Integrated Crop Management & New Technologies for Arable Farming (Thainstone) – Event Summary

Integrated Crop Management & Control of Pests

Guest speaker Andy Evans opened the meeting with a presentation about the importance of Integrated Crop Management in the control of important pests such as slugs, aphids and leatherjackets.  He covered what to look out for and the management that can be used to minimise damage as well as the ever decreasing chemical control available.  You can read Andy’s presentation slides here.

What Is a Drone?

Simon Gibson-Poole highlighted the potential for drones for crop monitoring and more detailed assessments of arable farmland.  He also discussed the increasingly stringent rules and regulations for the use of drones, as well as the typical costs of different levels of equipment. Use this link to read Simon’s presentation slides.

Soil Health

Local agricultural consultant David Ross highlighted the increasing interest in soil health and the efforts to move beyond simply testing soil chemistry to also assessing soil physical structure and biological activity.  Read David’s presentation slides for more information on GPS soil sampling.

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Please use the links below to download the information sheets available to take home on the night.