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Balbirnie Home Farms at Freuchie in Fife has been selected to be the first AHDB strategic cereal farm for arable growers in Scotland.

Integrating livestock into arable systems can improve farm productivity, generate opportunities for new entrants and create diverse rotations that feed and heal soils.

In the first of a series of Healthy Soils articles supported by the advice of agronomists from Hutchinsons, Martin Rickatson seeks guidance on soil management in established winter crops and in advance of spring drilling.

A majority of potato businesses are growing cover crops in order to improve soil structure, build organic matter and dry out wet soils, but there could be a benefit to yields too.

The co-operative structure was ideally suited to help farmers make the most of the data they collect, according to speakers at the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS) annual conference (Thursday Jan 30). 

The Government’s failure to include binding targets to improve soil health in the Environment Bill has left a ‘gaping hole’ in UK legislation, the Soil Association has warned.

Critics of the industry often claim today’s pesticides are more toxic and damaging to soil than ever – but nothing could be further from the truth, says Adam Speed, head of communications at the Crop Protection Association.

Essex farmer and advocate of no-till farming Simon Cowell hopes that the new decade will bring Government support for growers to pursue sustainable farming practices more widely.

The recognition of soil’s importance in the Ag Bill is a statement of ambition few other countries can match, but there is more work to do if we’re to meet the Government’s target of having sustainably managed soils by 2030, says Sustainable Soils Alliance director Matthew Orman.

Strengthened powers to tackle supply chain unfairness have been included in the new Agriculture Bill, which returned to Parliament this week.