Arable Farming articles from April 2003

Arable Farming archives from April 2003

Self-assessment starts now.
April 15, 2003... The Crop Protection Management Plan (CPMP) was formally launched at the beginning of April by DEFRA minister Lord Whitty. The CPMP, which is designed to deliver greater protection from pesticides for water and wildlife, is an important...

Watch out - there are new water regs about!(new water user regulations)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2003... Growers who abstract water to irrigate crops or for livestock use are advised to check if new water user regulations that came in on April 1 will apply to their businesses. The Water Resources (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations...

Grainfarmers buys Dalgety marketing arm.(Dalgety Arable)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2003... Grainfarmers Plc has reached agreement to buy the UK grain marketing arm of Dalgety Arable Ltd, in a deal which will make Grainfarmers the largest grain marketing business in the UK. In the deal, effective from April 30, Dalgety has entered...

Low cost finance.(ING Lease)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2003... ING Lease has entered a joint marketing arrangement with Kemira GrowHow UK Ltd to give farmers instant access to a variety of low-cost finance options for their fertiliser purchases under the name of 'Kemira GroHow - Finance Options'. Further...

War - against the grain.(Iraq War, 2003)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2003... HGCA economist Julian Bell comments on how grain trading is being affected by the Iraqi crisis: The conflict in Iraq is unlikely to lead to a fundamental change in the world grain markets, but the uncertainty engendered by any conflict of...

BPC workshop.(Brief Article)
April 15, 2003... Grantham in Lincolnshire will host a Processing Workshop organised by the British Potato Council (BPC) on April 29. The day begins at 9.30am at Stoke Rochford Hall, beside the A1, followed by further presentations at the state-of-the-art...

On-line alert.(BlightWatch, the internet-based localised potato blight warning service)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2003... BlightWatch, the internet-based localised potato blight warning service at www.potatocrop.com, will be starting its third year and going "live" on-line this month. "Last year was one of the heaviest blight risk years for many years and...

Strob site.(AgriCentre answers questions about strobilurins)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2003... In response to heightened industry interest, www.agriCentre.co.uk, supported by BASF, is offering its users the ability to ask any questions they have regarding strobilurins. Webmistress Jane Craigie said: "The site gives an opportunity to...

Seeds for change.(Oliver Seeds)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2003... Seed supplier Oliver Seeds has produced a new guide for arable farmers, listing seed options appropriate to the increasing number of schemes and regulations associated with changing rural land use. Countryside Matters includes alternatives...

Fuel clarification.(Brief Article)
April 15, 2003... HM Customs and Excise has confirmed it had not meant to imply that farmers who are "clearly not running a machinery-hire business" would have to register as a Registered Dealer in Controlled Oils. A farmer who 'occasionally' lends a...

Spud stocks.(Brief Article)
April 15, 2003... The BPC's latest estimate of calculated end-February stocks (2002 crop) for all Home Crop Supplies of potatoes in Great Britain is 2.157 million tonnes. This is down 2% from the 2001 crop but 18% above two years ago (2000 crop). Crop...

Prickly asylum seekers.(hedgehogs)
April 15, 2003... Some of you may have read about the hedgehog cull in the Scottish Hebrides. The hedgehog was introduced to the Hebrides some 30 years ago by a gardener who thought it would help reduce slug populations. The little hedge-pig liked life in the...

Global price differential: quality or conspiracy?
April 15, 2003... One of the most frustrating things about this season's depressed wheat market is the fact that wheat is trading at such high prices elsewhere in the world. One can remember the days not so long ago when farmers used to check the Chicago Board...

Water, water anywhere?
April 15, 2003... A huge amount of new legislation and regulation relating to water will be introduced in the next few years at local, national and European level. Jacob Tompkins, director of policy with the Agricultural Water Management Company, outlines its...

Lessons to be learned from the Danes.
April 15, 2003... Farming opinion from Hertfordshire farmer Ian Pigott I have been very fortunate to spend a week in Denmark as a guest of the Danish Agricultural Council. As a part of my Nuffield Scholarship (kindly sponsored by Marks and Spencer) my goal...

Co-operate to gain some clout.
April 15, 2003... Farmer attitude towards co-operation was surprisingly positive, said James Graham of the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society, reporting key findings of a recent survey. And those who were involved in some sort of co-operative venture are...

