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Know How / Crop management

Managing your crops through the growing season means careful nutrition and fertiliser use for maximum crop yields and keeping a watchful eye on pest, weeds and disease control.

Read expert advice, case studies, and tips on how to achieve the best yields and growth through best-practice crop management techniques, on all crops including wheat, barley, oilseed rape, potatoes, sugar beet and more niche crops.

Case studies

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NUTRITION AND FERTILISER

How a Wilts grower is raising yields with attention to soil

Edward Parsons is looking to get more out of his soils by chopping straw, adding manure and varying his seed rates, and he is reaping the benefits as wheat yields…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Oxford grower cuts costs with a two-spray wheat fungicide strate...

Mark Oldroyd is looking to cut his wheat fungicide costs by moving to a two-spray programme using a variety with good disease resistance allied with delayed drilling in the autumn.…

OILSEED RAPE

How top oilseed rape growers achieve high yields

Two leading Scottish Borders oilseed rape growers’ focus on crop establishment and nutrition has led them to push their average farm yields towards the 5t/ha barrier. David Fuller manages 650ha…

NUTRITION AND FERTILISER

Farmer uses own field trial to find optimum nitrogen rate

Thomas Todd is using his own field trials on his farm to give him the optimum nitrogen fertiliser rate for his malting spring barley and the best septoria disease control…

CROP MANAGEMENT

How a milling wheat grower hit 12.2t/ha at 13.1% protein

An in-depth technical knowledge and a familiarity with fertiliser and pesticide products gained from Alex Wilcox's parallel career as an agronomist helped him deliver the award-winning crop of milling wheat in…

OTHER CROPS

Grower finds soya a good option after late-lifted sugar beet

South Lincolnshire grower Andrew Branton has turned to soya beans as a good crop to follow late-lifted sugar beet when there is little time to drill winter wheat. With British…

Practical advice

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DISEASE MANAGEMENT

How to grow septoria resistant wheat in the west

The highest rating for Septoria on the recommended list is held by breakthrough milling wheat variety Extase. Lucinda Dann met a Herefordshire grower to find out his experience of growing…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Analysis: Can farmers be less reliant on fungicides?

Cereal growers looking to reduce their growing costs are increasingly questioning the need for four-spray fungicide programmes. With the focus on many farms shifting to soil health and sustainable farming…

CROP MANAGEMENT

How new insecticide for virus yellows will help beet growers

An emergency authorisation for foliar insecticide Biscaya (thiacloprid) use in sugar beet is expected to be published this month, bolstering virus yellows control options this summer. Without neonicotinoid insecticide seed…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

How to save up to £50/ha on your wheat fungicide programme

Wheat growers could be saving up to £50/ha on fungicide costs by using the latest more disease-resistant varieties coupled with late drilling in the autumn. Choosing varieties such as Graham,…

PEST MANAGEMENT

Tips on managing blossom midge in wheat

Both the orange and lemon species of wheat blossom midge were found in crops at susceptible growth stages last year, leading to localised economic damage.  However, ADAS entomologist Steve Ellis…

WEED MANAGEMENT

Bur chervil becoming an increasing problem this spring

The broad-leaved weed bur chervil is becoming an increasing problem across the country, and must be targeted early this spring if good control is to be achieved. Independent agronomist Antony…

Insights

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NUTRITION AND FERTILISER

How N-fixing breakthrough will slash fertiliser use

A specific strain of nitrogen-fixing bacteria, isolated from sugar cane in Brazil and capable of colonising plant roots, is being developed into a technology that could reduce the farming industry’s…

TECHNOLOGY

How French spraying tech can slash herbicide spend by 80%

French kit maker Kuhn is moving into high-tech solutions such as spot-spraying, offering farmers dramatically increased application accuracy and decreased production costs. It is in response to more established competitors bringing…

MAIZE

Why drilling maize deeper and later could be future trend

Drilling maize later and up to depths of 7cm could be a useful strategy in light of two likely seed treatment reviews. Maize growers are preparing in earnest for the…

CROP MANAGEMENT

Trial aims to identify most valuable technology for growers

A farm-scale trial of technology could provide data to help justify payments for environmental measures taken on farm in the future, while also improving the quality of advice given by…

MAIZE

Pioneering trial assesses drone use in maize agronomy

Remote maize agronomy and crop analysis via drones could have a useful role in the future, a pioneering on-farm trial has concluded. Drones were "another tool in the tool box"…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Analysis: What a ban on fungicide chlorothalonil would mean

The multisite fungicide chlorothalonil has been a mainstay of both wheat and barley fungicide programmes since it was launched in 1964, however, UK farmers may soon be unable to use…

NUTRITION AND FERTILISER

A round-up of enhanced urea fertilisers and additives

Enhanced urea fertilisers and urease additives could soon have a greater role on arable farms as the government looks to slash ammonia losses through its Clean Air Strategy. The UK…

CROP MANAGEMENT

How farmers can help prevent 'mass extinction' of pollinators

Arable farming needs to change in order to halt declines in biodiversity and prevent one of the worst mass extinction events in history, a leading US entomologist has warned. Bold…

POTATOES

Are 100t/ha potato crops possible?

Potato yields in the UK appear to be faltering and one expert believes a yield competition like that seen with wheat could help the sector get closer to three-digit yield…

ARABLE

5 ways new tech can improve pesticide applications

With pressure on plant protection products from regulators and the growing problem of resistant weeds, pests and diseases, it is increasingly important to use them as accurately and effectively as…

PEST MANAGEMENT

How resistant varieties can tackle potato cyst nematode

Potato growers battling potato cyst nematode (PCN) problems are set to benefit from significant breeding efforts into producing fresh varieties resistant to the key nematode species Globodera pallida. Some promising varieties…

TECHNOLOGY

Air Scout thermal images show crops in a new light

How agronomists view the land they look after is changing at a rapid rate. Not only have yield maps from combines and soil analysis become staple tools, there’s now a…

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