On Mond ay 2nd June 1975 it snowed in Suffolk. By the end of the week the temperatures were around 250C and remained so for weeks. The subsequent dry winter meant that there was still a significant soil moisture deficit at the end of February. The …
Being semi-retired has it advantages. During the recent warm and sunny weather we took off to London for the day. The morning was spent looking around part of the British Museum and for the afternoon we got last minute tickets for the matinee of a stage …
On Easter Sunday we sang the hymn ‘Now the green blade riseth from the buried grain’. My mind wandered away from the service and to how fortunate we are in the UK to have both the weather and the soils that can sustain good crops of grain. Of course the …
There was a time when considerable effort was spent trying to convince independent advisers and researchers that low doses cause pesticide resistance. There wasn’t much scientific rigour in the argument; apparently target organisms ‘got used to’ low doses …
Right up to 28 April (last Saturday) the rainfall in Cambridge was below the monthly average. Then over Saturday and Sunday we had nearly 25 mm of rain. This means that at last we’ve had a month where rain has exceeded the monthly average. Much to the …
On the face of it, the efforts and the sacrifices made by the UK agricultural industry have been successful in terms of keeping pesticides out of water bodies (typically lakes and rivers). The most recent survey suggests that 99% of water bodies have …
It's the time of year when the success or otherwise of black-grass control in winter cereals is judged. Reports from farmers suggest that it is a mixed bag and there have been some spectacular failures of control. This has been due to a combination of …
Well the field drains have been running and water companies continue to find pesticides in raw potable water supplies. I, like many, get a weekly update (provided by the Voluntary Initiative ) of pesticides in some raw potable water sources. I’ve got …
I have great sympathy with those trying to introduce new crop technologies, which may help us in the challenge to better secure future food supplies. Take the first halting steps to introduce GM into Europe. Inevitably, the easier to achieve GMs were …
Well, I am back refreshed from a holiday inFrance. The sugar beet and potatoes were not as advanced as would normally be expected, so it seems that they have also suffered from a cold spring. Whilst I was away there was the mass demonstration against the …
Niab
Park Farm Campus
Villa Road
Histon
Cambridge
CB24 9AT, UK
Tel: +44(0)1223 342200
Email: [email protected]
