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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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Dr Jon Knight, AHDB Head of Crop Protection assesses the shifting political emphasis on environmental protection and the future for Integrated Pest Management
What is Integrated Pest management (IPM)?
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations definition is as follows: Integrated Pest Management (IPM) means the careful consideration of all available pest control techniques and subsequent integration of appropriate measures that discourage the development of pest...
The grey field slug (Deroceras reticulatum) and other Deroceras spp.
The grey field slug is the most widespread and troublesome species. It is usually light grey or brown, grows to 5 cm in length and produces milky white mucus. Populations tend to have a mixed age structure, so damage occurs whenever conditions are favourable for activity. It continues to be active in damp weather and even when temperatures are close to freezing. Breeding is generally at a peak in April and May and...
AHDB’s Crop Protection Scientist, Charlotte Rowley, assesses new methods of control against slugs.
Following the announcement from Defra on the withdrawal of metaldehyde in 2020, thoughts are again turning towards slug management. The good news is that there is an effective alternative: ferric phosphate has been shown to be as effective as metaldehyde in controlling slugs.
Unlike metaldehyde, slugs die underground rather than on the surface, meaning it may not be as obvious when an...
Written March 2019.
It’s called a fools spring for a reason….
The dry winter has meant that we have been able to get the first round of fertilizer out onto cereal crops this year nice and early. The wheats and barleys are looking a picture and are still tillering out nicely. The disease pressure looks low so far apart from a few patches here and there. We have a small amount of herbicide to apply to the earlier drilled wheat but in general the blackgrass situation looks good compared to a...
Growing different plants next to each other, in the same field or plot, is alien to many farmers but less so for ‘growers’. Farmers who talk to their neighbours with gardens may well find they have been growing combinations of crops for decades. The world of horticulture knows that marigolds create natural pesticides that keep nematodes and beetles off tomatoes, asparagus and squashes. That growing beans, which fix N, helps maize, brassicas and beet along. Horticulture has tended to be wary...
Written by Christoph Felgentreu, Jan Hendrik Schulz ∙ Bückwitz from DSV
Farmers have a choice as to which ecological compensation measures they use to meet their greening obligations. According to the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), around 1.37 million hectares of land were designated as ecological focus areas in 2015, of which as much as 930,000 hectares were undersown or sown with cover crops. In weighted terms (factor 0.3) this amounts to around 40 % of all...
QUANTIFYING THE WHOLE FARM BENEFITS FROM GRAZING CROPS
Many farmers have commented that the greatest benefit from grazing their winter crops has been the additional pasture grown which can then be used by livestock at a later stage. This deferment requires the additional pasture production and better livestock condition from grazing the crop to be valued.
The GrassGro model was used to calculate the whole farm benefits from grazing crops for a prime lamb/ cropping enterprise in South...
The Gross Output hamster wheel
It’s not uncommon to hear no-till farmers talk about the ‘hamster wheel’ of tillage - i.e. that cultivation creates the need for more cultivation. This continues until you jump off the wheel and make changes, including those to your rotation and agronomy, breaking the bond that links tillage to growing successful, consistent crops. There is, however, another and often not so widely considered catch 22 that has become the normal in UK agriculture, and it is a...
CORRECT ESTABLISHMENT IS VITAL TO GET THE BEST FROM SPRING-SOWN CROPS
Spring crops have become an increasingly important component in many arable rotations, but to deliver best performance they must be established correctly, writes Jeff Claydon, who farms in Suffolk and designed the Claydon OptiTill® System In the last issue of Direct Driller magazine, I highlighted the importance of effective stubble management in producing excellent crops and outlined how to achieve it. This time I want...
Written by Angela Lovell, originally published in No-Till Farmer USA in November 2018
Choosing a cover crop cocktail is only a start, says Adam Daugherty, as managing carbon-to-nitrogen ratios and adapting planting strategies play a big role in success. There are many variables for growers to consider when they’re implementing cover-crop mixes into their no-till rotation — including mix design, carbonto-nitrogen (C:N) ratios, cash crop goals, termination strategies and biomass management...
