CropCast

In this episode Tiffany Stevenson is joined by Simon Oxley to discuss Arable innovation along with Dr Neil Havis to discuss what growers can expect to see at the upcoming SRUC Crop trial events, which take place on the 23rd & 25th June 2026. With increasing pressure on margins, rising input costs and more challenging growing conditions, arable innovation and making the right variety and crop p...

Welcome to Cropcast Conversations. On today’s episode Mark is joined by Teresa Dougall (Managing Director SQC) & John Hutcheson (Chair, SQC). Scottish Quality Crops is the quality assurance body that sets the standards for food safety and good practice for crops grown in Scotland. This gives confidence to buyers across the world and creates market opportunities for Scotland’s growers. SQC has...

In this episode George Chalmers is joined by SAC Consultants Kerry Leslie & Gavin Prentice, to discuss results from PCN Action Scotland along with the new CREW water scarcity guidance. Welcome to Cropcast, your go to podcast for all the latest information on arable crops. Each month, SAC advisor, George Chalmers will be joined by a range of industry experts, bringing you timely updates to help...

Welcome to CropCast Conversations. On today’s episode Mark is joined by Iain Riddell. Iain was a consultant and project manager with SAC Consulting for 45 years, before becoming self-employed and operating under Graystones Consulting. Iain’s work focuses on agricultural supply chains and his main interest is industrial hemp, which will be the focus of this episode. The global market for hemp is ex...

In this episode George Chalmers is joined by SAC Consultant David Ross, to discuss crop margins from 2025 and predictions for 2026. Welcome to CropCast, your go to podcast for all the latest information on arable crops. Each month, SAC advisor, George Chalmers will be joined by a range of industry experts, bringing you timely updates to help you make decisions in the field. Producer George Gauley,...

In this episode George Chalmers is joined by Professor Fiona Burnett to look back at some of the key developments in agronomy which have taken place over her 33-year career, along with discussion about those which will shape the future.  Welcome to CropCast, your go to podcast for all the latest information on arable crops. Each month, SAC adviser, Geor...

Welcome to Cropcast Conversations hosted by Mark Bowsher-Gibbs. On today’s episode Mark is joined by Andrew Milne and Nick Hobson of United Oilseeds. We hear how the co-operative is structured, review 2025 OSR harvest and look ahead to prospects for 2026. They also discuss physical movements of the crop and market pricing mechanisms,&nbsp...

In this episode George Chalmers is joined by Edward Jones, who is a Sustainable Farming Advisor at Frontier Agriculture to discuss cover crops.   Welcome to CropCast, your go to podcast for all the latest information on arable crops. Each month, SAC advisor, George Chalmers will be joined by a range of industry experts, bringing you timely updates to help you make decisions in the field....

Welcome to Cropcast Conversations hosted by Mark Bowsher-Gibbs. On today’s episode Mark is joined by Julian South, Executive Director of The Maltsters’ Association of Great Britain (MAGB). MAGB are the trade association of the UK malting industry and represent over 98% of UK malt production, buying around 2 million tonnes of UK malting barley, to make about 1.6 million tonnes of malt. Mark and Jul...

In this episode George Chalmers is joined by SAC Senior Consultant and Chartered Accountant Andrew Coalter to discuss Arable Farm Finances, particularly cash flow challenges, investment and capital allowances for arable farms.   Welcome to Cropcast, your go to podcast for all the latest information on arable crops. Each month, SAC advisor, George Chalmers will be joined by a range of ind...

In this episode Tiffany Stephenson is joined by Robert Meadley to discuss some of the considerations which should be made when deciding to replace or invest in a piece of machinery.  Welcome to Cropcast, your go to podcast for all the latest information on arable crops. Each month, SAC advisor, Tiffany Stephenson will be joined by a range of industry experts, bringing you timely updates to he...

Welcome to CropCast Conversations hosted by Mark Bowsher-Gibbs. On today’s episode Mark is joined by two guests. Grant James (Business Development Manager at Sea2Soil) discusses an organic soil improver product from Sea2Soil. Grant provides an explanation of the biological mechanisms at play in the product, how it works on-farm and what to expect from applications. Steve Townsend brings a wealth o...

In this episode Tiffany Stephenson is joined by Kristina Grenz, Senior Cereal Product Quality Scientist at AHDB, to discuss ergot, which proved to be a significant problem for many growers during harvest 2024. In this episode we discuss the ergot life cycle, symptoms as well as top management tips.  Welcome to Cropcast, your go to podcast for all the latest information on arable crops. Each m...

