Sunshine sees crowds flock to Arable Event

Glorious sunshine welcomed the crowds along to one of the Midlands’ largest annual agricultural events.

The ninth annual Arable Event was held at Weston-Under-Lizard on 7 June on the Shropshire-Staffordshire border. It was a day packed full of expert demonstrations, specialist talks and technical seminars.

The one-day event was jointly organised by Wynnstay and GrainLink at the Bradford Estates’ Woodlands Farm, and included a free moisture clinic, trial crop tours and a guest speaker tent.

Event organiser Kelly Dolphin said: “It was fantastic to see so many people enjoying the fabulous weather. The Arable Event is a great way for people in the farming industry to meet, try out the latest machinery and learn about new trends and innovations.

“We ran several specialist tours of our trial plots throughout the day which were well received, and early feedback has been really positive.”

The event included talks from Mark Tripney of LKAB Calicifert on soil health, Ryan Wooley from Morris Lubricants and Charlie Ireland from Ceres Rural, who has become a well-known face following his involvement in the hit TV series Clarkson’s Farm.

Constantly evolving

Mr Ireland said: “It’s been brilliant coming out to meet local farmers. Events like this are really important because arable farming is constantly evolving and changing.

“It’s essential to meet up, share experiences and keep up with the latest innovations. It’s been fantastic to see such a great turnout.”

The day also included guided specialist tours of trial plots planted by Syngenta and Wynnstay. These included a full range of winter and spring wheat, barley and oats in both fungicide treated and untreated scenarios.

Woodlands Farm is part of Bradford Estates and is operated by Bradford Farming, which is establishing the largest regenerative farm in the West Midlands and a centre of farming excellence.