This year, the Scottish government has made changes to the Ecological Focus Area (EFA), which is a requirement under the enhanced greening section of the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS).

The changes include:

– The removal of the 75% exemption for temporary grassland
– The removal of the 75% exemption for grassland on claimed land

However, this does not apply if the farm is exempt from the enhanced greening requirements, due to it being certified organic or having less than 15ha of non-organic arable land.  

James Frazer, Nickerson Seed Specialist, is happy to help you meet the new EFA requirements

The number of options has increased to 11 – they can be used on their own or in combination, to meet the EFA requirement:

All the options are listed below:

• – Fallow land
  – Margins
  – Catch crops
  – Green cover
  – Nitrogen-fixing crops
  – Hedges
  – Agroforestry
  – Low input grassland
  – Herb and legume rich pastures
  – Alternative EFA agro forestry option
  – Unharvested crop

At Nickerson, we can supply bespoke mixtures that adhere to many of the above options.

Please contact James Frazer or Douglas Bonn for further information.

Welcome to the first EVER Nickerson Seed Book!

Click to download your copy of the new guide!

For the very first time, you’ll find our entire range brought together in one place – Cereals, Pulses, Oilseed Rape, Maize, Circle Leys grass mixtures, plus our specialist Forage and Environmental seeds. A full catalogue designed to give you clarity, choice, and confidence when it comes to your seed decisions.

Nickerson are the Original Seed Specialists. For over 75 years, we’ve supplied seed and advice to British farmers – trusted by generations because we understand the job, the challenges, and what it takes to grow a successful crop. Our history gives us provenance. Our experience gives you peace of mind. When you choose Nickerson, you are not just buying seed – you are investing in a partnership.

That partnership is delivered through our nationwide team of Nickerson Seed Specialists. These are not simply salespeople – they are experts, practical thinkers, and trusted advisors. They know farming, they know seed, and they take the time to understand your business. Their role is simple: to help you make the best choice for every field, every season.

We are proud of our heritage, but we never stand still.

Farming is changing – new pressures, new opportunities, new demands on every hectare. Our job is to make sure you have the right seed, the right advice, and the right support to meet those challenges head-on.

This brochure is designed to help you do exactly that. It brings our portfolio together in one clear guide – from high-yielding cereals and resilient oilseed rape to productive maize, proven grass mixtures, and targeted environmental options. Every product has been selected, tested, and supported by Nickerson, so you can choose with confidence.

Quality seed. Trusted advice. Unmatched service. That has been our promise for over 75 years – and it remains our promise today.

Take a look at our 2026 Seed Book today.

The Nickerson team once again attended the Bath & West Dairy Show, based near Shepton Mallet, Somerset.

This year, we were based in the Showering Pavilion, opposite the cattle arena. It is always great to see the hard work and commitment so many put into their stock, really pay off. I have been attending this event since I was young and although the site and stands remain similar, what attendees show and sell has definitely changed!

That goes for seed too; varieties, regardless of species, have moved on so much in the past decade. With the sheer number of different varieties and mixtures on the market, coupled with the Single Farm Incentive (SFI) and other environmental schemes, it can be difficult to know what to do.

This is where we, as Seed Specialists, can help you to make it all a bit clearer!

There is often a theme when talking to customers on a show stand. The recurring theme on stand at this year’s show was variability. Whether that be levels of forage in stock for the winter, or progress through maize harvest, it all comes down to who caught the rain and who sadly did not. I can say from my own experience, that west of Cardiff and South Wales has been lucky, as has Devon and Cornwall. Whereas, central and Southern areas have had to contend with a serious forage shortfall. 

There is little that can be done about that now of course, although there is still time to put in catch crop mixtures to maximise home grown forage for the winter and into the spring.

Options at this point in the season could include short and long-term leys, wholecrop options or forage rye, which is often overlooked, but can be grazed in situ or zero grazed.

Another takeaway from this season, particularly in drought hit areas, is that the smallest differences can have the biggest effects. Soil type for example, has affected how well crops have done this year more than most, even soil type differences within the same field have been quite easy to spot.

As our weather is getting more and more extreme, rotation planning, cultivation methods, drilling dates and many more factors, are all things which can have a significant difference on the outcome and success of your crops.

Contact your Nickerson Seed Specialist for the best advice for your specific farm needs.

The closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme may have taken the shine off growing herbal leys, but it does give us the opportunity to weigh up their value when it comes producing high yields of top quality forages.

The suspension of applications for the SFI in early March came as a blow for those farmers who hadn’t already applied or been accepted for the scheme.

“There’s no denying that the payments were appealing to livestock farmers, when input prices were, and continue to be, highly volatile, and weather patterns create more challenges and uncertainty in seasonal grass growing patterns,” says David Watson, North of England seed specialist for Nickerson.

