Osbaston House farm is the AHDB’s first Strategic Farm to be based in Leicestershire, where farmers will be able to see for themselves research and innovation being put into practice on a commercial farm over the next six years.

The AHDB currently has three Cereal Strategic Farms across England – in North Yorkshire, Norfolk and now one near Nuneaton in the East Midlands.

The programme aims to put cutting-edge research and innovation into practice by hosting and openly sharing the results from short- and long-term field and farm-scale work.

See also: What Strategic Farm East project will study at Morley Farms

The family farm, managed by fourth-generation Leicestershire farmer Will Oliver, comprises 650ha arable, with wheat, maize and winter bean grown in rotation, and 100ha of grassland in environmental schemes.

There is also an indoor poultry unit (150,000), with chicken manure used on the farm.

Some 600t of the wheat is used for poultry feed and the rest is sold to various other feed outlets.

Two full-time arable workers are employed by the family. 

Mr Oliver said: “I’m looking forward to hosting trials and demonstrations that will, hopefully, help find solutions to problems experienced by arable farmers, sharing the results so that everyone can benefit.”

One such challenge he is seeking answers on relates to oilseed rape.

Problems with cabbage stem flea beetle mean that Mr Oliver is no longer growing the crop, but he is interested in bringing it back as a useful break crop.

Mr Oliver’s other areas of interest are:

• Precision farming/AI/testing new technologies
• Biostimulants
• Organic manures (timing and comparison with bagged alternatives)
• Managing fungicide resistance
• Tyre pressure and trafficking
• Optimising cultivations
• Undersowing maize for the following wheat crop
• Comparing the advantages of maize versus wheat

He is already engaged with some research projects through The British On-Farm Innovation Network (Bofin).

In one of these, he is looking at soil/root health testing tools. Mr Oliver is also a pulse pioneer.