FARMERS have the chance to visit an arable farm at the top of its game.

Richard Hinchcliffe of Dikes March Farm, Rawcliffe Bridge, near Goole, is one of five BASF Real Results demonstration farms taking part in a series of agronomy and variety trials.

Farmers who attend his open day on Tuesday, June 27, will see a wide range of trials, including wheat plots growing 32 different current and candidate varieties, cereal fungicide and PGR trials and oilseed rape plots, including Clearfield.

Steve Dennis, head of agronomy management at BASF, described the host farmers as "exceptional, technical farmers at the top of their game."

Mr Hinchliffe, farms in partnership with his father and uncle. The family has partnered BASF for more than 20 years, running wheat trials and implementing extensive biodiversity work.

Richard carries out all of the farm’s agronomy work and is a current Nuffield Scholar researching herbicide resistance.

Keen to embrace new ideas and technologies, he is clear that any solutions must be proven to work on the family farm.

He is keen to build on the success of the recent switch to a no-till system and believes there is "huge potential" to improve yields on the good quality land they farm.

He said: "Ultimately I would like to narrow the gap between what is currently achieved on-farm and the performance of varieties in Recommended List trials. With a bit of fine tuning and science, I think it’s entirely possible."

The current long-term wheat yield is 10.6-10.7t/ha, but he is aiming for 12t/ha for first wheats and over 10.5t/ha for second wheats. Oilseed rape yields have dropped since the loss of neonicotinoids, averaging 4.2-4.3t/ha instead of the previous 5t/ha.

He likes to keep things relatively simple in terms of crop management strategies, notably fungicides and fertiliser, and firmly believes in a flexible but preventative approach tailored to individual fields, using robust rates and accurate application timings.

This may even mean sub-managing crops within the same field if variations in soil type, weed or disease pressure dictate.

The open day will include guided plot tours from breeders and independent experts.

Registration for the open day is at basfrealresults.co.uk/farms.