News

Following a couple of bumper maize growing years, it is looking likely that maize crop yields this season will be more typical,
if not slightly lower, than usual and we could see a split in harvest dates due to there being two distinct drilling periods this year.
If we compare crop heights in June and July last year to this year, as the images below highlight,
some crops are much further behind now compared to last year.
This could mean a considerably later harvest, even into the end of October/November.
There is also the possibility of some crops struggling to reach maturity before the cold weather sets in this year.
If harvest is delayed, the weather may impact operations and the quality of the crop...

Michelin is offering farmers and contractors up to £600 cashback when they purchase a set of four Michelin agricultural tyres, or up to £250 when two tyres are purchased, as part of its popular harvest promotion, which runs from August 1 to October 31.

In addition to the cashback savings, Michelin agricultural tyres – such as the TrailXBib, CereXBib2 and AxioBib2 – benefit from Ultraflex Technology, allowing them to operate at much lower pressure than a standard agricultural tyre, reducing the impact on the soil they are working on. A recent in-depth study into the impact of traffic and tillage on soil compaction found agricultural machinery running Ultraflex Technology tyres could boost farmers’ yields by four per cent.



Gordon Brookes, Customer...

The farmers who work in Defra

Written by Ben Keene


Ben Keene (Left) and Brian Longman (Right)

Like most workplaces, staff in Defra come from a variety of different backgrounds. Each brings their own unique experiences and specialist skills to deliver public policy.

But one area where Defra may differ from some other workplaces, is that quite a few of us are (or have been) involved in practical farming.

We felt it would be beneficial if we could develop closer ties with each other and bring something unique to the department.

So, we developed a network called the Defra Farmer’s Forum. In this post, we’d like to give you an overview of what we do. We’ll also share a little bit about...

Update on how we’re getting on with details and delivery

Written by Janet Hughes



At the start of this year I posted about what we had in store for the year. This post is about how we’re getting on and what’s coming next.

Designing and building environmental, climate and animal health and welfare schemes​

We’ve been working hard to improve our existing schemes and services, including:

• simplifying the 2021 Basic Payment Scheme, including removing the greening rules and simplifying the rules, reducing the amount of guidance by half
• launching a...

Written by Agriland Team from Agriland

Around 40 members of United Auctions staff are in training to take on the first-ever Virtual Great Glen Challenge this year.

Staff working from the yard to the boardroom will walk, cycle and run 500 miles in locations across Scotland on Friday, August 27, to raise money for the RSABI.

The Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RSABI) provides emotional, practical and financial support and last year helped over 700 people. Its helpline 03001114166 is open every day of the year from 7:00a.m to 11:00p.m and also offers a telephone call-out service for the lonely and vulnerable.

RSABI’s Great Glen Challenge​

Since 2012, the RSABI’s Great Glen Challenge has raised...

Learning from the successes of growers’ black-grass control programmes gives a raft of integrated cultural and herbicide strategies that can also be used to hit back at increasing ryegrass populations, advises Syngenta Technical Manager, Georgina Wood.

“Key to that success is stacking up as many of those options as is practically possible in a farm situation.”

• Delay drilling
• Adapt cultivations
• Increase spring cropping
• Grow competitive crops
• Prioritise pre-emergence applications
• Stack pre-em herbicides
• Optimise treatment timing and...

Written by Agriland Team from Agriland

The tractor manufacturer AGCO, which consists of brands such as Challenger, Fendt, GSI, Massey Ferguson and Valtra, reported its results for the second quarter ending June 30, 2021.

Net sales for the second quarter were approximately $2.9 billion, an increase of approximately 43.5% compared to the second quarter of 2020.



Reported net income was $3.73/share for the second quarter of 2021, and adjusted...

Written by Richard Halleron from Agriland

The latest machination coming from the so-called ‘opinion formers’, who seem to have the ear of government advisors in London, is the introduction of a ‘Meat Tax’ at consumer level.

This approach, it is argued, would have the combined impact of reducing meat consumption levels (I can really see the health benefits coming through now), while also helping to reduce the overall carbon footprint of production agriculture.

What absolute drivel! In my opinion, none of this makes sense at any level. This is a scurrilous and unfounded attack on livestock farming in this part of the world.

Yet, it has to be taken seriously. I make this point because economists at Rothamsted Research have already crunched the numbers where the introduction of a ‘UK...

MAKING YOUR FARM A SAFER PLACE TO WORK AND LIVE DOESN’T HAVE TO COST A FORTUNE. IN FACT, A TIDY UP OF THE YARD CAN REAP REAL BENEFITS IN TERMS OF SAVING TIME, SAVING COSTS AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, SAVING LIVES…



• Regularly walk around your farm and assess the potential dangers.
• If you want to know what a good farm looks like but don’t know where to start, the HSE have this fantastic resource CLICK HERE
•...

… BUT NOT DOING IT COULD COST YOU YOUR LIFE!
Many farmers are happy to invest in their land, livestock and machinery but as we know, they are often reluctant to invest in themselves and their safety:

It costs too much
I can’t afford it

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Farming has the poorest safety record of any occupation in the UK & Ireland with far too many lives being lost and life-changing injuries being sustained every year. Over the past year, 41 people lost their lives on GB farms – almost double the number of the previous year so, if this is your argument – have you ever considered how much it would cost to go to hospital for a night, or how much it would cost to be unable to work for an extended...