The President's view.
April 15, 2003... We should not be embarrassed by past co-op failures, but learn from them, said NFU president Ben Gill. Co-ops had much to offer, including the key factor of gaining the farmer more control over selling produce. "We need to get tougher to...

Co-ops dominate business in Denmark.
April 15, 2003... Did you realise that successful retail brands, such as Danepak, are owned by Danish farmer co-operatives? Agricultural co-ops are among the largest of all businesses in Denmark and dominate agricultural businesses, with between 40% and 90%...

Bank attitude to collaborative ventures: caution advised.
April 15, 2003... Richard Lole of Barclays Bank discussed the current attitude of banks towards collaborative ventures. Banks were finding more willingness among farmers than ever before to co-operate. However, much of this was born of necessity, and Mr Lole...

Top oilseed grower tips.(from Paul Steer of CGR Booth Farms)
April 15, 2003... Oilseed Rape Grower of the Year winner, Paul Steer provides some of the topical tips that have helped achieve yields of over five tonnes a hectare, whilst at the same time cutting input costs. How does he do that? First wheats are the only...

CONTINENTAL COLUMN: Angry Danes.(Brief Article)
April 15, 2003... Dismayed Danish potato growers took to the streets to protest against the high profits being reported by potato traders. According to the Danish Potato Producers Organisation, which organised the demonstration, current potato prices of...

CONTINENTAL COLUMN: Organic rise.(land being transferred to organic production continues to increase )(Brief Article)
April 15, 2003... The amount of land being transferred to organic production continues to increase in the Czech Republic. Last year the area increased to 212,000ha, or 5.3% of the total area. Wheat and rye are two of the most important crops grown...

CONTINENTAL COLUMN: Spanish land.(Brief Article)
April 15, 2003... Anticipated reductions in European agricultural subsidies are helping to stabilise the country's land prices. That is the view of the Spanish ministry of agriculture, which confirms that, during 2001, Spanish land prices rose by just 3.6%. The...

Great future for Group 3 wheats.
April 15, 2003... Group 3s dominate the wheat acreage, and, though a better balance of NABIM Groups is needed, they have an important part in future market requirements. Alison Lea reports. Don't give up growing Group 3s. That might seem unnecessary advice,...

SPRAYER FOCUS: 'Highest capacity' trailed range.
April 15, 2003... From a year-long investment programme to develop a new range of trailed sprayers, Landquip claims its Trailblazer range has the highest capacity of any trailed machine in Europe. An all-new one-piece chassis design, together with a new main...

SPRAYER FOCUS: In-furrow know-how.
April 15, 2003... Purpose-built equipment to spray fungicide Amistar in-furrow has been developed by specialist UK manufacturer Team Sprayers in response to the fungicide gaining specific off-label approval (SOLA) for the control of soil-borne black dot in...

SPRAYER FOCUS: Smoothly does it for sprayer range.
April 15, 2003... Sands Agricultural Machinery (SAM) has developed a new range of self- propelled sprayers, which provide extra power, meet new emission directives and have greater capability when working on hillsides. The spray tank sits in a new stepped...

SPRAYER FOCUS: Spray control at your finger tips.
April 15, 2003... Knight Farm Machinery launched its first wholly-built self-propelled sprayer unit last year. Dominic Kilburn tracks it down and gets some first impressions. It came as no surprise when last year Knight Farm Machinery launched its own...

SPRAYER FOCUS: Buyers' guide to sprayers.
April 15, 2003... Although current trends suggest popularity towards the mounted end of the market, the overriding picture is one of demand for increasingly large spray tanks. At one time spray tanks of 2000-3000 litres were sufficient for most farmers' needs...

Talking Arable with our Shropshire-based farmer Arthur Hill.
April 15, 2003... March 30 2003 Having just watched the England versus Ireland rugby match and seen the comprehensive and overwhelming way in which England demolished their opponents I could have been tempted to sit back in the chair and doze off. But there...

Value for money must be T1 target.(fungicide planning)
April 15, 2003... A threatening start to the season in terms of disease pressure has transformed into a relatively mild-mannered early spring period after the recent prolonged spell of dry, cold weather. What are the implications as T1 applications get under...

