Author: Clemmie Gleeson

Categories
Citizen Scientists

Top tips for Slug Scouts

Here are some essential tips to help you become a master slug collector for the SLIMERS project

Finding Slugs

  • Look in damp, shady areas of your garden or field
  • Check under logs, rocks, or garden debris
  • Search during early morning or evening when slugs are most active
  • Create ‘slug traps’ using overturned flowerpots or boards

Catching techniques

  • Use gloves or tweezers to handle slugs gently
  • Lure slugs with bait such as lettuce leaves, citrus peel or chicken feed
  • Consider using a torch for night-time scouting

Identifying Grey Field slugs

  • The grey field slug is only about 3-5 cm long when extended
  • Check for a light grey to brownish coloration and distinctive darker tentacles
  • And importantly, please avoid slugs that have orange colouring or stripes, or that are more than 5cm long, as these are very likely to be the wrong species for this project

Container tips

  • Use a clean, sturdy plastic container with tight-fitting lids
  • Line the bottom with slightly damp paper towel
  • Include a small piece of vegetable such as lettuce for food

Shipping guidelines

  • Only post on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday to ensure safe arrival before the weekend
  • Avoid shipping during postal strikes or heatwaves
  • Don’t overload your containers – maximum 30 slugs per container please
  • And remember, please exclude other slug species, especially leopard slugs

Your efforts contribute significantly to important research. Thank you and happy slug scouting!

Categories
Citizen Scientists SLIMERS Uncategorized

Slug Scout update

Scientists in the SLIMERS project are gearing up to restart their slug feeding trials after the summer break, which means that we will shortly be sending out more Slug Scout packs to those waiting to get involved.

Any slugs received over the summer have been taken care of in the insectory at John Innes Centre near Norwich, enjoying a diet of Chinese cabbage with small quantities of cat food for protein ahead of the trials.

A BIG thank you

Firstly, we want to thank everyone who has participated so far. Your contributions have been invaluable and helped us make great strides in our research. Grey field slugs are often spotted in gardens but are a major pest for arable farmers causing £43.2m worth of damage to crops every year. By taking part as a Slug Scout, you are contributing to the project which aims to find more sustainable ways to control slugs, including finding ‘slug resistant’ varieties of wheat.

With a huge amount of media coverage in recent months we’ve seen an incredible amount of interest in the project, and we’re so grateful for your interest! We will be sending out another batch of packs soon to as many people on our waiting list as possible. 

What’s new in the Slug Scout packs?

To accommodate our growing community, we’ve updated our participation packs. Here’s what you can expect:

  • Slug Scout pocket guide: Clear guidelines on how to identify grey field slugs
  • Postage guidance: Instructions on how to package up your haul safely
  • Labels: Easy-to-use labels to cover the postage for your slugs 
  • Freebies: A fun Slug Scout badge and some stickers to show our appreciation!

A small request

We do ask that you find your own container for the slugs and that you will send at least 10 (ideally more) grey field slugs. Takeaway tubs work perfectly as long as they have a tight-fitting lid. Additionally, please find a ‘Jiffy’ postage bag to send your slugs in – feel free to recycle one you already have!

Thank you for being a part of the SLIMERS project. 

Visit our Slug Scouts Facebook page

Categories
Citizen Scientists

Slimy invaders

The struggle which unites farmers and gardeners

Many gardeners will be familiar with the feeling of waking up to find your prized vegetable patch has been pilfered, hostas have been hacked or dahlias decimated, overnight. 

Now, picture that devastation on a much bigger scale, and you’ll understand the plight of UK arable farmers battling these menacing molluscs.

Slugs are the bane of UK agriculture, costing the industry a staggering £43.5 million every year. 

These slimy pests don’t discriminate between a home-grown lettuce and a farmer’s wheat crop – they will munch through both with equal enthusiasm. Just as gardeners might find seedlings vanishing overnight, farmers face the heartbreak of seeing entire crops damaged or destroyed. 

