Ahdb Cereals & Oilseeds

Wayne Brough, AHDB's Knowledge Exchange Manager for Ornamentals, talks to Neil Bragg of Substrate Associates, Chloe Whiteside of ADAS and Steve Carter of Tristram Plants about the transition to responsibly sourced growing media.  They chart the history of the move to peat-free growing media, the development of current projects, the ramifications alternative growing media has for manufacturers and growers and its future as we begin a new decade.  If you’re considering moving to peat-reduced or peat-free growing media, check our our top tips for making the transition a success -https://ahdb.org.uk/knowledge-library/10-top-tips-for-going-peat-free. To access a summary of the project, annual progress reports and the aims and objectives of the mission to transition to responsibly sourced growing media use within UK Horticulture - https://ahdb.org.uk/cp-138-transition-to-responsibly-sourced-growing-media-use-within-uk-horticulture.

A report highlighting how a massive step change in productivity growth is key to unlocking a successful future for UK agriculture was published yesterday by the Food & Drink Sector Council (FDSC). In this episode we hear from Sir Peter Kendall, Chairman of both AHDB and  the FDSC’s Agricultural Productivity Working Group, about his views on farming in the future as well as some of the findings within the report.   You can read the full report here or read the shortened executive summary here. 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. Update Description

In this episode, we speak to independent sheep consultant, Lesley Stubbings, and Leicestershire sheep farmer, Gareth Owen. The topic being discussed is best practice worm control leading up to lambing, which includes conversation on faecal egg counts, wormer resistance, testing for and treating liver fluke and the prevalence of sheep scab.  Useful links: https://ahdb.org.uk/knowledge-library/worm-control-in-sheep-for-better-returns https://ahdb.org.uk/knowledge-library/parasite-control-guide-2020

In this episode Knowledge Exchange Manager Steve West talks to Chris Hudson from the University of Nottingham about how farmers can assess whether there is a problem with transition in their cows, and some of the areas that are important to focus on.   We're running Success in Transition meetings throughout February and March. To find a workshop near you please visit our website. Learn more about the InCalf process of assessing your own herd situation in our 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.

In this episode, we hear about some of the marketing activity we’re involved with to promote pork to consumers, butchers and chefs from Carrie McDermid (senior marketing manager) and Karl Pendlebury (quality schemes manager). Below, you’ll find links to all the websites and resources mentioned in the podcast. Love Pork Website: https://www.lovepork.co.uk/ Assets for you to download: https://www.lovepork.co.uk/assets/ TV advert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1hQF6WUyxY Pork is healthy animation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixYUvyQlUyk& Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovepork.UK Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/love_pork/ Off the block Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/QSMBeefandLamb/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_offtheblock/ Videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/EBLEXTrade/videos Pork Henry: https://ahdb.org.uk/pork-henry-whole Meat trade tools Everything you need to make the most of Quality Standard Mark meat. Here you will find useful calculator tools to help improve y

Ordinary food is good enough We are constantly informed by media on how to consume food, regardless of the negative mental and health impact it may cause us or our loved ones. In light of these challenges we face daily, the ‘Ordinary Food is Good Enough’ campaign is aiming to fight back these negative and unregulated fed diets which encourage an unbalanced diet.  In this podcast, Christine Watts, Chief Communications & Market Development Officer shares the ideas behind the #OrdinaryFood campaign, along with AHDB’s Senior Nutrition Manager, Maureen Strong explains the importance of a balanced diet.  Show your support by using #OrdinaryFood or visit our website https://ordinaryfood.co.uk/  You can also speak to our Marketing lead, Nicola Dodd who has worked hard in producing a campaign to share some of the challenges we face as an industry. 

