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Know How / Drilling

Get guidance on the right conditions for drilling for successful crop establishment.  See the pros and cons of different establishment techniques, including min till and direct drilling, how to get good seed to soil contact for rapid establishment and how to cover off early weed and pest threats.

Advice and tips

DRILLING

7 steps for late drilling wheat success

Farmers with winter wheat still to drill this autumn need to be patient and do all they can to ensure crop establishment and soil health are not compromised following recent…

DRILLING

What to consider if tempted to drill winter wheat early

Winter wheat growers may be tempted to establish crops earlier this autumn following last season’s washout conditions, but experienced agronomists and crop consultants are reminding farmers of the potential risks…

OILSEED RAPE

Cereals 2024: Why September drilled OSR can boost yield

Drilling oilseed rape from the second week of September rather than the typical August sowing window could be a strategic move for growers to boost yield potential. Latest research from…

BARLEY

How to get spring barley off to a good start

Whether it’s an option to replace missed or failed winter drillings, or a profitable mainstay in the rotations of committed malting growers, spring barley is expected to increase its area…

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Case studies

DRILLING

2 farms' autumn drilling plans after last year's wet weather

As the impact of last season’s challenging growing season remains firmly in farmers minds. Farmers Weekly catches up with three farmers to find out about their plans for this season’s…

SOILS

Notts Monitor Farm sees benefits of reduced cultivations

Reduced labour and machinery costs and more resilient soils are some of the benefits being seen since reducing cultivations at Manor Farm, near Bingham in Nottinghamshire. The Fisher family have…

DRILLING

Spring drilling: 3 farmers battle to get crops established

Wet weather is causing havoc with spring drilling. Some farmers have nearly finished while others are yet to begin, as yield potential falls with each delayed day. Farmers Weekly‘s deputy…

ESTABLISHMENT

Drill change improves cereal crop resilience

Spring barley was the last crop to be fully drilled with the 3m Mzuri Pro-till drill and despite the tricky spring, it yielded nearly 8t/ha last summer.  Neil White believes…

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Community

DRILLING

Autumn deluge floods crops and delays drills

Farmers have faced yet another difficult autumn drilling season as continuous rainstorms play havoc with those attempting to get crops in the ground. Some growers who managed to get fields…

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Insights

REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE

Somerset grower reaches direct-drilling 25-year milestone

Early adopters of zero tillage, the Quick family have been regen farming for the past two-and-a-half decades, having refined their system by adding cover crops, widening the rotation and slashing…

DRILLING

Which IPM options are best to manage CSFB?

With no single chemical or cultural approach that reliably manages cabbage stem flea beetle numbers, control requires a combination of techniques to suppress populations of the pest. But with dozens…

DRILLING

3 risks to assess before drilling winter wheat early

Winter wheat growers are being advised to think hard about three heightened risks before going for early drilling this autumn – namely blackgrass, aphid-borne disease, and septoria. After a very…

DRILLING

Direct-drilling: Main findings from major five-year trial

Farming on heavy land in Leicestershire, Joe Stanley was skeptical that reducing cultivations by adopting a direct-drilling system would increase farm profitability and improve the environment. But after seeing the…

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News

COVER CROPS

Still time to drill a summer legume mix to improve soils

Arable growers with uncropped bare soil are being encouraged to use a summer legume mix cover crop to protect their soils from summer thunderstorms, fix nitrogen and give a good…

DRILLING

UK wheat area drop and shift to spring drilling is forecast

This season’s autumn drilling campaign has proved to be a turbulent one, with intense rainstorms disrupting drilling and playing havoc with emerging crops. As a result, the AHDB is forecasting…

FEED AND NUTRITION

Maize grower relief at emergency seed treatment ruling

British maize growers can breathe a sigh of relief that three European seed treatments have been given the green light for UK use next year. UK regulators have granted emergency…

SUGAR BEET

Video: Robotti successfully drills and weeds 150ha of sugar beet

Autonomous Agri Solutions and Sentry farming have teamed up to use a fully autonomous robot to successfully drill and weed a 150ha area of sugar beet across Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire.…

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Opinion

OPINION

FW Opinion: Farmers shouldn't bear full cost of wild weather

Uncertainty in farming is nothing new – whether it's late support payments, commodity price swings, or changing consumer trends. But it seems each year is becoming more of a gamble…

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Test and reviews

DRILLING

How new tech turns standard drill into variable-rate system

Thanks to a new drill-conversion kit, arable farmers hoping to adopt an adjustable-rate system can now simply and affordably convert any standard drill into variable-rate capacity. Developed by crop production…

CEREAL DRILLS

Driver's View: Steve Heard's John Deere 750A drill

Leicestershire farmer Steve Heard imported and assembled his own John Deere no-till drill – he gives us his verdict on how it has performed, what he most likes about it…

CEREAL DRILLS

Driver’s view: Sky Easy Drill

Cambridgeshire grower Edward Davison picks out the best and worst points of his Sky Easy Drill, which he bought in 2016 when his crop yields were hammered by a high…

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Video

SUGAR BEET

Video: Robotti successfully drills and weeds 150ha of sugar beet

Autonomous Agri Solutions and Sentry farming have teamed up to use a fully autonomous robot to successfully drill and weed a 150ha area of sugar beet across Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire.…

DRILLING

Video: High-pressure water tech aids direct drilling success

Replacing drill coulters with a high-pressure jet to open up the soil will not only improve germination, its inventors believe it can aid rooting by cracking compaction and aerating soils.…

DRILLING

Video: Min-till drill-off the highlight of Cereals 2018

Cereals show-goers were treated to a drill-off at this year’s event, giving them chance to see how five different low soil-disturbance systems deal with the challenge of a cover crop.…

HARVEST

Video: Drilling OSR companion crop follows early wheat harvest

Drilling a companion crop is the order of the day for Cambridgeshire grower David White as soon as early-maturing winter wheat is cut on his light soils. He is sowing…

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