The 2021/22 AHDB Recommended List sees several high yielding varieties introduced in the wheat and barley groups. For maximum potential yield to be achieved, crops need to be provided with the correct balance of essential nutrients throughout the growing season.
Improving Nitrogen fertiliser Use Efficiency (NfUE) will be one of the most important ways in which UK growers can improve their business productivity in the future.
The single most important decision you can make to maximise your NfUE lies in the type of fertiliser you choose in the first place, says CF Fertilisers’ head agronomy Dr. Sajjad Awan. Whilst good management can help finetune the effectiveness of your applications, start with the wrong Nitrogen source and you’ll be locked into lower levels of NfUE with little you can do to lift it, he says.
“NfUE is essentially a measure of how much of the Nitrogen applied ends up in the crop. “In simple terms, if you apply 100kg N/ha and only 50kg N/ha is taken up by your crop, you will have an NfUE of 50% and half of the N you have paid for has gone somewhere other than into your crops as intended “Improving NfUE benefits your crop, your pocket and the wider environment.
Whether you are looking at it from the perspective of clean air, reducing your carbon footprint or increasing production efficiency, loss of N from the cropping system is a major problem.”
Egg size matters in free-range egg production, and it can be influenced by the farmer from the moment the pullets arrive on farm.
In episode eight of the Wynnstay Agri-Hub Podcast, my colleagues: Fiona Hunt, Steve Marriott and I joined host Tony Morris to discuss how egg size can be controlled through flock management in free-range egg production.
Due to reports of fly seasons starting earlier and lasting longer, sheep farmers are being urged to apply blowfly strike protection early in the season to prevent strike and stop the first wave of blowflies from breeding.
Preparation is key, make sure you know when to shear and have all the equipment you need to complete a successful shearing.
NFU Cymru have organised a week long campaign of activities to promote Welsh food and agriculture, titled Welsh Farming Week, which started on Monday 6th June and will run until Friday 10th June.
Home grown feed is the cheapest feed available to farmers. Hardly a revelation but as farm inputs continue to rise the drive for milk from forage becomes a more crucial metric. Every additional litre from forage could be worth up to 20p per cow per day, or £600 per month for every 100 cows in the herd.
Dry matter – Is grass providing enough dry matter intake to support the energy requirement for milk production and getting cows back in calf?
Protein – Grass is high in rapidly degradable protein; this needs to be utilised by the rumen microbes in order for them to produce microbial protein. Poorly utilised protein can have a negative impact on fertility and limit milk yield.
Rapidly fermentable carbohydrates – Early season grass is high in sugar (and digestible fibre), this can be an issue for rumen health. A consequence of this can be milk fat depression and a reduction in milk value. It is important to understand the nutrient content of grass. Fresh grass analysis throughout the grazing period will provide useful information about the points above.
Sustainability is a key part of our business, with our mission being to help farmers feed the UK in a more sustainable way. As a business, we are working towards becoming carbon net zero and aim to support our customers with products and services that help drive sustainability and efficiencies. Through our feed division we have made the following commitments:
The sun is out, the weather warming up and nothing can stop us enjoying some summer fun with our horses. But wait – what’s that buzz?! Yes, unfortunately, summer heralds the arrival of insect menace, which can mean annoyance, fly bites and even quite nasty reactions in our horses. We need to ensure we are prepared to protect our horses and ponies from attack.
