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Know How / Market opportunities

In a competitive market for arable crops, keep on top of where the market opportunities lie. Find out which grain and oilseed rape contracts offer a premium, how future changes to subsidies may affect grain markets and how other farmers have switched varieties to find new markets.

Advice and tips

CROP SELECTION

High fertiliser costs: Two cheaper crop options for 2027

With soaring fertiliser prices, lacklustre commodity prices and rising pest and disease pressures, experts have highlighted two alternative crops for this autumn, that are much cheaper to grow than wheat…

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…

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,…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Strategy pointers for selling grain in a volatile market

Wheat growers are being urged to calculate their cost of production before selling any grain for harvest 2023, as input costs have risen sharply while wheat prices have drifted lower.…

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Case studies

PULSES

Chickpeas: An alternative break crop for hotter summers?

The viability of growing combinable chickpeas for the UK human consumption market is being investigated as the search for alternative break crops suited to the changing climate continues. With the…

CROP MANAGEMENT

Regen premium helps West Midlands family battle blackgrass

Regen premiums have given father and son James and Sam Daw the confidence to dedicate one-third of their cropping area to spring crops and tackle a growing grassweed problem. “It…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Relay cropping: What it is and how it might work in the UK

Relay cropping, where a grower plants a second crop into a field before the first crop is harvested, has gained niche popularity in the US as an alternative to double-cropping…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Oxfordshire farm expands to be self-sufficient for wheat

A fully integrated mixed farm business is the aim for Blanchard Farms in Oxfordshire, where planned growth in the arable enterprise will ensure self-sufficiency, keep costs down and support its…

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Insights

CROP MANAGEMENT

Grower trial aims to unlock food-grade millet production

A crop of millet stood like a green oasis in the middle of the parched Kent landscape in mid-August this year at Nonington Farms, seven miles outside Canterbury. Grower Emma…

CROP SELECTION

How high-protein spring barley can unlock bigger premium

Premiums for spring barley remain weak on the back of low demand from maltsters as consumers, especially younger generations, reduce alcohol consumption. But there could be an emerging market, if…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Project investigates feasibility of combinable hemp

For a crop that is relatively cheap to grow, with plenty of end market uses, hemp hasn’t exactly hit major highs in the UK. Hemp has an array of potential…

ROTATIONS

Cereals 2026: Benefits of OSR and linseed in the rotation

While many see it as a choice between oilseed rape or winter linseed, one expert argues there is much to be gained by growing both within a rotation. Nigel Padbury,…

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News

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Farmers advised to respond to crops fairness review

With just over a fortnight left before the deadline, arable farmers are being urged to respond to Defra’s consultation on fairness in the UK combinable crops supply chain, amid concerns…

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…

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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…

ARABLE

Video: How to grow a cereal crop for seed

Cereal growers with clean weed-free ground could earn themselves a significant premium over the price of feed wheat and barley by growing crops for seed production. Prices of 10-12% over…

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