ahdb

Whilst it remains to be seen if globally we are in a super-cycle for commodities (a multi-year period of growth) we cannot ignore the transformation that commodity markets have undergone since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Many futures contracts have been able to hit multi-year highs owing...

Last week, the International Grains Council (IGC) released their latest global supply and demand forecasts. 2020/21 Total grains production for 2020/21 has been increased by 2Mt compared to last month’s release and is now forecast at 2,226Mt. This increase was largely driven by higher maize...

Alternative break crops for UK production - by Alex Cook, AHDB Market Analyst Break crops form an integral part of conventional crop rotations, and so an increase in alternatives from OSR is occurring. Information from Premium Crops and Soya-UK has enabled a domestic picture to be built around...

263: Potatoes: How to optimise irrigation to reduce soil erosion Written by AHDB In this episode Antonia Walker, AHDB Senior Knowledge Transfer Manager, speaks to Nigel Simpson of Catchment Sensitive Farming about how following a best practice when it comes to irrigation can reduce soil...

After watching his videos on Facebook for 6 months and really enjoying them I’ve just coughed up £299 plus vat and bought his full course. I spent good few years looking over trimmers shoulder’s. Some I liked some I didn’t and then 8 years doing my own, I’ve never had any proper training...

Is it just us or has this year been bad for it?

we have over the last number of yrs we have only just managed to keep with my buyers payment bands of 250. We found it easy to clear up clots but not the cell count. this yr due having culled( because they were empty) the worst 2. Much better cubicle management during the dry period and a...

With all the climate change bofins pointing the finger at farmers and cow fart etc etc, new rules on slurry and air quality we as an industry are in for a rough ride for the next few years. Who is going to feed the nation if these so called experts get their way and cut ALL livestock numbers by...

When I get a chance, I will take a photo of the Editorial in today's Times. It doesn't make for pleasant reading if you keep livestock as it relies on data from animal cruelty charities to accuse UK farmers of having welfare standards on a par with China and well below our European...

The global weather market pushed the UK November futures contract to its highest point in ten years, for this week of the year. However, weather markets always bring a level of volatility to prices. From 22 April open, the Nov-21 contract jumped £15.00/t in four trading days to a...

Does anyone know what the rules are concerning N fertiliser for a field of a mixed crop of peas and oats. Obviously not allowed on a pea crop but didn’t know if this was the case on a mixed crop? I was thinking of a low rate, perhaps 30-40 kg/ha N to help the oats along and hopefully not be...

The delay in planting the 2021 US maize crop is part of the reason US maize, and so UK wheat, prices have been rising. Cold and dry weather in the US meant that by Sunday, planting was 17% complete. This is 3 percentage points behind the 5-year average as Megan reported on Tuesday. This delay...

Hi all. Have been sent Skyway (very expensive) by my agronomist to apply as a T1 alongside Toledo, which I already have in stock. Wheat variety is Costello which I believe is very tolerant against rust- is there any advantage to applying the Toledo AND Skyway or can some more experienced arable...

As markets are in the midst of being very reactive to weather, crop area data can also drive prices for the 2021/22 marketing year. Yesterday, Statistics Canada released their estimated area of principal field crops. With Canada being a net exporter of cereals & oilseeds, data like this can have...

As we have reported over the past few weeks, cold and dry weather has been causing concern for new-crop grains supply, fuelling the current rally. Daily gains have now been seen across the global grains complex, with nearby Chicago maize prices rising 16% over the past 6 days, to close at...

272: Meet Tim Rycroft, AHDB's New CEO Written by AHDB Tim Rycroft has been appointed to lead the AHDB team and takes up the role of Chief Executive on Tuesday 31 August 2021. Tim joins us having recently stepped down from the Food and Drink Federation and in this ‘getting to know you’...

As we all know, better planting progress for winter and spring cereals has laid the foundations for an increased UK grain production figure. But nearly a month without substantial rainfall across the UK has threatened crop health, with yields likely affected. Production figure forecasts from...

I'm hoping someone can offer me some help, my fpd has been sailing close to the cut off for a while now but the last few collections it's been very low about 504 usually. This has only happened since3the cows have been grazing more grass (been turned into the silage fields) said fields are a...

271: The four pillars of pork production Written by AHDB In a rapidly changing world, what do you think makes your business stand out? And most importantly how do you measure success? Key performance indicators can be mistaken to be complex but in fact, once adapted to your business model –...

Throughout 2020/21, China played a key global role in supporting maize prices and in turn wheat prices. Chinese buying of grains contributed to the tightening of global supply and demand. A relationship exists between US maize pricing and UK feed wheat pricing. The narrowing trading range...