Ahdb Cereals & Oilseeds

This latest podcast showcases the latest activity as part of the #MakeitSteak campaign. Find out about the new initiative involving football and steaks in a fun competition to get people inspired by cooking prime steaks at home. Join AHDB's John Bates as he chats to Karl Pendlebury, AHDB's Senior Manager (Quality Schemes) and the chefs Hampden Parks Executive Head Chef Colin Dempsey, Sous Chef Stephen Hampson as well as Harry Lomas MBE, Executive Head Chef at Wembley about the steak dishes they have chosen to cook to win the support of voters in this ‘bit of fun’ competition.  We Brits love to talk about three things – the weather, footie and food.  In this podcast we hear how chefs from England’s Wembley and Scotland’s home stadium, Hampden Park are playing the game in support of beef farmers and butchers, oh and there’s a bit about the weather too! Scotland v England the #MakeitSteak match is due to be played-out on social media Friday 5 June 2020 at 7pm. The beautiful game has not escaped the pandem

With Strategic Farm Week 2020 well underway, AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds Board Chair, Paul Temple, chats to our three Strategic Farm hosts, Brian Barker, Rob Fox and David Aglen. They discuss the benefits of being part of the Strategic Farm programme and what they are learning as strategic farmers, as well as the challenges they face. For more information about Strategic Farm Week, and to catch up on any of the webinars or to download the resources, please visit ahdb.org.uk/sfweek2020.

In this episode we will discuss: Irrigation systems efficiency Licensing for abstracting water  Current water levels  How to use irrigation to reduce common scab  An overview of the latest trials looking at use of brackish in potato irrigation    Our guest speakers: Nicola Dunn - AHDB Resource Management Scientist Dr. Mark Stalham - Head of NIAB CUF  Mark Taylor - Vice Chair of Nene Potatoes Ltd  Useful links: ahdb.org.uk/knowledge-library/potato-irrigation https://ahdb.org.uk/news/can-brackish-water-be-used-for-potato-irrigation https://ahdb.org.uk/ ahdb.org.uk/weather innovativefarmers.org

Join Leah Shanks, AHDB Beef & Lamb knowledge exchange manager as she chats to colleagues and farmers about how the drought could affect farming this season. She's joined by livestock farmers Graham Rutherford, Phil White, Phil Kinch, Ben Walker and AHDB Beef & Lamb board member and farmer James Shouler about how they coped with drought in the summer of 2018 and how they are planning to manage the continued dry conditions. She also chats to independent livestock consultant, Liz Genever and AHDB resource management scientist, Nicola Dunn to find out how you can manage your livestock in the heat and what resources are available. Resources AHDB drought page AHDB Weather Hub AHDB Weather page Forage for Knowledge newsletter

Food a fact of Life – As part of our preparation for life alongside, Maths. English and the Sciences it’s imperative our children have a rich understanding of how food is produced, have an accurate and positive impression of farming, an idea of how to cook and the role food plays in a healthy balanced diet.  In this episode John Bates finds out how Roz Reynolds, AHDB’s head of education and nutrition, works with Roy Ballam, Managing Director and Head of education at The British Nutrition Foundation - to offer a compelling education programme, encompassing evidence-based resources and training for teachers across the UK. We also discuss the success of the ‘Grow Your Own Potatoes’ programme.  The programme offers over 2000 resources for children aged 3-16 years old, perfect for home-schooling and teaching them all about locally produced food. Parents and teachers can access material for free by visiting the Food a Fact of Life website. Why not download a recipe of the website and get your children involv

In this episode, we talk about heat stress in pigs. From what this actually means, to how it can affect pigs and what you can do to minimise the impact. We hear from Lauren Dimmack, Animal Health & Welfare Scientist, and Andrew Palmer, Knowledge Exchange Manager for the East of England. More information You can find a variety of useful resources related to heat stress in livestock on our website: https://ahdb.org.uk/drought-reducing-heat-stress EU PiG project – high-pressure fogging: https://www.eupig.eu/animal-welfare/high-pressure-fogging Webinar: Managing heat stress in pigs – behaviour, environment, and nutrition Pork markets, the latest industry data, analysis and insights from the pork sector to help inform your business decisions. Sign up to our weekly pork newsletter. For information, guidance and support during the coronavirus pandemic, visit our dedicated web page: ahdb.org.uk/coronavirus Feedback We'd love to know what you think of our podcasts. If you’d like to give you

During this challenging time it is still vitally important to maintain consistent protocols and growth rates in your youngstock to ensure the enterprise stays on track. In this episode Knowledge Exchange Manager Bryan Nicholson talks to Andy Dodd from the Farm Consultancy Group about the importance of correctly managing youngstock and how the upbringing of a calf affects production in later life. You can find more information on the topics discussed today in our Calf management guide.   Feedback survey: We'd love to know what you think of our podcasts. If you’d like to give your feedback, please complete our short questionnaire, which will help us to improve the podcast on an ongoing basis.

