Cereals

Heineken puts money on the table to drive regenerative barley adoption

11/08/2026 - Heineken UK is offering financial incentives for regenerative barley production as it seeks to futureproof its supply chain, strengthen environmental credentials and test whether regenerative...

Rethinking the earliest stages of cereal domestication

- ...

Butlletins d’informació fitosanitària per al mes d’agost de 2026

- Consulta els butlletins d’avisos fitosanitaris que mensualment elabora el Servei de Sanitat Vegetal del Departament d’Agricultura, Ramaderia, Pesca i Alimentació ...

El cereal mantiene rendimientos próximos a la media del último lustro

- El Consejo Sectorial de Cereales de Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de España ha realizado su segunda estimación de la cosecha de...

Ucrania mantiene su cosecha de cereal entre drones rusos e incendios

- Ningún vehículo, salvo la maquinaria agrícola, puede acceder a los campos situados a tan solo cinco kilómetros del río Dniéper, que separa a los ejércitos ucraniano y ruso en la región de...

JRC MARS Bulletin : global outlook crop monitoring in Ukraine. June 2026

14/06/2026 - Persistent dry weather since February has negatively affected winter crops in western Ukraine, while repeated cold spells in February and April reduced rapeseed yield potential in several central...

Favourable conditions for winter crops

- Cereals around flowering, by José Luque ReyesThe start of the 2025-2026 season generally provided favourable conditions for winter crops establishment and overwintering across Ukraine. However,...

Argentina reduce los derechos de exportación de cereales y oleaginosas

04/06/2026 - El Gobierno de Argentina ha oficializado una nueva reducción de los derechos de exportación aplicables a granos y subproductos mediante el Decreto N.º 423/2026. La medida forma...

UPA alerta de una caída del 40 % en la cosecha de cereal en Castilla y León por el calor

02/06/2026 - La ola de calor de las últimas semanas ha impactado de lleno en el desarrollo del grano en Castilla y León. La organización agraria UPA estima una reducción del 40 % en la cosecha de cereales...

Plants predictably select growth boosting microbes regardless of soil type

- Plants predictably select growth boosting microbes regardless of soil typeNew study shows crop species, and not soil type, primarily determines the beneficial functions...

Fine mapping of male sterility gene reveals defective pollen starch accumulation in barley

- ...

Niab to showcase cutting edge plant science and sustainable farming innovation at the 2026 Cereals Event

- Niab will once again take a leading role at the Cereals Event, on 10th and 11th June 2026, with one of the show’s most comprehensive demonstrations of applied crop research, agronomy and future...

Connecting research and innovation with farmers and industry

- Every summer, Niab’s open days and attendance at trade events, including the Cereals Event, Groundswell and Fruit Focus, offer a unique opportunity for growers, agronomists, researchers and...

El calor extremo amenaza la cebada cervecera: ResOrMa identifica claves para hacerla más resiliente

- El proyecto de Agrotecnio, la maltería La Moravia de Damm, Semillas Batlle y Cupasa ha analizado el impacto de los golpes de calor y del nitrógeno en el rendimiento y la calidad de la...

Mosa Meat and Vow supplier bets on barley to cut cultivated meat costs

01/05/2026 - Cultivated meat growth factors cost reduction summaryGrowth factors dominate cultivated meat costs but are essentialOrf Genetics supplies cheaper growth factors to about 150...