WHEN ADOPTING DIRECT DRILLING, VERSATILITY IS KEY
by Simon Clarke, Technical and Sales Manager for Simtech Aitchison
It is probably true to say that no other make of direct drill is working over such a wide range of agricultural environments as the Simtech T-Sem drill. Vineyards, walnut groves, upland and lowland pastures, the often arid and rocky conditions of places such as Corsica and the arable areas of most Western European countries, are just a few examples of the diverse range of...
Written by James Warne of Soil First Farming
Ever measured the brix levels of your crops? Been told that if you achieve the magic figure of ~15% brix then you won’t have an issue with pest and disease?
I have spent the last couple of years testing brix (during the spring) of most crops I visit and have never managed to get anywhere near to 15%. For a while I blamed my refractometer so got that tested against another one, no problem there. I then decided I must be measuring the sap...
Written by Ian Gould, Director of Oakbank Game and Conservation Ltd
In an attempt to take myself out of my own comfort zone and into a new learning arena, I decided to venture across the “Pond” and immerse myself in US Agriculture for a week. Arriving in Indianapolis in January 2019 I was intent on absorbing as much as I could at the US National No-Till Conference, an event that attracted almost 1000 farmers, advisors and suppliers. There was a definite bias towards Maize and Soybean...
THE USE OF BENEFICIAL MICRO-ORGANISMS IN AGRICULTURE. A TAILORED METHOD FOR IMPROVED PLANT PRODUCTIVITY
By Jamie Stotzka, Consultant Bioagronomist
Healthy soils contain billions of bacteria from thousands of species. A special group of these bacteria, collectively known as Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria or PGPR are known to promote plant health, growth and productivity. PGPR are unlike the nodulating rhizobia only found associating with leguminous plants, as they are free-living...
Practical Advice for Improving Soil Health
Soil health is one of the government’s main concerns relating to the future of agriculture, and with many farmers now turning towards conservation and biological farming, it is important to get soil heath, the cornerstone of these principles, right. George Hepburn, biological soils expert at QLF Agronomy, gives his six practical steps for improving soil health, no matter what farming system.
Analysis
When looking to increase soil health, the...
Farming 160ha of combinable crops on light “boys” land over chalk between Cambridge and Newmarket. I’m 100% combinable having been a sugar beet grower since the days of hand hoeing as well as offering a drilling and harvesting service with a 6 row tanker in the past, I have since stopped growing beet when I wanted to start direct drilling. All crops types are grown for premium markets and are stored in Camgrain central storage which makes having a rotation of 6 or 7 crops and different...
SPRING INTO ACTION: CHOOSE ADJUVANTS TO PUSH HERBICIDE AND FUNGICIDE PERFORMANCE THIS YEAR
How can you keep weeds and disease at bay this spring? As warmer weather arrives and the season gets underway, we explore here the role of adjuvants in boosting the performance of herbicides and fungicides on farm to optimise weed and disease control.
Right time, right place
Bumper harvests are made in spring. Where every kilo counts, optimising a fit and healthy crop free from weed and disease...
FARMINN FROM ROTHAMSTED
Dr Ian Shield, Rothamsted Research, explains how this venerable farming research institution is now working directly with farmers to increase knowledge transfer.
Whilst you’ve probably heard of Rothamsted, the world’s oldest agricultural research centre, it’s possible you won’t have dealt with us directly, or maybe even been aware of what impact we’ve had on the way you farm. However, thanks to a new citizen science initiative, that could all be about to change...
Making a Smooth Change to No-till
Think “soil quality” rather than “new drill” when planning your change to zero-tilling.
Min till and no till are quickly becoming part of everyday agriculture. Whether used to increase soil health and the productivity of soils, or as part of a Black Grass strategy, or both, we are seeing this type of tillage being accepted as a bona fide method of farming. And, where it is done correctly the rewards can be a healthier soil and a lower input growing...
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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.