Effective nutrient management: Chelmsford

Effective nutrient management

As we turn to think about and plan for the season ahead, this Monitor Farm meeting will look at how we can make the most out of fertilisers, biostimulants and naturally available nutrients from three top speakers.

Andy Howard will be talking through his on-farm research and through his Nuffield Scholarship on maximising the available nutrients from soil and cropping, through intercropping, using a mixture of varieties, using molasses, testing sugars and more. Learn from his experiences and forward-looking approach.

Dr Syed Shah will talk us through the latest thinking on how to make the most from your fertiliser applications, best practice, products, application techniques and innovative thinking in this sector.

Susie Roques from ADAS will then take us through the findings from the biostimulant review and give us an insight into the advantages, disadvantages and considerations for using these products.

How will you use this information on your farm this season? Join the discussion with Christy and Hew and make the most of this expertise for your farm business.

BASIS and NRoSO points are available.

About the farm

Christy and Hew Willett farm at Parklands Farm in Galleywood on the fringe of Chelmsford, Essex. This mother-and-son team farm in partnership across 475 ha of arable cropping, with a mixture of owned and rented land. Their rotation is typically two wheats followed by spring beans/OSR, although this has become more flexible since 2012 to include spring barley and spring oats, based on the condition of each field. The farm has recently moved to a strip-till system and is focussed on the significant challenge of grass weed management, including black-grass and ryegrass. Most of their wheat is destined for local millers. The farm has diversified into horse liveries, as well as office and industrial lets. Christy and Hew see their greatest challenge as keeping their cost of production as low as possible without sacrificing yield. They are keen to use benchmarking, on-farm trials and discussions from the Monitor Farm programme to improve and develop their farm business in these critical years for the industry.

For more information contact Teresa Meadows, AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds Knowledge Exchange Manager for East Anglia on teresa.meadows@ahdb.org.uk or 07387 015465