The AHDB Monitor Farm network have run a Labour & Machinery review on over 20 farms stretching the length and breadth of the UK, here AHDB’s Harry Henderson shines a light on the findings
Across the AHDB Monitor Farm network, with the help of Strutt & Parker we have run a Labour & Machinery review on over 20 farms stretching from Morayshire in the north of Scotland to Truro some 700 miles to the south. At each Monitor Farm meeting on these farms, we have discussed the Monitor Farmers...
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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
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Virus-spreading aphids and the risk they pose to winter cereal crops are the subjects of a new management tool and a research project funded by AHDB.
Barley/cereal yellow dwarf viruses (BYDV) are mainly transmitted by the bird cherry–oat aphid and the grain aphid – via wingless and winged forms. Wingless aphids, which live on grass or volunteer cereals, can colonise the following cereal crop. This ‘green bridge’ can be managed, to various degrees, through cultivations. Winged aphids...
18 years ago, we bought our first self-propelled sprayer and it revolutionized access to land, it was light and well balanced and made fertilizer and crop protection applications easy. Our timeliness and the ruts we used to leave in tramlines all but disappeared.
Back then If you had told me I would ever consider running a trailed sprayer on my farm again I would have thought you were mad. I was once told the difference between a good farmer and a bad one was “a week” so I have always...
How much do you really know about your soil and its health? Elizabeth Stockdale, NIAB and knowledge exchange lead for the AHDB Soil Biology and Soil Health Partnership takes a closer look.
Recent work on soil management carried out by AHDB with grower groups across the country highlighted a lack of information on soil biology and soil health. Soil physics, chemistry and biology are interlinked and all play a role in maintaining productive agricultural and horticultural systems. While...
A LIVING SOIL - THE KEY TO A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE MANAGEMENT
Simtech Aitchison has become a major player on the UK direct-drilling scene in recent years, producing a variety of machines all based on the Inverted T-Slot principle. They cover the broadest range of direct-drills on the market, encompassing arable, mixed, upland and lowland pasture and forage crops, to narrow drills for sowing cover crops in vineyards, walnut groves and orchards.
Simtech’s direct sales policy means that they are...
By Edward H. Faulkner With a Foreword by S. Graham Brade-Birks M.Sc. (Manc.), D.Sc. (Lond.), of the SouthEastern Agricultural College (University of London), Wye, Kent
First published 1945
Traditions of the Plough Continued from Issue 1 of Direct Driller Ploughing done when the furrow slice is plastic creates clods; every clod is so much soil mustered out of service for the season. The tremendous pressure necessary to separate the furrow slice from its base compresses effectively any...
It was in 2002 that I first wrote an article outlining: ‘The need for’ and ‘Benefit of having’ a good population of mycorrhizal fungi in your soil. That is of course still true but it is not the most important of the life in your soil; so what is?
Of course there may not be any one type of life that is most important, but you will be well aware there are many that can be important but for the wrong reasons. For example soil microorganisms that are pathogenic to the crop you want to grow -...
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...
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...
Profile
Fowler Family (Andrew & Marie, Simon & Robyn, Tim & Kath, Richard & Elaine)
Location: ‘Chilwell’ Howick, East Esperance, Western Australia Farm
Size: 16,500 ha Annual Rainfall: 500 mm GSR
Soil Type: Mainly duplex sand over clay, with depth of sand varying from a few inches to a few feet
Enterprises: Cropping 10,000 ha Grazing 6,500 ha
The Fowler family from East Esperance in Western Australia started grazing crops in 2008 as a trial before fully incorporating into their farming...
The almost forgotten technique in the UK of grazing cereals is something being widely practised across Australia in areas with widely varying rainfall levels. The Australian Grain Research and Development Council have produced a report titled Grain and Graze which sets out to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of grazing a range of cash crops. We begin serializing this report over four coming issues to explore what is currently an untapped resource.
In Direct Driller Issue 3 we...