While the scale may differ, the challenges faced by farmers and gardeners are similar:

  • Both struggle with unpredictable weather that can lead to slug population explosions
  • Both want to find environmentally friendly ways to protect their plants
  • Both experience the frustration of seeing hard work undone by these persistent pests

The SLIMERS Project: Your chance to get involved

Here’s where it gets exciting – you can join the fight against slugs and contribute to a research project which is working towards sustainable solutions! The SLIMERS (Strategies Leading to Improved Management and Enhanced Resilience Against Slugs) project is calling for ‘citizen scientists’ or Slug Scouts to get involved.

How to become a Slug Scout:

  1. Visit slimers.co.uk and click ‘Become a Slug Scout’
  2. Wait to receive your Slug Scout pack, complete with instructions and ID guide
  3. Set up your very own ‘slimery’ to attract and collect slugs
  4. Post your slimy specimens to the research team

It’s a great opportunity to get hands-on with science and help farmers develop better slug control strategies. Plus, you’ll gain a whole new appreciation for these fascinating (if frustrating) creatures.

Why Your Help Matters

By participating, you’re not just helping farmers – you’re contributing to more sustainable agriculture practices. The research aims to reduce pesticide use while keeping our food supply secure. 

So, the next time you’re cursing the slugs in your garden, remember – you are not alone in this slimy struggle. From the smallest allotment to the largest farm, we’re all in this together!

Categories
BOFIN

Apply now for paid on-farm trial opportunities!

Apply now for paid on-farm trial opportunities!

We have had a fantastic response to our call for more farmers to join our paid on-farm trials. If you’d like to join us, you need to be quick! 

There are only a few spaces left for farmers to join our projects for the 2024/5 season:

Strategies Leading to Improved Management and Enhanced Resilience against Slugs – SLIMERS
Thriving Roots Underpin Total soil Health – TRUTH
Nitrogen efficient plants for Climate Smart arable cropping systems – The NCS Project

As a BOFIN trial farmer you will benefit from:

  • Payment for your involvement (rate varies for each project according to time requirement)
  • Full support and back-up from the BOFIN team and community
  • A warm glow from knowing you are contributing to a project that is making a difference to your farm business and the wider industry!

Register your interest now at bofin.org.uk/getinvolved 

We look forward to hearing from you,

The BOFIN team

Categories
NCS

Learn more about carbon footprinting

Learn more about carbon footprinting

Farmers are invited to find out more about the Farm Carbon Toolkit calculator via online drop-ins or at a field day.

These will particularly be of interest to Pulse Pioneers whose involvement in the NCS Project includes completing a carbon footprint of their farms, but are open to all farmers who are keen to learn more.

Those attending the FCT field day in Herefordshire on Thursday September 26 will hear from farmers and the FCT team about how farmers are reducing greenhouse gas emissions while building soil health and business resilience. 

Amongst the farmer speakers is host Billy Lewis, Ed Horton, Angus Gowthorpe, Thomas Gent and Tom Burge.

For more information or to book a ticket click here

The online drop-in sessions provide an opportunity to find out how to use the calculator, how to fill in a report and how to get the most from it. 

To attend the online drop-ins simply click the links below at the appropriate time:

Monday 21 Oct 2024 ⋅ 4pm – 5pm
Thursday 21 Nov 2024 ⋅ 1pm – 2pm 

The Farm Carbon Toolkit is a partner within the NCS project

Categories
BOFIN

One year of the BOFIN Buzz!

One year of the BOFIN Buzz!

The BOFIN team celebrates the one-year anniversary of the BOFIN Buzz podcast this month, along with the introduction of BASIS points for listeners. 

Since the podcast launched in August 2023, 24 episodes have been published, including interviews with farmers, scientists and supply chain experts, and covering topics from slugs and soils to pulses and weeds.

Hosted by BOFIN founder Tom Allen-Stevens the podcast has been well received by farmers and others in the industry who enjoy its conversational style. 