Regenerative Agriculture comprises principles and practices aiming to: improve soil health, increase biodiversity and nurture resilient crops in an environmentally sustainable way. A growing number of farmers around the UK are enthusiastically embracing regenerative agriculture and overhauling their farming systems. One such farmer is East Anglian cereals and oilseeds grower Russell McKenzie. He recently went to the USA to attend an event run by No Till on the Plains, a charity dedicated to helping farmers work with nature. AHDB Knowledge Exchange Manager Harry Henderson, who also attended the event, caught up with Russell to see what he learned from the Americans. If you have 5 minutes, please fill out the AHDB Spring Planting and Variety Survey. The survey provides an estimate of the area of cereals and oilseed rape intended for harvest in 2020 in Great Britain. AHDB will use the data to support levy payers in their marketing decisions.

In this episode we will discuss which herbicides have shown good results during SPot Farm trials, after linuron was banned in 2017. We will speak with representatives of FMC and Bayer about best practice when applying Shark or Emerger.  Speakers: Joe Martin – AHDB Crop Protection Senior Scientist - Weeds Jeff Fieldsend – Agronomy Manager FMC  Edward Hagues – Campaign Manager – Potatoes and Industrial Crops  Useful links:  Learn more about Emerger (including the tank mix sheet): https://cropscience.bayer.co.uk/our-products/herbicides/emerger/ Learn more about Shark: https://fmc-agro.co.uk/herbicides/shark For SPot farm trials results and more information on weeds control: https://ahdb.org.uk/knowledge-library/weeds-and-volunteer-control-in-potatoes

In this podcast we hear from Duncan Wyatt, one of our lead analysts in the market intelligence team. He speaks with colleagues Rebecca Wright who is also a market analyst, and Rebecca Gladman who is our retail insight manager here at AHDB. Together, they provide an update on the effects they are seeing in the data and the impact this is having on markets and prices. We also hear from AHDB's Senior Marketing Manager, Gareth Renowden, who tells us a bit about the new £1.2m investment given to the #MakeIt #SteakNight campaign aimed to aid carcass balance.    For more information:    https://ahdb.org.uk/coronavirus https://ahdb.org.uk/retail-and-consumer-insight https://www.simplybeefandlamb.co.uk/ https://ahdb.org.uk/steak-night

Things have changed, for the short term at least and today’s podcast will share a peek into the multimillion-pound marketing campaigns the agriculture industry has spent to boost sales and demand for these products nationally and globally.  John Bates asks Christine Watts, our Chief Communications and Market Development Officer, what is the state of play in pork and is it only that sector which is facing challenges? But most importantly, what are we doing right now to make sure our UK farmers continue to stay sustainable and productive.  Karl Pendlebury, our Senior Manager for Marketing, shares his experience of working with butchers and high-profiled chefs to develop shoppers’ interest and boost sales of different joints and cuts of meats, across social media and by providing recipe cards at your local butchers! To order your butchers kit contact our team. For further information, read our latest blog from Christine Watts Click here to access our latest information and resources on Covid-19  W

In this edition Nerys Wright, knowledge exchange manager for the South East and Eastern regions, talks to farmer, Chris Elkington, our 2019 Strategic Farmer and Hefin Rowlands, a farm animal SQP from Techion about worm control with a particular emphasis on lambs. For more information: SCOPS website Nematodirus forecast Worm control in sheep for Better Returns Parasite control guide