In this episode we are focusing on the decisions you will have to make before you plant, to make sure you will be able to desiccate without diquat and store without CIPC.    Sequence of discussions and speakers:   Desiccation talk with Will Gagg (SPot Farm North host)   Knowledge Exchange team’s view on desiccation – Bill Watts, David Wilson and Harry Henderson  Advice on what you can do now to prepare for storing without CIPC – Adrian Cunnington (Sutton Bridge - Head of Crop Storage Research)   Links:    www.ahdb.org.uk/news/the-cost-of-desiccation-without-diquat   https://ahdb.org.uk/storage-hub 

For this month’s edition, Nicola Renison, Regional Manager for the North West, chats to Richard Carruthers, one of our Strategic Farmers in Cumbria about how having a positive mind set has helped with his farm business and his work-life balance. He farms just under 1,000 sheep and 60 sucklers. You can find out more about Richard's farm business here: https://ahdb.org.uk/farm-excellence/rawfoot

Austin Russell returned to his family dairy farm seven years ago and has since been working on improving mastitis control. Alistair McLaren spoke with him to understand the issues Austin was having, how using AHDB’s Mastitis Pattern Analysis Tool helped him put in place targeted control measures to reduce the rate of new mastitis infection cases on farm, and the benefits this has had to the bottom line.   You can find more information on the Mastitis Pattern Analysis Tool on our website. We're running QuarterPRO Mastitis workshops throughout January and February. To find a workshop near you please visit our website. 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.

Welcome to the first AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds podcast of 2020! In this short episode AHDB Communications Manager Jason Pole explains the recent changes to the Recommended List (RL). Speaking to Paul Gosling, head of the Recommended List team, the two discuss the launch of the online Variety Selection tool and how it works. The new tool brings the features of the RL into a digital format and includes a new metric: ‘Agronomic Merit’ which combines a number of agronomic statistics into a single measure. Looking ahead, this spring will see the launch of the RL app for smartphones. Jason also gives a run-down of updates to the RL, including the inclusion of 28 new varieties, with highlights including improved disease resistance and more specialist and quality traits. We are also currently recruiting for two vacancies for the RL crop committee: a wheat trader for the Wheat Crop Committee and an agronomist for the Oilseeds Crop Committee. If you’re interest in either role please visit: ahdb.org.uk/news/can

January 2020 should be seen as a huge opportunity to set the record straight, hold our heads high and shout about the positives of livestock farming in the UK. How can we do this together? We've produced a pack of support materials to help positively manage the reputation of meat and dairy during January 2020 and beyond. The packs contain evidence-based resources and social media infographics to support the meat and dairy industry in having positive conversations with a consistent narrative. Visit here for further information.  As with meat, the key message with dairy is balance. Different food groups work best when consumed together in moderation as part of a balanced plate approach. Milk and dairy foods are important sources of several nutrients which contribute to our positive well being, including calcium, iodine and protein. Read the recent blog from Will Jackson, AHDB's Strategy Director Beef & Lamb here.  Our team will be monitoring social feeds and press, and encourage everyone to foll

Welcome to the AHDB Dairy Strategic Farm podcast, part of our Farm Excellence podcast series. Throughout December, you will hear from a number of farmers in our Farm Excellence network, who will tell their story of the inspirational work they are doing with the help of AHDB to improve the performance and profitability of their business.     In this episode, we hear from Karen Halton and Joe Carter about their experiences as Strategic Dairy Farms and why they think dairy farmers should make the most of the opportunity. We also hear from Nic Parsons, AHDB’s Head of Dairy Development, who provides a broader picture of the Strategic Dairy Farm work and gives a glimpse of the exciting things to come in 2020.   For further information on how to get involved with our Farm-Excellence network visit ahdb.org.uk/farm-excellence. Get involved today! 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

This podcast is part of our Farm Excellence podcast series. Throughout December, you will hear from a number of farmers in our Farm Excellence network, who will tell their story of the inspirational work they are doing with the help of AHDB to improve the performance and profitability of their business.    In this episode, we hear from Jen Waters and Richard Bows, who are both part of our Pork knowledge exchange team. Jen talks about the work we are doing on Pork strategic farms and our three main themes – water, tails and precision. Richard tells us about our Gilt Watch campaign, which has brought together more than 30 independent producers to monitor gilt performance.   For further information on how to get involved with our Farm-Excellence network visit ahdb.org.uk/farm-excellence. Get involved today! 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.   Useful links

Welcome to the AHDB Beef & Lamb Strategic Farm podcast, part of the Farm Excellence podcast series. Throughout December, you will hear from a number of farmers in our Farm Excellence network, who will tell their story of the inspirational work they are doing with the help of AHDB to improve the performance and profitability of their business.  In this episode, we will speak to two strategic farmers; one who has been part of the programme for two years, and one who has only just embarked on his journey with the AHDB initiative.   Sequence of speakers: Joseph Keating (AHDB Senior Knowledge Exchange Manager)  Sarah Pick (AHDB KE Manager) speaks to Mark Jelley from Perkins Lodge Farm in Northamptonshire Leah Shanks (AHDB KE Manager) speaks to Adrian Coombe from Dupath Farm in Cornwall For further information on how to get involved with our Farm-Excellence network visit ahdb.org.uk/farm-excellence. Get involved today! 

