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Know How / Weed management

Find out about the main pest threats and how to control them in wheat, barley, oilseed rape, sugar beet and potato crops. Get advice on dealing with pests including flea beetle, TuYV, potato cyst nematode and slugs, how and when to apply insecticides and what a permanent neonicotinoid ban would mean.

Advice and tips

CROP SELECTION

How to grow profitable spring crops and beat blackgrass

Spring cropping has a key role in tackling blackgrass, but which are the best crops for tackling the weed and maximising returns? Four years of trials data have come up…

BLACKGRASS

How to get residual herbicides right to fight blackgrass

Stale seed-beds and other cultural approaches can go a long way in managing blackgrass, but a robust residual herbicide programme is vital in getting the level of control needed for…

ESTABLISHMENT

How to make the most of an early harvest to hit weeds in wheat

An early harvest means farmers can hit grassweeds even harder when establishing wheat, by making greater use of stale seed-beds. This pre-drilling strike against weeds followed by a robust pre-…

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Case studies

BLACKGRASS

Grass and maize help to banish blackgrass

Grass and maize are helping to win the blackgrass battle on one mixed Dorset farm, and so are cutting the cost of expensive autumn cereal herbicides. Two-year grass leys have…

BLACKGRASS

Fens blackgrass trial back to winter cropping after three years

A fens grower forced into spring cropping by an untenable blackgrass population is set to return to winter cropping this season after tackling his weed problem. Lincolnshire farmer Chris Richardson’s…

BARLEY

Late drilling barley may help control BYDV and blackgrass

Oxfordshire grower Richard Davey is drilling winter barley late without a big yield hit to give him more time to get on top of troublesome blackgrass and try to limit…

OTHER CROPS

Why rye is the ideal second cereal on one Yorkshire farm

Maize tends to be the favoured crop for anaerobic digestion because it offers the highest dry matter yields. However, on the Yorkshire Wolds, hybrid rye is matching it when grown…

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Insights

CROP MANAGEMENT

Key pesticide approval changes for barley and sugar beet

Pesticide approvals are constantly changing and the latest raft are set to affect farmers growing sugar beet and cereals for brewing and distilling. Highlights include more options for weed control…

BLACKGRASS

How an Aussie invention can help improve weed control

The use of a combine chaff deck at harvest, which dumps the chaff along with most of the weed seeds in the tramlines, was so encouraging last summer for one…

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News

CROP WATCH

Crop Watch: Concerns grow over propyzamide timing in OSR

This autumn is proving to be one that requires nerves of steel. A lot of patience was needed with delayed drilling to get a good blackgrass kill and now it’s…

CROP WATCH

Crop Watch: Rising OSR disease and aphid risk

Recent rain has come as a welcome relief for many arable farmers, with crops drilled into relatively dry seed-beds. However, it means there is likely to be a blackgrass flush…

WEED MANAGEMENT

Video: Phone app is cheaper way to monitor crops with a drone

A new smartphone app offers farmers a cheaper and easier way to monitor their crops, simply with a mobile phone and a cheap drone. Developed by Northumbria-based Drone Ag, the…

WHEAT

Late wheat drillers advised to pick a vigorous variety

Winter wheat growers planning to drill late to combat blackgrass should chose varieties with vigorous early growth that are quick out of the blocks in the spring to smother the…

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Test and reviews

New Defy 3D nozzle: Sprayer operators give their verdict

Agrochemical giant Syngenta has launched its new Defy 3D spray nozzle, which will provide growers with improved grassweed control and reduced spray drift. The new nozzle is an evolution of…

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Video

WEED MANAGEMENT

Video: Phone app is cheaper way to monitor crops with a drone

A new smartphone app offers farmers a cheaper and easier way to monitor their crops, simply with a mobile phone and a cheap drone. Developed by Northumbria-based Drone Ag, the…

WEED MANAGEMENT

Video: 7 pre-season checks every sprayer should have

Spring is just around the corner and farmers up and down the land are drawing up battle plans about how best to tackle the impending mountain of work. With many…

ARABLE

Video: Cotswold farmer highlights the benefits of glyphosate

Failure to relicense the world’s most widely used non-selective herbicide glyphosate will have an adverse effect on wildlife and soil health, believes one Cotswold farmer. Jake Freestone, who farms more…

CROP MANAGEMENT

Video: Farmers explain why glyphosate is vital

Farmers are being urged to make the case for glyphosate by lobbying their MPs and MEPs to explain the agrochemical’s importance on farms. The NFU wants the European Commission to…

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