Linseed has rarely been in such high demand. The naturally high Omega-3 content of UK linseed has seen a significant increase in the use for specialist animal feeds. As the UK's exclusive supplier of linseed to the French animal feed company Valorex, this demand is reflected in the price that UK linseed grower can now achieve.

The 'John Nix Farm Management Pocket Book 2015' says of Linseed that "The price for the 2015 crop is £286 per tonne (oilseed rape +10%)", today the Premium Crops contract price has risen by almost half as much again, to up to £400 per tonne for Brown Linseed.

Premium Crops are the UK's largest contractor of linseed and so have a strong interest in getting the best from the UK hectarage. As part of an ongoing investment to improve the agronomy of linseed Premium Crops commissioned a range of sowing rate trials that demonstrated that the historical trend towards lower sowing rates (around 600 seeds/m2) has been deleterious to yields...

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We are very pleased to announce that Chris Spedding has joined us as Commercial Director at Premium Crops. Chris has spent 24 years with Robin Appel Ltd, having been a director of the business for the last 12 years.

Chris's arrival at Premium Crops coincides with the merger of Premium Crops Ltd and Technology Crops Ltd. This has created a combined company, trading under the Premium Crops name, which is the UK's largest specialist crops business.

Chris is based at Hambledon in Hampshire and is managing the High Erucic Acid Rape (HEAR) operation within the business as well as being involved in our portfolio of niche, specialist crops. As well as HEAR, these now include both Winter and Spring Linseed, Red Wheat, Borage, Canary Seed, White Millet, Spring Naked Oats, Lupins and Ahiflower.

We look forward to Chris playing a key role in the operation and development of the business and to improving the service we offer our farmer customers.