Crops

Plants need around 12 essential mineral nutrients to grow: Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P), Potassium (K), Magnesium (Mg), Sulphur (S), Calcium (Ca), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), Boron (B) and Molybdenum (Mo).

Biostimulants are increasingly available and are now widely marketed to farmers. While the jury is still out on a definitive definition, most definitions of biostimulants explain that they should stimulate plant nutrition processes independently of the product’s nutrient content with the aim of improving one or more of the following characteristics: nutrient efficiency, tolerance to abiotic stress, and/or quality.

Diseases infect susceptible plant hosts, where environmental conditions favor disease development. Infected crops achieve lower yields and the quality of the produce can also be affected.

Grass in farming is interconnected with livestock systems for their feed, in the form of grazing, haylage and silage, and is also used as 'leys' (short-term grasslands) to regenerate soil structure and quality.

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Intercropping is a method of planting two or more crops in close proximity to each other, either in alternate rows or in the same row. The goal of intercropping is to maximize the use of available space and resources, such as sunlight, water, and nutrients. It can also help to improve soil health and increase crop diversity, which can provide a range of benefits including increased resistance to pests and diseases, and a longer harvest season.

Share information, knowledge, resources and experience on how we can improve crop perfomance (yield, quality and profitability) whilst reducing reliance on input, reducing impacts and improving environmental performance.

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Oilseed Rape is the most widely grown break crop in the UK. The seed is crushed to produce vegetable oil and the remaining rapeseed meal is a high protein animal feed. 

Arable crops in the UK make up just under half of the farmed area (3.9M ha out of 9M ha)

Plant breeding is the science of adapting the genetics of plants to produce more desirable characteristics, in agriculture these typically include improved yield, in-field performance and end use quality.

Cover crops are grown primarily to ‘protect or improve’ soils between periods of regular crop production. They can be effective at improving soil functions by increasing soil nutrient and water retention, improving soil structure/quality, reducing the risk of soil erosion, surface run-off and diffuse pollution by providing soil cover and by managing weeds or soil-borne pests.  

Field beans (vicia faba) are a widely grown break crop across the UK on around 170,000 ha. 

Peas (pisum sativum) are grown either for combining dry seed (combining peas) or harvesting fresh as a vegetable or for freezing (vining peas).

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Potatoes are an important UK crop grown over 140,000 ha producing 5.5 Million tonnes

Triticale is a cross between wheat and rye. It has been shown to be a high yielding relatively low input crop that can do well in second cereal and less fertile conditions, but its adoption is hampered by lack of a reliable consistent market.

Perennial biomass crops like miscanthus and short rotation coppice have the potential to meet energy demands as renewable fuels, helping to reduce GHG emissions and strive towards Net Zero.

Barley is the fourth most important cereal crop in the world, grown in more than 100 countries and used for animal feed, human food and the production of alcohol.

Once upon a time the UK had a clever, innovative thriving horticultural industry. Sales were local and to markets and shop in towns across the UK. We have lost this industry and all that is left are massive businesses on thousands of acres supplying supermarkets and very small scale growers.  

Biofuels have been mandated in road fuel since 2008 to help reduce the fossil carbon emissions from petrol and diesel.  

Wheat is the mostly wide grown crop in the UK. Nationally yields average around 8 t/ha/

Crop canopy sensing – your virtual farm walk?

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You need to measure to be able to manage. Yet most farms for most crops don't have a systematic approach to monitoring their crops through the season. This means we lose the opportunity to compare across fields, farms and years. There are now a suite of technologies to sense crops and the ability to share data across farms, providing the opportunity to learn what works on-farm.

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Linseed & flax (Linum usitatissimum) have been important crops for oil and for fibre.

Fibre can be produced from animal and crop agricultural products.  Hemp & flax are traditionally important fibre crops in the UK.