In this episode Tiffany Stephenson is joined by Donald Dunbar and Alan Bruce to discuss changes to EFA options under the Scottish Government’s enhanced greening measures for 2026, and how farmers might go about integrating some of these options into their own farming systems.    Welcome to Cropcast, your go to podcast for all the latest information on arable crops. Each month, SAC a...

In this episode Tiffany Stephenson is joined by George Chalmers to discuss grain storage and the importance of making sure stores are ready for harvest.   Welcome to Cropcast, your go to podcast for all the latest information on arable crops. Each month, SAC advisor, Tiffany Stephenson will be joined by a range of industry experts, bringing you timely updates to help you make decisions i...

Welcome to Cropcast Conversations hosted by Principal Consultant Mark Bowsher-Gibbs. On today’s episode Mark is joined by James Bolesworth (CRM AgriCommodities) to discuss how grain markets are looking for 2025 and in part 2 Mark is joined by George Chalmers (SAC Consulting) and Neil Havis (SRUC Professor, Crop Pathology) to update us on how crops are looking in Scotland.   Episode Times...

In this episode, Tiffany Stephenson is joined by Dr Kerry Leslie to talk about the Potato viruses, which can cause devastating compulsory burn down orders, and why these viruses remain a major concern for the industry going forward. Welcome to Cropcast, your go-to podcast for all the latest information on arable crops. Each month, SAC advisor Tiffany Stephenson will be joined by a range of industr...

Welcome to the first episode of Cropcast Conversations hosted by Principal Consultant Mark Bowsher-Gibbs.  On today’s episode Mark is joined by Iain Riddel (Principal Consultant, SAC Consulting). They discuss growing sugar beet in Scotland and cover sugar beet trial work, sites, varieties, farmer group feedback and conclusions from trial work.   Episode Timestamps   00.32 Intro...

In this episode Tiffany Stephenson is joined by Edward Scaman and Chris McClymont to talk about herbicides. How is the current season progressing and what is the best practice advice when it comes to applying products.   Welcome to Cropcast, your go to podcast for all the latest information on arable crops. Each month, SAC advisor, Tiffany Stephenson will be joined by a range of industry...

In this episode Tiffany Stephenson is joined by Tom Scrope to talk about his 2025 Nuffield Scholarship, in which he is exploring new ways of farmer knowledge exchange to secure stronger soils. Tom is also the Co-founder of soil benchmark, an online platform which can be used to create bespoke soil management plans.   Welcome to Cropcast, your go to podcast for all the latest information on ar...

In this episode Tiffany Stephenson is joined by Balbirnie Farms manager David Aglen along with Professor Fiona Burnett, an applied plant pathologist at SRUC to discuss the results from crop trials, which have been taking place at Balbirnie Home Farms as part of the AHDB strategic cereal farm Scotland project.  Welcome to Cropcast, your go to podcast for all the latest information on arable cr...

In this episode Tiffany Stephenson is joined by Borders Farmer Neil Ramsay along with Prof Roger Sylvester-Bradley, Principal Research Scientist and Head of Crop Performance at ADAS; to discuss grain analysis and the benefits it can have when tailoring nutrition.  Welcome to Cropcast, your go to podcast for all the latest information on arable crops. Each month, SAC advisor, Tiffany Stephenso...

In this episode Tiffany Stephenson is joined by Angus Farmer & Managing Director of Soil Essentials, Jim Wilson to discuss soil health and the types of tests arable farmers should be considering.   Welcome to CropCast, your go to podcast for all the latest information on arable crops. Each month, SAC advisor, Tiffany Stephenson will be joined by a range of industry experts, bringing...

In this episode Tiffany Stephenson is joined by Dr Ruth Wade and Professor Pippa Chapman from the University of Leeds, along with Dr Joseph Martlew from NIAB, to discuss Regenerative Agriculture and the trials which have been taking place in Yorkshire.  Welcome to CropCast, your go to podcast for all the latest information on arable crops. Each month, SAC advisor, Tiffany Stephenson will be j...

In this episode Tiffany Stephenson is joined by Dr Steve Hoad, team leader in agronomy, physiology & genetics at SRUC, to provide an update on how Spring cereal varieties have been performing during the 2024 variety trials, along with his top variety picks. Welcome to Cropcast, your go to podcast for all the latest information on arable crops. Each month, SAC advisor, Tiffany Stephenson will b...