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Our Crop It Like It’s Hot podcast gives growers access to the most recent developments and opinions from industry experts and farmers across the UK.
Hosted by Farmers Guardian's Arable Technical Specialist, Ash Ellwood. Whether you’re thinking of trying a new system, interested in keeping up with the latest in crop protection and variety selection, or curious about secondary income opportunities, Crop It Like It's Hot has you covered.
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50 Episodes
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If you were asked for your top piece of farming advice for a new entrant or a Young Farmer - what would you tell them? We chat with farmers from across the country for their pieces of advice and learnings from the ground. We also chat with Dick Neale, technical manager at Hutchinsons, to find out what growers should be considering ahead of getting the drill out this spring time, common mistakes he has seen and his practical advice to start the spring season as strong as possible.
Changes to Government policy dominate our headlines, from the APR reform to our 'Save Our Family Farms Campaign' looking to support farmers through changes to IHT. It can feel like our farming industry is constantly reacting to policy. In this podcast, we discuss how a vision that George Freeman, Conservative MP for Mid Norfolk, has put to the Government, setting out how smarter regulation, investment in innovation, and technologies such as precision breeding could unlock higher yields,...
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 mach...
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 Ambass...
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 market...
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 r...
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 praw...
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 developme...
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' ...
This episode sees Farmers Guardian arable specialist Ash Ellwood discuss how one farmer has introduced sheep into their arable rotation, what role data can play on farm and finds out the latest on the urea legislation changes, all recorded from The CropTec Show in Stoneleigh. Speakers - Jo Franklin (Arable & sheep farmer), Tom Macbride (Yagro) , Robert and Will Ingham (Glasson Fertilisers)
Being a farmer comes with the privilege of being a custodian of the land, and a love of the countryside and wildlife is why many farmers do what they do. In this episode of Crop It Like It’s Hot, the Arable Farming team speak to three conservationists about how arable farms can become a haven for wildlife. From hedgerow management tips to habitat creation, and encouraging more beneficial insects, there is plenty that growers can do to improve the environmental credentials of their farms.
Many growers might feel like they have taken three steps back in weed control this year, with grass-weeds seemingly doing particularly well. But what can be done this autumn to get back on top of them? In this episode of Crop It Like It’s Hot, the Arable Farming team get the latest from weed control connoisseur, John Cussans. With all the tools in the box needed to keep on top of emerging weeds, and glyphosate authorisation in the limelight in Europe, we also get an update on what the U...
Growers keep being told ‘widen your rotation’, but how do you manage risk with reward when it comes to growing new crops? How long should you give a crop in the rotation before throwing in the towel? And where do you start in deciding what to grow? From alternative pulse markets, to Wildfarmed wheat, to the weird and wonderful, in this latest episode of Crop It Like It’s Hot, we take a look at what other growers are giving a go, and how to measure success when it comes to integrating a new cr...
Risk management in agriculture is largely associated with personal safety, however in other industries, the management of risk extends to financial and planning and resource management. In this episode of Crop It Like It's Hot, machinery editor, Toby Whatley sits down to with three farmers with different business models, crops and land assets to hear how they approach risks to their business differently, and how their approach to expenditure, financial planning and crop sales varies. Speakers...
As the agricultural industry navigates the loss of the Basic Payment Scheme, in this episode of Crop it Like it's Hot the Arable Farming team takes a look at future funding options available to arable farmers. From Environmental Land Management to productivity grants, there are plenty of options out there, but do they fit the bill and are they worth taking up? In this episode, head of farming at Strutt & Parker Jonathan Armitage discusses where he sees key investment opportunities for Def...
With the UK seeing long periods of no rainfall almost annually, and changes to abstraction licensing and planning restrictions on water storage threatening to compound the issue, water security in agriculture is a concern many growers should and are taking seriously. In this episode of Crop it Like it’s Hot, the Arable Farming team delves into the world of water policy, application and economics, to find out: how can we make UK agriculture more water-secure? Tune in to hear three industry exp...
Since the Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) was established by ADAS 10 years ago, it has recorded multiple crop world records, droughts, floods and a fertiliser crisis. But all of these events have helped the network to gather important information on how growers can maximise crop production on their land. In this episode of Crop it Like it’s Hot, ADAS’ Dr Sarah Kendall discusses key learnings from more than 5,000 crop yields that have been recorded, and how detailed crop post-mortems, benchmar...
Agriculture is both a hard industry to recruit in and a notoriously hard industry to get into if you’re not from a farming background. With the UK facing a cost of living crisis, the prospect of supporting good employees may be daunting, but there are many things farm businesses can be doing to help retain and attract good staff. In this employment-focused podcast, Alice Dyer finds out how to be both a prominent employee and employer, with tips to stand out from the crowd to continuing profes...
The integration of cover crops have been a key ingredient for many farmers in improving the health of their soils and their overall farming system. But they don’t come without their challenges, and ‘getting them to work’ isn’t always as straightforward as it seems. To find out what we’re doing wrong and how to get more out of them tune into the latest episode of the Crop It Like It’s Hot podcast. From nutrient lockup to yield penalties and why destruction method, not just timing is key to suc...
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