Strob resistance gene 'widespread'.
April 15, 2003... HGCA and the Arable Research Institutes Association (ARIA) joined forces recently to host a workshop 'Farm strategies to avoid resistance'. Not surprisingly, strobilurin resistance featured strongly in discussions. Teresa Rush reports. ...

T1 is key to disease control success.
April 15, 2003... Making the right decisions at T1 is key to the success of a fungicide programme. Teresa Rush reports. Each of the winter wheat varieties on the current Recommended List is affected by Septoria tritici to some degree. That's why this...

Strob grain fill effect in the South West.
April 15, 2003... When wheat growers start questioning the cost-effectiveness of using a strobilurin fungicide, things must be bad. But, with wheat prices at rock bottom last year, this is just what a group of cereal growers did to crop consultant Roger Allen....

Getting to the root of the problem.(dig up roots to see disease status of crops)
April 15, 2003... Take the time to dig up some plants from winter wheat crops and take a close look at their roots - they can tell you a lot about the disease status of crops before above ground symptoms appear. Teresa Rush reports. While take-all disease...

Early hit on seed blight risk.
April 15, 2003... High levels of blight in potato crops last harvest inevitably led to significant levels of infection in seed stocks for the coming season. In Scotland, SAC agronomists report major dumps of infected tubers, discarded during riddling over the...

Focus on fungicides.(advice to barley growers)
April 15, 2003... Barley growers are being urged to focus more on disease control to help avoid costly claims. Failure to meet screenings, admixture and nitrogen specifications results in reduced premiums, so growers must focus on these areas with the aim of...

All revved up for Management Plans?(Voluntary Initiative's Crop Protection Management Plans)
April 15, 2003... Talking Arable columnist Ambrose Fowler admitted to knowing little of the Voluntary Initiative's Crop Protection Management Plans. But here, undaunted, he provides us with an insight as to what they're all about. Be honest, have you heard...

CHALLENGING THE ESTABLISHMENT: Knowing the drill.(cultivator drills for improving crop establishment)
April 15, 2003... Down-to-earth views on making `more from less' in crop establishment from leading independent tillage and soil husbandry consultant Steve Townsend. Forget big discs. Forget even bigger tractors. There's only one piece of kit you really...

Your farm is your image.(campaign aims to increase understanding between town folk and country folk)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2003... The laudable Image of Agriculture campaign is gathering pace, with an Easter launch date and a fighting fund now standing at over #100,000. The campaign aims to reconnect town and country and to increase mutual understanding between the...

Not such fantastic plastic.(tons of waste plastic is produced by farms every year)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2003... 25,000 tonnes of waste plastic is produced by farms every year, according to a DEFRA report. It highlights the problem of recycling farm waste due to high levels of contamination, which can more than double the weight for collection and make...

We like: A new border spreading system.(Tribord system launched by Rustons Engineering )(Brief Article)
April 15, 2003... We like a new border spreading system which gives a very clean cut-off at field edges without changing discs or manual re-setting. Launched by Rustons Engineering and available on Sulky DPX fertiliser spreaders, the Tribord system is...

Biological breakthrough.(free radicals are essential to plant growth)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2003... Scientists from the John Innes Centre (JIC) in Norwich report that highly toxic compounds, called free radicals, are essential to plant growth. They found that the controlled production of free radicals is an essential first step in...

Stage-struck spuds.(Brief Article)
April 15, 2003... The humble potato has made it to the silver screen to star in the role of... snow. German scientists have found a way to make fake snowflakes out of potato starch. Scientific journal Nature says the new product is completely biodegradable so...

You and the Budget.
April 29, 2003... Agriculture director of Lloyds TSB, Tim Porter, analyses the Budget, announced in April. `In the face of a global economic downturn, business uncertainty, plunging tax receipts and falling consumer demand, the Chancellor had little room...

Soil tests reveal low nitrogen level.
April 29, 2003... Soil nitrogen tests conducted for Dalgety show that mineral N levels are still at very low levels, despite increased mineralisation in February. This year's results are behaving counter to the norm, says Dalgety's Alastair Taylor....

The future's marigold bright.
April 29, 2003... The future's bright... Calendula, otherwise known as the pot marigold, could have a future on UK farms. Its oil is 50% calendulic acid - which has a range of uses, from body care products to industrial uses - and could be a cleaner, greener...

