Orion Farming Monthly Newsletter June 2025
- Orion Farming Group
- 6 days ago
- 13 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
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Orion June Update
The dry weather has continued, but rain is forecast over the coming days, which could help. Many reports indicate weather-affected crops, but the main point is that winter cereals are now 10-14 days ahead of schedule. It has been challenging to keep up with spray applications, as growth stages have quickly accelerated.
Crop Chemicals
Fungicide demand has been very high. We’ve experienced shortages of Azoxystrobin but have managed by sourcing from all the different suppliers and brands. There may be pressure on Comet soon.
Seed
Limited reopening of the SFI scheme has led to discussions about seed mixes and availability. I met with United Oilseeds recently to explore new varieties and buy-back contracts.
Fertiliser
New Season prices have not yet been decided yet. I will update interested members as soon as they are released. Current market trends suggest that 34.5% N fertiliser will cost about £15-£20 more than last new season prices, but the market remains very difficult to predict. Energy prices in Egypt have recently increased, raising urea costs across the board.
Renewable Energy
Building on the theme of maximising on-farm resources, I wanted to cover renewables this month.
UK agriculture is at an interesting point. There are the challenges of farming meeting Net Zero targets coupled with the opportunities in renewable energy. Our sector is driven by rising energy costs, the need for business resilience, national climate goals, and the NFU’s 2040 Net Zero ambition. As a result, farm investment in renewables is expected to grow significantly. Technologies like solar PV, anaerobic digestion, and onshore wind are growing. Rooftop solar looks especially promising due to falling costs and supportive policies. Barriers such as grid access delays and planning issues remain, but government incentives, falling costs and technological advances is making investment in renewable much more interesting.
I am pleased to introduce three new suppliers I’ve worked with that can help deliver sound information, support and cost savings, I have researched these businesses, and I am confident in their ability to work with us as partners:
Raw Energy, Orion’s key partner in all things renewable. They have, extensive local experience and have worked successfully with many farmers in our area.
Solar UK, based in Sussex, specializes in solar thermal systems for hot water.
Solar Technology, based in Tewksbury, have been delivering solar solutions for lighting, especially in cattle sheds and poultry houses, for over 25 years.
You can find out more details in the articles below from Raw Energy and Solar UK, with Solar Technology contributing in the July newsletter.
Travis Perkins
I wanted to remind you of our great deal with Travis Perkins. They do far more than you think – they even do solar and renewable hardware! I asked them to create an advert that summarises all the areas they cover in our agriculture sector – it is very comprehensive. I didn’t know that they do tool hire, bulk aggregates and skips as well as everything else!
AGM
The AGM was help on May 15th. Thanks to those of you who came and supported. After the AGM closed, the Member of Parliament for Witney, Charlie Maynard spent over an hour talking through and answering questions on a range of topics that affected our farming members. This included views on the impact on policy influencing when a government has a large majority, IHT and his thoughts on how a clawback deal could be a good compromise agreement, SFI and the negative impact of policy uncertainty in agriculture, the recent trade deals, as well as a discussion around the proposed Steventon Reservoir. Charlie was well received by the members who challenged him with many questions! Charlie offered to put forward questions from any of his farmer constituents to Government Ministers.
For any information on any of the above, please get in touch with me.
Stuart Goodinson, Orion General Manager
Foliar Nitrogen
Incorporating foliar nitrogen intro regenerative farming aligns with its goals including bettering soil health and reducing inputs. Frequent heavy applications of soil applied nitrogen, granular or liquid, can disrupt soil microbiology, inhibit mycorrhizal relationships, and contribute to soil acidification. Foliar feeding allows nitrogen to be delivered directly to the plant through the leaf tissue, which bypasses the inefficiencies of soil application where leaching, volatilisation, and denitrification occur often resulting in considerable losses.
Ultimately, foliar applications can also promote a better overall nutritional balance. Nitrogen doesn’t work in isolation, its uptake and effectiveness are influenced by the availability of other nutrients like sulphur, magnesium, and micronutrients manganese and zinc. These deficiencies can limit crop performance even when nitrogen is available. Foliar feeding offers the opportunity to combine nitrogen with these synergistic nutrients, correcting deficiencies and promoting healthier, more resilient plants to utilise available nitrogen simultaneously when most needed.
Including amino acids into foliar nutrition has been the next step. The organic compounds that plants use as building blocks for proteins and to aid in plant recovery. Field work suggests that combining foliar urea with amino acids can improve leaf uptake, further reduce the risk of scorch, and enhance the plant’s metabolic efficiency in utilising nitrogen. This is particularly valuable in stressed conditions, as we’re currently experiencing, where nitrogen metabolism can slow down.
