Tickets are set to go on sale next week for this year’s Cereals event, which sees two new features make their debut focusing on soil health and using drones to monitor crops.

Not only can visitors avoid queues on the day by pre-ordering their tickets, they can also save £4 with student tickets at only £12.

Tickets for the event on 15 and 16 June at Duxford, Cambridgeshire go on sale on 1 April.

See also: Farm machinery awards seeks best designs

Jon Day, events director at show organiser Haymarket, said: “We are pleased to be offering the new features for the 2016 event in response to the market research and feedback that we have had from both exhibitors and visitors.”

Drones and soil

The first new feature is the AgHawk Drone Demonstration Zone, where farmer have the opportunity to programme and fly a drone.

Keith Geary of G2Way drones explained: “After the trial flights we will take visitors through the information and data that they have gathered and explain how this can support their business decisions around weed control, reducing input costs and drainage decisions, for example.”

The second new feature is the Niab Tag Soil Pit.

Head of Farming Systems Research Ron Stobart says that the 8m long, 4m wide and 1.2m deep walk-through soil pit will show the local soil profile at eye level and visitors can study the rooting of a range of cover crops and cereal crops.

“We hope to show how a well-structured soil can help water infiltration and aid moisture retention, demonstrate how to increase soil aeration for root growth and biological function and help growers improve the workability of their soil,” he says.

There will be four mixes of cover crops, selected for their strong root growth to demonstrate the impact that these crops have on soil.

There will also be winter wheat, winter rye, spring wheat and spring rye sown on the other side of the 1.2m trench for comparison.

Mr Day adds farmers can also sign up to the Cereals newsletter for updates from exhibitors, on-site news, and industry experts. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the Cereals event website.