Crop Resilience Starts Before Planting: Reflections from Arable Insights Live
On 17 September, Emerald Research joined potato growers, agronomists and industry specialists at Farmers Weekly’s Arable Insights Live: Potatoes, held at the Dyson Research Centre in Lincolnshire.
The event brought discussion of current industry pressures together with independent field-scale research and practical approaches that growers can apply on farm.
During our session, “Resilience by Design: From Rooting to Harvest with OptiYield®,” Simon Fox examined how soil information, root development and carefully planned crop nutrition can help potatoes cope with increasingly difficult growing conditions.
Resilience starts below the surface
Recent seasons have demonstrated how quickly heat and limited soil moisture can restrict crop development. By the time visible stress appears in the canopy, part of the crop’s yield potential may already have been lost.
For potatoes, this is particularly important. The crop has a relatively shallow root system and a limited period in which to initiate and bulk tubers. Poor establishment or restricted early rooting can leave it less able to access water and nutrients later in the season.
Building resilience therefore starts well before the first spell of hot or dry weather. It begins with understanding the soil, encouraging effective root development and planning nutrition around the crop’s changing requirements.
Why a standard soil test may not tell the full story
Standard soil analysis provides a useful starting point, but nutrient indices alone do not always explain what the crop will be able to access.
Phosphate availability, for example, depends on more than the amount measured in the standard laboratory soil extract tests currently. Soil chemistry and physics can affect how strongly phosphate is held and how readily roots can obtain it. Nutrient balance also matters. High potassium levels can restrict magnesium uptake, while the rate at which a soil can release a nutrient may not match crop demand during periods of rapid growth.
This means a field can appear adequately supplied on paper while still presenting restrictions to crop uptake in reality.
During the presentation, we explained how OptiYield soil analysis looks beyond the headline nutrient indices. The analysis helps identify nutrient availability, soil balance and potential interactions that could affect rooting, crop establishment and subsequent growth.
The purpose is not simply to produce a longer soil report. It is to turn the results into useful decisions about base fertiliser, starter nutrition, foliar applications and in-season monitoring.
From soil results to a crop programme
Soil results become more valuable when they are considered alongside the crop being grown.
Crop type, variety, intended market, yield objective and field history all influence nutritional requirements. A recommendation based only on a general soil index may miss these important differences.
The OptiYield approach uses detailed soil information with crop-specific agronomy to develop recommendations for the full growing season. The programme considers nutrition at planting, support for establishment and rooting, and the crop’s requirements as it moves through tuber initiation and bulking.
Our Arable Insights Live presentation also drew on field-scale potato trials, including work carried out at Dyson Research. These trials demonstrate why nutrient decisions should reflect actual soil conditions and crop demand rather than relying on a standard programme across every field.
The practical action to take this autumn
For growers planning potatoes or other spring-planted crops in 2027, autumn provides an opportunity to establish what is happening in the soil before fertiliser plans and product decisions are finalised.
Sampling early allows time for the results to be analysed and interpreted properly. It can identify possible limitations before they begin to affect establishment, rooting or nutrient uptake.
Growers should avoid sampling immediately after fertiliser, lime, manure or slurry applications, as these can distort the results. Each sample should also represent the field accurately, using soil collected from several points while avoiding gateways, headlands and other unrepresentative areas.
Emerald Research soil sampling kits contain four sample bags, allowing four fields or management blocks to be tested, together with the sampling form, instructions and a freepost return bag.
Soil sample analysis is complimentary when growers proceed with the full crop recommendations. Where the recommendations are not implemented, analysis costs £100 per sample.
The main message from Arable Insights Live was straightforward: the foundations of next season’s crop are laid before planting. Better soil information gives growers and agronomists a stronger basis for making those early decisions.
Related Reading:
Using Soil Analysis to Build a Potato Nutrition Plan
Why Standard Soil Tests Don’t Tell the Full Story for Crop Nutrition
How Soil Tests Become a Crop Nutrition Plan with OptiYield
Strong Potato Roots: What Early Symposium-Treated Crops Are Showing
From Potatoes to Carrots: Root Crop Agronomy, Soil Biology and Marketable Yield
Microbes for Potato Crops: Stronger Roots and Drought Resilience