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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

PULSES

Getting the most from intercropping: Your questions answered

Intercropping is becoming a popular option for arable farmers looking to reduce chemical inputs and enhance yields. Particularly as the Sustainable Farming Incentive pays £55/ha for companion cropping. Despite its…

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…

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Case studies

OTHER CROPS

Why East Yorks grower added flax to the rotation

Jonathan Hodgson isn’t averse to growing niche crops at Great Newsome Farm in East Yorkshire, and for the past three years his cropping mix has included a fibre crop that…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Why blueberries are working well for Northants arable farm

The search for a diversification project that could make use of an existing irrigation abstraction licence, along with a desire to support the next generation, led to the Mee family…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Cotswold flour mill sources grain direct with stacked premiums

An eighth-generation flour mill business is sourcing grain direct from over 150 farms to produce one of the UK’s top artisan flour brands, while enabling growers to stack regenerative farming…

ROTATIONS

How an organic Norfolk estate hits £1,000/ha gross margins

Farming soils with an 80% sand content is no easy task, but thanks to a rotation rejig and organic conversion, the Fring Estate in Norfolk is targeting £1,000/ha gross margins.…

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Insights

OTHER CROPS

Do soya bean crops have a future in the UK?

Could soya beans eventually become a break crop of choice for UK growers? Currently, that’s difficult to believe with no more than 200ha grown in the UK last season –…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Spring cropping 2025: The crops farmers should consider

With spring approaching, farmers face crucial decisions about their cropping strategies and the added impact of the Autumn Budget means it is even more vital to pick money earning opportunities.…

ROTATIONS

AHDB analysis: The merits of SFI break crop alternatives

Finding a reliable break crop in the arable rotation is an ongoing challenge. Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) actions, such as herbal leys or legume fallows could be an alternative, especially…

OILSEED RAPE

Data reveals cost of oilseed rape failures

Having an effective plan B is vital when growing oilseed rape, as making the wrong decision when redrilling a failed crop can cost farmers up to £674/ha in lost margins,…

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News

CROP SELECTION

First gene-edited wheat harvested from trials

Gene-edited wheat and barley varieties are expected to be grown on commercial farms in England as early as 2026. This comes after trial plots of one wheat variety were successfully…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Groundswell: Regen supply chains – will farmers see rewards?

A collaborative approach from all stakeholders is required if regenerative farming principles are going to become embedded in supply chains, urged both a multinational food company and a leading retailer…

CROP SELECTION

Scottish growers turn attention to varietal choices for 2025

Planning is well under way for harvest 2025, with growers in Scotland considering variety choices with disease susceptibility a key consideration. Greg Dawson, deputy managing director and an active agronomist…

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.…

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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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