“The certainty of £382 a hectare ‘in the bank’ for growing a herbal ley is attractive, and at the same time there are benefits from improved soil structure, reduced inputs and an extended grazing season in many cases.”

While the value of the herbal ley to soil health, and its reduced reliance on fertilisers are among the benefits of growing the crop, it doesn’t compete in yield or feed value with a quality perennial ryegrass sward.

“The herbal ley can provide good grazing for young stock and dry cows in fields away from the dairy platform, and some will use it for cutting and making into silage, he adds.

“Given the difference in yield and feed value, it would be very difficult to get the energy out of a standard herbal ley to support cows yielding 8,000 plus litres of milk.

“Their suitability for high production and housed herds, or those running an intensive grazing management system, should be weighed up and compared to alternative grass seed mixtures.”

Energy price tag

He illustrates the importance of forage energy production – a crucial part of improving milk or meat from home grown forage – by comparing the productivity of new and old perennial ryegrass swards.

A new ryegrass sward in its first and second year should yield 13.5 tonnes of dry matter per hectare at 12.0 ME, producing 162,000 megajoules of energy.

The ME of a 10-year-old sward, with a much lower per cent of perennial ryegrass, is likely to produce only 7 tonnes of dry matter a hectare and 10.8ME, yielding 76,000 MJ of energy.

“The difference is 86,000 MJ. This shortfall in energy is equivalent to the energy from 7.3 tonnes of wheat. Taking a price of £200 a tonne, this would add £1460 a hectare to costs to gain the same energy in feed.”

“We need to consider the difference in production between swards of different qualities and potential.”

In the case of a herbal ley in the SFI scheme, the lower productivity should be offset against the £382 a hectare payment.

“We should also consider the shorter sward longevity of a herbal ley and the decline in species diversity when we consider costs verses benefits,” he adds.

Those who have not gone down the SFI route, or have missed out, can reap rewards. “Evaluating their grassland and estimating perennial ryegrass content – which should be above 70%, and making improvements to those swards needing some TLC will improve forage productivity on the farm.

“Trials continue to show that new leys will yield up to five tonnes of dry matter per hectare more in their first year than a four-year-old ley. This means reseeding typically pays for itself in yield value within the first two years.

A reseed also offers the opportunity to introduce clover. A typical grass ley with 30% white clover can fix 180kgN per hectare. Based on a urea cost of £748 per tonne, this is worth around £305 per hectare.

Clover-rich swards can remove the need for nitrogen applications throughout the ley’s lifespan, and there may even be residual nitrogen left for the following crop. And if a full reseed isn’t a suitable option, pelleted clover is a great way to overseed into an existing ley.

“A more intensive approach to grassland management could be more cost-effective. And maximising home-grown forage production has cost and environmental benefits over bought in feed products.”

Pick a mix

Choice of seed mixture will affect both yield and feed value, and when it comes to selecting perennial ryegrass mixtures, farmers can ‘cash in’ on well-designed, tried-and-tested mixtures shown to out-perform standard mixtures.

“It’s worth paying that small premium,” adds David. “The cost of preparing land and sowing the crop is the same, and the seed cost is only a small proportion of the total process, so the extra cost here will pay for itself in better yield and quality.”

“There’s a lot of knowledge and research that’s used in formulating grass seed mixtures, using recommended varieties that perform well in their own right and compliment other varieties in the mixture.

Extensive Limagrain field trials have shown that new, top-yielding varieties, will outyield mixtures with older varieties, even at lower nitrogen rates. So even if it is necessary to cut back on application rates, a new ley, with the latest varieties will yield better than older mixtures or varieties. Nickerson Circle Leys – with the Red, Gold and Green Circle mixtures ideal for dairy; the choice depending on the required duration of the ley.

“These field trial results also demonstrate a mixture’s suitability to different conditions and uses – cutting, grazing and dual purpose. We can use this information to advise the best choices for the system and the farm,” he says.

And although payments have also ceased for including legumes – typically clover in grass leys, there are still advantages of including it in the sward, either in the grass seed mixture or oversown once the grass is established.

“Clover will add feed value and promote intakes and fix nitrogen in the soil – it brings many benefits.”

The knowledge and choice of species and advancements in varieties available in perennial grass seed mixtures is limited in herbal seed mixtures.

“Although some companies now offer more specialist herbal seed mixtures, many just ‘tick the boxes’ with the required number of herbs in the mix and less productive grasses that don’t compete against the herbs and legumes within that mix. And there’s often limited knowledge on their performance and feed value,” says David

While herbal leys can be attractive – particularly if payments are available, the pros and cons need weighing up to make sure the right decisions are being made. And for those not involved in the SFI scheme, all is not lost. There are worthwhile rewards to be had in selecting high quality mixtures and in reseeding or oversowing with perennial ryegrass mixtures as part of the grassland rotation.

