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Know How / Crop selection

Guidance and advice on choosing which spring or winter crops to grow for your end market to ensure you are profitable and insured against volatility. Find out which markets offer a premium, such as spring barley for whisky or milling wheat for bread and specialist crops such as quinoa or naked oats.

Advice and tips

PULSES

Getting the most from intercropping: Your questions answered

Intercropping is becoming a popular option for arable farmers looking to reduce chemical inputs and enhance yields. Particularly as the Sustainable Farming Incentive pays £55/ha for companion cropping. Despite its…

ARABLE

How arable farmers can turn things around this spring

It may feel like doom and gloom at present, as any rare dry days are predictably followed by another spell of rain – a cycle that has limited field work…

OTHER CROPS

Round-up of the niche crop options for UK growers

Introducing alternative break crops to an arable rotation can help growers improve soil health, spread market risk and further financial gain. As pesticide actives are lost and resistance fears build,…

BARLEY

Advice on growing malting barley to gain from high premiums

Premiums of £55-£60/t for malting barley are being offered this harvest, with the price supported by beer's history of being recession-proof and the post-Covid recovery in beer sales. For these…

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Case studies

ROTATIONS

No-till, rotation and resilience drive Kenya’s farming shift

Think of Kenyan agriculture and it's likely tea, coffee and cut flowers spring to mind, perhaps with various vegetable crops, such as green beans, which are imported into UK supermarkets.…

HARVEST

'Average at best' harvest for most Arable Insights farmers

After a tricky growing season, has harvest surprised or confirmed worst fears for our Arable Insights’ farmer panel? Farmers Weekly finds out. See also: Why Herts farming family are moving…

OTHER CROPS

How estate uses niche crops to broaden risk and flexibility

Farming across 15 different soil types, along with three seasons of extreme weather, has made rotation planning an interesting exercise for Ragley Estate farm manager Andrew Keyte. This has not…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

On-farm grain processing adds value and market

Taylors Farm in Lancashire has transformed itself from a traditional beef and arable farm into a regional hub for grain processing services. Over the past five years, the Webster family…

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Insights

CROP MANAGEMENT

How climate change is reshaping agronomy

Evidence from long-term trial data and climate modelling shows that warmer summers, wetter winters and more extreme weather events are affecting yield reliability, disease pressure and pest risk. The key…

OILSEED RAPE

Oilseed rape looks set to bounce back as crop area rises

Optimism is growing in the oilseed rape industry with this season’s crop area rising, buoyed by last summer’s high yields, firm rapeseed prices and reduced risk from one key damaging…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Why spring linseed could be a strong option in 2026 rotations

With demand for UK-grown linseed continuing to remain high against a backdrop of depressed markets and uncertainty surrounding many other spring crops, spring linseed could be the solution for many…

VARIETY SELECTION

What to consider when selecting spring malting barley varieties

UK farmers are being advised to focus on proven barley varieties with strong market flexibility when selecting seed for the coming season, as uncertainty over area, premiums and end-market demand…

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News

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Premium Crops unveils record contract values for spring 2026

A specialist niche crop company unveiled its spring cropping offers at the CropTec event, including a record spring linseed contract of up to £600/t as well as premium market opportunities…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Crumpets made from 100% British regen wheat launched

Crumpets made from 100% British regeneratively farmed wheat are the latest product launch from regen food and farming business Wildfarmed. The launch marks the brand’s first expansion from bread into…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Huge linseed demand fuels high spring contract offers

A £600/t spring linseed contract for the 2026 harvest has been launched in response to rising demand across food, feed and industrial markets. The updated contract from Premium Crops provides…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

New Wildfarmed partnership unveils British barista oat drink

Regenerative food and farming business Wildfarmed has partnered with barista brand Minor Figures to launch a new drink made with regeneratively grown British oats. Barista Oat (Regenerative) is the latest…

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Video

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Video: UK agroforestry system integrates fruit and arable

First-generation tenant farmer Stephen Briggs planted the UK’s largest agroforestry system, integrating fruit trees and arable cropping to boost land productivity. More than a decade after the 4,500 apple trees…

HARVEST

Video: Spring barley cut ahead of wheat in Cambridgeshire

Spring barley is being cut ahead of of winter wheat on James Peck’s Cambridgeshire farm and showing a good yields of 7.5-8t/ha. Mr Peck had cut some wheat for a…

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