Converting grassland to arable farming risks soil health and water quality🚜 Using long-term, field scale data from our Farm Platform in Devon, we found soil organic matter ⬇️45%, soil carbon and nitrogen ⬇️41%, phosphorus ⬇️ 61%👇 www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/convert...

🌾 Arable farmers, we need your voice 📣 Drought and blackgrass are two of the biggest pressures in arable farming right now. We want to know what's actually happening on your farm, and what's working. Anonymous | 15 mins to complete 👇 https://gre.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6YDfIax1GVJ5Kui #wheat

England’s farms have reduced their environmental footprint over past decade, according to new modelling, though reductions vary widely between regions👇 https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/farmings-environmental-footprint-shrinks-progress-uneven-across-england-1

Scientists have uncovered a previously hidden chemical dialogue in the soil that could open new strategies for managing wireworms, a major pest of maize, wheat, and potatoes 👇 https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/secret-life-roots-how-plants-signal-pests-belowground #farming #agriculture #maize

Only 1 week left to apply for two summer studentship opportunities at Rothamsted: -Temperature and flooding stress on crop pathogen survival -Wheat genetics and wireworm infection responses www.rsb.org.uk/plant-health...

A low-cost forensic method developed by Rothamsted to track sediment pollution is being adopted by the Environment Agency, marking a significant step forward in protecting water quality👇 https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/rothamsted-research-forensic-science-adopted-environment-agency

Do you work with crop disease and pathology trials data? Please take 15 minutes to complete the survey below to help shape the future of FAIR data in plant sciences. forms.office.com/pages/respon... #plantpathology #cropdisease #plantscience

Applications for paid summer research projects from the Royal Society of Biology are now open, closing 28th April! Work with leading plant health researchers on 8-10 week placements, including Rothamsted. Apply now: www.rsb.org.uk/plant-health-ug-studentships.html #studentship #internship

📣FARMERS📣 We need your help for 20 minutes, so we can help you for years to come! This survey will help us discover how monitoring beneficial insects in farmland should be carried out 🪲 Please share with your networks👇 app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/ceh-online... #regenag #farming #biodiversity

🍞🎤🍞 Speaker Announcement 🍞🎤🍞 Nigel Halford - Rothamsted Research, UK @rothamsted.bsky.social 🧬 Reducing the acrylamide-forming potential of wheat, from fertilisation rates and disease control to CRISPR #plantscience #foodsafety @ilsieurope.bsky.social @costprogramme.bsky.social

Our next webinar will be all 'aabout' plant genome editing, as part of our new PlantEd series! 📅 Tuesday 21 April 🕚️ 11AM BST | 12PM CET | 7PM KST 🧬 Feat. talks from: Tien Vu Van @tienvu.bsky.social Natasha Brock @rothamsted.bsky.social Register for free 👉️ buff.ly/ASJiGhm #plantscience

Nice to see comments from Helen Metcalfe on glysophate in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/09/campaigners-demand-action-break-uk-addiction-to-glyphosate-herbicide

And it's drilled! GE barley seeds with increased lipid content, the first crop to receive a Precision Bred Organism marketing notice, are in the ground. Find out more👇 https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/rothamsted-gene-edited-barley-crop-becomes-first-receive-uk-precision-bred-organism-marketing

From willow & miscanthus agronomy, to harvest demos, come along to the next Biomass Open Day in Tadcaster 🕤14th April, 9:30–13:30 📚 BASIS points applied 🔗 https://www.carboncapturecropping.com/news-and-events-1/biomass-open-day #biomass #BASIS

Scientists have successfully developed wheat with dramatically reduced levels of asparagine using gene editing, offering a promising route to safer food production and improved regulatory compliance👇 https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/ultra-low-asparagine-wheat-developed-using-precision-gene-editing

We are pleased to announce that Professor Martin Broadley has been appointed as interim CEO at Rothamsted Research. Full story 👇 https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/professor-martin-broadley-becomes-interim-ceo-rothamsted-research

We have a new webpage on the #LongTermExperiment #LTE Broadbalk which is being led by Andy Gregory at @rothamsted.bsky.social‬. Learn about this experiment as well as its scientific impacts, & its historic background: bit.ly/Broadbalk @rothamsted-lte.bsky.social 🌏

Rothamsted gene-edited barley crop becomes first to receive a UK Precision Bred Organism marketing notice 🎉 By increasing lipid content in plant tissues, the barley provides a high-energy forage crop for ruminant livestock, improving feed efficiency👇 www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/rothams...

