conservation agriculture

A passionate and hands-on manager wishing to transition away from conventional agriculture seeks to become an integral part of an estate with similar aspirations. For further details and to begin a conversation please DM through this forum or respond via the e-mail address in post. Please feel...

Hi everyone, I'm new to the Farming Forum so I thought I'd first of all say hi! I am a researcher based in the Agriculture Department of Newcastle University and am working on a few projects that are trying to see how we can make farming more resilient to future environmental change. One of...

Take action to conserve your most precious resource: your soil. Do you accept the October Soil Test Challenge? We challenge you to do 3 easy soil tests on your fields. It takes one day in total and will be the most important thing you do for your soil this year. Getting to know your soil is...

For all those on the mailing list, Direct Driller Issue 3 was sent to digitally on the 20th June. It can be read here and you will see it has grown to 100 pages, which is where we expect it to stay going forward. https://issuu.com/directdriller/docs/direct_driller_magazine_issue_3 All the...

ROLLING COVER CROPS - A RICH TECHNIQUE OF OPPORTUNITIES WITH MUCH STILL TO MASTER Written by Matthieu ARCHAMBEAUD, TCS Magazine No 64 September/October 2011 The research institute Agroscope of Changins in Switzerland (Canton of Vaud) has been conducting a trial since 1969 with four different...

Dale Drills have been helping farmers to drive down the cost of crop establishment for over 20 years. Founded by Lincolnshire farmer, John ‘Edward’ Dale, the company has been a long term advocate of low impact cultivation – recognizing the importance it has for improving soil structure and the...

Sentry farming director John Barrett and Essex grower Dan Wormell explain the benefits of Clearfield varieties of oilseed rape and how they manage them in the field. The UK oil seed rape cropping area has fluctuated from a high of 755,000ha before the neonocotinoid ban to a low of 564,000 ha in...

by Frédéric Thomas and Matthieu Archambeaud from “ TCS magazine ”, France BASICS - During the period between cash crops, seeding any cover-crop is a big step forward in restoring water quality, maintaining and developing soil fertility and in the long term saving fertiliser inputs and reducing...

Large acreage wanted for unique naturally kept herd of horses and ponies, working with the land, conservation and the environment. Preferably secured with fencing and with water. Suffolk, Norfolk, The East.

Prime West Cross-slot technology emerged in New Zealand around 30 years ago, and has evolved through intense university research in both New Zealand and the USA. It has been field proven in more than 17 countries. In concept, the technology allows farmers to place seeds and fertiliser very...

Horsch, a Return to Direct Seeding Originally written by Frédéric Thomas and published in TCS in August 2015 While this may be a surprise many, Michael Horsch is first and foremost a farmer, not a designer and manufacturer of agricultural machinery. The opening of East Germany after the fall...

Rapeseed With Pulses and the Management of Nitrogen Originally written by Gilles Sauzet and published in TCS in March 2016 When we include pulses or beans in the cropping system, either as a main crop or companion crop, nitrogen management is at the heart of the strategy. Knowledge of the...

Getting Positive Results From A Cover Crop ‘Addiction’ Originally Printed in No-Till Farmer - USA By Julia Debes Bill Buessing leaves no stone unturned as he seeds various cover-crop species to feed cattle, build up soils and fix nutrients for cash crops. A self-described “cover crops...

Progressive Farmer - Alex Shutes I’m Alex Shutes - @Shutesy on The Farming Forum, 28 years old, a graduate from Harper Adams University in 2012 and now a farm manager on a 200ha all arable farm in Essex. We grow Oilseed Rape, Wheat, W Barley, S Barley and S Beans on a 7 year rotation but...

Could you run a farm scale trial in 2018? We as farmers are constantly being told about trial results, but as they say, there is nothing like trying things yourself on your own farm. Many of you out there are indeed already doing this, but what we would like to see is people sharing these...

Start Simple With Cover Crops Cover crops are becoming the new ‘in’ thing for arable farmers, and more are trying them out, often without really knowing what they are doing. Seed merchants are getting in on the act, and there’s an increasing amount of conflicting advice out there. Farmers want...

Asda Soil Masters Bursary Visit US Farms Asda arranged and funded a ‘Soil Masters’ tour of a number of US farms which have been in the forefront of no-till techniques. The main part of the bursary project was to explore the feasibility of combining arable and beef farming using a combination of...

How To Start Drilling For £8K Clive Bailye’s seed drill of choice is his 6m John Deere 750A , which has been used exclusively for 3-4 seasons. Last year, with an increased acreage, the founder and publisher of this Direct Driller magazine thought a second seed drill was necessary. Having just...

Aqua-Till Uses a Water Jet to Open The Groove Originally written by Frédéric Thomas – and published in TCS Magazine in August 2013 Cutting with water Ultra High Pressure (UHP) technology is rapidly developing in the industrial world. We appreciate its ability to quickly and cleanly cut...

Conservation Agriculture Guru Shows Secrets Of Their Success in No-Till First published in @Practical Farm Ideas Issue #95, Issue 24-3 Autumn 2015 No-till, zero-till and conservation agriculture have subtle differences in meaning. In all of them, seeds are sown directly into the stubble and...