RETHINK RISK

OVER THE YEARS, OUR FARM SAFETY WEEK AND MIND YOUR HEAD CAMPAIGNS HAVE BECOME SYNONYMOUS WITH IMPACTFUL SOCIAL MEDIA FILMS THAT GAIN HIGH LEVELS OF ENGAGEMENT.

This year’s 2021 Mind Your Head video “The Living Years” had 614,000 views on social media and our 2020 Farm Safety Week video “Out of The Mouths Of Babes” had 750,000 views across our social media channels.
In a year where the number of people killed on farms in Great Britain has almost doubled compared to the previous year, we need to take a more serious approach to a more serious issue… Why are farmers continuing to ignore the issue of safety? Why are twice as many over 60s having life-ending incidents on farms...

More block calves are using ad-lib feeding to achieve better growth rate and lower labour. Better for calves and herdsman.

Written by William Kellett from Agriland

Stress and fatigue have been identified as a key cause of farm accidents by researchers from the University of Aberdeen.

The NTSAg group from the University researched the role of non-technical skills in farming and in this project investigated ‘situation awareness’, broadly defined as ‘knowing what is happening around you’.

They found that lapses in situation awareness, related to stress and fatigue, were a main contributory factor in farming accidents.

This project is the first to look at the impact of stress and fatigue on situation awareness and safety in agriculture.

Agriculture is the most dangerous industry in the UK, measured...

Yesterday we published the final AHDB Crop Development report of the 2020/21 growing season, which gives a pre-harvest update into the condition of the main crops in Great Britain. Making use of the regional and national condition scores enables a picture of how 2021/22 production could shape up.

Additionally, our annual planting and variety survey (PVS), released last week, gives us an updated look at planted area figures. Using both of these releases, we can make some robust estimations into yield and therefore production for the upcoming harvest.

In order to produce these estimates the following rules have been applied for estimating yield from crop condition ratings*;

• ...

Executive Director of the Food Ethics Council, Dan Crossley, gives his initial response to the publication of the National Food Strategy:

“The National Food Strategy feels like a breath of fresh air trying to reinvigorate our food systems at a time when they need an urgent reboot. It powerfully articulates key challenges, gives a carefully considered diagnosis of what’s wrong and lays out some bold recommendations. The headlines of the strategy feel spot on: escape the junk food cycle to protect the NHS, reduce diet-related inequality, make the best use of our land and create a long-term shift in our food culture. The Strategy addresses head-on several difficult but hugely important issues like trade, meat and obesity.

“The headlines...

Click to expand...

Written by Rachel Martin from Agriland

Proposals for legislation to establish cost of production linked pricing for farm produce have fallen flat with the author of an independent review on Northern Ireland’s agri-food industry.

Farmers For Action met with ISRAF report author Sir Peter Kendall to discuss the implications of climate change on Northern Ireland farming earlier this month.

The FFA’s Northern Ireland Farm Welfare Bill was also discussed at the meeting.

ISRAF

The Independent Strategic Review of NI Agri-Food (ISRAF) will provide a sharp, focussed review to help set the strategic direction of the sector.

The review will be led by Sir Peter Kendall, who brings decades of experience and...

Strike risk now rising, act now to prevent problems

NADIS, in collaboration with Elanco, have once again launched the blowfly risk alert to help farmers and prescribers keep up-to-date and stay aware of the blowfly challenge throughout the season. Elanco encourages farmers and prescribers to report a case of strike on the blowfly tracker to help others be aware of the risk in their local area and across the country.

Professor Richard Wall from Bristol University comments "The strike risk is still increasing, but only slowly due to the recent relatively cool conditions which look likely to persist into the early part of July. A focus on protecting lambs becomes increasingly important given that shearing will have greatly...

New wheat blends launched: Stepping back to move forward



Many UK farmers are exploring cereal blends as a way of tacking disease and reducing inputs in favour of a regenerative approach to farming, and leading seed supplier Cope Seeds and Grain, is launching a pre-mixed range of organic and conventional wheat blends to meet growing interest in this approach.



“Blends are nothing new,” says Gemma Clarke, managing director of Cope Seeds and Grain. “Back in the 1980s there were many thousands of tonnes of seed blends being sold and grown in the UK. However...

Net Zero – Making carbon pay

Scotland has a legally binding commitment of being Net Zero by 2045. The latest Climate Change Plan requires a 31% reduction in emissions from agriculture by 2032. This topic will be under discussion in the fourth in the series of Arable Conversations at this year’s Arable Scotland event on 29 June at 6pm.

To register for the webinar visit www.hopin.com/events/arable-scotland and for more information about the event visit www.arablescotland.org.uk

Chairing the discussion on ‘Net Zero Making Carbon Pay’, will be Dr Kenneth Loades from the James Hutton Institute, he is also the sector lead for soils and crops...

Arable Conversations - Integrated Pest Management - Deriving the Benefits – 1 – 2pm, Tuesday 29th June

SRUC led Arable Conversation on ‘Integrated Pest Management - Deriving the Benefits’

Led by Fiona Burnett (SRUC). Panellists include: Caroline Drummond (LEAF), Andrew Moir (Arable Sector Climate Group) and David Howard (Hutchinsons).

To register for the webinar visit www.hopin.com/events/arable-scotland and for more information about the event visit www.arablescotland.org.uk

There should be many win:wins in adopting practices that make crops more resilient against crop health threats and associated yield losses, and also benefit the...