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Know How / Other crops

There are many minor and niche break crops, such as oats and linseed, which can bring many benefits to a crop rotation. This page aims to help you grow a more profitable break crop.

This is your starting point for identifying which crops to grow, how to grow them and address challenges such as weed and disease control.

Key areas of focus:

  • Choosing the right crop and finding contracts
  • Getting establishment right
  • Meeting market specifications
  • Crop agronomy, such as disease and weed control

Must reads

Case studies

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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…

ARABLE

Grower reveals yield and margin data of intercropping trial

A mix of peas and mustard generated the highest gross margin in the first year of an extensive intercropping trial carried out by Oxfordshire farmer Ben Adams, where different crop…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Wildflower seed diversification gives arable tenants security

Diversifying a traditional arable rotation with a wildflower seed business has helped secure a viable future for one tenant farming family, who faced losing their farm to building developments. In…

BLACKGRASS

Borage and herbage seed helps Essex farm fight blackgrass

Borage and herbage seed break crops have helped one heavy land Essex arable farm get on top of blackgrass, with double spring-sown breaks and low soil disturbance seen as the…

OTHER CROPS

How a Lincolnshire farmer grows a quality crop of herbage

Reseeding grass leys is an important job for many farmers, but the behind-the-scenes work that goes into growing a quality crop of herbage is often overlooked. For Lincolnshire farmer Andrew…

AGRICULTURAL TRANSITION

Downsizing and enterprise stacking makes Kent farm resilient

If ideas and enterprise stacking rather than scale and focus make a farming business resilient, then Doug Wanstall is onto a winner. A business that at its largest was contract-farming…

Practical advice

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CROP MANAGEMENT

How to tackle hefty spring arable workloads after wet winter

Spring workloads are mounting on most arable farms, so sorting fieldwork priorities to ensure optimum return on investment where crops are variable and harvest profitability remains uncertain is a tricky…

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,…

OTHER CROPS

Hybrid rye: The benefits of growing it and how to do it well

Hybrid rye offers several benefits to arable rotations, not least because of the ability of its extensive root system to extract soil nutrients, potentially cutting nitrogen fertiliser requirements by 40%…

CROP MANAGEMENT

Winter oats facing high disease could benefit from T0 spray

Winter oat growers could benefit from an earlier spring fungicide than usual as crops face a higher disease pressure, following a relatively mild winter. Mildew, crown rust and septoria have…

PLOUGHING AND CULTIVATION

5 cultivation and establishment methods compared

Establishment systems cover varying degrees of soil movement, from relatively little disturbance associated with direct-drilling and min-till through to deep cultivations and complete inversion with the likes of ploughing. Each…

ARABLE

How to establish, manage and rejuvenate hedgerows

Healthy hedges are a lifeline for wildlife, providing food and habitat, including for many of the birds within the Farmland Bird Index as well as for priority mammal species in…

Insights

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TECHNOLOGY

How Precision Breeding Act is advancing gene edited crops

In-field testing of crops that have been gene edited to introduce specific traits and characteristics has become much easier in England following changes to existing legislation on crop biotechnology, with…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Could sunflowers fill the cropping gap this spring?

The first UK marketing pool for sunflowers gives farmers an alternative spring option to make up some of their winter cropping shortfall. Latest AHDB figures show that the wheat area…

ARABLE

Cover crop study shows yield benefits of destruction methods

Research funded by water companies has revealed significant differences between cover crop destruction methods for nitrogen availability in the following crop and weed control. A further project has highlighted the…

OTHER CROPS

Why flax for fibre could reappear in arable rotations

Rising demand for sustainable fibres and the ability of crops such as flax and hemp to capture carbon from the air could see their return in arable rotations, offering farmers…

VARIETY SELECTION

Why more growers are opting for key early spring oat variety

A spring oat variety is finding favour with Scottish growers as well as those in the South because of its high disease resistance and strong yield potential. Spring oats have…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Could carbon-cutting carinata provide a profitable break?

Seed technology firm Nuseed is hoping successful UK trials of new Brassica carinata varieties over the next two years will offer growers a new combinable crop opportunity to help boost…

OTHER CROPS

Could sunflowers be grown on more UK farms?

Farmers looking to diversify their rotation or attract people on-farm to generate income could benefit from growing sunflowers this spring. Sunflowers provide a bulk ingredient in the bird-seed market and…

VARIETY SELECTION

New winter varieties help to address mustard shortfall

Drought in Canada and war in Ukraine have combined to disrupt mustard supplies, with even the French region of Dijon having well-publicised problems securing supplies of brown mustard seed for…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Ukraine export disruption creates gap in UK millet market

The UK imported 70% of its millet from Ukraine before the Russian invasion, and with all exports from the country halted, farmers could profit from more home-grown millet this season.…

OTHER CROPS

Why growers should consider growing borage in 2023

Borage looks set to be an attractive break crop option this spring, thanks to a more stable and growing crop demand within the oilseeds market. Specialist crop grower and family-run…

Video

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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…

WEED MANAGEMENT

Video: 7 pre-season checks every sprayer should have

Spring is just around the corner and farmers up and down the land are drawing up battle plans about how best to tackle the impending mountain of work. With many…

ARABLE

Video: Why cows and trees are part of Essex arable business

George Young is making big changes to his arable business with nature at its heart. Read the full report and watch the videos for more detail on his tree planting…

ARABLE

Video: Grower undersows with clover to cut fertiliser costs

A regenerative farmer is experimenting with white clover understories to reduce his nitrogen fertiliser bills and provide additional grazing for the ewe flock. The price of natural gas, a key…