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Know How / Wheat / Crop management

Every season throws up its challenges when it comes to managing wheat crops for optimum performance, from seasonal factors influencing diseases, such as septoria, and pest pressures to weed control and the ever-present challenge of blackgrass. Stay up-to-date with the latest thinking on wheat crop agronomy and how new technologies are being applied to solve complex issues.

Case studies

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WHEAT

No-insecticide wheat yields over 10t/ha for Norfolk grower

Norfolk grower Will More is planning a second season of drilling a virus-resistant wheat variety with environmental and financial benefits, while also producing a good yield at harvest 2023. Using…

ARABLE

Grower improves fungicide use and compaction with helicopter

A helicopter is not the standard piece of farm kit to be stored in a machinery shed, but Canadian grain producer Wade McAllister plans to combine his passion for farming…

NUTRITION AND FERTILISER

Northants grower cuts nitrogen fertiliser using drone

Will Green is using a drone on his Northamptonshire farm to cut his nitrogen fertiliser use by nearly a third on his winter wheat destined to make breakfast cereal at…

WEED MANAGEMENT

Video: Leicester farm trials weed seed unit on Fendt combine

Europe’s first Redekop seed control unit (SCU) fitted to a Fendt Ideal 10T combine, aimed at controlling weed seeds, is being put to the test this harvest in Leicestershire at…

BLACKGRASS

Borage and herbage seed helps Essex farm fight blackgrass

Borage and herbage seed break crops have helped one heavy land Essex arable farm get on top of blackgrass, with double spring-sown breaks and low soil disturbance seen as the…

NUTRITION AND FERTILISER

Notts estate cuts fertiliser rates with organic manure

Greater use of various organic amendments is part of Welbeck Estate’s strategy for reducing reliance of synthetic fertiliser inputs, alongside the use of cover cropping. Like most large estates and…

Practical advice

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PEST MANAGEMENT

How to introduce SFI 2023's no insecticide option

After another delay, applications for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) 2023 are due to finally open in mid-September, with the new no use of insecticide action being one of the…

ARABLE

Why wheat drill dates should be delayed this autumn

Independent agronomists say early wheat drilling compounded many of the yield-limiting issues experienced this year and urge growers to consider the risks when planning planting schedules this autumn. Back in…

BLACKGRASS

Why blackgrass is so bad in 2023 and what to do about it

Some fields are unsuitable for winter cropping next season because of the surge in blackgrass seed return from the higher number of blackgrass heads in winter wheat crops. And it…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Cereals 2023: Wide spectrum wheat fungicide set for 2024

Wheat growers are set to get a new fungicide next season that promises the best septoria and rust control on the market, coming after the worst septoria season in decades…

WHEAT

Advice on septoria spread as wheat T1 fungicide timing nears

Wheat growers are being advised to focus even more on their T1 fungicide spray this season.  After a very wet March, robust rates of SDHI-mixtures are recommended as yield-damaging septoria…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Advice on controlling wheat disease as fungicide prices rise

Don’t be afraid to use fungicides this year, despite the urge to reduce costs and use fewer inputs in the current economic climate, agronomists agree. There is rarely a year…

Insights

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CROP MANAGEMENT

4 key lessons from the first AHDB Cereals Strategic Farm

After six years, Brian and Patrick Barker’s Lodge Farm, near Stowmarket in Suffolk, will be finishing its run as the AHDB’s first Strategic Cereal Farm. It was also an AHDB…

REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE

Financial rewards of regen farming highlighted at Groundswell

The many ways in which regenerative arable farming practices are starting to be rewarded financially were a feature of this year’s Groundswell event. With supply chains responding to consumer expectations…

WHEAT

New soft wheat looks good for biscuits and distilling

New biscuitmaking winter wheat variety Bamford has good support from two seed merchants from the Scottish Borders and Kent for its yield, strong disease resistance ratings and potential good marketability.…

WHEAT

Tips on growing profitable second wheats

Farmers on decent wheat-growing land should consider adding second wheats to the rotation, as few other crops are as profitable. Although margins are tighter due to higher input costs –…

PEST MANAGEMENT

How farm-based research aims to tackle slugs in wheat

Cambridgeshire grower Tom Pearson believes farmer-led trials are an integral part of the regenerative agriculture system he’s developing at Manor Farm, Caxton. They are also essential for research into areas…

NUTRITION AND FERTILISER

How technology lets crops turn pollution into fertiliser

A new technology that captures air pollution and uses sunlight to convert it into nitrate on the leaf surface of a crop has been developed by Lincoln-based Crop Intellect. Called…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Wildfarmed: How regen farmers can benefit from premium

A new route to market for cereals grown with regenerative farming practices is on offer from Wildfarmed, giving consumers the chance to support the restoration of soil and biodiversity. In…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Inatreq: Needless risk or essential wheat fungicide?

An estimated 5-7% of users of Inatreq-containing fungicides experienced problems with sprayer component damage after applying them last year, putting products such as Univoq under intense scrutiny this year. In…

NUTRITION AND FERTILISER

Can we continue to grow milling wheat at under 13% protein?

Should the days of farmers targeting 13% grain protein for milling wheat quality be over? After all, typically at least 50% of the greenhouse-gas footprint of growing wheat is associated…

NUTRITION AND FERTILISER

Why farmers need to do their sums before altering 2023 N rates

Modest reductions in nitrogen fertiliser applications of 20-30kg/ha are being advised on most feed wheat crops for the 2023 growing season, with growers being urged to do their sums before…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Why stem rust could be back and what to do about it

There are several measures that farmers can take to protect their wheat crops from stem rust disease, which is on the brink of re-establishing itself in UK fields. Conditions have…

CROP MANAGEMENT

3 technologies to address arable’s biggest challenges

Innovative new technology hold the potential to combat some of the biggest agronomic challenges arable farmers face in yield stagnation, blackgrass control and cabbage stem flea beetle attack. Farmers Weekly…

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