Farmers who only ever feed pasture plants to their animals often remark on the positive effect this has on their bank balance. Sara Gregson talks to one such farmer and also reveals the findings of a recent economic survey of members of the Pasture-Fed Livestock Association (PFLA)…
Balbirnie Home Farm in Fife has been in Johnnie Balfour’s family for generations.
It is a mature mixed farming business running to 1,225 300 hectares and used to grow cereals, beans and vegetables, with some...
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Direct Driller Magazine
Direct Driller is a new farming magazine, designed by farmers for farmers to educate and inform the industry about no-till techniques
Johnson-Su bioreactors have become all the rage on some regenerative farms. But what are they and how do you use them?
Written By Mike Abram
If first lockdown was all about building a firepit from spare discs, last autumn saw a surge in the construction of Johnson-Su bioreactors being showcased on social media. A Johnson-Su bioreactor is a method of creating fungal-rich compost, and was developed by Dr David Johnson, adjunct professor at California State University’s Center for...
by Nick Woodyatt, Soil Fertility Consultant at Aiva Fertiliser
Normally when starting an article there is much gnashing of teeth and wandering around the garden, or pub in my case, deciding on how to help and enlighten our industry (hopefully). But seeing as it did not stop raining during the autumn/winter, on this occasion the decision was somewhat easier. My town should have been re-named Upton under Severn. On my rounds I saw two four-wheel-drive tractors tied together pulling a plough...
What we can't see
Written by Chris Fellows
Farming is becoming as much about what we can’t see as what we can. We as farmers already know that. Many of the articles in this magazine cover what can’t be seen and the complexity of modern-day sustainable farming. Greenhouse gases in the air can’t be seen, our crops and tramlines can. Soil carbon under the ground can’t be seen, but soil on the road can. Soil microbiology can’t be seen but cover crops can. The carbon footprint of an avocado...
If you are like us, then you don’t know where to start when it comes to other reading apart from farming magazines. However, there is so much information out there that can help us understand our businesses, farm better and understand the position of non-farmers.
We have listed a few more books you might find interesting, challenge the way you currently think and help you farm better.
The Fate of Food: What We'll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World We need to produce more food...
What happens when we plough a direct drilled field?
Using the soil health scorecard to monitor changes in soil health. Dr Jenny Bussell from The Allerton Project at GWCT shares the findings from research aiming to answer this question over the last three years.
Growing food and fibre crops requires soils to be maintained in a suitable state that provides optimal soil structure, water retention and nutrient availability. The physical, chemical and biological properties of soil interact to...
Written By Laura Barrera First Published on www.AGfuse.com
If someone asked you, “How do plants take up the water and nutrients they need?” you’d probably tell them through the roots. But did you know that for many crops, those roots aren’t working alone? That’s because most plant species associate with mycorrhizal fungi.
What are mycorrhizal fungi? University of Alberta biological scientist JC Cahill says that mycorrhizas are actually the interaction between a fungus and a plant...
What do you read?
If you are like us, then you don’t know where to start when it comes to other reading apart from farming magazines. However, there is so much information out there that can help us understand our businesses, farm better and understand the position of non-farmers.
We have listed a few more books you might find interesting, challenge the way you currently think and help you farm better.
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures
The...
If you are like us, then you don’t know where to start when it comes to other reading apart from farming magazines. However, there is so much information out there that can help us understand our businesses, farm better and understand the position of non-farmers.
We have listed a few more books you might find interesting, challenge the way you currently think and help you farm better.
Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web Smart gardeners know that...
Wet on Top - Dry Underneath
Written by Niels Corfield
The winter of 2019/20 has been challenging for farmers to say the least. Incessant rain meaning fields were not accessible, and winter crops were not sowed, large areas of flat or low lying country flooded (sometimes repeatedly) and otherwise generally redefining the concept of mud. However, now that we're at the end of 2020, how's the ground shaped up over the year? Did the moisture seem to disappear, even after the wet winter of...