A previous AHDB review, focusing on foliar-applied nitrogen for grain protein and canopy management in wheat, found that late-season foliar N applications, particularly between anthesis and grain milk development stages, can effectively boost grain protein content.
As with everything, there is no silver bullet, but committing even a small amount of your later nitrogen applications to foliar is an important step into a more systems thinking approach on farm, while better supporting both the plant and the ecosystems we rely on to ensure sustainability for years to come.
Raw Energy Limited
For over a decade, Raw Energy Limited has been working alongside British farmers, powering agriculture the renewable way – reducing energy costs, creating new revenue streams, and helping to build more resilient rural businesses. The team works across several renewable technologies, from solar and battery systems, Large scale-AD through to wind and hydro.
Since 2012, our team of experts has delivered practical, scalable renewable energy systems for farms of all sizes.
We have proudly partnered with Orion Farming Group to offer all members honest advice and bespoke solution to meet your farm, home and business needs. Our team are always on hand to answer any queries, from project enquiry to general advice.progress towards a circular economy. As a result, we collaborate with varied industries including water, food and horticulture to look at low-value residues and methods to recirculate and utilise vital nutrients into the fertilisers.
Farm-focused renewable energy
At Raw Energy, we understand the challenges facing modern farming – rising input costs, volatile energy prices, and growing pressure to operate more sustainably.
That’s why we offers tailored energy solutions that help farms become more efficient, independent, and future-ready.
Solar for farms
Raw Energy Limited's agricultural solar systems are designed to work with your land and buildings.
Whether it’s rooftop or ground-mounted, solar is a reliable way to cut electricity bills and reduce grid reliance.
Power your dairy, poultry, grain-drying, or general operations
Offset energy use during peak times
Combine with battery storage to increase self-consumption
Generate income through export tariffs or long-term agreements.
For larger farms and estates, we also design and manage high-output solar systems over 1MW – ideal for generating revenue from underused land.
Why Raw Energy Limited?
Farmers need reliable partners who understand the land and the practical demands of running a business.
Raw Energy Limited brings over a decade of experience in agricultural energy projects, delivering full-service support from concept to installation and beyond.
✔ Over 10 years’ experience in on-farm renewables
✔ End-to-end project management
✔ Solutions that fit your land, infrastructure, and goals
✔ Ongoing system monitoring and customer support
✔ Work with farms and agri-businesses across the UK.
Whether you are looking to reduce energy costs, improve waste management, or generate additional income, Raw Energy Limited provides practical renewable solutions to support you to harness the power of renewables.
Talk to the company about what’s possible on your farm:
📞 01285 702703
Solar UK
Solar UK is a family-run business with 25 years of experience, celebrating our 25th anniversary in 2025. We've completed over 5,000 commercial and residential solar installations across the UK. Our goal is to help clients achieve their desired outcomes, whether it's energy savings, supply security, decarbonization, or future-proofing their business.
For Orion Farming Group members, we offer honest, unbiased assessments tailored to your site. We specialize in both solar thermal and solar PV technologies.
Solar Thermal for Hot Water
If your farm requires significant hot water, especially at specific temperatures or times, solar thermal is an ideal renewable, carbon-free solution. It can also pre-heat water in conjunction with other heat sources, extending asset life and further reducing energy bills.
We've successfully designed and installed solar thermal systems for various sectors, including hotels, hospitals, and factories, all aiming to decarbonize hot water supply and cut costs. We anticipate similar energy goals for many farming businesses.
We manufacture our own highly efficient LaZer2 evacuated tube collectors in East Sussex. LaZer2 is listed on the UK Government's Energy Technology List.
Solar PV for Power & Storage
We design solar PV systems based on your energy usage and operations, incorporating battery energy storage and EV charging where necessary. We are approved installation partners for leading brands like Tesla, Growatt, GivEnergy, MyEnergi, Sharp, Enphase, and SolarEdge.
We also hold the UK sales and distribution rights for a leading canopy manufacturer, offering canopies for vehicles and farm machinery. Solar canopies in fields are an emerging area of interest, allowing for PV installation while enabling livestock grazing, crop growth, and easy movement for workers.
Our Expertise & Clients
Solar UK is a CHAS Elite, MCS, Trustmark, and NICEIC-accredited solar supplier and installer. We handle everything in-house: R&D, manufacturing, design, installation, commissioning, service, and technical support.
