2025: the one where it didn't rain for months, we lost a major yellow rust resistance gene, SFI's were abruptly halted, and UK tractor sales tanked.

It has been a challenging year, but where there is challenge, there comes opportunity for change.

Join Ash, Toby and Jane as they chat all things arable, policy and machinery - while uncovering positives among the negatives as we round up 2025 in our final arable podcast offering.

Speakers:

Ash Ellwood - head of arable

Toby Whatley - head of machinery and farm technology

Jane Thynne - head of news and business

This month, Farmers Guardian headed to Agri-TechE's REAP Conference in Peterborough and caught up with some speakers, industry professionals and researchers to find out what the key takeaway messages were from the conference, what research and innovations are on the way into the industry and what technology is currently being utilised on farms.

Speakers

Dr Belinda Clarke, Director of Agri-Tech

Dr David George, researcher at Newcastle University

Todd Jex, agronomist and Agri-TechE Ambassador

Ali Capper, hops and apple grower at Stock Farm and chair of British Apples and Pears

Dr Nadia Radzman, biologist at The Sainsbury Laboratory at Cambridge University

Louise Penn, farmer, agronomist and Agri-TechE Ambassador

Penelope Bossom, managing Partner at Overbury Enterprises

Ryan McCormack, farm manager at Dennington Hall Farms

Join podcast host, Ash Ellwood, as she visits a family arable farm based in Leicestershire, which has recently diversified its farming business by creating its own fresh oat drink.

The diversification is led by founder and family member Miles, who has not only found a market for his farm-grown oats but also created an opportunity to return to the family farm, after completing university and working in London.

We learn about the whole 'grain-to-glass' process, how the oats are grown and marketed, and also get their top tips for growers looking to incorporate new ideas on their own farms.

In this episode, join Ash Ellwood as she chats with three industry experts all things grass-weed control.

Take a deep dive into the recent dry summer and its impacts on weed pressures and seedbanks, as well as the availability of new and existing chemistry. Learn how growers can balance their herbicide timing and spending to minimise resistance on farm, and discover top tips for minimising resistance.

With mostly dry weather continuing into autumn so far, we also discuss the risks and rewards associated with drilling early, as well as what growers can do to manage grass weeds in an early-drilled crop.

Speakers

John Cussans - Weed science principle consultant - ADAS

Dr Will Smith - Technical lead - Gowan Crop Protection

Mark Hemmant - Technical manager - Agrovista

In this months podcast join Ash Ellwood, head of arable, as she chats with Paul Gosling, AHDB’s Senior manager for the Recommended Lists (RL), as they discuss the process for varieties to become recommended, what happens during the trials and how best to utilise the list information.

We also chat with Clare Leaman, cereal variety specialist at Niab about what resources are available to aid variety choice and some key factors to consider on farm.

This episode delves into the complexities of plant breeding as we visit DSV's breeding centre in Oxfordshire and discuss how a new variety is bred and the steps required to bring it to market. Join Ash Ellwood as she takes a tour of the facility while chatting with DSV's wheat breeder, Dr Matthew Kerton. Also, our brand-new addition to the podcast features five growers from around the country sharing their favourite meals to have in the field during harvest time, ranging from pheasant to prawn toast!

In our exciting re-launch episode, we chat with Hutchinson's head of environmental services, Georgina Wallis, who gives us an update on the recently scrapped Sustainable Farming Incentive funding and an insight into the latest spending budget. We then head to NIAB's soil hole, where chief executive, Prof Mario Caccamo, discusses the importance of independent variety selection.

With changing legislation and environmental pressures, plant breeding programs are crucial for future developments. Dr Alex Doering, managing director of DSV UK, talks us through the OSR breeding programs and what exciting new traits are on offer.

Finally, we catch up with RAGT's Andrew Creasy and Senova's Hugh Harley, who walk us through a new farm-saved seed royalty collection service and a new Group 4 wheat variety.

The Nuffield Farming Scholarship offers financial support for sustainable farming practices and involves a two-year commitment. Three arable-focused scholars, Jamie, Sam, and Tom, were interviewed in a podcast, where they discussed their projects and the application process. The scholarship provides a travel bursary for research, access to a valuable network, and a community of scholars. Scholars are expected to produce a report and share their insights with relevant audiences. The scholars' projects focus on exploring production efficiency, land use, and the challenges of venture-funded ag tech startups in the UK.