agronomist

Finding SFI slightly confusing in terms of its scope and requirements especially for a predominantly grassland dairy farm which is geared towards production. 65 acres, two fields of pp approx 15 acres total, the rest temporary grass in roughly 5ac blocks reseeded on 6-7 year rotation, one 5ac...

Brighton Council, that bastion of the Green movement and all things trendy thought it would be a good idea that they should ban the use of glyphosate on the city streets to help the environment. Roll on four years and having tried all the green alternatives the place is a jungle and they have...

.... sadly going into liquidation. As a (very) small investor I think this is a pity as they have come such a long way, but some big money didn't come through for them so they have had to pull the plug.

Worth a watch - I watched part one tonight and it focused on Shirebrook pit & village and the division in the community at the time Some parallels from 20th Century mining, with farming in the 21st Century Break the dominance of the miners and then close the pits (despite those pits sitting on...

I have some gravely land which has had sheep outwintered on. I have spring barley and oat seed on farm. I’m leaning towards barley as it should make malting but will the oats do better on gravel and subsequently yield more?

Written by janineadamson from CPM Magazine Despite popularity among some growers, the true potential of fodder beet is yet to be realised, is the message from an advocate of the crop. Among the many benefits is it’s the highest yielding forage crop, says Pembrokeshire agronomist Lyndon Harris...

Written by janineadamson from CPM Magazine Unforeseen consequences of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) are a concern for independent agronomists after they were briefed on the recent updates at their annual conference last week. An interactive poll before the SFI update session revealed...

Been advised by my agronomist that I should be spreading sulfur either separately or with my fertiliser, is it worth the extra money? Will I see any benefits? He says it’s worth it and he’s not one to talk crap. Will be used on grassland for silage, thanks

Written by janineadamson from CPM Magazine A tough few months has resulted in a huge variation in crops across the country, posing numerous management headaches including weed control, warn experts. At one end of the scale are crops sown relatively early in September, that established well in...

Written by janineadamson from CPM Magazine A new tool is being developed to help growers to fine-tune herbicide timings this spring. The development comes from Bayer and originated in Denmark as the Cossack Tool, created to support a product containing mesosulfuron and iodosulfuron. Weed...

We employee three staff on a busy arable farm. They are paid hourly with overtime at time and a half. We run decent modern kit. I just wondered what is the going hourly rate for experienced and capable staff?? Minimum wage increasing in April again, will this push up the rate of higher rate...

Anyone applied Glpho to cover crops when ground frozen but foliage dryish? say 11am?

What are folks using and why? I write my own recommendations. Still using a diary/paper based system for record keeping but looking at Green light grower and the like. As a luddite I want something easy to use, idiot proof which can maintain stock check and be portable on Android which I am...

This is a long post from me but I hope you can find time to read it all. I am an Honorary Professor in Food Economics at the University of Nottingham and I acted as the secretary to the AHDB’s AgEcon Advisory Group for 3 years (2018-21). The Group was dissolved by AHDB in 2022. As a consultant I...

My sibling is wanting to understand arable farming & currently has nothing to do with the arable enterprise. Rather than myself or my father explaining (in our own words & not necessarily the best basic techniques) I have thought about getting him some literature to read. Basic down to - plough...

What are peoples experiences and is there any known issues with these machines. TIA

As above 👍

Thinking about the rest of the spud season prospects and the implications to sale price (in the growers favour) - Pro’s 1. 2023 GB crop was planted late leading to very variable yields and in general less crop. 2. Less potatoes were planted due to poor returns and the ever increasing cost/risk...

I have a lot of groundsel come through my autumn herbicide in winter wheat. Should I be thinking about controlling now or waiting until early spring when warmer? I was thinking either lector (straight florasulam) or cameo (tribenuron) would anyone have any suggestions which may work best...

Sorry if this is elsewhere. Over here in (historically) sunny Essex we have a long term average of 495 mm. We had 662mm in 2021 making it a wet year, 432 in 2022 making it a dry year. This year we have been 'lucky' to receive 808mm which is a cool 163% of normal. How about some of you...