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Know How / Rotations

Advice for growers on building the best crop rotation plan to keep disease, pest and weed pressure down, while maximising return on cereals, oilseed rape, beans, sugar beet and potatoes. Find out how other farmers are managing the switch to spring cropping to get on top of blackgrass.

Advice and tips

BLACKGRASS

Expert advice on using rotations to tackle blackgrass hotspots

Severe blackgrass infestations are costly for farmers, resulting in large reductions in yield, as well as adding £100/ha or more to herbicide costs. The good news is that a combination…

CROP SELECTION

Oat market offers opportunity for farms in the right areas

Oats are the UK’s third largest home-grown cereal crop, behind wheat and barley, and they can be a profitable addition to arable rotations. They are a useful low-input cereal break…

VARIETY SELECTION

Expert pointers on winter barley variety choices

Winter barley has fallen out of favour on many British farms in recent years due to a combination of its unattractive gross margins and farmers turning to spring cropping to…

CROP SELECTION

What to consider when choosing next year's winter crops

Farmers are being advised to consider crops that will set them up for the next few years, rather than just focussing on those giving the highest returns in the coming…

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Case studies

WEED MANAGEMENT

Organic grower turns to sheep to control weeds

Shropshire organic grower Mark Lea was concerned that docks might become a nuisance weed on his farm and, as he could not reach for a chemical can, he turned to…

CROP MANAGEMENT

How grower targets fish food market and weeds with bean crop

Martin Lines has benefited from growing beans – not only because there is an increasing demand for home-grown protein crops, but also as it has helped him nearly stamp out…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Margin maps allow grower to end unprofitable cropping

By removing low yielding areas from his cropping, Jon Birchall hopes to increase the overall profitability of the Sundorne Castle Estate near Shrewsbury, Shropshire. Mr Birchall has identified those areas…

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…

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Insights

CROP MANAGEMENT

How wet weather is affecting cropping plans and farm finances

One of the most difficult autumns in memory for arable farmers is causing widespread disruption to fieldwork and rotations, threatening to put a giant dent in 2020 crop performance and…

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…

ARABLE

Data reveals how raising crop yields can offset subsidy loss

Any reductions in support payments arising from Brexit can be covered on most UK arable farms by improved crop performance, results from ProCam’s 4Cast service suggest. The higher wheat yields…

WHEAT

Make wheat your top-performing spring cereal option

Spring wheat was the best gross-margin performer in the second year of one agronomy group’s field-scale rotation blackgrass trials – outperforming spring barley and late autumn-sown wheat. In addition, the…

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News

CROP SELECTION

Survey reveals slump in OSR area and Group 3 wheat revival

The oilseed rape area in England and Scotland is 11% down on last year, making it the smallest area of the crop for 16 years, according to new AHDB figures.…

WEED MANAGEMENT

First signs of resistance found to key herbicide flufenacet

The first signs of ryegrass and blackgrass resistance to the widely used used herbicide flufenacet are being detected, with growers being urged to use other methods of control as well…

ARABLE

Video: Hertfordshire grower introduces livestock to rotation

One grower's experiences of introducing livestock into the rotation of a Hertfordshire arable farm have been discussed in a new video from AHDB Cereal and Oilseeds. Royston Monitor Farm host Jo…

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Video

ARABLE

Video: Hertfordshire grower introduces livestock to rotation

One grower's experiences of introducing livestock into the rotation of a Hertfordshire arable farm have been discussed in a new video from AHDB Cereal and Oilseeds. Royston Monitor Farm host Jo…

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