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Know How / Crop management

Managing your crops through the growing season means careful nutrition and fertiliser use for maximum crop yields and keeping a watchful eye on pest, weeds and disease control.

Read expert advice, case studies, and tips on how to achieve the best yields and growth through best-practice crop management techniques, on all crops including wheat, barley, oilseed rape, potatoes, sugar beet and more niche crops.

Case studies

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WHEAT

No-insecticide wheat yields over 10t/ha for Norfolk grower

Norfolk grower Will More is planning a second season of drilling a virus-resistant wheat variety with environmental and financial benefits, while also producing a good yield at harvest 2023. Using…

ARABLE

Grower improves fungicide use and compaction with helicopter

A helicopter is not the standard piece of farm kit to be stored in a machinery shed, but Canadian grain producer Wade McAllister plans to combine his passion for farming…

NUTRITION AND FERTILISER

Northants grower cuts nitrogen fertiliser using drone

Will Green is using a drone on his Northamptonshire farm to cut his nitrogen fertiliser use by nearly a third on his winter wheat destined to make breakfast cereal at…

WEED MANAGEMENT

Video: Leicester farm trials weed seed unit on Fendt combine

Europe’s first Redekop seed control unit (SCU) fitted to a Fendt Ideal 10T combine, aimed at controlling weed seeds, is being put to the test this harvest in Leicestershire at…

SOILS

How intercropping trial aims to eliminate chemical inputs

After winning a net-zero food and farming competition, Oxfordshire farmer Ben Adams is conducting a field-scale intercropping trial to assess which crop combinations perform best in terms of yield, quality…

BLACKGRASS

Borage and herbage seed helps Essex farm fight blackgrass

Borage and herbage seed break crops have helped one heavy land Essex arable farm get on top of blackgrass, with double spring-sown breaks and low soil disturbance seen as the…

Practical advice

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PEST MANAGEMENT

How to introduce SFI 2023's no insecticide option

After another delay, applications for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) 2023 are due to finally open in mid-September, with the new no use of insecticide action being one of the…

POTATOES

Advice on reducing risk of late season disease in potatoes

With unsettled weather set to continue, potato haulm destruction could be a protracted process in many crops, particularly indeterminate varieties or those grown for seed. SAC Consulting’s potato expert Kyran…

ARABLE

Why wheat drill dates should be delayed this autumn

Independent agronomists say early wheat drilling compounded many of the yield-limiting issues experienced this year and urge growers to consider the risks when planning planting schedules this autumn. Back in…

WEED MANAGEMENT

Tackling grassweeds this autumn - expert tips for growers

Grassweeds have once again been a big talking point for many growers this year, with some fields coming under significant pressure, prompting scrutiny of control strategies and questions about how…

BLACKGRASS

Why blackgrass is so bad in 2023 and what to do about it

Some fields are unsuitable for winter cropping next season because of the surge in blackgrass seed return from the higher number of blackgrass heads in winter wheat crops. And it…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Cereals 2023: Wide spectrum wheat fungicide set for 2024

Wheat growers are set to get a new fungicide next season that promises the best septoria and rust control on the market, coming after the worst septoria season in decades…

Insights

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WEED MANAGEMENT

Can blackgrass cultural measures also tackle ryegrass?

Early findings suggest that cultural measures for managing blackgrass are also effective against ryegrass. Agrii has just started the fourth season of a trial on a North Yorkshire farm near…

SOILS

How natural fungi can be encouraged to aid crop production

Mycorrhizal fungi play a valuable role in maximising crop performance, and a team of researchers is on a mission to delve deeper into the world of mycorrhizas to explore how…

CROP MANAGEMENT

4 key lessons from the first AHDB Cereals Strategic Farm

After six years, Brian and Patrick Barker’s Lodge Farm, near Stowmarket in Suffolk, will be finishing its run as the AHDB’s first Strategic Cereal Farm. It was also an AHDB…

VARIETY SELECTION

Why OSR vigour and late disease score is key to 2023 yields

Oilseed rape varieties with good early vigour and resistance to late season disease have been the top performers in Agrii’s variety plots in Lincolnshire. Like many areas of the UK,…

ARABLE

AHDB 'will be new sheriff' says cereals sector's chairman

AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds is going to step up, deliver for its levy payers and make a real difference to farm businesses, pledges new sector chairman and Cambridgeshire farmer Tom…

REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE

Financial rewards of regen farming highlighted at Groundswell

The many ways in which regenerative arable farming practices are starting to be rewarded financially were a feature of this year’s Groundswell event. With supply chains responding to consumer expectations…

PEST MANAGEMENT

Survey gives pointers on how to successfully grow OSR

An average 85% of oilseed rape crops are predicted to reach harvest, but some farmers, especially in East Anglia, are feeling the pain. Although the average is down on last…

WHEAT

New soft wheat looks good for biscuits and distilling

New biscuitmaking winter wheat variety Bamford has good support from two seed merchants from the Scottish Borders and Kent for its yield, strong disease resistance ratings and potential good marketability.…

WEED MANAGEMENT

Video: Mechanical hoes offer solution to herbicide resistance

As herbicides are withdrawn from the market, resistance builds and growers seek more sustainable weed management strategies, an increasing number of growers are turning to mechanical weed control. Andy Baggott,…

NUTRITION AND FERTILISER

Cereals 2023: Two agchem firms launch N-fixing products

Both Corteva and Syngenta are offering growers biological products aimed at fixing nitrogen from the air for crops to use. While both can help farmers raise yields or trim their…

WHEAT

Tips on growing profitable second wheats

Farmers on decent wheat-growing land should consider adding second wheats to the rotation, as few other crops are as profitable. Although margins are tighter due to higher input costs –…

DRILLING

Direct-drilling: Main findings from major five-year trial

Farming on heavy land in Leicestershire, Joe Stanley was skeptical that reducing cultivations by adopting a direct-drilling system would increase farm profitability and improve the environment. But after seeing the…

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