THE importance of soil management will be flagged up at this year’s 3D Thinking In Action event in Ledbury.

Held by Frontier Agriculture on Thursday, June 18 and Friday, June 19, at Hall End Farm, Kynaston, Ledbury, the message to farmers will be to make complete crop production a priority.

With soil the biggest asset on any farm and the starting point for all crop production it needs to be in the best possible condition, the firm’s regional agronomy manager, Jon Allard, says.

“That’s why at this year’s event we will be considering how soil management relates to each stage of the process,

from issues about compaction and structure, to appropriate variety choice and effective agronomy choices, with the aim of improving the performance of our land,” he said.

There has been a regional demonstration site in Hereford since 2005, giving local farmers the opportunity to see different varieties in the field, but two years ago its scope was extended and it became part of Frontier’s national network of 3D Thinking trial sites.

“That means we have access not only to local data, but to national information.

We have the benefit of all that experience from around the country, but also the chance to tailor it to the conditions that are familiar to local farmers,” said Jon.

The site includes winter wheat variety plots, showing the full HGCA recommended list, plus some candidate

varieties; those undergoing assessment to see if they will make it on to the list in future. When taking tours

of the site, growers will see both treated and untreated areas of the different varieties, allowing them to assess

the benefits of crop input programmes, and to monitor the disease resistance of certain varieties.

“All the time we are trying to grow the site to offer farmers a bit more. New for this year are the winter barley

varieties, both conventional and hybrid,” said Jon.

There are also trials which consider the efficacy of different fungicide programmes, assessing the active ingredients and developing anti-resistance strategies.

Another new addition to the site is cover crops. And on site will be Frontier’s colleagues from Kings to discuss options available and the benefits.

Additionally there will be a moisture metre clinic where growers can get their equipment calibrated, and there

will be displays of equipment from local machinery distributors. Farmers who attend will also be able to collect BASIS and NRoSo points.

The event will be an opportunity to discuss all aspects of arable farming. “There’ll be people from our seed, trials, fertiliser and crop input departments, as well as SOYL, our precision crop production division. It’s a great chance to see how all of the different pieces of the jigsaw can come together to create the best results for your individual circumstances”, added Jon.

For details and to register visit frontierag.co.uk or call Nikki White on 01264 388028.