Identify biomass crop types and varieties suited for your land and goals

Estimate land size required to achieve your desired yields

Determine production timescales and costs using real yield data from our growing network

Ongoing support from planting through to harvest.

Users supply yield data to continuously improve our predictions

Utilising calculators, decision trees and digital mapping, Envirocrops will provide farmers, project developers and industry decision makers, tailored information.

What we do

The local government has chosen your farm to grow a biomass crop and produce enough fuel to heat a local school. Play our Cropper game to see if you have what it takes to grow a biomass crop!

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Take on the Cropper challenge!

Funded by DESNZ, Envirocrops is a free data-driven web app to compare the suitability of biomass crops across the UK. Our users include farmers, growers, land consultants and policy makers needing decision making support and access to our growing biomass supplier directory.

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Welcome to Envirocrops

Resources

Explore our directory of suppliers and consultants to see what products and services may be available near to you.

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Find a biomass supplier near you

<h1>Video test</h1>Test, see below.<div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="966" height="543" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/x_M1A4QCS1Y" title="Kevin Lindegaard introduces Envircrops - the digital consultant" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>&nbsp;

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Video Test

Some years in spring mature willow plantations can become infested with willow beetles (Chrysomelidae):
- Brassy or green (_Phratora vitellinae_)
- Blue (_Phratora vulgatissima_)
- Brown (_Galerucella lineola_)
This can check growth of the willow due to leaf defoliation and can also be a nuisance to neighbours. 
Outbreaks can be as a result of:
- Lack of clonal diversity in the varieties planted in a mixed clonal population or poor mixing or varieties.
- Mild winters without frosts that mean that not enough over wintering beetles or their larvae are killed.
Combined together this can result in a population explosion in early spring with willow beetle numbers proliferating and spreading across the whole plantation and surrounding areas. This is often followed by a population crash and the cycle is repeated every few years.

In such circumstances there are a number of options
A crop that is ready to be harvested: Harvest the crop as soon as possible and spray the targeted pesticide Hallmark, once straight after harvest then a second spray a month or two later. This will not affect willow growth if applied as per the label. (Please note you should seek agronomist advice before applying any pesticides) 
- A crop that is NOT ready to be harvested: If population numbers are large, they can be reduced by target spraying the borders of the plantation with insecticide when the beetles are re-colonising the plantation from their overwintering sites in early spring. However, this is a one-off operation and routine spraying is NOT recommended for both economic and ecological reasons.
- Non chemical option 1: Harvest the crop as soon as possible. It is likely that a residual population will remain and perhaps cause problems again in the near future. To avoid this it might be necessary to grub out some rows completely and replant with a better mixture - there are some suitable hybrid varieties (European/Chinese heritage) that are less prone to beetles (e.g. Endurance, Terra Nova, Esther). This is relatively expensive but is a good long term strategy.
- Non chemical option 2: willow beetles over winter on the bark of mature trees or similar niches (e.g. fence posts). It’s impossible and ecologically irresponsible to try and modify this. However, it might be possible to break the life-cycle by removing any fallen trees from areas adjacent to the willow plantation. 
- No intervention allowing it to take its course this time. This is not a very good long term option as the problem will return periodically, lead to reduced yields and cause complaints from neighbours. Some growers have removed crops due to persistent beetle issues. This is very expensive. 

You can find out more about the reason for planting mixtures by reading the [https://envirocrops.com/resource/short-rotation-coppice-willow-best-practice-guidelines](link)
You can find out more about which currently available varieties should be used to create a robust mixture at:  https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Project_files/SRC%20Willow%20Variety%20Selection.pdf) 



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Fire brigade measures to deal with willow beetle infestations

Some years in spring mature willow plantations can become infested with willow beetles (Chrysomelidae):<ul><li>Brassy or green (Phratora vitellinae)</li><li>Blue (Phratora vulgatissima)</li><li>Brown (Galerucella lineola)</li></ul>This can check growth of the willow due to leaf defoliation and can also be a nuisance to neighbours.&nbsp; Outbreaks can be as a result of:<ul><li>Lack of clonal diversity in the varieties planted in a mixed clonal population or poor mixing or varieties.</li><li>Mild winters without frosts that mean that not enough over wintering beetles or their larvae are killed.</li></ul>Combined together this can result in a population explosion in early spring with willow beetle numbers proliferating and spreading across the whole plantation and surrounding areas. This is often followed by a population crash and the cycle is repeated every few years.In such circumstances there are a number of options:<ul><li>A crop that is ready to be harvested: Harvest the crop as soon as possible and spray the targeted pesticide Hallmark, once straight after harvest then a second spray a month or two later. This will not affect willow growth if applied as per the label. (Please note you should seek agronomist advice before applying any pesticides)&nbsp;</li><li>A crop that is NOT ready to be harvested: If population numbers are large, they can be reduced by target spraying the borders of the plantation with insecticide when the beetles are re-colonising the plantation from their overwintering sites in early spring. However, this is a one-off operation and routine spraying is NOT recommended for both economic and ecological reasons.</li><li>Non pesticide option 1: Harvest the crop as soon as possible. It is likely that a residual population will remain and perhaps cause problems again in the near future. To avoid this it might be necessary to grub out some rows completely and replant with a better mixture - there are some suitable hybrid varieties (European/Chinese heritage) that are less prone to beetles (e.g. Endurance, Terra Nova, Esther). This is relatively expensive but is a good long term strategy.</li><li>Non pesticide option 2: willow beetles over winter on the bark of mature trees or similar niches (e.g. fence posts). It’s impossible and ecologically irresponsible to try and modify this. However, it might be possible to break the life-cycle by removing any fallen trees from areas adjacent to the willow plantation.&nbsp;</li><li>No intervention allowing it to take its course this time. This is not a very good long term option as the problem will return periodically, lead to reduced yields and cause complaints from neighbours. Some growers have removed crops due to persistent beetle issues. This is very expensive.</li></ul>As there tends to be a large amount of parasitism and predation of willow beetle eggs from natural enemies, any chemical intervention needs to be sympathetic to natural control mechanisms.You can find out more about the reason for planting mixtures by reading the <a href="https://envirocrops.com/resource/short-rotation-coppice-willow-best-practice-guidelines">SRC willow best practice guidelines</a>. In addition, you can find out more about which currently available varieties should be used to create a robust mixture at: <a href="https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Project_files/SRC%20Willow%20Variety%20Selection.pdf">Growers guide to short rotation coppice willow (SRCw) varieties for biomass.</a>