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Know How / Cover crops

Get advice on the best cover crop mixture to improve the fertility and structure of your soil. Choices may be vetch, phacelia, mustard, oats or oil radish depending on the needs of your soil. See when the time is right to kill off your cover crops ready for drilling the next crop.

Advice and tips

CROP MANAGEMENT

SFI 2023: The support options for arable growers

Arable growers are being encouraged to enter the new 2023 Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) for England as it is simpler and more flexible than previous financial support packages. The new…

COVER CROPS

How frosty weather helps Cambs grower reduce glyphosate use

Cambridgeshire grower David White is taking advantage of the current cold and frosty weather to destroy his cover crops mechanically with a roller or crimper to allow him to reduce…

COVER CROPS

A guide to catch cropping before autumn cereals

While many farmers are growing cover crops over winter before spring crops, there is also the possibility of establishing a catch crop between harvest and an autumn-drilled crop. The key…

NUTRITION AND FERTILISER

Cover crops help cut fertiliser costs for barley grower

As fertiliser costs spiral, Hampshire arable grower Ian Margetts is looking to cut nitrogen applications on his spring malting barley by up to 15% this season, as a result of…

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Case studies

LAND PREPARATION

Grower uses drone to sow catch crop into standing wheat

An East Yorkshire regen farmer is trialling the establishment of a multispecies catch crop into a standing crop of wheat, using the largest UK spraying and spreading drone. Jonathon Hodgson…

COVER CROPS

How Arable Insights farmers are using cover crops in rotation

Whether it is to increase soil organic matter, provide grazing for sheep, prevent nutrients from leaching, or deliver extra income within the rotation, cover cropping has become a key part…

COVER CROPS

How a lucerne living mulch is working in Denmark

A living mulch based on the perennial crop lucerne is allowing Danish farmer and agronomist Frederik Larsen to harvest more sunlight and produce two crops each year, while reducing costs…

SOILS

How Arable Insights farmer panel are unlocking soil improvements

Managing soils to improve physical structure and chemical and biological activity has become a key trend on arable farms this decade. Each of this season’s Arable Insights farmer panel are…

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Community

ARABLE

Farmer Focus: Cover crops v blackgrass control

One of my favourite meals is bangers and mash, but I definitely don’t like mush. When the first “Beast from the East” roared in, it certainly dried out the soils.…

ARABLE

Farmer Focus: Playing the long game with cover crops

Planting of our summer crops is in full swing here in South Africa. It might be summer but on 17 November we had a frost. Fortunately, my maize was young…

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Insights

SOILS

New reports reveal arable's impact on the environment

Two new reports are being said to provide a clear roadmap for improving soil health, reducing carbon emissions and supporting biodiversity, while also enabling farm businesses to continue operating profitably.…

COVER CROPS

How winter cover crops affect soil nitrogen supply

Drilling a winter cover crop mix can increase soil nitrogen supply by up to 35kg N/ha and reduce nitrate leaching by 90% compared with a weedy stubble. This is according…

BLACKGRASS

Why low disturbance subsoiling raised yields in trial

Cracking soil with a low-disturbance subsoiler has been the springboard to help raise yields in the direct drilling plots of Agrii’s Stow Longa long-term blackgrass trial. The silt-rich soils at…

COVER CROPS

How to get the most from SAM2 overwinter cover crops

Many growers will have experimented with overwintered cover crops in recent seasons, with, it’s fair to say, varying levels of success. In terms of area, overwintered cover crops is the…

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News

ARABLE

Farmer views sought for intercropping survey

Arable farmers are being encouraged to take part in a European intercropping survey which aims to build a detailed database to support farmer decision-making across the Continent. The Leguminose project…

COVER CROPS

Farmers advised to choose cover crops mixes carefully

Farmers planting cover crops this year are advised to select seed mixes to optimise the compatibility within the rotation and avoid diseases such as clubroot and take-all. Cover crops are…

LAND PREPARATION

8 new cover crop champions to provide practical trial info

A network of cover crop champions co-ordinated by the AHDB has been set up to showcase the various impacts of cover crops and provide practical advice to fellow farmers. Eight…

COVER CROPS

Still time to drill a summer legume mix to improve soils

Arable growers with uncropped bare soil are being encouraged to use a summer legume mix cover crop to protect their soils from summer thunderstorms, fix nitrogen and give a good…

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Video

POTATOES

Video: How a US potato grower is slashing pesticide use

Growing potatoes on a commercial scale with virtually zero synthetic inputs would seem impossible, but this is exactly what one US farmers has achieved using what he calls “biotic farming”,…

COVER CROPS

Video: Crimper trial aims to kill cover crops without herbicides

The holy grail of crimping is for cover crops to slowly die into a weed-supressing mat, covering the soil without the use of chemical sprays or the plough. For an…

DRILLING

Video: Min-till drill-off the highlight of Cereals 2018

Cereals show-goers were treated to a drill-off at this year’s event, giving them chance to see how five different low soil-disturbance systems deal with the challenge of a cover crop.…

COVER CROPS

Video: 5 key points for destroying your cover crops

Timing is key when killing off cover crops with one expert suggesting a herbicide needs to be used some three to four weeks before a spring crop is drilled. Some…

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