As part of my role as a farm trader, I take a proactive interest in crop development throughout the season to make sure I am providing the best possible advice to my growers. This can vary from anything to do with varietal choice right through to suitable marketing strategies based on what I am seeing in the field.   3DThinking This week, I vi...

WHEAT Weather drives markets higher again Ongoing weather issues and crop concerns saw world markets surge higher early this week, with French wheat futures hitting 11-month highs. The US hard red winter wheat areas, the Black Sea region, North Eastern Europe and Eastern Australia have continued to be dry with above average temperatures. However, e...

WHEAT  Markets higher World wheat markets have propelled higher this week, fuelled in the most part by weather driven sentiment and political positioning over tariff negotiations between China and the US concerning the supply of agricultural products. Warm weather persists Whilst US winter wheat crops remain under stress and planting condition...

WHEAT Demand quenched by imports The UK domestic market for old crop continued to remain well supported this week for supplies of both feed and quality wheat with the deficit areas of the west and north pulling on remaining supplies. The constraints on road freight availability are hindering trade flows from surplus southern grain areas, to overcom...

This is the new home of Frontrunner - Frontier's weekly grain marketing update. Subscribe to the blog to be notified every time it is published. WHEAT USDA sees lower world wheat and corn stocks next season Yesterday afternoon the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) published their first world supply and demand estimates for 2018/19. The...

 WHEAT Old crop supplies tight in the North We continue to have a north/south divide in our domestic wheat market. We are seeing reasonable supplies in the south of England and heavy demand in the north of England and Scotland but with rapidly diminishing farm stocks in these areas. With no easy way of moving wheat over long distances from sou...

Well, what a change in the weather. Spring has finally sprung after two autumnal weeks. Crops will now begin to move rapidly through their growth stages. The long-range weather forecast shows rain is forecast but in and around some bright sunny weather, allowing growers to finally catch up with their long list of outstanding jobs. The recent weathe...

 WHEAT Complex home trade Domestic UK markets have continued to focus on logistic issues which are now an integral feature and constraining natural trade flows. London wheat futures rose to six-month highs mid-week to levels not seen since 12th October 2017. This prompted greater levels of imported wheat, which also helped the logistics pressu...

Often overlooked, the humble grain moisture meter is a significant piece of equipment that can help to determine the key characteristics of your crop while harvesting, drying and ensuring the correct storage. Accurate readings are crucial for safeguarding the condition of your grain so it's important to ensure your meter is in full-working order. W...

WHEAT World round-up US wheat futures fell steadily this week following better forecasts for the drought-stricken Plains. This is good news for winter crops, but only time will tell if it will spell better news for crop ratings which currently sit at a 20-year low. Matif wheat made a five-year high on Monday, following last week's firmer US markets...

While a distant memory, the warm, dry weather of October and November allowed most winter crops to be drilled in fairly good conditions and establish well. It also encouraged mineralisation, producing good levels of nitrogen to aid early growth. In fact, in the run up to Christmas it very much looked like soil nitrogen levels would be higher than n...

As you may already know, over the last couple of months we've been speaking to growers up and down the country as part of our series of #3DThinking seminars. We've seen a great turnout and the seminars give us a really good opportunity to talk about our trials progress and the discoveries made so far. In particular, I've been sharing our findi...

I had the privilege of meeting England 1966 World Cup goal scorer Sir Geoff Hurst at the beginning of my career. Sir Geoff was giving an after dinner speech at an awards ceremony during my time at Bishop Burton College. One of the things he said to us was: "Go out and be the best you can be in your chosen field and never give up." These words are a...

It's been a busy start to the year carrying out training and visiting growers in Herefordshire. I am a trainee agronomist at Frontier in the west and also involved with the team that look after the #3DThinking Ledbury site. The trials that take place there offer valuable insight into the differences between several crop varieties and are a vital ai...

Five months on since harvest feels like a good time to review what, if anything, tram lining has added to the armoury when it comes to the management of black-grass.By way of a re-cap, Frontier Agriculture, in collaboration with EW Davies farms Ltd, Rothamsted, AHDB and Primary Sales from Western Australia, installed a 'chaff deck' onto farmer Jere...

This week saw the annual publication of the AHDB Recommended List. This year sees a new look to the list with a move back to a one-page wheat round up. This is likely to be welcomed by many of us as it's easier to view, especially if this carries through to the printed version. Welcome new varieties Although wheat varieties are down to one page the...