BASIS Agronomy Matters – Details, episodes & analysis

In this month’s episode, we’re summarising Groundswell 2024. We’ll chat with folks from various stands including direct drill manufacturers, Rothamsted Research, the University of Cambridge, the Sustainable Food Trust, and more. Our goal is to give you a taste of the discussions and ideas from this year’s event, especially for those who couldn’t make it. Tune in and get a feel for what Groundswell 2024 was all about!

Find out more about our training opportunities here

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In this episode of Agronomy Matters, host Thomas Vaughan, the Environment Manager for BASIS, welcomes two guests from the Lancashire Wildlife Trust: Sarah Johnson and Mike Longden.

Sarah and Mike are members of the Peatlands Team. One of their many projects involves exploring paludiculture, also known as wetter farming. Through initiatives such as the wetter farming trial at Rindle Field, they work to restore degraded peatlands, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate climate change while maintaining agricultural viability.

Their efforts highlight the Lancashire Wildlife Trust’s dedication to environmental conservation and sustainable land management. Listeners are invited to join as the podcast delves into the world of paludiculture and wetter farming, uncovering the transformative potential of these practices with insights from Sarah and Mike.

This month we are talking all about Potato Cyst Nematode, an important pest in most areas of the country where potatoes are grown.

It is during the autumn and winter months that we look to soil sample fields and prepare machinery, so on this episode we meet with three experts to learn more about sampling, controls, machinery calibration and the nematicide stewardship programme.

Our first guest is independent agronomist, Simon Alexander. Simon takes us through the 6 best practice steps to the Nematicide Stewardship Programme (NSP)from compulsory qualifications through the post application checks.

Our next speaker, Ian Foreman, joins from NSTS, the National Sprayer Testing Scheme. Ian expands on the importance of machinery calibration and best ways to avoid problems in season. You can download a check sheet here.

Finally, we are joined by David Nelson, Agronomy Director at Branston Ltd. Branston are a potato grower with sites in Lincoln, Scotland and the South West. David joins us to discuss cultural controls to PCN, with a particular focus on variety choice.

The BASIS Certificate in Crop Protection Agriculture and Vegetable courses both cover potato agronomy. If you are interested in advancing your potato knowledge further then we offer the Advanced potatoes course which also contributes towards the BASIS Diploma in Agronomy. Don’t forget we also have a module, Developing an IPM approach to PCN, available on the BASIS Classroom, created in collaboration with Bayer.

To claim you 1CPD point for listening please wait for the code at the end of the episode.

We currently have a winter offer on our BASIS Classroom digital courses (until 21st December 2022) where you can get 10% off our Principles of Sustainable Land Management course (worth 8CPD points) and the FACTS Nitrogen Use Efficiency Refresher.

This month following the launch of our Principles of Sustainable Land Management course back in May we are catching up with four experts who have completed the course to find out why they did it, what they learnt and how they will manage land more sustainability in the future.

Our first guest is Linda Bratley, Managing Director at Rural Business Services Ltd. Linda and her team offer a wide range of on farm advice from BPS to nutrient management plans and they are finding themselves becoming more involved in environmental work as new schemes continue to develop. Linda explains how the course helped to build their knowledge and prepare them for the future.

Next, we speak to Doug Townsend, a Farm Manager in the Cotswolds. Doug explains how his strong interest in sustainability encouraged him to go on the course having already completed the BASIS BETA Conservation Management course previously. Doug also tells us about joining our new BASIS Environmental Advisers Register.

Our third guest is Nina Yiannoukos, Senior Catchment Advisor at South Staffs and Cambridge Water. Nina decided to take the course as a refresher having completed the BASIS Soil and Water certificate previously and was pleased that the self-paced functionality of the course would allow it to fit around busy work and family life.

Finally, we speak to Ellie Sweetman, Forage Crop Specialist at NIAB. Ellie has a very varied role and completes the course to ensure she stays abreast of industry changes and development including how biodiversity, resource management and healthy soils are coming to the forefront and how these all integrate together. Ellie is also a member of our Register of Sheep Advisers and tells us a little more about the benefits.

If you are interested in completing the Principles of Sustainable Land Management course then you can find further information here.

https://www.basis-reg.co.uk/online-course-registration?source=podcast

Listen to the end of the podcast to claim 1 CPD point for listening.

With harvest of cereals and oilseed rape now complete across the UK, this month we talk about crop storage.

Compared to selling grain at harvest, storing grain for sale later can attract a premium. This economic incentive can mean grain is stored for long periods prior to processing. During this time the grain may be at risk from pests, fungi or moisture.

In this podcast we are joined by two guest speakers who provide us with guidance on how we can help minimise the risks to stored grain.

Our first speaker is Dhan Bhandari, Senior Cereal Product Quality Scientist at AHDB. Dhan talks to us about the best ways to monitor our grain stores, what we should be looking out for and the factors that might affect grain sampling. Our second speaker is Martin Cobbald, aka Chief Pest Geek, Managing Director at Dealey Pest Control. Martin provides some fantastic information on how we can identify and deal with pests in our stores. If you are looking for a qualified pest controller to help you then check out BASIS PROMPT our register of verified pest controllers. You can also find out more about the courses mentioned in the podcast.

Listen to the end to claim 1 CPD point for listening.

