• Authors:
    • UK, National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB)
  • Source: Pocket guide to varieties of cereals, oilseeds & pulses for autumn 2002
  • Year: 2002
  • Summary: This edition presents information on the autumn sown varieties of wheat, barley, oats, triticale, rye, durum wheat, oilseed rape, linseed, peas, lupins and beans. Individual information on each variety is given, including variety notes, yield performance, relative ranking position in different environments and a summary of the important character ratings from the Recommended Lists.
  • Authors:
    • Ball, A.
    • Pretty, J.
  • Year: 2001
  • Authors:
    • UK, National Institute of Agricultural Botany
  • Source: Pocket guide to varieties of cereals, oilseeds and pulses for Spring 2002
  • Year: 2001
  • Summary: This edition presents information on the spring sown varieties of wheat, barley, oats, oilseed rape, peas and beans. Individual information on each variety is given, including variety notes, yield performance, relative ranking position in different environments and a summary of the important character ratings from the Recommended Lists. General information is also given on minor spring sown oil crops.
  • Authors:
    • Samu, F.
    • Sunderland, K.
  • Source: Entomologia Experimentalis Et Applicata
  • Volume: 95
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2000
  • Summary: A review of the literature showed that spider abundance was increased by diversification in 63% of studies. A comparison of diversification modes showed that spider abundance in the crop was increased in 33% of studies by `aggregated diversification' (e.g. intercropping and non-crop strips) and in 80% of studies by `interspersed diversification' (e.g., undersowing, partial weediness, mulching and reduced tillage). It is suggested that spiders tend to remain in diversified patches and that extending the diversification throughout the whole crop (as in interspersed diversification) offers the best prospects for improving pest control. There is little evidence that spiders walk in significant numbers into fields from uncultivated field edges, but diversification at the landscape level serves to foster large multi-species regional populations of spiders which are valuable as a source of aerial immigrants into newly planted crops. There are very few manipulative field studies where the impact of spiders on pests has been measured in diversified crops compared with undiversified controls. It is encouraging, however, that in those few studies an increased spider density resulted in improved pest control. Future work needs are identified.
  • Authors:
    • Siriwardena, G. M.
    • Chamberlain, D. E.
  • Source: Environmental Reviews
  • Volume: 8
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2000
  • Summary: Declines in a number of farmland bird species in northern Europe have been linked to agricultural intensification. In this paper, we review the evidence for the effects of agricultural intensification on farmland bird populations using monitoring studies on a single well-studied species, the Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis). Between 1970 and 1998, the Skylark population declined by 44% and this decline was greatest on farmland compared to upland or coastal habitats, yet during that time, reproductive performance per individual nesting attempt improved significantly. Skylarks consistently prefer relatively sparse (spring cereals) or structurally complex (fallow "set-aside"') crops, particularly late in the breeding season when crops that are too tall or dense are abandoned. Outside the breeding season, cereal stubble is the most preferred foraging habitat. Intensification has been characterized by decreases in preferred crops (spring cereals and cereal stubble) and an increase in unfavourable habitats (winter cereals, oilseed rape, and intensively managed or grazed grass). Reduction in the number of breeding attempts due to rapid sward development of winter cereals and the lack of suitable alternative habitats is likely to have been an important factor in the Skylark decline. The decline may also have been driven by decreases in survival outside the breeding season. Management regimes that include spring cereals, cereal stubble, and low-intensity grazing are likely to increase Skylark abundance and will benefit a number of other farmland birds. This review highlights the great value of large-scale monitoring schemes in understanding population declines. However, the factors affecting the post-fledging survival of Skylarks and the effects of crop diversity on Skylark abundance remain to be resolved.
  • Authors:
    • Lang, B.
  • Source: Report on farming in the eastern counties of England 1998/99.
  • Year: 2000
  • Summary: The report is divided into two sections. Part I analyses physical and financial data collected from 381 farms in the eastern counties of England (Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, South Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk) for the harvest year 1998. Performance is analysed by district, farm size group and type (mainly cereals, mixed cropping, dairy with arable, pigs and poultry, mixed farms and fen arable). A review of the farming environment in 1998/99 is also included. Part II looks ahead to future policy developments which may result from both internal and external forces. Internal forces include the England Rural Development plan whilst external pressures will arise from World Trade Organization discussions. Key findings are: (i) the lowest farm incomes (for ten years) were recorded on combinable crop and livestock farms; (ii) returns on pig farms declined further; (iii) low prices prevailed for commodity cereals, combinable break crops, milk and all meat; (iv) sterling strengthened against European currencies; (v) exceptional potato prices were available in 1998 restoring fortunes of Fen Arable and Mixed Cropping farms; and (vi) borrowing was inexpensive in a year when indebtedness by farm business increased.
  • Authors:
    • Siriwardena, G. M.
    • Bradbury, R. B.
    • Wilson, J. D.
    • Krebs, J. R.
  • Source: Nature
  • Volume: 400
  • Year: 1999
  • Authors:
    • Parker, J. P.
    • Scott, A.
    • Ball, B. C.
