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Know How / Crop selection

Guidance and advice on choosing which spring or winter crops to grow for your end market to ensure you are profitable and insured against volatility. Find out which markets offer a premium, such as spring barley for whisky or milling wheat for bread and specialist crops such as quinoa or naked oats.

Advice and tips

ARABLE

How arable farmers can turn things around this spring

It may feel like doom and gloom at present, as any rare dry days are predictably followed by another spell of rain – a cycle that has limited field work…

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,…

BARLEY

Advice on growing malting barley to gain from high premiums

Premiums of £55-£60/t for malting barley are being offered this harvest, with the price supported by beer's history of being recession-proof and the post-Covid recovery in beer sales. For these…

BARLEY

Major maltster picks top spring malting barley for Scotland

The spring malting barley variety Diablo could become the number one variety in Scotland in the next two to three years after an initial good performance on-farm and through the…

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Case studies

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Why a Scottish estate harvests crops every month of the year

Crops are harvested 12 months of the year at Stracathro Estate on the east coast of Scotland to fuel a 2MW anaerobic digestion plant, which requires the equivalent feedstock of…

CROP MANAGEMENT

How couple are developing organic, no-till cropping business

Starting five years ago with an optimistic vision and a blank slate, first-generation organic farmer and emergency doctor Alex Fraser had a plan to produce healthy food for local people.…

WHEAT

Herbal leys and bicrops help hit organic wheat premium

Devon farmer George Greed is successfully using herbal leys, inter-crops and population wheats to hit organic milling premiums, as part of his nature friendly farming operation which has increased arable…

ARABLE

How US farmer increases profitability through relay cropping

Relay cropping winter wheat and soya beans in one season could be worth at least £605/ha (US$300/acre) more for a US farmer in Indiana compared with just growing mono soya…

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Insights

SOILS

Getting arable soils back on track after a washout season

Soils have been one of the biggest casualties of the wet season, with many fields requiring some remedial action before cropping again. Issues vary from surface capping, slumping, compaction, and…

PAYMENTS, SCHEMES AND GRANTS

Expanded SFI 2024 offer: What it means for arable farmers

The new expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) for 2024 brings together the existing SFI 2023 offer, amended Mid-Tier Countryside Stewardship (CS) options and some new actions, moving it closer to…

OILSEED RAPE

Should growers persevere with OSR despite challenges?

The AHDB has estimated a near 30% drop in the UK oilseed rape area compared to 2023, making it the UK’s smallest crop for 40 years – at 280,000ha. With…

VARIETY SELECTION

New group 3 wheat tipped to rekindle shrinking sector

The arrival of Bamford, Elsom’s new soft Group 3 wheat, is being seen as a significant development for a market sector which has been on a stark decline since 2020.…

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News

CROP SELECTION

Plant breeders fear gene editing could be "derailed" by election

Plant scientists are demanding the next government prioritise the introduction of gene editing, to help accelerate the development of crops with increased yields, improved climate resilience and reduced environmental footprints.…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Cereals 2024: Farmers to supply UK's largest quinoa firm

The UK’s largest quinoa producer, the British Quinoa Company, is looking to take on a limited number of additional growers next spring to meet growing demand within the human consumption…

ARABLE

Cereals 2024: UK wheat area set for big bounce back in autumn

Winter wheat drilling is forecast to recover strongly this autumn, with the area set to be up by as much as 30% as growers are tempted to sow early after…

OTHER CROPS

Hemp growing made simpler with changes to licensing rules

Changes to hemp licensing rules are set to make it easier for farmers to plan their rotations, thereby making it a more viable break crop on UK farms. Hemp is…

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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…

HARVEST

Video: Spring barley cut ahead of wheat in Cambridgeshire

Spring barley is being cut ahead of of winter wheat on James Peck’s Cambridgeshire farm and showing a good yields of 7.5-8t/ha. Mr Peck had cut some wheat for a…

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