A walk-in soil pit, dedicated drone demonstration zone and plot comparisons showing how high spends do not always mean high yields are some of the things awaiting growers heading to this year’s Cereals show.

Arable farming’s top event returns to Chrishall Grange in Cambridgeshire on 15 and 16 June, and with hundreds of crop plots and stands to visit, Farmers Weekly’s Oli Hill met up with local AICC agronomist Matt Paterson to get a sneak preview.

See also: Focus on waste and depreciation cuts cereal costs on heavy land

This year Niab’s Ron Stobart and Mark Stalham will be working with Rothamsted Research soil scientists to give growers a practical demonstration of their all new walk-in soil pit.

“Our 8m-long, 4m-wide and 1.2m-deep walk-through soil pit is a unique opportunity for visitors to check out the Cereals event site soil profile at eye level and study the rooting of a range of cover crops and cereal crops,” says Mr Stobart.

“We are going to show how a well-structured soil can help water infiltration and aid moisture retention, demonstrate how to increase soil aeration for root growth and biological function and help growers improve the workability of their soil.”

A subsoiler will also be pulled through the soil providing a backdrop to advice on cultivations and rotations.

Meanwhile, the new drone demonstration zone promises to show visitors how this high-tech, lightweight tech can be used for crop management on farm.

Growers and agronomists can pre-register for a live demonstration to learn more about precision farming and its benefits on the Cereals website.

Over at the AICC stand, independent agronomists will be explaining how growers don’t have to commit to big fungicide costs to hit the top yields and that application timing is key.

They will be running sessions at 11am and 2pm on both days of the event to discuss the differences between untreated, distributor agronomy and independent agronomy-run crop plots.

Stay up to date with the latest news from the 2016 event by going to the Cereals page of the Farmers Weekly website.