Agri‑tech businesses today face a defining moment: the sector is ready for AI‑powered tools, but only the solutions backed by robust field data, end-user trust and commercial proof will break through. Messium’s story shows how that breakthrough happens. As we mark UK Tech Week 2026, much of the national discussion focuses on how artificial intelligence can accelerate innovation and productivity. For farmers, this means looking for practical, trusted tools that help them make good decisions under pressure.The UK Agri‑Tech Centre provides support to agri-tech businesses who want to develop just those kinds of innovations, helping these businesses to commercialise their tested solutions. The journey of Messium, a company using hyperspectral satellite imagery and AI to guide nitrogen management, shows how this support translates into real‑world impact. It’s also a familiar challenge for many agri-tech businesses: strong science and a great concept, but the need to validate the effectiveness of their solution and to scale quickly, reliably and with the end-user at the core.When Messium joined the UK Agri‑Tech Centre Community, their technology already worked well in early trials, but it still needed to scale for use across real farms. Their sampling‑based nitrogen recommendations worked well, but they needed to shift to a satellite‑driven model suitable for commercial deployment. This is where agri-tech businesses often get stuck, not because the tech fails, but because it needs real farm data to mature. Unlocking Messium’s next phase of growthTo help accelerate Messium’s transition, the UK Agri‑Tech Centre provided multi‑site trials, expert data collection and direct farmer feedback. These activities allowed Messium to validate their AI models at pace while refining a farmer‑friendly interface. In practice, this meant faster testing with lower risk involving farmers at every stage. It also opened doors to key partners, including Frontier and the Centre’s robotics and AI specialists, helping position the technology for wider adoption. Trials, data and measurable progressThe first season of trials ran in 2025, an extremely dry year that constrained nitrogen application windows and limited the range of recommendations that could be validated. But despite the challenging conditions, the trials delivered the ground‑truth data Messium needed.Their technology progressed quickly:Nitrogen recommendations moved from early testing to use on working farmsSatellite models reached >85% accuracy compared to lab samplesAn interface farmers could easily use was co-developed with the UK Agri‑Tech Centre networkThese are the signals investors and partners look for: performance in the field, not just in a lab, and a product farmers can actually use.For farmers involved in the trials, the technology offered something increasingly valuable: timely, evidence‑based nitrogen decisions without relying on labour‑intensive sampling. Even in a constrained season, it provided clarity at moments when application windows were exceptionally tight. Driving commercial readiness and expansionThis technical progress helped Messium secure a £3.3 million investment round, expand their engineering and operations teams and build the commercial partnerships they needed to scale. Strong field data and farmer feedback don’t just improve the product, they unlock investment.Messium are now working with Frontier to onboard 30–60 more UK farmers, and Hutchinson’s agronomists have committed to bringing 100 farmers into the programme. That means more fields, more seasons and faster learning, the foundation for reliable scale‑up.Additional collaborations are emerging with organisations such as Hutchinsons, Syngenta, Bayer, Mondelez and Weetabix. Messium have also been recognised by the European Space Agency as the UK/EU champion for agricultural hyperspectral imaging, credibility they say was strengthened through their consortium, including the UK Agri‑Tech Centre. What began as a UK-led development journey is now shaping nitrogen decisions globally.Internationally, Messium now operates across France, Australia, New Zealand and North America, with further trial expansion planned for 2026. What this means for agri-tech businessesMessium’s experience highlights what many AI-focused agri-tech businesses need but often struggle to access:High‑quality, multi‑site field data to train and validate modelsA farmer network to ensure products meet real operational needsTechnical expertise to manage data quality, interoperability and trial designCredibility and visibility when seeking investment or building partnershipsThe UK Agri-Tech Centre supports agri-tech businesses to move further, faster with less risk. By giving agri-tech businesses access to farms, data, expertise and networks, we help turn emerging technologies into market‑ready tools. Making AI an everyday farming toolFor Messium, the next stage is all about scaling responsibly. They are refining their recommendations engine to allow farmers to choose between profit‑optimised and environmentally‑optimised guidance. They are onboarding additional satellite providers for greater resilience. And, through the UK Agri‑Tech Centre, they are beginning to expand into new crops, including barley, with future potential in oilseed rape and maize. More crops mean more value across the rotation.Ultimately their aim is to make AI‑powered nitrogen management a reliable, disruptive and globally scalable solution.This UK Tech Week, Messium’s journey shows how AI in agriculture is no longer experimental. This is one example among many. With the right support, more agri-tech businesses can turn proven ideas into practical tools farmers rely on every day. What could your technology achieve?To get involved with the UK Agri-Tech Centre, get in touch at [email protected].

19/03/2026 -

Peer review of the pesticide risk assessment of the active substance metyltetraprole

16/04/2026 - The conclusions of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) following the peer review of the initial risk assessments carried out by the competent authority of the rapporteur Member State France...

Llamamiento a los agricultores aragoneses para la detección precoz de la langosta

10/04/2026 - La directora general de Calidad y Seguridad Alimentaria del Gobierno de Aragón, Aitziber Lanza, visitó ayer, junto al jefe de servicio de Sanidad y Certificación Vegetal, Jorge Badules, técnicos...

¿Cuándo vender el cereal?

09/04/2026 - Cada vez es más difícil para el agricultor tomar la decisión de cuándo vender el cereal que aún tiene en su nave. La geopolítica está desquiciando los mercados. Con unos precios que no...

Cebada editada con CRISPR recibe la primera autorización para comercialización en UK

09/04/2026 - Una variedad de cebada desarrollada por Rothamsted Research se ha convertido en el primer cultivo en obtener autorización para su comercialización bajo la nueva normativa del Reino Unido...

Unlocking designed roots for future cereal crops

- A plant signalling gene has been identified as a promising target for breeding cereal crops to produce a steeper, narrower root system architecture, but with associated yield...

Visualitzar més novetats