Our prominent clients include the NHS, The City of London Corporation (The Old Bailey), HCA Healthcare, The National Trust, The Eden Project, London Zoo, The Bodleian Library (Oxford), and WPP Headquarters (London).
Our solar systems, both thermal and PV, can be installed on rooftops, ground-mounted, or on canopies.
Learn More
Visit www.solaruk.com to view recent projects and understand our technology. You can also contact our sales representative, Mike Luxon, directly at ml@solaruk.com or
07565 948 686.
Cefetra Market Summary Late May 2025
I am hopeful that at some point in the future I will be able to sound a little cheerier in these market overviews and inform you that markets are on the up. Unfortunately for now, global supply of wheat and corn, both old crop and new crop, continue to increase on the back of preferable weather in the US and South America. There remains a slight question mark around the Russian crop, it was believed that recent rains had improved conditions over there, but there are some stating that things aren’t looking well at all. Definitely an area to watch.
Based on the above, the sentiment in the marketplace remains bearish for now, even with the drought we are facing at present in Northwest Europe. The recent announcement of the UK and US trade deal is also unlikely to help matters, with UK ethanol producers (who were already struggling) now likely to be competing against US ethanol coming into the country without the current 19% tariff added. This could take a reasonable amount of demand off the UK wheat S+D, unless the government makes a sudden U-turn on their deal.
Winter crops across most of the UK seem to be holding on at time of writing, but if the rain currently forecast towards the end of May doesn’t materialise, we can expect things to start going downhill. Having said that, we are aware some damage has already been done, even if we do get rains towards the end of the month. There are some very forward-looking winter barley and winter wheat crop’s out there on light ground, which does not bode well for yield. Spring crops are struggling, as they don’t have the root structure that the winter crops do and cannot follow the moisture down as well.
The dry spring has resulted in low grass yields, although the quality seems to be good. Unsurprisingly, since first cut, most leys have been slow to get away again due to lack of moisture. On the back of this, we will likely see increased feed demand this winter with considerably less forage on farm. Some mixed farms are looking to whole crop some wheat/barley, with cereal values as low as they are at present. Hopefully an increase in animal feed usage may go some way to offsetting the likely drop in ethanol demand.
With speculative funds holding a record short position in wheat futures markets, there is still potential to see a spike if the narrative changes. However, we would need to see a big weather problem or geopolitical event for that to happen and as they weeks go by that is looking less and less likely… but there is still a chance!
Nov LIFFE futures have bounced off contract lows (at time of writing), following MATIF and CBOT wheat, which have found a bit of support on the back of some crop concerns from Russia and China. It will be interesting to see if this could be a turning point and lead to some fund short covering. Fundamentally though, S+D’s remain heavy.
For more information, contact Josef Grinczer, Senior Farm Grain Buyer & Committed Grains Assistant Manager, Mobile: 07712 325197, Email: grinczer@cefetra.co.uk
Maximise What You’ve Got with Cover Crops.
Set Your Soil Up for 2026
We believe that success next season starts now. In the spirit of making more of what you already have, cover crops are a powerful tool to lock in soil health, improve fertility, and enhance sustainability, all while making your current assets work harder.
Cover crops play a vital role in protecting and revitalising soils during the off-season. Rather than allowing valuable nutrients to leach away or the soil to dry and degrade, introducing a well-matched cover crop mix helps trap nutrients, build organic matter, and prepare the ground for a stronger, more productive start next spring. They’re a smart, long-term investment in your soil’s resilience.
Planning ahead is essential. By ordering now, you ensure your cover crops are in place when it counts, setting the stage for a successful 2026. This forward-thinking approach is especially important in a year when margins are tight and efficiencies matter more than ever.
If you're enrolled in an SFI scheme, even better: our cover crop solutions can directly support actions such as SOH2, SOH3, and SAM2, delivering both agronomic benefits and scheme payments.
And as an Orion member, you gain access to exclusive pricing, plus we guarantee the best value and bespoke blends to suit your exact requirements. Whether you need straights, specific species, or fully bespoke mixes, we’ll deliver quality and savings you can count on.
Get in touch with the team today on 01430 449111 or email us at info@greenlandseeds.co.uk
Quality Seeds. Quality Support. No Doubt.
Alan Randall
It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Alan Randall; He died on 16th May aged 87. Alan served as a respected Director on the Board of Orion Farming Group from 2001 to 2005, during which time he also served as Chairman. Alan leaves behind a legacy of dedication to agriculture and his community.