AFFINITY WATER SPONSOR GROUNDSWELL 2019
At this year’s Groundswell, headline sponsor and the UK’s largest water-only supply company, Affinity Water will demonstrate the relationship between soil health, water resources and the environment.
Shaun Dowman, agricultural advisor at Affinity Water, explains that there is a need to change how we manage our soils and water resources, and that a close relationship between farmers and water companies is the key to achieving this. “Whether you farm...
Creating a Smarter Water Catchment in the Evenlode - Thames Water No Till & Cover Crop trial
Thames Water has recently started a No Till and Cover Crop trial in the Evenlode river catchment as part of its ‘Smarter Water Catchments’ initiative. The company’s work, alongside colleagues from Atkins and Natural England, is helping to encourage water sensitive farming across the Evenlode catchment and to reduce run-off of phosphorus from farms and fields into local watercourses. The project has...
Our population is growing and so is the demand for food, highlighting the importance of farming to us all. This growing population will also need more water, especially in the south-east of England. The company I work for, Affinity Water, supplies water in an area already under ‘serious water-stress’ so it is vital that we manage our water resources, from source to tap, in the most sustainable way possible.
The obvious, but often overlooked, fact about drinking water in the UK is that every...
High winds on Sunday and Monday of this week led to black-out dust storms crossing Interstate-80, causing multiple-car accidents both days with one fatality and multiple injuries. Both days Interstate 80 had to be closed for several hours.
The situation there was not unlike what occurred in other areas of eastern Nebraska where the force of high winds across open, tilled fields led to blowing soil and dust storms. Clark Poppert of Geneva, Technical Support Agronomist with Servi-Tech, Inc...
CROSSCUTTER MAKES LIGHT WORK OF STALE SEEDBEDS
Preparing the ideal stale seedbed ahead of a direct drill is an exacting task and like many farmers, Richard Budd has tried a number of approaches at Stevens Farm, near Hawkhurst, Kent. With 900ha of combinable crops on land varying from Weald clay to Tunbridge Wells sand, the focus is on winter cereals, but juggling the rotation can mean that volunteers are an issue as well as blackgrass.
Volunteers have become a particular problem in winter...
With so much data captured on farm, making it useful can be like unlocking Pandora’s box. Researchers from Rothamsted Research – Kirsty Hassall, Alice Milne and Andy Whitmore – share how yield and satellite data can help with precision management in potato crops.
Modern technology allows farmers to vary inputs across fields, giving the potential for more profitable and environmentally friendly farming. To realise this potential, farmers need good information about the likely response of the...
A beginners guide for Arable Farmers
The main thing to understand is that an electric fence is a psychological barrier for animals. The initial electric shock they receive means they are deterred from approaching the fence again. Therefore, how a fence is erected and the speed with which it can be moved is critical when consider what is important in terms of using them to help graze crops. In this guide we will, with the help of Rappa, introduce the elements of a fence and what you would...
Michel Mercier: Using Peas as an Agronomic Weeding Tool
Written by Frédéric Thomas, TCS Magazine No. 46 - January / February 2008
Like many farmers, Michel Mercier first got into direct drilling based on the economic savings it offered. He first worked with an SE Horsch then onto an AT Köckerling, then onto a SD Kuhn, only to find that the drill is only an ingredient, only part of a solution, purely the way to do something. He soon realised that the key to success lies in the soil, it’s...
The UKSO is an online archive of UK soils data from nine research bodies. It provides easy access to fully described datasets allowing everyone to work with the latest UK soil research outputs. Knowledge of soil types and properties underpins good soil-management practices allowing us to develop vital strategies for sustainable agricultural production, UK's carbon balance and a wide range of other services e.g. flood prevention.
What can Farmers do on the UKSO website?
The UKSO map...
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Tractor Chat #01
Feb
20
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Tractor Chat #01 - with Direct Driller Magazine Farmer Focus writer Phil Rowbottom
Discussing direct drilling wheat, Oil seed rape growing in the UK, Fendt 724 tractor and his Sky Easy Drill.
Discussing direct drilling wheat, Oil seed rape growing in the UK, Fendt 724 tractor and his Sky Easy Drill.