We may have voted to leave the EU but black-grass has decided to remain. It is hard to generalise but for many, particularly those who have yet to grasp fully the enormity of the problem, there has been a backward step this year in its control in winter …
I have just attended the funeral of a former colleague. One reading included the following words: “There is no longer any room for pretence. At harvest time the essence is revealed – the straw and chaff are set aside, they have done their job. The grain …
I usually read the opinion columns in The Times. They are generally thoughtful and at times provocative. However, I was dismayed by the lack of understanding of agriculture shown in a piece by Emma Duncan on 9th July. She is an assistant editor of The …
Many farmers voted for Brexit in order to reduce unnecessary red tape and legislation that they consider harmful to their businesses. However, it is hard to believe that the current environmental standards they are called on to achieve will be relaxed. …
Ladies of a certain age could not stop talking about scything following the most recent series of Poldark. I took this as great news, assuming that they were interested in the traditions of agriculture. In order to reinforce their new found enthusiasm, I …
Previous blogs have defined the difference between hazard and risk. Electricity is hazardous but the way we manage it means that it has a very low risk of doing harm. With pesticides, the level of risk is all about the dose likely to be received by …
It is a fair time since I vented my spleen over the absurdity behind the public’s misguided views on the environmental impacts of GM crops. It is not the public’s fault; they have been led along the garden path by the green blob. A basis of the …
I recently looked at the results of this year’s and last year’s winter wheat recommended list variety trials on the AHDB website. I was struck by the small differences between the percent yield of varieties in the highest yielding trial, which averaged …
Defra has recently published its preliminary estimate of this year’s UK cereals and oilseed rape harvest. It suggests that wheat averaged 7.9 t/ha and oilseed rape a lowly 3.1 t/ha. Defra, like everyone else, has suggested that the wheat yield was …
I wrote a blog in April ( Precision application of nitrogen ) on why I thought that experiments and field experience over the past 10-20 years have not shown a significant benefit in the spatial application of nitrogen in winter wheat. The recent …
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