After several years of stability, dairy markets have seen rapid shifts over the last few weeks driven by the outbreak of Coronavirus. A changing consumer landscape has hit demand and the knock-on effect is being felt by processors and farmers alike.    In this episode Alistair McLaren spoke with Chris Gooderham, AHDB’s Head of Market Specialists, to understand how the industry is being affected under the cloud of Coronavirus.   For information, guidance and support around Coronavirus, visit our dedicated web page: https://ahdb.org.uk/coronavirus   Check the latest on dairy markets and sign up to the newsletter here: https://ahdb.org.uk/dairy-markets Feedback survey: We'd love to know what you think of our podcasts. If you’d like to give your feedback, please complete our short questionnaire, which will help us to improve the podcast on an ongoing basis 

In this episode, we hear from two of our market analysts about the impact of coronavirus on pork markets, both in the UK and around the world. Demand Pork demand has fared better than some of the other proteins, with an uplift in supermarket sales compensating in some way for the loss in the foodservice market. However, fresh pork sales have dropped in more recent weeks and we are beginning to see a build-up in stocks of shoulder and belly, much of which would usually go into foodservice. Global prices There has been a fall in hog futures and farm gate prices in the US, and the loss of foodservice has had a much bigger impact on the US market than it has in the UK. A number of major US processing plants have also closed, which is putting pressure on their market. Despite these issues, there doesn’t seem to be a shortage in pork, so when the processors and foodservice markets re-open, there could be an oversupply. This will probably result in competition for the Chinese market.   UK and EU proce

In this episode AHDB’s Grass and Forage Scientist Siwan Howatson talks to silage expert and researcher Dr. Dave Davies about the results of a recent AHDB funded project investigating clamp silage slippage and how to avoid silage slippage this season.   You can learn more about the findings from the study by watching our webinar.   For the latest research and advice on grass, forage and soil management to help improve grassland productivity on livestock farms, visit our Grass webpage.   Get the latest grass growth measurements straight from farms to your inbox by signing up to our Forage For Knowledge weekly updates.   Feedback survey: We'd love to know what you think of our podcasts. If you’d like to give your feedback, please complete our short questionnaire, which will help us to improve the podcast on an ongoing basis 

We caught up with Professor Rosemary Collier of the Warwick Crop Centre and discussed the work being done at Wellesbourne through live projects to advance current aphid control methods. 

Welcome to another short episode of the AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds podcast on markets Following this week’s news about the unprecedented drop in the price of oil, AHDB’s arable market specialists discuss what this means for the cereals and oilseeds sector. The team discuss both the domestic and global trends, as well as the latest on how coronavirus continues to affect markets. For more information on cereals and oilseeds markets visit ahdb.org.uk/cereals-oilseeds-markets.  For support during the coronavirus outbreak you can visit ahdb.org.uk/coronavirus. 

Farmers and growers are used to managing changing situations, weather, pests and crop diseases. But how to manage the human health implications of the Coronavirus pandemic is a whole different matter. Or is it? Protecting people’s health alongside the need to keep the tractor wheels turning and the pickers working has taken some dynamic management. Suffolk-based, Velcourt Farm manager Ben Martin and Berkshire-based, Valley Produce grower Chris Daking talk to AHDB's John Bates about the practical decisions and changes made on their farms and in their businesses to ensure people’s health and wellbeing is taken care of. For social distancing guidance and information visit www.ahdb.org.uk . 

The closure of restaurants and cafes during the Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on dairy farmers supplying milk to the food service.  In this episode Knowledge Exchange Manager Steve West talks to business consultant Neil Wilson (SAB Advisory Ltd.) about how to reduce input costs and manage cashflow during periods of low milk price. You can hear more from Neil along with Veterinary expert Owen Atkinson (Dairy Veterinary Consultancy) and Nutritionist Hefin Richards (Rumenation Ltd) in our Managing Through Current Milk Challenges webinar. For information, guidance and support around Coronavirus, visit our dedicated web page: https://ahdb.org.uk/coronavirus Feedback survey: We'd love to know what you think of our podcasts. If you’d like to give your feedback, please complete our short questionnaire, which will help us to improve the podcast on an ongoing basis.

The so-called farm to fork journey is sometimes brief and straight forward,  when food is sold via local farm shops or butchers but some markets are thousands of miles away.  In this podcast John Bates talks to a special guest, live from Beijing who work with us to put British produce on tables, in front of families, in China. Holly Chen, our China representative based in Beijing, shares her personal experience during this epidemic and the impact it's caused the country economically and her personally.     We will also hear from Jonathan Eckley, Head of Market Development at AHDB in the Asia Pacific region, share some of the upcoming work and opportunity for our UK exporters.    You can find out more by reading her blog.