A huge thank you to all the farmers who visited our stand! It was fantastic to see you in a different environment than your farms and to hear from so many of you across the country about how well your Red Circle leys have been performing. We also enjoyed answering your questions about maize, whole crop silage, and lucerne.

With so much on offer from the industry, we hope you took away some valuable ideas from the event. It was also great to hear a sense of optimism, especially after the challenges agriculture has faced in recent years.

For those who couldn’t make it—Dairy Tech was bigger than ever this year!—we hope to see you at upcoming events like Farm Expo Southeast. We’re also hosting some breakfast meetings, so keep an eye out for details.

If you’re unable to leave the farm, remember we’re always just a phone call away. Looking forward to catching up soon!

I’m Simon Custance. I come from a family farm in north west Cambridgeshire where we grow winter and spring cereals, winter beans and sugar beet.

I’ve always enjoyed farming from helping my dad walk fields as a child, to grading potatoes and learning to drive a tractor in my teens.

I studied Agriculture with Crop Science at Hartpury where I learned much more about maize, grass and added to my existing knowledge of combinables and roots.

The course was wide-ranging including working on the university farm doing many roles. Milking cows, lambing and young stock management were all enjoyable parts that I learnt and was happy to gain experience in.

After finishing university in May 2020, I started with Agrii as a Agronomist. I really enjoyed the problem-solving aspect of identifying pests, weeds and diseases and coming up with both cultural and chemical solutions.

After almost 2 years with Agrii, I decided to leave in spring 2022, the world was opening post-Covid and I travelled to Canada to work on an arable farm and experience different farming methods. South Saskatchewan is on the same latitude as the midlands; however, the farming practices are incredibly different! Rainfall is about 30% of central England. The challenges for the farm there revolved around the large temperature fluctuation of -40 to +40 degrees Celsius, low rainfall and poorer soils.

On my return to England, I worked for a local New Holland dealer in Cambridgeshire demonstrating, selling and supporting products from combines to potato planters. I was given an established area and helped, through a difficult time for agriculture, to build a customer base and expand the business.

I have always thought seed is the most important part of growing. Varietal choice for the unique conditions each farm and field present is critical. That’s when I applied for the job with Nickerson, I am very much looking forward to learning and expanding the business.

Nickerson is a well-established and highly thought of company, I am very privileged to work for them as a Seed Specialist, learning and working in an industry which is always full of ideas and forward thinking.

After 45 years working for Nickerson I have decided to move on to the next stage of my life, which is  retirement.

I thought it was ironic that on my last day on farm I’ve taken a picture of one of the best crops of winter wheat I have seen in my area which happened to be Claire, a winter wheat which must be over 25 years old.  It has been a pleasure helping Nickerson to introduce new varieties to the market and hear the success stories of those that we have introduced, too many varieties to mention.

A massive thank you to all my customers, if it was not for your support and loyalty I would definitely not have lasted the 45 years working for the company and I wish you all every success in your future cropping. I know I am very comfortable leaving the business in a very safe pair of hands – those of Douglas Bonn. We have enjoyed meeting most of you over the last three months and he will continue to look after your requirements in the future.

Again thank you for your support I wish you well

Nick Wallace.

I am excited to have started my career at Nickerson, and look forward to getting stuck into my new role as Seed Specialist in glorious Yorkshire.

I will be covering the Yorkshire region from the Humber to the moors of North Yorkshire, heading west across the Pennines and on to the Lancashire border. In my previous role I was involved in the seed potato industry, so with Nickerson I will be swapping seed potatoes for just about every other type of seed!

I grew up in the Scottish Borders surrounded by farms but with no direct links to agriculture until I opted to study it at SRUC in Edinburgh. I embarked on a career in the potato industry, having carried out a placement year with McDonald’s focussing on where their fries come from. I then switched from ware potatoes to seed potatoes. The seed industry has always been of interest to me for two key reasons; Firstly, regardless of the crop type everything in farming starts with a seed; Secondly, my grandfather had a seed business based in the Borders many years ago dealing mainly with grass. Although no longer in existence, I like to think I am carrying on the family tradition!

My area includes a mix of low ground arable farms to upland sheep farms, and I am looking forward to getting to know customers both old and new, and offering seed based solutions to meet the unique challenges thrown up by each farming system.

If I can be of any assistance to farmers in the Yorkshire region, please do not hesitate to contact me on 07734 737008 or grant.connor@nickerson.co.uk

The new SFI schemes are prompting many conversations with our growers, especially around herbal leys and particularly SAM 3. Essentially, the new name for GS4 within the older Countryside Stewardship Scheme.

There are many mixtures available in the marketplace for growers to choose from that will be compliant with the scheme’s protocol. But it is not until you really pay attention to these mixtures and investigate what makes up their contents, that you see how different they all are.

