News

Arable Conversations: Sustainable Rotations - Soils, Integrating Legumes, Cover Crops and Cash Crops
29th June 4 -5 pm

Led by: Tracy Valentine (James Hutton Institute).

Join us for a virtual Arable Conversation 4-5pm with Pete Iannetta (James Hutton Institute), Ed Brown (Hutchinsons), Dick Neale (Hutchinsons), Christine Watson (SRUC) and Paul Hargreaves (SRUC), which will look at the topic of sustainable rotations. The panellists will discuss how soil health and soil function are impacted in positive and negative way by the choice of crop, and how that crop fits within a sustainable rotation.

To register for the webinar visit...

ADAS is conducting a short survey to understand the benefits that OSR brings to a rotation and how factors, such as the loss of the basic farm payment, ELMs, loss of active ingredients and climate ...

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Written by Brian McDonnell

Maintaining grass quality during mid-season grazing is important. Farmers can maintain quality by entering ideal grazing covers of 1,300 – 1,500kg DM/ha, and grazing down to a residual of 4cm every rotation.

If you are now in a situation where cows are not cleaning out paddocks as well as they should be, leading to the development of steamy grass within the sward, here are some options.

Common options for rejuvenating swards include:

1. Take a silage cut, probably into bales, remove the material and start again with the aftermath...

Arable Conversations: Alternative markets and new cash crops 11.30 – 12.30 on 29th June 2021

Join us at Arable Scotland on 29 June at 11.30 am for an interactive ‘Arable Conversation’ that will discuss ‘Alternative markets and new cash crops’. The session will cover the seasons market potential and the current rollercoaster grain prices. New crops being trialled in Scotland, opening new doors and opportunities for the cereals sector will also feature. Chris Leslie from AHDB, will lead the discussion and be joined by the following panellists.

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

Arable Scotland

Jun 29, 10:00AM to Jun 29, 8:00PM BST



Now in its third year, Arable Scotland aims to bring together the key players in food production from farmers to distillers and exporters to demonstrate and discuss key industry issues such as innovative and sustainable farming.

Following the success of the inaugural event, this year's Arable Scotland is happening online and will major on alternative crops and new markets.

Register here: https://hopin.com/events/arable-scotland

The programme for the day is as follows:

11:00 am: Opening and welcome video –...

Written by William Kellett

An 11 year-old boy is in hospital after he fell from a tractor and suffered “severe leg injuries” in a farm accident.

The boy was on the tractor as it was cutting grass in Bleasby in Nottinghamshire when he fell off and had his leg trapped in the mower.

He was taken to Queen’s Medical centre by ambulance where he is currently being treated for his injuries.

Police have now launched an investigation to establish how the incident occurred.

Inspector Clare Gibson, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “The boy was on the tractor while it was being used to cut grass.

We believe the young boy has fallen from the tractor whilst in motion and subsequently...

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In this month’s episode, Tony Morris is talking sheep with National Sheep & Beef Manager, Bryn Hughes; Grass & Roots Manager, Colin Jones and Independent Sheep & Beef Adviser, Liz Genever.
Lambing for the majority has finished, or is coming to a close, and thoughts are turning to weaning strategies and getting lambs to their target weight in the most efficient way.
However, with one of the driest and coldest April’s recorded since the 1980’s, the other topic on everyone’s mind is: what do we do about the grass?

Click here to listen now

Identifying the spread and the severity of ryegrass will help to prioritise agronomic decisions on affected fields, advocates Syngenta grass weed specialist, Georgina Wood.

Those decisions could include alternative rotations, more competitive cropping choices and how to prioritise farm workload, especially around drilling timing, to give the best chance of breaking the ryegrass cycle, along with herbicide programmes, she urged.



“AHDB research has shown ryegrass is more competitive than black-grass, resulting in greater yield loss, and it produces more seed heads with more seeds – which facilitates faster spread,” warned Georgina (above).

“Ryegrass is an increasing issue across most of the...

Small farms have a huge role to play in our sustainable future | Charles, Prince of Wales

Written by Charles, Prince of Wales

Small-scale agriculture needs the tools and confidence to deal with the rapid changes society has to make

• Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent to the British throne

Family farmers form the backbone of our rural communities. Their hard work puts high-quality food on our tables, which is produced to some of the highest standards in the world, and their careful stewardship knits together the environmental and social fabric of our beautiful and iconic landscapes. They are a remarkable breed; adaptable, resilient and incredibly...