The organic state.
April 29, 2003... In the wake of the recent slow down in growth of organic food sales, organic growers have been urged to read market signals from end users more closely rather than insist on growing crops that suit their rotation. Speaking at the Organic...

Stress-buster.
April 29, 2003... Stressed crops could benefit from a strobilurin application, according to new Harper Adams University College research. The Syngenta-sponsored studies showed stress symptoms from drought, high temperature and low nutrient availability were...

Biggest outdoor exhibit due at the Royal Show.
April 29, 2003... A new feature at this year's Royal Show (June 29 to July 2) is to be the biggest single outdoor exhibit ever mounted by the Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE). The Grain Chain will cover four blocks next to the grand ring and...

Business growth.
April 29, 2003... Banks Cargill Agriculture Ltd and Technicrop Ltd are merging their agronomy operations. The merger will make BCA's agronomy business the fifth largest in the UK, behind UAP, ProCam, Agrovista and Masstock Arable, on a par with Dalgety,...

Woodland review.
April 29, 2003... A report just published by the Forestry Commission and DEFRA recommends the merging of the Woodland Grant and Farm Woodland Premium Schemes, to be administered by the Forestry Commission. Other key recommendations include: More support for...

Beaten the BAP!
April 29, 2003... The Game Conservancy Trust has exceeded government's Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) target for restoring numbers of wild grey partridge in its project on farmland at Royston in Hertfordshire. In the recent spring census the Trust found its...

Tractors on up.
April 29, 2003... The Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA) has released details of new UK tractor registrations for the first quarter of 2003 (Jan-Mar). Sales are up by 8.8% nationally on the same quarter last year, when the total of new units registered...

Tax on-line.
April 29, 2003... For a quick and efficient way to obtain tax advice go to Grant Thornton's on-line consultancy at: www.taxsolve.co.uk Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Smith's Soapbox: Praying for rain like the old days.
April 29, 2003... Farming opinion from Essex-based Guy Smith One of Father's favourite sayings is "A peck of dust in March is worth a king's ransom". Well if that's true then the weather this March has made us multi-millionaires. On this farm 120 acres of...

Rich spoils from oils.
April 29, 2003... Alison Lea looks at the future for growing novel crops for oil in the UK. The new gold will be oil, so there's gold in them there fields! With over 430,000 hectares of oilseed rape in the ground, the UK is already a significant oil...

Linseed pest quick off the mark.
April 29, 2003... Spring linseed flea beetle damage is likely to precede that of spring rape, according to Dalgety's Colin Lloyd who warns that current favourable weather means that growers will have to be extra vigilant as crops emerge. Several different...

Strategic solutions for set-aside weed control.
April 29, 2003... Failure to implement strategies designed to target actual weed populations means that some growers are achieving less than ideal weed control in set-aside. Teresa Rush reports. Evidence that there was room for improvement in set-aside weed...

Bugs into battle.
April 29, 2003... Alison Lea finds out how farmers can protect crops by boosting wildlife. It's a jungle out there. Arable fields are alive with flesh-eating creatures - fierce hunters that can eat hundreds of their prey every day. Fortunately their...

Deciding priorities.
April 29, 2003... All the spring barley went in during March this year, in excellent conditions. After herbicide and manganese sprays we'll apply a first fungicide at GS16/17 for Rhynchosporium control - probably Unix - then wait until stem extension to...

Take-all tactics.
April 29, 2003... Ditch cleaning on the extra 100ha we took on has really paid off. It drained a lot of water over winter - so we could get on to spray. As a result, we had good wild-oat control from autumn herbicides, allowing us to clean up with low rate Topik...

Fungicide planning.
April 29, 2003... The issue in many clients' minds at present is the Mid-term Review. Many farmers taking on extra land could see area payments going to previous occupiers. But it's difficult to advise at present because it's only a proposal. Shorter term,...

Resistance management.
April 29, 2003... WHAT THE EXPERT SAYS: SIMON ELSWORTH OF SYNGENTA Whenever you're using strobilurins this year it's essential to adopt good resistance management. Appropriate strobilurins are still able to control sensitive Septoria tritici. Additionally,...

Early strike on blight.
April 29, 2003... WHAT THE EXPERT SAYS: SIMON BOWEN OF SOLANUM Use of systemic fungicides early in the blight programme is crucial to protect against potential infection, advises Simon Bowen of Solanum. Don't get complacent with potato blight in the...