  • Source: Soil & Tillage Research
  • Volume: 53
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 1999
  • Summary: Tillage practices and weather affect the release of greenhouse gases but there have been few integrated studies of the quantities released or the mechanisms involved. No-tillage may increase emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) and the fixation of carbon by decreasing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Tillage may also decrease the oxidation rate of atmospheric methane (CH4) in aerobic soil. These effects are partly due to compaction and to the lack of both soil disturbance and residue incorporation. Our objective was to investigate how tillage practices, soil conditions and weather interact to influence greenhouse gas emissions. Here we present early measurements of N2O and CO2 emission and CH4 oxidation in two field experiments in Scotland under a cool moist climate, one involving soil compaction plus residue incorporation and the other involving no-tillage and two depths of mouldboard ploughing of a former grass sward. The experiments were located 10-15 km south of Edinburgh on a cambisol and a gleysol. In order to monitor emissions regularly, at short intervals and over long periods, a novel automatic gas sampling system which allows subsequent automated determination of both N2O and CO2 fluxes was used. Both N2O and CO2 fluxes were episodic and strongly dependent on rainfall. Peak N2O emissions were mainly associated with heavy rainfalls after fertilisation, particularly with no-tilled and compact soils. In the tillage experiment, N2O fluxes and treatment differences were greater under spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) (up to 600 g N ha-1 per day) than under winter barley. CO2 emissions in the few weeks after sowing were not strongly influenced by tillage and diurnal variations were related to soil temperature. However, periods of low or zero CO2 fluxes and very high N2O fluxes under no-tillage were associated with reduced gas diffusivity and air-filled porosity, both caused by heavy rainfall. Early results show that CH4 oxidation rates may best be preserved by no-tillage. The quality of the loam/clay-loams and the climate in these experiments makes ploughing, preferably to 300 mm depth, and the control of compaction necessary to minimise soil N2O and CO2 losses. The gas exchange response of different soil types to tillage, particularly methane oxidation rate which is affected by long-term soil structural damage, is a potentially useful aspect of soil quality when taken in conjunction with other qualities.
  • Authors:
    • Collins, C.
    • Chalmers, A. G.
    • Froment, M. A.
    • Grylls, J. P.
  • Source: The Journal of Agricultural Science
  • Volume: 133
  • Year: 1999
  • Summary: The effect of a range of one-year set-aside treatments on soil mineral nitrogen (SMN), during the set-aside period and in a following wheat crop were studied in a phased experiment at five sites from 1987 to 1991. Ground cover options permitted under the UK government's 'set-aside' scheme, including natural regeneration, autumn sown Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum), spring-sown legumes and cultivated fallow, were compared with a control treatment of continuous cereals managed with fertilizer inputs. In the first of three phases in this experiment, an uncultivated fallow (kept weed-free) and autumn-sown forage rape (Brassica napus) were included as extra treatments. There were large differences in total SMN (0.0-0.9 m) between sites, ranging from 16 to 205 kg N/ha, reflecting differences in soil type, which ranged from clays to sands, and previous cropping husbandry. Differences in SMN between set-aside treatments during the first winter of the set-aside year were small, but increased during the following summer. Amounts of SMN were greatest after cultivated fallow (46-178 kg N/ha) and least after ryegrass (26-111 kg N/ha). Natural regeneration and spring sown legumes were more variable in their effect on SMN. Compared to continuous cereals, there was a build up in SMN during bare fallow, but a reduction under ryegrass, prior to returning to wheat cropping in the autumn after set-aside. SMN results suggest there was an increased nitrate leaching risk for bare fallow and natural regeneration set-aside, compared to sown ryegrass covers, in the winter following ploughing out of set-aside. This risk could be minimized by earlier sowing of winter cereals following set-aside or sowing with winter oilseed rape rather than cereals to maximize crop nitrogen (N) uptake, during the autumn growth period. Averaged across five sites, residual SMN supply in the spring of first test year cereal crops for all set-aside treatments was similar to that for continuous cereals, suggesting over-winter losses by N leaching or immobilization. The low residual N fertility after rotational set-aside suggested that following crop N recommendations should be the same as for continuous cereals. Amounts of SMN were less each year in spring than in the preceding autumn in both the set-aside and first test cereal crops. The results suggested that a ryegrass cover appeared to be the most environmentally favourable option for rotational set-aside management, as it minimized the amount of readily leachable N both during and immediately after the set-aside period.
  • Authors:
    • Smith, J. U.
    • Glendining, M. J.
    • Powlson, D. S.
    • Smith, P.
  • Source: Global Change Biology
  • Volume: 4
  • Issue: 6
  • Year: 1998
  • Summary: In this paper we estimate the European potential for carbon mitigation of no-till farming using results from European tillage experiments. Our calculations suggest some potential in terms of (a) reduced agricultural fossil fuel emissions, and (b) increased soil carbon sequestration. We estimate that 100% conversion to no-till farming would be likely to sequester about 23 Tg C y-1 in the European Union or about 43 Tg C y-1 in the wider Europe (excluding the former Soviet Union). In addition, up to 3.2 Tg C y-1 could be saved in agricultural fossil fuel emissions. Compared to estimates of the potential for carbon sequestration of other carbon mitigation options, no-till agriculture shows nearly twice the potential of scenarios whereby soils are amended with organic materials. Our calculations suggest that 100% conversion to no-till agriculture in Europe could mitigate all fossil fuel-carbon emissions from agriculture in Europe. However, this is equivalent to only about 4.1% of total anthropogenic CO2-carbon produced annually in Europe (excluding the former Soviet Union) which in turn is equivalent to about 0.8% of global annual anthropogenic CO2-carbon emissions.