With harvest either underway or on the horizon for most growers in the U.S., now is a good time to prepare for your soil sampling program.

Most universities and the NRCS recommend taking soil samples in the off-season, after the last crop harvest, and before the next cash crop is planted. Mississippi State University Extension advises collecting samples 3-6 months before planting, to allow any lime recommendations to react and change the pH.

But before you can grab your soil probe and head out to the field, you need to understand best soil sampling practices and have a plan of action for collecting your samples, so you can accurately capture the soil chemistry...

Interest in the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme pilot

Written by Tom Lewis


Copyright Natural England/Julian Dowse

In March, we invited farmers to express interest in taking part in the...

KEENAN is holding a 7-day sale of Approved-used and second-hand KEENAN diet feeders from June 9–15. The sale is open to all farmers in Ireland and the UK. With machines starting from €45 per week, there are diet feeders on offer to suit all farm operations and budgets. Finance packages are available. Machines can be viewed in person by pre-appointment or can be viewed virtually.


Wide range of machines on offer
The range of machines on offer includes MechFiber and Vertical Auger models. Some machines...

Written by Justin Roberts

Claas has taken a minority shareholding in the Dutch autonomous tractor startup company, AgXeed B.V.

The new company has developed a tractor designed to be autonomous from the ground up, rather than try to adapt existing machines, or create smaller robots dedicated to a limited range of tasks.

AgXeed’s pilot machine is a diesel hybrid powered unit on tracks which uses a suite of software which, the company claims, is easily scalable.

Like many small technology start-ups seeking to gain a foothold in the machinery market, the company also points to the product as being part of a larger system rather than just another way of performing standard tasks

Unlike...

AHDB has announced yesterday it is winding down significant activities on behalf of the horticulture and potatoes sectors.

While still awaiting a decision on the future by Ministers in England, Scotland and Wales, AHDB wants to reassure levy payers their views have been heard following recent ballots in the two sectors.

AHDB is now stopping programmes of work that could be restarted in the future by grower associations, individual growers or the supply chain. This work includes for example, export market access and promotional international trade event work, consumer marketing campaigns and market pricing and insight information. AHDB will continue to deliver limited emergency work on pests and diseases, including the Extension of Authorisation for Minor Use (EAMU)’s and some...

In conversation with a soil health pioneer

Written by Janet Hughes



https://www.buzzsprout.com/1657363/...e-brown-the-six-principles-of-soil-health.mp3

In this month's Future Farming podcast, Janet Hughes talks to Gabe Brown.

Gabe has been named one of the twenty-five most influential agricultural leaders in the United States. He farms at...

Starane Hi-Load HL has been granted a new EAMU for BLW control in Millet

"With the loss of Bromoxynil another BLW herbicide was needed" says Premium Crops Company Agronomist, Hannah Foxall,"Having fluroxypyr as a Post-Emergence option will enhance our control of; cleavers, knotgrass, black nightshade, fumitory, chickweed and black bindweed in the millet crop"

As with all EAMUs any restrictions guidance stated on the products labels must be adhered to and the approval document can be found by clicking...

The Let's Talk Agriculture podcast Hartpury University is now live


In this podcast episode, BSc Agriculture Lecturer Stephen Watson and student Tilly Abbott, both from Hartpury University in Gloucestershire, join us to discuss how the next generation is getting prepared to become tomorrow’s agriculturalists. Hartpury University and Hartpury College. Make money work for you.

The LinkedIn and Twitter post links are below...

Written by John Swire

Bobcat has launched the company’s new L23 and L28 small articulated loaders (SALs), offering high lift capacities in confined spaces, ease-of-use with simple intuitive controls and low ground disturbance for working on any terrain. The new SALs continue Bobcat’s expansion in the compact wheel loader market and confirm that the company now has the largest loader portfolio of any manufacturer in the world.

Designed and built by Bobcat at the company’s North American facilities, the new SALs offer impressive stability and tipping loads of up to 1.39 tonne. It is therefore easy to place loads with the SALs over trenches and pavements, a task that is further enhanced by...

The Training Pig

Check out our sister site www.thetrainingpig.co.uk for all things "Training"

The...

Hello my name is Hughes & I'm a young smallholder & I want to share my adventure of smallholding with you, we can possibly learn together & hopefully have some laughs along the way.