A chance to catch up on strategic farm research
Arable farmers will have the opportunity next week to study the latest findings on the research, results and on-farm trials which have been taking place at strategic farms around the UK.
From 1 to 5 June, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) is to give farmers virtual access to their strategic farms to showcase its farm excellence programme.
David Aglen, farm manager at AHDB’S new strategic cereals farm in Scotland, Balbirnie Home Farms, in central Fife, will join other strategic farm hosts, researchers and key experts from across the agricultural industry for the week-long programme.
The organisers said that the event would offer growers practical discussions and the opportunity to share technical information and resources, all delivered via video updates, webinars and podcasts. Topics covered include crop development and disease, monitoring key pests and beneficials and how to decide when to lower inputs.
There will also be masterclasses on “crop establishment considerations ”a nd “soil structure and earthworm assessments”.
The latter will be a practical session on soil health at Balbirnie led by Anne Bhogal, ADAS. It will provide a hands-on guide to what is needed in-field, a forum to ask questions and the resources to implement it.
“In these difficult times it is more important than ever for AHDB to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and information between our growers,” said AHDB’S knowledge exchange manager (arable) in Scotland, Chris Leslie.
“Although the current situation provides many challenges, it is also a great opportunity for us to bring together AHDB’S farm excellence activity and provide our Scottish and UK growers with an insight into the programme.”
He said that participants could join in with the webinars that interest them, download the “how to” resources for use on their farm, watch the video updates to hear about the latest findings on fieldscale trials or listen to the podcast special.
All of the webinars together with other resources will be recorded and available to watch after the events via AHDB’S website ahdb.org.uk/ sfweek2020.
AHDB’S strategic farm week will be followed by a series of regional webinars tailored to suit the varying challenges faced by different areas of the UK. There will also be national webinars, covering topics such as mental health and preharvest, which form part of AHDB’S regular monthly webinar programme.
“Over the next few weeks, the AHDB strategic farm and monitor farm hosts will be joined by industry experts to share their experiences and knowledge through a series of videos, online meetings and webinars, which will all provide an online forum for discussion,” said Leslie.
“AHDB has been growing its regular audiences for podcasts and webinars since 2016 as part of its digital offering to farmers. Given the current environment it is even more important that we ensure we get crucial information on current technical and current market challenges to our audiences so we have increased the frequency of both our podcasts and webinars.”