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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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ARABLE

Swedish rapeseed grower tackles clubroot

Lars Baekted is stretching his crop rotation after seeing clubroot spread into his oilseed rape crops and depress yields on the Swedish farm estate he manages. His plan is to…

OILSEED RAPE

Why organic oilseed is most profitable crop on Danish farm

Organic oilseed rape is the most profitable crop on Bent Jensen’s Danish farm, as it fetches three times the prices of rapeseed treated with sprays and fertiliser, while his yields…

OILSEED RAPE

Oilseed rape growers plan a strategy for this season

Oilseed rape has given many growers a rollercoaster ride this year. As it comes under renewed scrutiny, we find out how our three new Oilseed Rape Masters are managing the…

OILSEED RAPE

How a Danish oilseed rape grower won a key yield competition

With UK oilseed rape growers bedevilled by dry weather and flea beetles, David Jones travels to Scandinavia to see how farmers there are succeeding with the crop. In the first…

WEED MANAGEMENT

7 steps to tackling a ryegrass problem

In the space of 10 years, one Essex farmer has improved a ryegrass problem, which had resulted in fields of wheat being cut for silage, to a situation where this…

SOILS

How to identify and encourage worms to improve soils

Earthworms are a key measure of soil health, as they can mobilise locked-up minerals, help drainage and spread organic matter to improve soil structure. Therefore, we travelled to one of…

Practical advice

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POTATOES

What potato growers need to consider before diquat ban

This is the last season that potato growers can use the broad-spectrum herbicide diquat to desiccate their potato crops, therefore, growers are being urged to look at alternatives this summer.…

PEST MANAGEMENT

Tips on how to beat flea beetle when growing oilseed rape

A combination of only drilling when there is soil moisture, selecting the right variety and giving seedlings a nutritional boost are some of the measures helping crops cope better with…

WEED MANAGEMENT

Why sugar beet growers should re-evaluate herbicide plans

Sugar beet weed control programmes are coming under increasing pressure from herbicide approval updates and rotational changes. As a result, growers should take time to review current strategies and plan…

IRRIGATION

Why potato growers need to be better prepared for drought

Farmers and growers are being urged to plan and manage their use of irrigation this year, as concerns about the effect of continued dry conditions on water supplies mount. The…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Tips on growing cereals without neonic seed treatments

Different management strategies will have to be considered if the barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) threat is going to be contained this autumn, agronomists say. Following the loss of neonicotinoid…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

T2 fungicide alternatives to chlorothalonil growers can try

The imminent loss of chlorothalonil, combined with regulatory and resistance pressure on other actives, heightens the need for farmers to explore alternatives at the important flag leaf spray timing. Before…

Insights

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ROTATIONS

Why herbal leys have been added to arable rotation trial

The benefits of adding sugar beet and herbal leys in arable rotations are being investigated in a long-term rotational study in Suffolk, reflecting the changing challenges faced by growers.  After…

OILSEED RAPE

Defoliation reduces flea beetle larvae numbers by 61%

An on-farm trial of defoliation methods in West Sussex has reduced cabbage stem flea beetle larvae numbers by up to 61% this spring. Larvae numbers in grower Paul Helyer’s oilseed…

POTATOES

How data-driven tools and training can lift potato yields

Data collection and analysis is playing an increasing role in modern crop production. Farmers Weekly explores how a digital tool and expert-led training can help improve yields and cut waste…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

3 high-tech gadgets for monitoring crop diseases

Within five years, farmers will be using technology to continuously monitor disease levels in crops, with the data helping to tailor their fungicides according to the risk. The problem with many diseases…

VARIETY SELECTION

What the new TuYV-resistant varieties mean for OSR yields

Two new varieties on the Recommended List this year offer growers the opportunity to protect their crops from the turnip yellows virus while also achieving top yields. When the first…

VARIETY SELECTION

How Clearfield varieties can tackle erucic acid in OSR

Rapeseed exceeding erucic acid limits continues to be a problem for crushers, resulting in farmers facing deductions or even rejections of loads. Erucic acid is a naturally occurring fatty acid…

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…

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