Generally across the AFBI site things have been looking healthy whilst dormant over the winter. Some things are showing really good growth and now that Spring is approaching there are signs of life everywhere. The site is still very wet, and the land cannot be accessed by machinery until a significant drying period.

Generally across the IBERS site things have been looking healthy whilst dormant over the winter. Conditions have been very wet except during cold snaps when it has been below freezing. There has been some rabbit damage to certain crops and wind damage to others.

Scotland experienced some well-documented extreme weather at the beginning of the year with both of our SRUC demonstrator hubs suffering from Storm Henk and Isha. Despite the damage there are now signs of hope in most plots and work has commenced with spraying and planning for 2024.

Scotland experienced some well-documented extreme weather at the beginning of the year with both of our SRUC demonstrator hubs suffering from Storm Henk and Isha. Despite the damage there are now signs of hope in most plots and work has commenced with spraying and planning for 2024.

As with many of the other demonstrator hubs, the BGI site in Chesham has experienced some heavy frosts with temperatures dropping to -6ºC some nights. It has also seen several named storms over the winter which damaged some of the crops. The early part of 2024 was then very wet which has limited the amount of work that could be carried out at the site as access to the plots was limited due to the ground conditions.

The Headley Hall site has experienced some high winds over the winter, along with very wet conditions similar to those experienced at other demonstrator hubs. Generally things have been looking good during these dormant months and signs of Spring are now starting to become evident within some of the crops.

The winter at Cockle Park Farm has been a very wet one with the occasional cold snap and frosts. Most things seem to be coping well with these frosts. General maintenance has been the order of the day during the dormant period with regular checks of the fencing and updates to the electric fence batteries. No spraying has been carried out and the ground has been too wet throughout for any machinery. The headlands have been sown with a grass/clover mix.

Generally across the North Wyke site things have been looking healthy whilst dormant over the winter. Conditions have been very wet except during cold snaps when it has been below freezing. Given the cold conditions, it could be likely that some of the less hardy varieties may not have survived.

With Winter on its way, growth has all but stopped at the hub sites. So, rather than have an individual update for each Hub Site we have a quick round-up below along with some photos. Starting in the North and working our way south.