What does that actually mean when it comes to establishing a crop of autumn sown winter oil seed rape? The majority of land on which I find oil seed rape grown contains a high percentage of clay. This I know to be a fact due to years of soil sampling and the use of textual analysis. Because clay has a high water-holding capacity that binds moisture tightly, light showers (under 10 mm) only dampen the surface. What happens next is that the moisture is prone to evaporatio

Having returned from a weekend of farming in Lincolnshire I am reliably informed the area around Grimsby had 5 mm of rain on Sunday night. Looking at the forecast for Gloucestershire I note we too may receive 5 mm on Thursday. Should I get excited? What value is 5 mm or rain to Gloucestershire’s current drought situation regarding resumption of grass growth suitable for livestock grazing. Well simply put, 5 mm is practically useless. While it may temporarily wash dust off

I see that one of the farming comics published an article entitled “Bio stimulant trials reveal CSFB damage reduction”. After reading the article and cross referencing a few items I came up with another headline that I thought was more appropriate. "Snake oil" is synonymous with fraudulent remedies, deceptive marketing, and health scams. However, its origin as an alternative to genuine traditional medicine is routed in the American “quick-buck exploiters” of the 1860s. Dur

The primary concern regarding common ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) is its high toxicity to livestock, especially horses and cattle. The plant contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids that cause irreversible liver damage. It is particularly dangerous when it is cut, dried, and accidentally mixed into hay or silage as livestock lose their ability to detect the plant's naturally bitter taste in dry forage. Official regulation has changed, with bodies like Natural England largely stepping

Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) persists and remains durable in a sward through aggressive tillering (creating dense new shoots from the plant base) rapid recovery from physical damage and a fibrous, robust root system in the topsoil. Mechanisms of Persistence and Durability. Aggressive Tillering. Instead of spreading via runners like some grasses, perennial ryegrass is clump-forming and produces dense basal tillers. If the top leaves are mowed or grazed, these tillers

It looks like we may see showers throughout the month of May. How does that affect agrochemical application? What are we talking about when we say “rainfastness”? Rainfastness refers to a crop protection product’s ability to maintain performance after exposure to rain or irrigation which is particularly important during showery weather conditions. Why? Simply because once applied the product needs to hit the leaf surface and then remain there long enough to perform the task

29 April 2026. FarmingUK Team. British farmers have delivered another convoy of vehicles to Ukraine’s front line, providing vital support to troops and emergency teams operating in some of the most dangerous areas of the war. A total of 38 off-road pickups have been handed over through the Pickups for Peace initiative, with farmers and volunteers driving the latest convoy to Lviv. The vehicles are destined for firefighting, medical and air defence units, helping to evacuate t

The 8 Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Principles. Specific reference to Yellow Rust in Winter Wheat. The ability of the fungus causing yellow rust to overcome race specific genes is well know and documented; an early occurrence being in 1932 with the variety Vilmorin 23. From there you may remember Perdix in 1966, Sleipner 1985, Robigus 2000 and Warrior in 2011. These sudden degradation’s of varietal resistances make for spectacular newspaper headlines whist causing major

…it’s just that I had forgotten. Reviewing cereal production for 2026 I re-read some of the science associated with the Broadbalk long-term trial at Rothamsted. The experiment with over 180 years of data has worked with organic and inorganic fertilisers. This data forms the basis for commercial crop production worldwide. What are some of its key findings? It highlights the need for additional nitrogen and phosphate to increase yield. The application of chalk (lime) is es

“P”s come in many forms. Considering soil analysis and plant nutrition the abbreviation P stands for Phosphorous or should that be Phosphate? Soil phosphorus (P) is the essential chemical element, vital for plant life, while phosphate (PO 4 ) refers to the specific ionic compound (e.g. orthophosphate) that plants absorb from soil solution for growth, often used interchangeably in fertiliser talk but technically distinct. Phosphorous exists in the soil in various forms,

Grain markets. Generally, countries with high wheat consumption and insufficient domestic production or specific quality requirements are the most frequent buyers. In 2024, the top importers by value included, Indonesia, Mainland China, Italy, The Philippines, Spain, Algeria and Japan. As of Friday, January 16, 2026, countries actively buying or seeking to buy wheat on the international market included Saudi Arabia, Jordan, China, Egypt, and members of the European Union.

The idea of sequestering carbon into soil has been discussed for decades with the idea gaining momentum in the 1980's. The Paris climate conference in 2016 introduced a headline statement of “Four per thousand”. The idea being that if on a global basis, soil organic carbon could be increased by 0.4% AND subsequently maintained at a low but ever increasing rate the carbon sequestered would cancel out annual carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels. With this in mind all m

I was on farm the other day when I came across a set of Cambridge Rolls parked in the corner of a field. Nothing new in that except this set caught my eye. A Cambridge Roll consists of a series of individual cast iron rings mounted on a central axle or shaft. Each ring typically has a V-shaped or ridged profile, which gives the roller its unique function. This set was old and consisted of rings that were flat, not ridged. I have seen such things before but they are certa

Over the last 28 days there have been invitations for spray operators to attend training events with regard to obtaining NRoSO points. Such training events focus on operator and environmental safety issues as well as obtaining the best from applied products such as fungicides. Recently I to attended a training event hosted by ADAS. One of the topics on the agenda was that of disease control in cereals with particular reference being made to yellow rust. It has been stated

So what happened with the UK Wheat harvest? Well it was completed in record time with the AHDB final report being published 26th September 2025. The report ESTIMATES the UK average farm yield at 7.6 t/ha, which is 0.3 t/ha more than 2024. Practically you should expect a 10% error on such figures which means the range is 8.4 - 6.8 t/ha. Researchers at Rothamsted Research Station estimate a theoretic potential in most wheat growing regions of the UK of 20 t/ha. Reports

The AHDB Recommended Lists for cereals and oilseeds celebrates its eightieth birthday in August. Currently AHDB reported results exceed...

Forage maize is typically harvested 7-10 weeks after the tassel emerges, depending on the specific variety and growing conditions. ...

Soil classification systems recognise several soil groupings based upon the particle size and their proportions. Commonly, Sand, Silt...

A crop not commonly grown but one that is purported to be “of ever-increasing interest” with proponents pointing to the market for UK...

There are always a variety of activities farmers are engaged with, one of them is currently the Sustainable farm initiative (SFI). One...