Crop Technician - Knowledge Revision

Review the essentials, answer quick knowledge checks and track your revision as you go.

Crops Knowledge Revision Guide

How to revise:

Work through a topic, try each question from memory, then check your answers. Explain the reasons behind your choices as well as the facts.

Potato, oilseed rape and cereal crops in the field

Crops & rotations

Recognise crop groups and understand how they fit into a rotation.

Crop technician surveying fields and farm machinery

Field observations

Link what you see in the field to practical crop-management decisions.

Crop performance and farm business growth illustration

Performance

Use yield, costs and other KPIs to think about business performance.

Your revision progress

Complete a knowledge check or field task to begin. 0% complete

Field walk: put the knowledge into practice

Use this checklist during a crop walk. Follow site procedures and seek guidance where a decision is outside your responsibility.

Identify the crop and its growth stage.
Assess crop establishment, uniformity and signs of stress.
Check soil condition, rooting, moisture and signs of compaction.
Look for weeds, pests and disease symptoms; record observations.
Consider crop nutrition and relevant soil-test information.
Make and communicate evidence-based recommendations.

If you remember nothing else

Match the crop and variety to the soil, rotation and intended market.
Use soil and crop information to guide nutrition; pH affects nutrient availability.
Use rotation, monitoring and other IPM measures before considering chemical control.
Follow product labels, relevant rules, workplace procedures and record-keeping requirements.
Protect people, machinery, soil and the environment: safety is part of every operation.

Further reading

Explore the Agriculture-4-U topics referenced by the knowledge guide:

Apprentice Revision Tip

Build your revision like a funnel: start with the full notes, narrow them into clear points, then finish by explaining the key ideas in your own words.