Technical

With harvest progress falling behind and increased reports of lodged crops, growers continue to face challenging conditions.

Phil Warham has been an agronomist with Agrovista for six years. He gained a degree in Land and Farm Management at Harper Adams and managed farms for several years afterwards. He now advises on combinable crops, cereals, maize and vining peas in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and into Leicestershire. Key interests include direct drilling and soil health, as well as making farms profitable. In his spare time he is a keen runner, cyclist and horseman.

NFU crops board chairman Matt Culley is a fourth-generation farmer from Hampshire working in partnership with his parents and brother.

Using wormers responsibly throughout the season will help preserve their effectiveness on farms. Veterinary surgeon Emili Canavan-Hicks, from Black Sheep Farm Health, Rothbury, offers some advice

Darryl Shailes is root crop technical manager for Hutchinsons, with a nationwide remit. He has been working in potato agronomy for more than 20 years.

Promoting diverse colonies of soil biology to improve plant health is something most regenerative farming systems are based around. And while biology cannot offer consistent control of pests or disease like an agrochemical might, its use is an important piece of the integrated crop management puzzle.

Collaboration was a key theme of this year’s National Organic Conference. Alice Dyer went along.

Potato growers may be able to add value to their crops in an unexpected way, depending on the results of a new research project.

Developing chickpeas as a novel source of homegrown protein is the focus of a new research project, which will explore the potential for domestic chickpea production and boost the UK’s first chickpea breeding programme.

Simon Nelson advises farmers on a wide range of arable and forage crops across Cumbria, north Lancashire and into south west Scotland. He has worked for Agrovista for 23 years.