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Know How / Crop management

Managing your crops through the growing season means careful nutrition and fertiliser use for maximum crop yields and keeping a watchful eye on pest, weeds and disease control.

Read expert advice, case studies, and tips on how to achieve the best yields and growth through best-practice crop management techniques, on all crops including wheat, barley, oilseed rape, potatoes, sugar beet and more niche crops.

Case studies

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WEED MANAGEMENT

Grower phases out herbicides in favour of mechanical weeding

As herbicide efficacy dwindles and fears of resistance build, East Yorkshire farmer Jonathan Hodgson turned to mechanical weeding as an additional weed control method. Recent dry spring conditions have provided…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Wheat grower goes for broad-spectrum disease control at T1

Suffolk wheat grower Richard Duchesne looks to select an early fungicide spray with a good broad-spectrum of disease control, and is pleased with his first use of the new SDHI…

OTHER CROPS

Regen field vegetable growing: Can it be done?

Growing intensive vegetable crops in a fully regenerative farming system remains a possibility rather than a reality. This according to Worcestershire farm manager, John Sansome of G Wilson Revill &…

SOILS

Cropping in the Fens: Working for a sustainable future

It’s one of the most productive agricultural regions in England, but it’s also an area at the most risk from climate change and environmental degradation, prompting debate about its future…

NUTRITION AND FERTILISER

Arable Insights Farmers' strategies to optimise nitrogen use

From organic manures to use of technology and various monitoring approaches, all the growers on the Farmers Weekly Arable Insights Farmer panel have an eye on optimising nutrient use, and…

NUTRITION AND FERTILISER

How a farm cut nitrogen by 60kg N/ha with no yield detriment

An Oxfordshire farm has successfully slashed nitrogen rates by 60kg N/ha with no yield detriment thanks to the addition of a carbon rich crop spray and urease inhibitor to each…

Practical advice

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CROP MANAGEMENT

6 steps to achieve correct sprayer setup this spring

A well-maintained sprayer is essential for accurate applications. We offer six handy tips to help achieve this. The busy spring spraying season is just around the corner, which means sprayers…

CROP MANAGEMENT

Plans to revitalise wheat after wet winter on Somerset farm

Crops are off to a soggy start at the Doble family farm in Somerset, after yet another wet winter which saw annual rainfall exceed the farm’s 10-year average. Last year,…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Fungicide tips for variable wheat this spring

With winter wheat at a wide range of growth stages coming out of winter, extra care will be needed to manage crop development and disease pressure this spring. Such variability…

WEED MANAGEMENT

Why avoiding glyphosate on stressed weeds is advisable

Farmers preparing to tidy up stubbles with glyphosate this spring are reminded to avoid applications to stressed weeds, which can otherwise reduce glyphosate efficacy. Applications to stressed weeds – particularly…

WHEAT

How to manage Cheer wheat to maximise yields and quality

Farmers growing Cheer milling wheat for the first time this season are being advised to tailor their disease and growth regulation strategies according to drilling date. This approach will enable…

CROP MANAGEMENT

Expert tips on managing very variable crops this spring

There is huge variation in winter cereals, ranging from lush winter barleys with 6-7 tillers to poor-rooted wheats that have just emerged after being mauled in mid-December. While the UK…

Insights

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SUGAR BEET

Tips on reducing herbicide resistance risk in sugar beet

Sugar beet growers are advised to take a proactive weed management approach to help manage the growing threat from acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitor herbicide resistant weeds when growing herbicide-tolerant varieties.…

CROP MANAGEMENT

How tech trial is helping Lincs estate improve wheat inputs

Lessons learned from a technology trial are being rolled out across the rest of the cropping area on one Lincolnshire Estate, as part of an ongoing drive to improve nitrogen…

POTATOES

Wireworm in potatoes: Rising threat and how to control it

Wireworm damage is now an increasing risk in potato crops across the country, including eastern counties and up into the Scottish Borders.  This highlights the need to understand the reasons…

ARABLE

What the latest fungicides bring to wheat disease strategies

Arriving at different stages of the season and in various guises and quantities, both Bayer’s Iblon and Syngenta’s Adepidyn were available for the first time in 2024. This brough two…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

How the latest fungicides fit with barley ramularia control

Symptoms that are hard to identify, a lack of genetic resistance, and the loss of chlorothalonil have gained ramularia leaf spot a reputation as one of the most notorious diseases…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Colder winter reduces brown rust threat for 2025

A mild winter, stressed crops and delayed spray applications all played their part in the brown rust situation that developed in the 2024 growing season, with the disease uncharacteristically being…

PULSES

Why N-fixing seed treatment may benefit pulses

A novel nitrogen-fixing bacterial seed treatment could prove especially beneficial this spring in pulse crops with lower levels of soil nitrogen (N). Syngenta technical manager Simon Jackson says the wet…

CROP MANAGEMENT

How the market-leading farm management system is changing

New-look, cloud-based digital farm management software incorporating the best elements of the well-known market-leading Gatekeeper and Muddy Boots crop recording programs is set to be rolled out throughout 2025 by…

OILSEED RAPE

Analysis: Signs of cautious optimism for oilseed rape?

After another challenging growing season and a further 17% fall in area, the UK’s winter oilseed rape crop for harvest 2025 is the smallest since 1983. Higher risk, lower reward…

NUTRITION AND FERTILISER

How microbial seed dressing helps cut nitrogen fertiliser

An increasing number of farmers are looking to cut their reliance on bagged nitrogen fertiliser, and trials suggest a microbial seed treatment could help them achieve this without affecting cereal…

REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE

University regenerative ag trial aims to plug research gap

A trial at the University of Leeds is measuring the impact of regenerative agriculture principles to plug the research gap and support evidence-based practise for farmers. An array of metrics…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

New cereal fungicide gives strong performance in AHDB trials

Independent trials for the recently authorised cereal fungicide Plaxium reveal that the three-way mix gave strong broad-spectrum disease control across winter wheat and winter barley. In autumn 2023, Bayer launched the SDHI…

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