in low risk scenarios.

The NFU has called on the Government to provide a BPS 2020 ‘payment guarantee’ to help farmers struggling with cashflow issues due to the coronavirus pandemic.

With the UK under lockdown as the coronavirus pandemic continues, Parliament is moving to carry out its work remotely. But what does this mean for farming legislation? Abi Kay explores.