This month we talk about black grass - one of the biggest challenges to profitable arable farming in the main cereal growing areas of the UK. With its high seed production, variable dormancy and herbicide resistance, black grass has become a major headache to many farmers.

We have been forced to adapt our way of working to manage the threat of black grass competition and in this episode of Agronomy Matter we are joined by three experts who help us to understand the best methods of black grass control.

Firstly, we have Richard Hull, a research technician at Rothamsted. Richard talks to us about his current research including cultural controls. You can read more from Rothamsted Research here https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/new-%E2%80%98early-warning-system%E2%80%99-finds-blackgrass-evolving-resistance-glyphosate.

Our second guest is Stuart Kevis, Business Development Manager at BASF. It is widely accepted that we need to combine non-chemical control methods with herbicides to improve overall control, so Stuart speaks about the chemical options including resistance issues.

Finally, we are joined by Paul Roche, Product Placement Lead at Syngenta, who brings it all together for us and adds a little bit about how we might incorporate the control of other problem weeds.

Weed management including both IPM and herbicide programmes are covered in depth in the BASIS Certificate in Crop Protection so if you are interested in developing your knowledge in this area, please visit our website for more details.

Health and safety is stereotypically a bit boring. Like with legislation it’s one of those topics that just comes with a bit of a yawn and a sigh, but with continued and rising concern over the high level of accidents within the agricultural industry it’s important that we, at BASIS, do what we can to support our members safety.

This month’s episode has been released early to show our support for the Yellow Wellies campaign; Farm Safety Week.

We know our BASIS members will often find themselves working on or near farm yards, working alone in fields, clambering over gates and fences and playing with soil so making sure that we are all aware of our surroundings, looking out for ourselves and others should be a top priority.

We are privileged to have been joined by 5 speakers keen to share their top tips for staying safe on farm:

• Stephanie Berkely, Manager at the Farm Safety Foundation aka Yellow Wellies
• Tom Price, Farm Safety and Transport Adviser at the NFU
• Christopher Maher, HM Inspector HSE
• Eve Macready Jones, HM Inspector HSE
• Stephen Britton, HM Inspector HSE

Our speakers take us through some of the top risks our BASIS members are likely to come across and how they can help themselves and others to stay safe.

Please listen through to the end of the podcast to find out how to collect a CPD point for listening.

This month’s episode of the Agronomy Matters Podcast focuses on Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE). Nitrogen use efficiency has become a bit of buzz word recently but can be regarded as something that is not easy to define so this podcast aims to help listeners improve their understanding of nitrogen use efficiency and explain how we can use it to help improve our nutrient management in the future.

Nitrogen Use Efficiency has always been important but with unsteady and unpredictable fertiliser prices and changing agri-environment schemes it is becoming ever more relevant. It is for these reasons that NUE is also the topic for this year’s FACTS online assessment.

The FACTS online assessment is completed by all BASIS FACTS Qualified Advisers annually as part of their continued development. The content of this podcast should provide some of the knowledge needed before our members complete the FACTS Online assessment and provides a brilliant insight to the efficient use of nitrogen.

We are joined by three brilliant guests on this podcast….

If you are not already FACTS qualified and this is something you are interested in then please do visit our website www.basis-reg.co.uk or contact me jade.prince@basis-reg.co.uk for more information.

Make sure you listen to the end of the episode to find out how to claim one BASIS CPD point via the members area on the BASIS website.

The removal of the Basic Payment Scheme and introduction of the new Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS) is one of the most significant changes to UK agriculture in a generation. There are three new schemes being introduced over the new few years, starting with the Sustainable Farming Incentive, with applications opening to all farmers and land managers later in 2022.

During this episode of the Agronomy Matters podcast we hear from two speakers who can explain a bit more about what these schemes are all about, how it will impact UK agriculture and what opportunities it will provide for farmers and land managers:

Tom Lewis, who works at Defra as part of the team developing the Environmental Land Management Schemes, outlines what Defra are trying to achieve through ELMS and how it will help farmers produce food and enhance the wider environment at the same time.

Teresa Meadows, Head of Environment, Audit and Public Affairs highlights what BASIS are doing to provide training and professional development opportunities focussed on environmental management and sustainable farming practices.

Make sure you listen to the end of the episode to find out how to claim one BASIS CPD point for listening.

Click here to see more information on the NEW Principles of Sustainable Land Management Course Information

With the return of LAMMA, the UK’s leading agricultural machinery, equipment and technology show, on the 4th and 5th May, we thought we would focus this month’s episode of the Agronomy Matters podcast on cultivations.

Net zero is a current hot topic and there is no doubt that reducing cultivations can be a factor in cutting carbon dioxide emissions and increasing sequestration in the soil but what are the benefits of cultivations, and when and why should cultivations be used. Well on this episode of agronomy matters we have three experts to shed some more light on the importance of cultivations.

- David Purdy, a territory business manager for John Deere. David has over 35 years’ experience in the agricultural machinery industry and tells us about the role cultivations still have in agriculture.

- Philip Wright, an independent soil consultant with a wealth of experience in soil structure and the impact of cultivation methods.

- Glenn Bootman, joins us from HE-VA where he is both Territory Manager for South Central England and Product Manager. Having been involved with the farm machinery sector for almost 30 years Glenn focusses on how we can choose and optimise machinery use.

Make sure you listen to the end of the episode to find out how to claim one BASIS CPD point via the members area on the BASIS website.