“We find the podcast a really useful way to learn from the expertise of the many farmers and partners we work with through BOFIN, and I’ve found the conversations we’ve had so far absolutely fascinating,” says Tom “It’s very rewarding that listeners find the topics interesting and inspiring too. 

“The BOFIN team has plenty of ideas on how to develop the podcast further so watch this space!”

BASIS points

One recent advance is that from September BASIS members can claim CPD points for tuning in. 

“We’re delighted that the educational value of the podcasts has been recognised by BASIS and hope that this will encourage even more people to listen,” added Tom.

The BOFIN Buzz can be accessed via your chosen podcast provider for example Apple podcasts or Spotify, or via the BOFIN website. BASIS members can claim one point per one hour of podcast content – follow the instructions given in the episode on how to claim.

Categories
BOFIN

‘Farmers need to lead the fourth agricultural revolution’

‘Buckle up for an exhilarating ride as farmers lead the fourth agricultural revolution’ 

By Tom Allen-Stevens

This piece was published in Farmers Guardian on August 9th

Wouldn’t it be brilliant if someone produced a wheat that could moderate available nitrogen to increase N-use efficiency? 

Maybe someone will find a way to predict where slugs will appear, so you can minimise pellet use, or use robots to control them without pellets.  

Imagine if someone cracked the secret to consistently better returns from pulse crops, or proved the value of a gene-edited wheat with health benefits. 

What if that someone was you? 

As farmers we tend to wait for agricultural innovations to be presented to us. We follow advice given to raise productivity, and buy inputs priced to bring greater returns to the manufacturer than to the farmer who uses them.

But it’s our knowledge that turns innovations into agricultural progress and that has value. It’s time our role was given full credit. 

You don’t have to look far beyond the farm for tomorrow’s innovations. The UK has world-leading scientists in its research institutes with creations that will make you slack-jawed with wonder. These just need a field to spread their roots, push up shoots and share their secrets with farmers with a keen eye for detail. 

The right framework is in place – Defra is midway through the roll-out of its Agricultural Transition Plan. While the ELM scheme grabs the headlines, the £270m allocated to R&D up to 2028/29 could hold more appeal if you’re looking to push productivity rather than put land aside for nature. Defra’s aim with the Farming Innovation Programme, delivered through Innovate UK, is to directly involve and engage farmers in this R&D. 

The acknowledgement that agricultural research must meet farmers’ needs is long overdue. But don’t hold your breath – Defra’s Agri-Tech Strategy hasn’t done much to make a real difference on farm. Much of the focus has been on the four Agri-tech centres, and large collaborative projects. While these have sought to involve farmers, they’ve been delivered with a level of bureaucracy that makes Rural Payments Agency processes look ‘light touch’.

However, some brilliant minds at the heart of Whitehall have recognised the misgivings of the current set-up and Defra is poised to launch ADOPT (Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies). This is the truly farmer-focused element and appears to hold promise for farmers who want to explore innovations with scientific welly behind them. 

While the detail is still coming together, it looks like you’ll be able to bid for funds, either on your own or as a group. You’ll work directly with scientists or tech innovators, putting cutting-edge technology to the test, but you’re in the driving seat. The best part is that you’ll have funds for an experienced project manager so you can focus on the co-creating. 

Sounds too good to be true, and to be fair, ADOPT hasn’t yet been launched – the new Defra ministers could still stuff it up, or delay its roll-out. But if you’re keen to get innovating, you don’t have to wait. The British On-Farm Innovation Network (BOFIN) is one of a number of organisations bringing farmers into exciting projects within the Farming Innovation Programme without the pain of dealing direct with Innovate UK. 

BOFIN leads or partners farmer-led projects that revolve around a ‘knowledge cluster’ – a collaborative community of farmers, scientists and tech innovators with a specific sphere of interest. At the heart of the cluster lies the on-farm trials platform, where farmers are paid to monitor and develop tech, shaping the trials and sharing results. 