A grower could end up with a herbal ley that grows just enough to require a topper over it once a year, or a herbal ley that will perform closer to the outputs of a conventional ley.

A frequent question from growers that are looking to sow a SAM3/GS4 herbal ley in place of a conventional grass ley is; can I maintain production whilst qualifying for the SFI scheme’s intentions, and be able to claim a payment?

In short, herbal leys simply will not match a top performing ley for yield or quality, but we know that we can get close with our mixtures.

Conventional grass mixtures have been designed and tested over many years using varieties that have been bred and cultivated over decades, such as our Circle leys, that have been true to their concept since 1947.

The best performing leys use varieties that complement and will grow together, in harmony. Scheme compliant mixtures simply do not have the ability to compete, whichever way you cut it – wildflowers and herbs will not yield, harmonise, or have the feed value in comparison with modern clovers and ryegrass.

You also have to factor in the animal’s desire to eat what is in front of it and whilst herbs sound ideal, too much is overpowering, and an animal will spend more energy looking for the alternative.

From our experience with CSS and lessons we have learnt, Nickerson and Limagrain have looked to get as close as we can with the mixtures.

First off, we use only seed of the highest quality and vigour and then design a herbal ley with the same approach as a conventional ley. Indeed, as for our SAM 3/GS4 mixtures we start with using one of our conventional leys as a base and remove/add in constituents to make it compliant.

We can also tailor a mixture to include more higher yielding and quality grasses and clovers and less productive legume types, herbs and wildflowers that will offer least in terms of production. We therefore offer different mixtures with different percentages of ryegrass and clover; all of which are compliant with the scheme but will suit growers’ requirements accordingly.

This year, I have been working with a grower, where we have been growing our multispecies 75 as seen in the pictures below.

These photos were taken on the 3^rd of August, and this was its 4^th cut of the year already and two grazes. Yields were to a point of causing an issue of what to do with the excess! Quality is also very high.

So, can you have your herbal cake and eat it? Well, talk to your local Nickerson Seed Specialist to find out…

A real joy in this job is to see my recommendations and our crop genetics working to provide solutions and performing for our growers. Such as this crop of Rondo and Sampson Stubble turnips also sown with Interval Rape/Kale Hybrid. It has been grown as a break crop between an old permanent pasture ahead of a planned Pro Plus grass ley which will be drilled this Autumn. Growing this break crop will lower the pest burden of leather jackets, frit fly and Wireworm for the pro plus reseed whilst also providing a huge feed source for the beef and sheep unit with grazing in situ. It also is giving more feed options and diversity for the grower within their rotation. 

Pictured, Charlie, Jonathan’s son looking very pleased with his crop of Rondo & Samson stubble turnips!

I am delighted to have started my new role as a Seed Specialist at Nickerson.

I will be covering the North West, North Wales and North Shropshire areas. Since graduating with a BSc Agricultural degree, I had been working on the family farm, which is a 300-acre arable and livestock enterprise where we run 100 Hereford cows and 300 sheep.

We crop approximately 100 acres of the farm annually, this year we will be growing LG Typhoon winter wheat and LG Caravelle winter barley, which will be used on the farm for livestock feed, with excess sold into the feed market.

The livestock enterprise is run with an emphasis placed on maximising daily live weight gain from forage. We improve grazing leys through over seeding on rotation, in addition to including high yielding grass mixtures, as part of the arable rotation for ensiling.

I am excited to meet my customer base throughout the area and assist you with fulfilling your farms’ potential.

If there is anything I can help you with, please do not hesitate to contact me on 07860 590 412 or george.hall@nickerson.co.uk

The two main factors to consider are your soil status and condition.

Ensure the area is tested for appropriate nutrient levels – pH, in particular, is vitally important.

Full Reseed

Full Reseed: soil needs to be consolidated, which starts early. Every pass should aim to further consolidate the seedbed. Do not wait and roll it twice afterwards – the area will be far more level and uniform if you start consolidation early. Ideally, roll prior to sowing as this also gives a more uniform sowing depth.

Longer term leys will achieve a greater ground cover if the seed is broadcast uniformly, as it attains a high percentage of yield from tiller density.

Short term leys tiller density and growth habit are different, so sowing in rowsq using a conventional drill can be an option.

A two-year break from long term grass is ideal to reduce the risk of pests. Failing this, reducing pest population and dense organic matter can often be achieved by using a grazing catch crop, such as stubble turnips.

Overseeding

Overseeding is simply a short-term fix and will not have a long-term benefit.

It will allow a yield increase in many situations but a field by field assessment is essential. Firstly, consider any pests and how to control them. Secondly, assess the level of undesirable plant species that are present.

More Information

To learn more about Circle Leys, download the Brochure here.

To view the Circle Leys range, click here

Or contact your local Seed Specialist.