Spring barley inputs.
April 29, 2003... WHAT THE EXPERT SAYS: Simon Phillips of New Farm Crops Tempting though it might be, don't cut back too far on spring barley disease control this season. The penalties are too high. Last season, there appeared less Rhynchosporium than normal...

Lawyers, leave farmers alone.
April 29, 2003... Small to medium-sized farms remain under threat from ever-increasing, but ill thought-out state regulation, argues John Kerr. The answer? Put a stop to it all, he says. I received a telephone call last Sunday from a farmer friend who has...

POTATO BLIGHT: Act early against blight.
April 29, 2003... Almost two thirds of potato growers believe Britain's blight problem is getting worse. What's more, a third see blight as an accepted evil and believe there is no prospect of preventing its devastating affects. These are some of the...

POTATO BLIGHT: Devil is in the detail.
April 29, 2003... Attention to detail will be key to blight control this season. Teresa Rush seeks out some advice on staying one step ahead of blight. One of the key issues for potato growers this season will be the threat posed by blight-infected seed,...

POTATO BLIGHT: Getting chemistry right.
April 29, 2003... These are turbulent times for the blight fungicide market. Arable Farming pulls together some main messages as manufacturers jostle for your blight control budget. Don't discard great blight fungicides just because there's a risk of...

POTATO BLIGHT: BASF sets sights on replacement for Fentin.
April 29, 2003... It's early days yet for the 2003 potato crop but BASF already has sights set on the opposite end of the growing season. Results from trials commissioned during 2002 indicate that Ranman TwinPack (cyazofamid) provides an effective alternative to...

POTATO BLIGHT: Sprays - time to rethink.
April 29, 2003... The accepted trigger point for starting blight programmes is when haulm meets within the row, or earlier if risk dictates. According to Bayer CropScience, it's highly likely this season that most growers' risk assessments will justify a start...

The tricky questions that can save you money.
April 29, 2003... Dominic Kilburn seeks opinion on the sprayer test scheme from East Anglian-based Sands Agricultural Machinery. Is your sprayer applying costly chemicals accurately? Do you know if your sprayer is performing to its full potential? Have you...

John Deere scores first in Europe.
April 29, 2003... John Deere is the first sprayer manufacturer in Europe to pass the newly approved test procedure - ENTAM - carried out on an 840 model trailed sprayer. In the test carried out by a national German research centre, the John Deere 840 model...

BALER GUIDE: Baler sales on the up.
April 29, 2003... Sales of new round balers were up substantially last year to around 1,400 units, up on 2001's total of 1,200 units, and second only to the highest recorded number of 1,700 in 1995. AEA figures tell a similar story in the case of large square...

Sunny days and a night frost not a recipe for growth.
April 29, 2003... Talking Arable with our Borders-based farmer Guy Lee Hugo, our 19-year-old son has been working on a 500ha arable farm on the Canterbury Plain in New Zealand's South Island, helping out with harvest and autumn drilling. His employer was Ian...

Talking Arable with our South Devon-based organic farmer, David Pearson.
April 29, 2003... April 11, 2003 Last time I wrote I expressed a wish for some drier weather but how soon things change: Now the farm is parched and desperate for rain. Winter ploughed fields broke down easily and moisture was well retained but recently...

COLIN MYRAM'S CROP TALK: Beeting the night lows.
April 29, 2003... East Anglian-based Colin Myram is a consultant to the agricultural industry, including farmers and suppliers. Commenting on Septoria resistance to strobilurins, he wonders what all the fuss is about! BEET: It has been several years since we...

Child is father to the man.
April 29, 2003... Have you ever wondered what you, as a farmer, look like in the imagination of a child? According to a recent survey, farmers are dungaree-wearing, pitchfork-brandishing, wiffy people who are likely to shout 'get off my land' in a west country...

Bee-ing careful.
April 29, 2003... The British Beekeeper's Association has thanked oilseed rape growers for responsible spraying, reducing the number of spray incidents to negligible levels over the last few years. BBKA chairman Glyn Davies said: "We thank the growers and...

High hopes.
April 29, 2003... With a hemp beer sold through an Amsterdam shop called Nirvana, how are we ever supposed to start to take hemp seriously as a crop? The plant has great potential for UK farmers to grow for its strong fibres and nutraceutical oils (see pages...