A Great Year to Start
No-Till…… This autumn has been a good one for progressing into no till. The weather had done any subsoiling that was needed by cracking out the soil to a depth of two foot in places. In late September I was getting a little worried. I had been told that late drilling doesn’t work very well with no-till. The fields hadn’t greened up at all and I was loathed to drill anything until we had killed off a flush of blackgrass and volunteers. Luckily for us mother nature was...
Companion Cropping Boosts No-Till Profits
By Mark Parker June 1, 2013 - No-Till Farmer USA
Growing double-crop sunflowers with multiple species has reduced inputs and enhanced primary crop health for Kansas no-tillers Robin and Kelly Griffeth. Double crop sunflowers planted with companion crops have a triple payoff for Jewell, Kan., no-tillers Robin and Kelly Griffeth.
With 2 years of companion cropping under their belts, the Griffeths are harvesting a more profitable sunflower crop...
UNIQUE CULTIVATOR DISC REVOLUTIONISING SEEDBED
Employing only a shallow disc cultivator that mixes heavy amounts of trash and crop residue efficiently, has saved cost and timing as well as improved soil condition on an East Riding arable farm without compromising yield.
Guy Shelby farms in partnership with his father Chris and brother David at Benningholme Grange, Skirlaugh, East Yorkshire where all farming operations are scrutinised and developed for maximum efficiency. The farm is...
Pushing Performance with Amino Acid Biostimulants
By Sarah Ferrie, Marketing Manager at Interagro (UK) Ltd
Could amino acids be one of the most overlooked assets in plant nutrition? In this feature we take a look at how supplementing the crop with amino acid biostimulants in-season not only boosts plant health and development, but can also help crops reach their genetic yield potential.
On a cold wet day in summer 2017 we got our first insight into the real power of amino acid...
Featured Farmer - Mark Lea
Article written by Agricology. A community of farmers and researchers sharing knowledge and experience on agroecological farming practices; online and in the field. We are a free service to support all farmers and growers to transition to more resource efficient, resilient and profitable farming systems, regardless of labels.
Mark Lea is a farmer profiled on the Agricology website who has put diversity at the centre of his mixed, low-input farming system in...
OPTIONAL EXTRAS ENHANCE KUHN’S CULTIVATORS
KUHN Farm Machinery has launched a variety of optional accessories to enhance its range of PROLANDER, CULTIMER AND OPTIMER cultivators.
PROLANDER: new tine, toughened share and roller options
The PROLANDER range of vibrating tine stubble cultivators receives a new tine which uses a single bolt to hold a hard-wearing, easy to change and reversible share in place.
The single-bolt design reduces the amount of downtime incurred when replacing...
Options to improve water-use efficiency in Crops
By Dr Niki Rust, Research Associate, Centre for Rural Economy, Newcastle University December 2018 issue
We all know that some parts of the UK are getting more and more water- and nutrient-stressed over time. With less predictable rainfall, extended periods of droughts or heavy rainfall, and declining nutrients in some soils, it is becoming increasingly difficult for farmers to grow crops in a similar manner to what they had done in the...
Field Pea Demonstration Trial 2013 Results
By Tom Molloy and Ellen Mallory University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Organic field peas are of interest in Maine as a high protein feed source and a rotation crop for cereals. A trial was established at the University of Maine’s Aroostook Farm in Presque Isle in 2013 to demonstrate organic field pea production for grain. The variety DS Admiral was planted alone and in mixes with barley and oats. Funding for this trial was provided by...
Getting the Best out of a John Deere 750A
By Richard Harding - Agronomist Extraordinaire
Simon Chiles has been advocating the benefits of the John Deere 750A drill for over 18 years. While carrying out his contracting business he has drilled almost every conceivable crop and as a contractor he has also had the benefit of drilling most soil types, from light chalky soils and sands through to silty and Gault clays. He has an engineering background and maintains that the performance of any...
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Tractor Chat #01
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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.