FARM ZONE
An advice, comment and opinion resource for the agricultural community
THE BENEFITS OF PRECISION DRILLING
The benefits of precision drilling are strong, particularly for maize. Farm Zone spoke to Rod Crossley, senior technical advisor at Bright Maize, to find out the reality about precision drilling. Farm Zone (FZ): Which crops benefit the most from precision drilling?...
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A WINDOW INTO THE UKRANIAN DAIRY SECTOR
A recent visit to a Ukrainian mega dairy was an eye-opener for UK farmers In the UK, so-called super dairies have caused significant controversy, with local communities often banding together to oppose their construction entirely. This is not the case in the Ukraine,...
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SEED PROCESSING – ONE MILLION BAGS A YEAR!
In a remote corner of Ukraine, a highly automated facility processes seed day and night The Dnipropetrovsk Oblast region in central Ukraine is extremely remote. It boasts some of the most fertile agricultural land in the world – with wide expanses of deep, black soil....
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AUTONOMOUS AGRICULTURE – WILL IT SAVE SMALL FAMILY FARMS?
Like every other sector in the economy, automation is coming to agriculture. But what does it mean for the small family farm? Will autonomous farming favour the big corporate agri-producers, putting the family farmer at a disadvantage, or will it reduce costs on small...
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OILSEED RAPE PRICES TO RISE NEXT YEAR
It has recently been reported that oilseed rape prices are set to rise in 2020. In this article, Farm Zone explores the reasons for the predicted price rises, and the likelihood that they will come to pass. A declining domestic crop In the UK, the rapeseed crop is in...
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RAW MILK MARKET OPPORTUNITIES
Dairy farms are currently witnessing a major increase in demand for raw milk (unpasteurised, unhomogenised milk). This is driven by many factors. Raw milk has been the subject of a wave of recent research which argues that it carries strong health and nutritional...
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MAIZE HARVEST 2019 OVERVIEW
With the unusually warm weather, followed by the current extremely wet patch, Farm Zone has produced an overview of the current state of the 2019 maize harvest: The maize harvest started on time… but for many was delayed The maize harvest was widely predicted to...
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DAIRY FARMING – THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
The good Dairy farming is a motor for the rural economy In the UK, 13,000 dairy farmers manage nearly 2 million dairy cows to produce over 14 billion litres of milk each year with a wholesale value of £8.8 billion. And that’s before it has been processed into saleable...
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OILSEED RAPE IN THE UK – WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?
Oilseed rape has had a bad time of it recently and it looks as though planting this year is going to be 10% down – which will mean it has hit a 16-year low. This is down to two factors: last year’s very dry autumn, coupled with excessive flea beetle damage. Farm Focus...
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A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF FARM DOGS
In the modern era, when we think of farm dogs, we tend to think of medium to large dogs that specialise in herding livestock, particularly sheep. But in the past, dogs of all breeds and shapes and sizes were to be found on farms. In fact, almost all dog breeds were...
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