Crop Health

Crop health: Management of barley pests & diseases (Islay) – event summary

A meeting for Islay barley farmers (9 growers representing 60% of the total on the island) at Rockside Farm / Kilchoman distillery, a farm distillery set-up. The meeting was arranged…

Are you making the most of Integrated Pest Management?

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is not a new idea in farming and many producers will be familiar with the concept through measures such as the pesticide industry’s Voluntary Initiative and…

Getting winter barley off to a healthy start

With the winter barley harvest in Scotland almost complete, planning for the 2019 crop begins. Selecting seed of a good health status has always been important but emerging issues with…

Practical grassland: making the most of your forage

Cereal Trials Open Evening: Lanarkshire – Post-event summary

The FAS Lanarkshire crops trials open evening was recently held at Drumalbin farm. In a marked change from last years weather sunglasses and sunscreen were the order of the day…

Managing the risk of tuber blight in 2018

There have still been no confirmed cases of blight in Scotland this year – and very few throughout the whole of the UK. Prolonged dry conditions have helped in that…

Prolonged dry spell – what can be done?

We’ve had calls from across the country for what can be done in the face of the continued dry weather. We asked a few experts for their advice: David Lawson,…

Cereal Trials Open Evening, East Lothian – Post-event summary

The East Lothian Cereal Trials Open Evening was held in glorious sunshine recently at Cauldshiel. The theme of the event this year was on making the most of home markets…

Managing the risk of ear diseases in cereals

There are three grades of ear disease in cereals to worry about – those that can strip yield and cause food safety issues like fusarium, those that can strip yield…

The challenge of managing spring barley disease in 2018

After a late start to the season, spring barley crops are growing rapidly. Disease management needs in a shortened season can be hard to judge. Late season green leaf retention…

Sign up to the FAS newsletters