Agroforestry: Learning from four pioneers
Interested in agroforestry, but don’t know quite where to start? Four pioneers shared their expertise in an excellent knowledge exchange session at Groundswell.
Written by Mike Abram
More farmers and landowners than perhaps ever before are starting to consider agroforestry as a viable enterprise for farmland. Recent government announcements to treble annual tree planting in the UK by May 2024 as part of climate change mitigation and net zero...
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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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Blackgrass control – Are you using enough Dihydrogen Monoxide?
Written by James Warne form Soil First Farming
Dihydrogen Monoxide or DHMO has been used for years to improve the distribution and performance of soil acting residual herbicides along with other uses such as a solvent, coolant, and used extensively as a fire retardant. It is critical for life, but deadly if too much is imbibed. You’ve probably heard of DHMO by its more common name – water.
The slightly flippant tone of the...
Farm Facts: Ed Reynolds
327ha arable farm in west Cambridgeshire growing combinable crops on clay
The land is 71% owned, 29% contract farming agreement
1 fulltime employee, 0.5 myself + casual staff at harvest
When I started farming there were two choices: conventional and organic. We were conventional. Organic just seemed out of the question, too bigger a leap on the heavy land we farm without livestock. I found neither of these provided me with that sense of fulfilment. I have always...
Farmer Focus – Neil White
2021 has seen me, after 5 years, drill into cover crops for the first time. I had a big volunteer oat crop due to cutting wet oats at harvest, which I left into winter. Every cloud has a silver lining though as this then provided some winter grazing for a neighbour’s sheep. The field was then limed, snowboarded on (behind a speeding pick-up), sprayed off and finally in March, we sowed Diablo spring barley. I must admit the winter’s heavy rain combined with the...
The Journey into Regenerative Farming
Written by William Waterfield from The Farm Consultancy Group
The ending of BPS in 2027 and the knowledge that the income received from BPS will be halved in 2025 is a making a lot of arable farmers review their business. Combine this with the last DEFRA farm income figures that show that most arable farmers are dependent on BPS to make a profit. At the same time, some of the early adopters of regenerative agriculture are emerging with more a...
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...
A guide to magnesium nutrition – are your crops getting enough?
Written by James Warne from Soil First Farming
An introduction to magnesium and its role in crops
Magnesium is a crucial component in the production process of yield in any crop. It forms the centre of the chlorophyll complex. In this article the complex conditions that affect magnesium and its availability to your crops are covered, and solutions discussed to correct possible deficiencies.
If any of the following situations...
Farmer Focus – Andrew Jackson
If you are reading this article, I will assume that you may well be at some point in the journey of Regenerative Agriculture. Although I have always been a passionate farmer, trying to become a regen farmer has enhanced my love of farming at what could be considered the latter part of my farming career. During lockdown my middle child Anna returned from being a self-employed sports’ photographer in London, she was already on board with the concepts of regen ag...
Could living mulch be the ‘holy grail’ of arable farming?
Written by Pete Williams from The Soil Association
A team of six farmers is trialling growing a living mulch under cash crops – if they’re successful, they say the practice could eliminate the need for artificial inputs, cut costs and boost productivity.
The group is aiming to discover whether cash crops can be successfully grown in a permanent clover understory (living mulch) to control weeds and fix nitrogen. A key question is...
Nuffield Catch Up – Mark Dewes
Mark is a farmer and agronomist from Withybrook in Warwickshire. After starting with ADAS in 1996 and working with NIABTAG, AICC and Agrii he was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship to evaluate the role agronomists play in stewarding pesticide use.
Think of Denmark and you might imagine bacon, pastries, Hamlet and Carlsberg. You might also think of a country which relies almost exclusively on ground sources for its drinking water supply; probably the best...
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...
Opportunities in the forward-thinking world of regenerative farming
Written by Thomas Gent from Gentle Farming
The Gentle Farming system will produce the first carbon offset certificates in the Autumn. The buyers can see a portfolio of local farms or those that reflect their needs. Gentle farming will sell the offsets and begin paying farmers this winter.
We have had a busy few months moving things forward both in terms of working with farmers and agronomists and also in creating...
From ‘No Hope in Heck’ to Regenerative No-Tilling
Ian and Dianne Haggerty are using the concepts of “Natural Intelligence Farming” to build a regenerative enterprise focused on zero tillage, livestock integration and biologically sourced inputs that boost their soil resources and profitability.
By John Dobberstein, Senior Editor, No-till Farmer USA
Married and both raised in farming families, Ian and Dianne Haggerty were shocked when they sought advice from a farm advisor on...
Could living mulch be the ‘holy grail’ of arable farming?
Written by Pete Williams from The Soil Association
A team of six farmers is trialling growing a living mulch under cash crops – if they’re successful, they say the practice could eliminate the need for artificial inputs, cut costs and boost productivity.
The group is aiming to discover whether cash crops can be successfully grown in a permanent clover understory (living mulch) to control weeds and fix nitrogen. A key question...
Traditional Arable Business Model in Question?
Written by Gary Markham, Land Family Business
147% of the profit of the average arable farm is BPS
Farming is embarking on a period of change that most of the current generation of farmers have not experienced. Moving from the comfort of area payments to having to apply for specific funding for providing natural capital. This will inevitably put farming business in financial strain as there will be a funding gap between the two regimes over...
Farmer Focus – Andrew Jackson
If you are reading this article, I will assume that you may well be at some point in the journey of Regenerative Agriculture. Although I have always been a passionate farmer, trying to become a regen farmer has enhanced my love of farming at what could be considered the latter part of my farming career. During lockdown my middle child Anna returned from being a self-employed sports’ photographer in London, she was already on board with the concepts of regen...
Nuffield Catch Up – Mark Dewes
Mark is a farmer and agronomist from Withybrook in Warwickshire. After starting with ADAS in 1996 and working with NIABTAG, AICC and Agrii he was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship to evaluate the role agronomists play in stewarding pesticide use.
Think of Denmark and you might imagine bacon, pastries, Hamlet and Carlsberg. You might also think of a country which relies almost exclusively on ground sources for its drinking water supply; probably the best...
Opportunities in the forward-thinking world of regenerative farming.
Written by Thomas Gent from @Gentle Farming
The Gentle Farming system will produce the first carbon offset certificates in the Autumn. The buyers can see a portfolio of local farms or those that reflect their needs. Gentle farming will sell the offsets and begin paying farmers this winter.
We have had a busy few months moving things forward both in terms of working with farmers and agronomists and also in creating...
New software that uses a drone to image crops has been developed to help farmers walk crops more quickly and accurately. Skippy Scout has been developed by farming technology specialist Drone Ag to monitor a variety of broad acre crops. The latest developments in the software’s version 2.5 enables users to import field maps and track the crop from emergence to harvest. The data from each flight is recorded and reports generated that help to evaluate the crop throughout the growing season and...
Does Grazing Cover Crops Negatively Impact Soil and Crop Yields?
Written by Lindsey Anderson, Humberto Blanco, Mary Drewnoski and Jim MacDonald, Published in CropWatch from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Separation of crop and livestock production can degrade soil and other natural resources while reducing economic returns. Additionally, the conversion of grassland to cropland has put a strain on forage for cattle. Grazing cover crops can be a potential option to re-integrate crops...
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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.