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Know How / Other crops

There are many minor and niche break crops, such as oats and linseed, which can bring many benefits to a crop rotation. This page aims to help you grow a more profitable break crop.

This is your starting point for identifying which crops to grow, how to grow them and address challenges such as weed and disease control.

Key areas of focus:

  • Choosing the right crop and finding contracts
  • Getting establishment right
  • Meeting market specifications
  • Crop agronomy, such as disease and weed control

Must reads

Case studies

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ARABLE

How US farmer increases profitability through relay cropping

Relay cropping winter wheat and soya beans in one season could be worth at least £605/ha (US$300/acre) more for a US farmer in Indiana compared with just growing mono soya…

ARABLE

Grower reveals yield and margin data of intercropping trial

A mix of peas and mustard generated the highest gross margin in the first year of an extensive intercropping trial carried out by Oxfordshire farmer Ben Adams, where different crop…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Wildflower seed diversification gives arable tenants security

Diversifying a traditional arable rotation with a wildflower seed business has helped secure a viable future for one tenant farming family, who faced losing their farm to building developments. In…

BLACKGRASS

Borage and herbage seed helps Essex farm fight blackgrass

Borage and herbage seed break crops have helped one heavy land Essex arable farm get on top of blackgrass, with double spring-sown breaks and low soil disturbance seen as the…

OTHER CROPS

How a Lincolnshire farmer grows a quality crop of herbage

Reseeding grass leys is an important job for many farmers, but the behind-the-scenes work that goes into growing a quality crop of herbage is often overlooked. For Lincolnshire farmer Andrew…

AGRICULTURAL TRANSITION

Downsizing and enterprise stacking makes Kent farm resilient

If ideas and enterprise stacking rather than scale and focus make a farming business resilient, then Doug Wanstall is onto a winner. A business that at its largest was contract-farming…

Practical advice

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CROP MANAGEMENT

Tips for spring barley growers as lodging risk rises

Spring barley and oat growers are being advised to use plant growth regulator this spring to avoid yield losses in what could be a higher risk year. Growth regulators can…

CROP MANAGEMENT

How to tackle hefty spring arable workloads after wet winter

Spring workloads are mounting on most arable farms, so sorting fieldwork priorities to ensure optimum return on investment where crops are variable and harvest profitability remains uncertain is a tricky…

OTHER CROPS

Round-up of the niche crop options for UK growers

Introducing alternative break crops to an arable rotation can help growers improve soil health, spread market risk and further financial gain. As pesticide actives are lost and resistance fears build,…

OTHER CROPS

Hybrid rye: The benefits of growing it and how to do it well

Hybrid rye offers several benefits to arable rotations, not least because of the ability of its extensive root system to extract soil nutrients, potentially cutting nitrogen fertiliser requirements by 40%…

CROP MANAGEMENT

Winter oats facing high disease could benefit from T0 spray

Winter oat growers could benefit from an earlier spring fungicide than usual as crops face a higher disease pressure, following a relatively mild winter. Mildew, crown rust and septoria have…

PLOUGHING AND CULTIVATION

5 cultivation and establishment methods compared

Establishment systems cover varying degrees of soil movement, from relatively little disturbance associated with direct-drilling and min-till through to deep cultivations and complete inversion with the likes of ploughing. Each…

Insights

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OTHER CROPS

How to get the best out of IPM3 companion cropping in SFI

Companion cropping is perhaps one of the easier options to include in Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) agreements, particularly if you’re growing oilseed rape or perhaps maize, or for an end…

TECHNOLOGY

How Precision Breeding Act is advancing gene edited crops

In-field testing of crops that have been gene edited to introduce specific traits and characteristics has become much easier in England following changes to existing legislation on crop biotechnology, with…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Could sunflowers fill the cropping gap this spring?

The first UK marketing pool for sunflowers gives farmers an alternative spring option to make up some of their winter cropping shortfall. Latest AHDB figures show that the wheat area…

ARABLE

Cover crop study shows yield benefits of destruction methods

Research funded by water companies has revealed significant differences between cover crop destruction methods for nitrogen availability in the following crop and weed control. A further project has highlighted the…

OTHER CROPS

Why flax for fibre could reappear in arable rotations

Rising demand for sustainable fibres and the ability of crops such as flax and hemp to capture carbon from the air could see their return in arable rotations, offering farmers…

VARIETY SELECTION

Why more growers are opting for key early spring oat variety

A spring oat variety is finding favour with Scottish growers as well as those in the South because of its high disease resistance and strong yield potential. Spring oats have…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Could carbon-cutting carinata provide a profitable break?

Seed technology firm Nuseed is hoping successful UK trials of new Brassica carinata varieties over the next two years will offer growers a new combinable crop opportunity to help boost…

OTHER CROPS

Could sunflowers be grown on more UK farms?

Farmers looking to diversify their rotation or attract people on-farm to generate income could benefit from growing sunflowers this spring. Sunflowers provide a bulk ingredient in the bird-seed market and…

VARIETY SELECTION

New winter varieties help to address mustard shortfall

Drought in Canada and war in Ukraine have combined to disrupt mustard supplies, with even the French region of Dijon having well-publicised problems securing supplies of brown mustard seed for…

Video

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WEED MANAGEMENT

Video: 7 pre-season checks every sprayer should have

Spring is just around the corner and farmers up and down the land are drawing up battle plans about how best to tackle the impending mountain of work. With many…

Video: Farmer demonstrates benefits of mixed cover crops

The advantages of growing winter cover crop soon after harvest have been highlighted at a farm on the Gloucestershire/Worcestershire border. Linking Environment and Farming (Leaf) demonstration farmer Jake Freestone, from…

WEED MANAGEMENT

Video: Garford weeder ends crop failures at organic farm

Since starting to weed his cereal crops five years ago with a Garford mechanical hoe, organic grower Robert Hyde hasn’t lost any of his crops to weeds. In the past…

ARABLE

Video: How to sample your soil for analysis

The quieter winter months are a prime time to get a snapshot of the state of soils and consider any adjustments to maximise fertility and crop potential. Unlike most other…