Crop nutrition research trials

Dr Pete Berry is a crop physiologist and the head of crop physiology at ADAS. Based at ADAS High Mowthorpe in North Yorkshire, Pete seeks to improve crop performance and reduce pollution of cropping systems through an understanding of crop physiology, plant breeding and agronomy.

Before working at ADAS, he was a post-doctoral researcher in crop science at the University of Nottingham. He is a special lecturer in crop physiology for the University of Nottingham and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham

Important research areas include increasing crop yields sustainably, optimising nitrogen nutrition of crops, exploitation of precision farming technologies and lodging control and plant growth regulation.

Pete has authored 40 peer-reviewed research papers on crop physiology.

View Pete’s previous research on ResearchGate

Pete holds a BSc degree in plant biotechnology from the University of London, a MSc degree in applied genetics from the University of Birmingham and a PhD in crop physiology from the University of Nottingham. He is also FACTS qualified and is a Member of the Association of Applied Biologists.

Dr Sarah Kendall is a crop physiologist based at ADAS Gleadthorpe and is an associate managing director. Her work involves managing, analysing and reporting on crop experiments conducted on oilseed rape and winter wheat. Her research focuses on optimising crop nutrition and supporting farmers to make the best nutrition decisions to increase productivity sustainably.

Sarah has long been involved in the Yield Enhancement Network, which sparked a passion for working closely with farmers and agronomists to understand yield limitations and the value of sharing data to improve decision-making. Sarah lives on a mixed farm in Nottinghamshire, focusing on maximising crop yields and working to improve biodiversity.

View Sarah’s previous research on ResearchGate

Professor Roger Sylvester-Bradley leads research on crop performance at ADAS and is an Honorary Professor of temperate crop physiology at the University of Nottingham.

He founded and leads the Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) and aims to inspire innovation in crop productivity. Roger seeks to facilitate and improve farm action research – particularly to understand crop and food production and their external impacts. His research goal is for the performance of farms and fields to be routinely measured so that it can be understood, re-designed and enhanced for the good of all worldwide.

View Roger’s previous research on ResearchGate

Brendon is a FACTS and BASIS Soil and Water Qualified Advisor with over 15 years’ experience working in the environmental and agricultural sectors for the Environment Agency (EA), United Utilities and more recently RSK ADAS.

Brendon specialises in providing advice to farmers and industry to assist in complying with environmental regulations, focusing particularly on pollution prevention and investigation, assessment and design of farm infrastructure and nutrient management planning, incorporating advice on the use of organic manures and fertilisers. Brendon has extensive knowledge of environmental regulations, covering nitrate vulnerable zones; silage, slurry and agricultural fuel oil (SSAFO); diffuse pollution from agriculture; environmental permitting for both waste and water; and trade effluent.

On behalf of the EA, Brendon led responses to pollution incidents in which he collected evidence in line with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, and he has written a number of case files that were presented in court by EA solicitors, which led to a number of successful prosecutions

Barry leads a multidisciplinary team covering ecology, arboriculture, and archaeology. Formerly an ecologist, he is now responsible for driving strategic growth, technical excellence and client delivery across environmental consultancy services.

He holds a BSc (Hons) degree and is a Chartered Manager (CMgr), a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (FCMI), a Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (MCIEEM).