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Know How / Cover crops

Get advice on the best cover crop mixture to improve the fertility and structure of your soil. Choices may be vetch, phacelia, mustard, oats or oil radish depending on the needs of your soil. See when the time is right to kill off your cover crops ready for drilling the next crop.

Advice and tips

CROP MANAGEMENT

SFI 2023: The support options for arable growers

Arable growers are being encouraged to enter the new 2023 Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) for England as it is simpler and more flexible than previous financial support packages. The new…

COVER CROPS

How frosty weather helps Cambs grower reduce glyphosate use

Cambridgeshire grower David White is taking advantage of the current cold and frosty weather to destroy his cover crops mechanically with a roller or crimper to allow him to reduce…

COVER CROPS

A guide to catch cropping before autumn cereals

While many farmers are growing cover crops over winter before spring crops, there is also the possibility of establishing a catch crop between harvest and an autumn-drilled crop. The key…

NUTRITION AND FERTILISER

Cover crops help cut fertiliser costs for barley grower

As fertiliser costs spiral, Hampshire arable grower Ian Margetts is looking to cut nitrogen applications on his spring malting barley by up to 15% this season, as a result of…

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Case studies

WHEAT

How to improve arable performance in challenging times

Reducing costs and emissions while maintaining food production was the focus of the recent Farm Carbon Toolkit's field day in Herefordshire. Having control over the use of fossil fuel-based inputs…

ARABLE

No-till provides zero cost way into support scheme

Kent grower Richard Day is set to use his adoption of direct drilling and precision fertiliser techniques under new environment schemes to gain more than 40% of his old direct…

ARABLE

How a sustainability scoring system is helping Kent farm

Knowing how the farm is performing across six different environmental impact areas is important for Kent grower Alan Clifton-Holt, who wants to make the most of any new market opportunities…

BIODIVERSITY

Wild grey partridge project promotes biodiversity and profit

A decade-long wild grey partridge project establishing cover crop field margins at a Scottish farming estate has proved an effective way to promote biodiversity and reap an economic return. Balgonie…

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Community

ARABLE

Farmer Focus: Cover crops v blackgrass control

One of my favourite meals is bangers and mash, but I definitely don’t like mush. When the first “Beast from the East” roared in, it certainly dried out the soils.…

ARABLE

Farmer Focus: Playing the long game with cover crops

Planting of our summer crops is in full swing here in South Africa. It might be summer but on 17 November we had a frost. Fortunately, my maize was young…

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Insights

SOILS

New reports reveal arable's impact on the environment

Two new reports are being said to provide a clear roadmap for improving soil health, reducing carbon emissions and supporting biodiversity, while also enabling farm businesses to continue operating profitably.…

COVER CROPS

How winter cover crops affect soil nitrogen supply

Drilling a winter cover crop mix can increase soil nitrogen supply by up to 35kg N/ha and reduce nitrate leaching by 90% compared with a weedy stubble. This is according…

BLACKGRASS

Why low disturbance subsoiling raised yields in trial

Cracking soil with a low-disturbance subsoiler has been the springboard to help raise yields in the direct drilling plots of Agrii’s Stow Longa long-term blackgrass trial. The silt-rich soils at…

COVER CROPS

How to get the most from SAM2 overwinter cover crops

Many growers will have experimented with overwintered cover crops in recent seasons, with, it’s fair to say, varying levels of success. In terms of area, overwintered cover crops is the…

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News

LAND PREPARATION

8 new cover crop champions to provide practical trial info

A network of cover crop champions co-ordinated by the AHDB has been set up to showcase the various impacts of cover crops and provide practical advice to fellow farmers. Eight…

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…

COVER CROPS

Farmers to benefit from new independent cover crop guide

Farmers are set to benefit from the UK’s first independent guide to selecting, establishing and terminating cover crops. Co-designed by farmers with the help of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s Farmer…

AGRICULTURAL TRANSITION

Farmers turn to flowers and bird cover after costly harvest

Farmers are seriously considering sowing more crops for pollinators and wild birds under the Sustainable Farming Incentive, rather than arable crops, as way of reducing their risks and future-proofing their…

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Video

POTATOES

Video: How a US potato grower is slashing pesticide use

Growing potatoes on a commercial scale with virtually zero synthetic inputs would seem impossible, but this is exactly what one US farmers has achieved using what he calls “biotic farming”,…

COVER CROPS

Video: Crimper trial aims to kill cover crops without herbicides

The holy grail of crimping is for cover crops to slowly die into a weed-supressing mat, covering the soil without the use of chemical sprays or the plough. For an…

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.…

COVER CROPS

Video: 5 key points for destroying your cover crops

Timing is key when killing off cover crops with one expert suggesting a herbicide needs to be used some three to four weeks before a spring crop is drilled. Some…

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