Beyond his significant contribution to Orion, Alan was a passionate farmer, meticulously running his own farm near Maidenhead. His commitment to the land and his deep understanding of farming practices were evident to all who knew him.
The Orion Board wishes to express its sincere gratitude for Alan's invaluable insights and steadfast contributions during his tenure. His wisdom and guidance played a vital role in shaping the Group's direction.
We extend our heartfelt condolences to all his family.
A service of thanksgiving will be on Wednesday 11th June at 1pm, All Saints’ Church, Bisham, SL7 1RW.
Supplier Promotions during May
Orion Members can use the Orion App to see all the latest Supplier Promotions.
Evoke Supplies in Wallingford, have placed a promotion for Orion Members in the Supplier Catalogue, highlighting their range of over 50,000 products.
Watling JCB Limited, one of the largest sole franchises in the world, has posted a promotion for Orion Members with 15-20% off filters & lubricants.
Solar UK have posted promotions regarding Solar Thermal for Orion Members.
TVE have posted details of their latest promotions on Bobcat Parts.
Game Feed
Just a reminder that this year’s game feed tender has been awarded to ForFarmers. Orders can be placed directly with their customer service department on 0330 6781090 or by email Csd.exeter@forfarmers.eu. Members who have taken game feed in the past should by now have been contacted by a representative of ForFarmers to complete a brief questionnaire to comply with their health and safety policy. If you haven’t been contacted and intend to purchase game feed this season, please contact the office and your contact details will be passed on the relevant person at ForFarmers.
Envirolac
For members who use a palm oil-based calcium soap as part of their ration and are looking for ways to reduce their feed carbon footprint, Envirolac is an option worth considering. Manufactured from locally sourced vegetable oils, together with marine oils, it can reduce the feed carbon footprint by more than 10%, while returning impressive milk yield increases, namely 0.6kg increase in milk yield as well as a lift in butterfat production from 3.85% to 4.01%, following a successful trial undertaken at the University of Nottingham. A detailed report as well as prices are available from the office.
UK Straights Feed Market: Short-Term Outlook & Key Drivers
The UK straights feed market for livestock is currently navigating a period of cautious optimism tempered by ongoing global uncertainties. As of mid-2025, prices for key straights like wheat and barley have seen some easing from previous highs, influenced by global production forecasts and slightly lower, though still historically elevated, input costs. For instance, feed wheat delivered to parts of the UK was reported around £200-£220 per tonne in early 2025, a noticeable decrease from the peaks seen in the preceding years. Similarly, imported soybean meal, a critical protein source, has experienced price volatility linked to South American weather patterns and global demand, hovering in the range of £400-£450 per tonne (CIF).
The short-term outlook (next 3-6 months) suggests a degree of price stability, though with a continued risk of volatility. Key drivers underpinning this outlook include the upcoming Northern Hemisphere harvest outcomes, which will significantly impact global grain availability and pricing. Sterling's exchange rate against the US dollar and Euro will also remain a crucial factor, directly affecting the cost of imported feeds and the competitiveness of UK agricultural products. Domestic weather conditions will influence not only local crop yields but also forage availability, subsequently impacting demand for supplementary straight feeds. Furthermore, ongoing adjustments to UK agricultural policy post-Brexit and evolving environmental regulations continue to shape farming practices and input choices. Livestock numbers, particularly in the pig and poultry sectors which are significant consumers of straight feeds, have seen some consolidation, potentially moderating overall demand growth. The dairy and beef sectors' profitability, influenced by milk and meat prices, will also dictate farmers' willingness and ability to purchase supplementary feeds. With particular reference to wheat distillers, whilst much has been said about the recent UK/US tariff agreement and Starmer and Trump's decisions in relation to the taxes surrounding the UK/Chinese/Indian steel and car manufacturing industry, very little talk is taking place with regards to ethanol. Abolishing the current 19% import duty could have far reaching consequences for the 2 UK ethanol/distillers plants on the East Coast. Without some UK subsidy their future is very uncertain as is the loss of UK protein supplies. More imports, a worse balance of payments and less sustainability/traceability etc. It also, potentially, loses a home for 500k tonnes of UK grown wheat.
And finally, totally irrelevant but quite interesting facts of the month…….
Haribos contain nine of the 10 amino acids essential to humans and in 1961, the co-founder of Domino’s Pizza traded his 50% stake in the business for a Volkswagen Beetle.
For more details on any matter raised in the Feed & Livestock section, please contact Joe in the office: Joe Cobb, Feed & Livestock Manager, 01865 393 139