UKCEH and @rothamsted.bsky.social modelling shows how climate change could reshape GB’s rivers/farms by 2050. Findings: river nutrients ↑20–30%, ↑ west coast fluxes (3–10%), ↓ east (3–13%), 5-20% drop in most arable yields, 20% boost in maize yields Read more: agzeroplus.org.uk/news-and-med... 🧪

A pleasure to host the Agri Food Charities Partnership today - a network of organisations helping to train the next generation of agri scientists. Thank you to all the speakers!

Scientists have discovered that chemicals produced by beetle larvae can directly stimulate harmful bacteria that damage oak trees, revealing a previously unknown mechanism driving tree disease. Full story 👇 https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/beetle-larvae-turn-tree-bacteria-oak-killing-pathogens

Delighted to announce 5 fully funded #EngineeringBiology #PhD studentship opportunities "Training the next generation of Engineering Biologists for the delivery of green bio-based production (EngBio4GBP)" with Royal Holloway, Reading and @rothamsted.bsky.social To apply, visit: bit.ly/4lrSxrH

It was a huge pleasure to attend the UK-ASEAN Symposium on #PrecisionBreeding in Hanoi this week, to represent @rothamsted.bsky.social latest work on gene edited crops. Great to meet lots of new people and hear about their research- looking forward to some fruitful new interactions.

It was a pleasure to attend #BritishScienceWeek in Parliament where Ondrej, Grace, and Apple spoke to MPs about our research tackling hidden hunger and malnutrition - alongside many other British research institutions.

Join us at The Royal Society where we will cover all aspects of meiosis studies over 2 days! Featuring our plenary speaker Dr Valérie Borde, CNRS. Register before 31st March: https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/event/xvi-british-meiosis-meeting #dna #conference #genetics

NEW! 4 years UKRI and Industry funded PhD studentship in @devotolab.bsky.social, @Syngenta, @rothamsted.bsky.social for a UK home student. To apply www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-her... Project info www.findaphd.com/phds/project... Enquiries: [email protected], www.Devotolab.org

A new cycle begins as calves arrive at the North Wyke Farm Platform 🐮Our scientists will be monitoring their impact on soil health, water quality and greenhouse gas emissions, comparing arable cropping to livestock systems. Data available at: https://nw-farmplatform.rothamsted.ac.uk/

In case you missed it - Rothamsted's Steve McGrath on #BBCCountryfile last night showing off our historic sludge samples to Tom Heap Starts 27:41 👀👇 https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002shxq/countryfile-sugar-beet-harvest

Don't miss Rothamsted on BBC Countryfile tonight at 6pm! https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b006t0bv/countryfile #BBCCountryfile

Happy International Women's Day! Today we celebrate all the women at Rothamsted who drive innovation and sustainability in agriculture. Their work continues to inspire and shape the future #IWD2026 #WomenInSTEM

Not long now until the next WGIN meeting! Good news - there are 4 CPD #BASIS Points allocated for this meeting. Register now: www.rothamsted.ac.uk/event/23rd-w...

Leaders of UK institutions pioneering research into nutrition urge the Government to sustain investment in their work.   Malnutrition drives instability, migration, & conflict.   Solutions to it deliver benefits here & abroad.   #BritishScienceWeek @theguardian.com  https://bit.ly/4rgLKCO

Congrats to Vasthi who received a Pioneering UK-US Breakthroughs Award👏 New device enables faster, cheaper detection of early-stage crop viral infections in cassava, allowing diseases to be identified and contained before they spread Full story👇 www.ukri.org/news/from-fa...