So we already have those wheats that moderate available N; BOFIN farmers are developing patch-prediction and autonomous control of slugs; we’re honing best practice in pulses, and bringing the first gene-edited cereals onto commercial farms in Europe. It’s free to join BOFIN and our knowledge clusters, and we’re currently recruiting more on-farm triallists.

The fourth agricultural revolution is here, and it’s led by farmers. If you no longer want to languish in the backseat, then join us at the front, and buckle up for an exciting ride. bofin.org.uk  

Categories
PROBITY

Gene-edited cereals a step closer for English farms

Gene-edited cereals a step closer for English farms

Monday 19th August 2024

A project bringing trials of precision-bred cereal crops onto commercial farms for the first time in Europe is now underway.

 Trial plots of a precision-bred wheat variety, which could lead to a ‘greener’ farming system have now been harvested, marking the start of a groundbreaking new project. 

PROBITY – A Platform to Rate Organisms Bred for Improved Traits and Yield – brings farmers, scientists and food manufacturers together to trial the production and processing of precision-bred crops to accelerate understanding of their value to sustainable food and farming. Led by the British On-Farm Innovation Network (BOFIN), it is a three-year £2.2m multi-partner project, funded by Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme, which is delivered by Innovate UK. 

Farmers are encouraged to get involved with the project by joining the Sequence Circle at probityproject.co.uk a new community set up to lead discussion on precision-bred crops and help steer the project.  

Precision-bred crops can be created through gene editing, a widely used technology that enables scientists to make changes to plant DNA, like those that occur naturally, but introduced in a precise, targeted manner. Gene editing speeds up the process of breeding more productive, nutritional and sustainable crop varieties. 

The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 allowed for the release and marketing of certain gene-edited plants. This currently makes England the only country in Europe where this novel material can be grown in farmers’ fields.

The seed harvested from plots at the John Innes Centre near Norwich will be multiplied up during 2025, to enable farmers in England to grow trials of the crop the following year. 

Two further cereal varieties are being grown in glasshouses at Rothamsted Research, and once harvested this autumn, will also be multiplied up to be trialled on farms.

The three varieties will be grown on commercial farms and subjected to testing and scrutiny by farmers, scientists and food manufacturers to establish their potential.

The three cereal varieties in the project are: 
  • A wheat with superior baking, toasting and processing properties
  • A barley making high lipid, high energy forage aimed at lowering livestock methane emissions
  • A wheat with a bigger bolder grain size promising a step change in productivity

Tom Allen-Stevens, Oxfordshire farmer and founder of BOFIN said: “This is an incredibly important project for farming and food production in this country. 

“We need to produce more, nutritious food with fewer resources and with less impact on the environment. Scientists have been developing new crop varieties that could help us rise to that challenge. This project will bring those varieties from the laboratory to farmers’ fields where we can fully assess their potential, explore barriers to their adoption and pave the way for future innovation.”

Professor Nigel Halford, technical lead of PROBITY and scientist at Rothamsted Research who developed the healthier wheat line said: “It’s tremendously important that we grow these varieties on farms so that farmers and food manufacturers can see the benefits and want to use them, and that consumers can be reassured that they’re no different in practical terms from other varieties of wheat.”

The high lipid barley variety was developed by Professor Peter Eastmond at Rothamsted Research. He said: “This project is hugely significant as it’s the first time in my career that it’s been possible to grow these varieties on real farms. The work leading to this point has all been funded by the taxpayer so it is extremely important to take it to the next stage and see if this trait could stand up from a commercial point of view.”

Professor Cristobal Uauy, scientist at John Innes Centre who developed the bigger bolder wheat variety said: “This project provides a unique opportunity to work with farmers and test precision-bred crops directly in their fields. We are extremely excited as this brings us one step closer to delivering wheat varieties with traits which will help us towards regenerative agriculture, a greener farming system and enhanced nutrition and quality.” 

For more information on the project visit probityproject.co.uk