The first episode in the Farm Excellence series of the AHDB podcast focuses on cereals & oilseeds. The Monitor Farm programme comprises a network of farmers from across the UK and Northern Ireland committed to driving innovation and best practice. They host regular meetings at their farms in which they discuss issues facing agriculture in their region.   This November saw the Monitor Farm Conference take place in Nottingham: an event for Monitor Farmers to come together and collaborate. We caught up with three of our newest Monitor Farmers: Richard Ling (Diss Monitor Farm in Norfolk), Rory Lay (Loppington Monitor Farm in the West Midlands) and Ashley Jones (Saltash Monitor Farm in the West Country). They discussed their views on this years’ conference, what makes a good leader and why they decided to become Monitor Farmers.   Visit the website to find out more information about our Farm Excellence programme.

Welcome to the Farm-Excellence podcast series produced to tell the story of the inspirational work farmers, growers and AHDB are doing under the umbrella of Farm-Excellence.  The pace of change in the agriculture sector seems only to increase as all farming businesses adapt to address the challenges and opportunities.  This 7-part series aims to spill all the  inspirational work these farms are doing to drive positive change within the agriculture and horticulture industry.  We will speak to: Tim Isaac, AHDB's Knowledge Exchange Director  Derek Carless , AHDB's Head of Farm Economics Susannah Bolton, AHDB's Director of Research  For further information on how to get involved with our Farm-Excellence network visit ahdb.org.uk/farm-excellence. Get involved today!  Our next episode will speak to our Cereals and Oilseeds monitor farm, Rory Lay on 13th December 2019. 

Could this be one of the wettest autumns on record? Two farmers tell us about the actions they’ve taken to keep their farms afloat during extreme rainfall.     Five years on from the Somerset Levels floods, cereals and beef farmer James Winslade reveals how social media anchored the news agenda around the troubles, which helped protect his business today.    With reservoirs fully topped up after the drought, South Lincolnshire grower David Hoyles tells us about the decisions he’s made to reduce damage to water logged land and manage labour.   Using insight from the markets, AHDB’s Phil Bicknell will share how this season’s potato harvest has fared. He talks about the relationship of farmgate prices with retail and the implications for early season planting and livestock production. For more information please visit: AHDB's Weather page  Watch our webinar on how to assess flooded forages and standing maize

We take look at the factors affecting the British liquid milk market with Patty Clayton, AHDB’s lead analyst for dairy.   In this episode we discuss how much milk is produced, where it’s processed, the challenges affecting Wales and Scotland as well as resources available to help dairy farmers plan for the future.   For the latest industry data, analysis and insights from the dairy sector, visit our market web pages.   Sign up for our weekly Dairy Market Weekly email for the latest market news and analysis. 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 month’s Pork-focused episode, we’ll be focusing on welfare and looking at what Defra’s updated Code of Recommendations for the Welfare of Livestock means in practice for pig keepers. We’ll also be hearing about some of the key highlights from last month’s meetings for small-scale pig keepers and finish with a quick look at the Chinese pig market. The updated Welfare Code sets out a number of new requirements for pig producers, but for the vast majority, it should not be too onerous. It will come into force on 1 March 2020. The Code can be used by enforcement bodies, including Animal and Plant Health Agency inspectors and local authorities, when investigating allegations of poor welfare, to look at whether animal welfare standards are being met. It applies to England only, although devolved administrations will aim to align their new codes as closely as possible to Defra’s. There are new elements, notably related to tail docking, enrichment and record keeping, as well as a clear signal from Govern

In this short podcast, Rebecca Small, AHDB Beef Scientist, is in Shropshire with Robert Wilkinson from Harper Adams University, who led on the Protein and Mixed Forage Research project. She talks to him about preliminary findings of the project and how this can be applied on farm. She also chats to Andrew Schofield who looked at Mineral audits in finishing cattle.