We are looking forward to participating in #BritishScienceWeek in Parliament next week - a showcase of British science expertise on nutrition and food security. ANH Academy Science-Policy Platform United Against Malnutrition & Hunger John Innes Centre University of Reading University of Exeter

1 week to go until the annual Wheat Genetic Improvement Network (WGIN) meeting on March 11th, open to anyone working with wheat- join us at John Innes Centre or online👇 https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/event/23rd-wheat-genetic-improvement-network-wgin-stakeholders-meeting #wheat #farming #agriculture

New modelling shows land-managers key to slow spread of the emerald ash borer if it reaches Britain https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/new-modelling-shows-land-manager-actions-could-slow-spread-emerald-ash-borer-if-it-reaches Forest Research University of Warwick Stockholm Environment Institute

Farmers and agronomists - discover the power of beetles on your farm with our scientists! On this free one day course (11th March) you'll learn how to monitor and ID carabid beetles, and enjoy tours of our research farm! Register now 👇 https://www.tickettailor.com/events/rothamstedresearch2/2065335

A big thank you to everyone who helped deliver the Rothamsted PhD Student Symposium 2026 this week 🎓 Students showcased their work, ideas, and the research questions they’re tackling across the institute through talks, poster sessions, and panel discussions. See you next year!👋

🌳Hayfever on the way! Great to see comments from Prof. Jon West in the Telegraph about tree pollen levels: uk.news.yahoo.com/hay-fever-hi...

Up next: invited speaker Prof. Johnathan Napier Trials and tribulations - Lessons learnt from running GM field trials at Rothamsted His Camelina Omega-3 Fish Oils project is highlighted as a globally recognised example of what plant biotechnology can achieve!

Up next: Tash Brock — can gene editing help improve the nutritional quality of wheat? 🌾 Using CRISPR/Cas9 to develop high-lysine wheat — with potential benefits for human nutrition and improved animal feed. South West Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership (SWBio DTP) University of Bristol

Up next: Mukilan Suresh bringing “bugs + bytes” together 🧠🪲 Using deep learning and eDNA/metabarcoding to improve insect ID from sticky traps — helping build tools and benchmark datasets for automated biomonitoring and stronger understanding of ecological networks. Newcastle University

While most plant genetics focuses on chromosomal DNA, a new review from Rothamsted and Clemson Uni highlights that eccDNA (small DNA circles that replicate independently in the nucleus) has a previously under‑appreciated layer of genome plasticity. www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/new-rev...

Up next: invited speaker Alex Dye 🎤 In today’s talk, he’ll reflect on his transition from Rothamsted Insect Survey to FarmED - and what it's like to support farming and research through public engagement and knowledge exchange.

Up next: Nathan Roberts 🎓 Can genetics help boost yield by increasing seed size and seed number in Brassicaceae crops? A Genetic Approach to Increasing Seed Size and Seed Number within the Brassicaceae The University of Bath South West Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership (SWBio DTP)

Kicking off day 2 of the PhD Symposium is Rosie Clear-Hill - sharing lessons from PhD fieldwork in Tanzania and what climate change could mean for tree reproduction 🌳 Bangor University University of Nottingham UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH)

Thank you to everyone who attended and participated at day 1 of the PhD Symposium! Roll on day 2…. #phd #agtech #Agriculture #agriscience

Now a “Things I Should Know” panel session organised by Dana Macgregor plantenv.bsky.social - a practical, honest conversation covering topics like imposter syndrome, resilience, communicating science, and skills for research careers in and beyond academia! #phd #researchculture

Up next at the PhD Symposium: Anusha Mohan-Kumar — can we use plant scents to outsmart a hidden pest below ground? 🪱 🎓 Semiochemical-Based Alternative Concepts for the Management of Wireworms University of Bristol UWE Bristol South West Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership (SWBio DTP)

Great talk from Fareed Bhatti at the PhD Symposium: Understanding True Eyespot Disease of Cereals. What can historic cereal archives reveal about eyespot—and emerging fungicide resistance? University of Nottingham