Keep track of mycotoxin risk right up to harvest
With the winter wheat harvest well underway, HGCA is reminding growers to keep track of rainfall for their mycotoxin risk assessment following the onset of more unsettled weather including the potential for very heavy rain this weekend. Rainfall from growth stage 87 until the wheat is combined is a crucial determiner of mycotoxin risk. “Significant […]
How plants grow and develop
How does a complete plant with stems, leafs and flowers develop from a tiny clump of seemingly identical cells? For a very long time, the mechanism of tissue formation in plants remained unclear. The biochemists from Wageningen University also would not have come up with the answer if it wasn’t for their model building colleagues […]
Seeds keep vital much longer when stored without oxygen
If seed breeding companies, gene banks and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on Spitsbergen should store plant seeds under oxygen-poor conditions, it would be possible to store them for much longer while still maintaining their germination capacity. This is indicated by research carried out by seed physiologists from Wageningen UR and seed experts from the […]
Ancient wheat varieties and latest technology hold key to food security
Global wheat consumption exceeded production in six out of the last eight years*. Although increasing yield to meet demand is important, improving resilience under adverse growing conditions is also vital. Dr Belinda Clarke, director of Agri-Tech East, will discuss how innovation emerging from the UK is providing farmers with new tools to boost production in […]
Over 270 arable farmers join HGCA Monitor Farms opening meetings
This summer, more than 270 arable farmers attended one of eight HGCA Monitor Farm meetings across the country. The opening meetings held in June and July 2014 launched each of the eight new HGCA Monitor Farms, as part of a major initiative which will eventually see 24 Monitor Farms hosted across England and Wales. The […]
PGRO give timely advice on desiccation of combining peas and field beans
“Ideally, both combining peas and field beans are direct combined without the need for desiccation as this adds to costs and application causes crop loss,” advises Jim Scrimshaw, PGRO Principal Technical Officer. “However, this is not always possible, and some crops which are weedy and/or are ripening unevenly will benefit from the timely use of […]
Early harvest and high yield is a winning combination
Farm Manager Philip Steans of Lackham Farm in Wiltshire has already harvested some of his Alienor winter oilseed rape (on 9th July) and it has yielded a remarkable 3.75 t/ha (1.5 t/acre). “This has been one of the earliest harvests we have known on the farm and the fact that Alienor has come off the […]
Growers to watch regional fusarium risk after May’s wet weather
With the winter wheat harvest drawing near, growers are being urged to pay close attention to completing their mycotoxin risk assessment following variations in regional rainfall over the early flowering period. HGCA recently funded ADAS to carry out a pilot project looking at specific fusarium monitoring during the flowering period (GS59-GS69). This monitoring has indicated […]
Agriculture can resolve our ecological woes
In an interview with “The Guardian” late last month, the Government’s chief advisor, Sir Mark Walport, advised that we should concentrate less on denying that climate change is happening and focus more on how we can respond to it. Contributing almost 10% of the UK’s GHG emissions, agriculture attracted comment from Richard Tol, an economics professor […]
