Arable Farming articles from April 2006

Arable Farming archives from April 2006

GM regulatory system `unfair'.
April 3, 2006... New agricultural technologies, which could offer benefits to the environment and farmers could be lost due to `flaws' in the regulatory system, a group of environmental scientists has warned. The independent Advisory Committee on Releases...

The Budget 2006 - what was in it for you?
April 3, 2006... On the surface there was not a huge amount of excitement for the agricultural sector in Chancellor Gordon Brown's 10th and possibly last budget speech. However, it was not what Chancellor Brown chose to cover in his speech that was interesting,...

Hill re-elected.
April 3, 2006... Shropshire farmer, and long-time Arable Farming columnist, Arthur Hill has been re-elected chairman of the NFU Combinable Crops Board. Arthur, who was elected as the inaugural chairman of the Board in 2004, was re-elected for a further...

Payment fiasco continues.
April 3, 2006... Farmers in England could be waiting until well into the summer for their Single Payments, it is feared, after revelations that the situation is far worse than previously admitted. Defra is refusing to give any predictions on payment...

ARABLE BRIEF: German farm numbers fall.
April 3, 2006... Figures just out from the German central bureau for statistics (Destastis) confirm that the number of German farms fell by a massive 77,000 (16%) last year to 395,000. When you consider that the total German agricultural area dropped just...

ARABLE BRIEF: Potato marketing.
April 3, 2006... A new organisation has just been formed in Sweden with the aim of improving the quality and marketing of the country's potato sector. Called Svensk Potatis, it represents 75 to 80% of the country's annual production of 500,000 tonnes. ...

ARABLE BRIEF: Catalogue give-away.
April 3, 2006... Agronomy and crop-consultancy company, Agrovista UK has launched a Game- Cover and Forage seeds catalogue in conjunction with DLF Trifolium. As well as explaining the seed range available, the brochure is also a practical guide to...

Latest pesticide strategy published.
April 3, 2006... As AF went to press the Government published its latest strategy on pesticide use and its effect on the environment. 'Pesticides and the Environment: a strategy for the sustainable use of plant protection products' will be delivered through...

ARABLE BRIEF: Polish OSR demands.
April 3, 2006... Polish arable units need to grow a lot more OSR if they are to meet future demands of the country's biofuel sector. That is the conclusion following the news that the sector is expanding at such a rate that it has the capacity to produce a...

ARABLE BRIEF: On-line monitoring.
April 3, 2006... BASF and ADAS' sclerotinia monitoring service went on-line two weeks earlier than in previous years, at the end of last month. Growers and advisors can log onto the web site at www.totaloilseedcare.co.uk for the next three months in order to...

Smith's Soapbox: King Kendall.
April 3, 2006... Farming opinion from Essex-based Guy Smith Contacts: Guy Smith, a Nuffield Scholar, can be faxed on 01255 822050 or email: gsmith2692@aol.com The recent round of NFU office holder elections reminded me of the old joke "You can go a...

Smith's Soapbox: The waiting game.
April 3, 2006... If March 2006 will be remembered for anything it will be the month we were kept in suspense. We waited for our SPS cheques to arrive, we waited for the drought to break, and we waited for spring to arrive. Normally we see daffodils out in last...

Grain maize: Cash on the cob.
April 3, 2006... With an October harvest and and fuel costs to dry grain, many growers will rapidly dismiss grain maize. But it does have a following, and there are markets aplenty. Independent agronomist Simon Draper, who works with the Maize Growers...

Sugar beet: First steps along the route to higher yields.
April 3, 2006... The foundations for good sugar beet yields are laid at establishment. Teresa Rush went along to Broom's Barn for some practical pointers on building yield towards the 70t/hectare target. "This is the year where we've got to look at yields....

European news: Boost for Russian sugar sector.
April 3, 2006... The Russian sugar beet sector is looking to produce 23 million tonnes this season - a big increase on last season's 21.1 million tonnes. Furthermore, although the land area is up from 813,000 to 880,000 hectares, the plan is to boost...

European news: French petrol to contain biofuel.
April 3, 2006... By 2008 all diesel and petrol sold in France must contain 5.7% biofuel. That is the message from the French government which reveals that this figure must be increased to 7% in 2010 and 10% by 2015. It adds that, to reach the first goal, the...

European news: German organic cereal increase.
April 3, 2006... Organic cereal production appears to be on the increase in Germany. According to the German ZMP marketing organisation, the demand for organic bread increased by 7% last year, which means that organic bread now accounts for 3.5% of all bread...

European news: Dutch auction raises money.
April 3, 2006... Attracting over 300 visitors, an auction to dispose of potato harvesters, parts, and tools from Amac's Dutch headquarters raised close to #700,000 recently. By far the most expensive item was a brand new two-row self-propelled tanker-type...

European news: Hungary top biofuel producer.
April 3, 2006... The Hungarian government is working on a series of measures that will make the country one of Europe's leading producers of biofuels. The details remain sketchy, but the government has confirmed that it is looking to entice more farmers to...

Talking Arable with our North Lincolnshire farmer Ambrose Fowler.
April 3, 2006... March 19,2006 I imagine several of you will look at the mug shot and think "My word - he's aged in the last two months since his last column!" Well, that's what waiting for a cheque to arrive has done to me. Fortunately the hair hasn't...

Disease control: Fungicides pay their way.
April 3, 2006... Even if grain prices were to fall and fungicide prices to increase, fungicide use would remain economic in most situations, according to a new report. Teresa Rush reports. A new report by independent consultant Richard Fenwick and...

Pulses: Pulse getting stronger.
April 3, 2006... Pulses have a bright future as fertiliser prices soar and R&D yields results. Alison Lea reports from the HGCA/PGRO Pulses and Oilseeds conference. Pulse-powered soil fertility A saving in nitrogen costs of #25 per hectare should be...

Cereal disease: Stage set for eyespot threat.
April 3, 2006... The eyespot risk in cereals is high this year, disease experts are predicting. Joanna Baker reports. "All the indicators are there for high risk of eyespot this year," says Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) plant pathologist Dr Fiona...

Oilseed rape: Loyal ... to a point.
April 3, 2006... The biofuel industry prefers to use rape oil, but price is key. Alison Lea reports from the HGCA/PGRO Oilseeds and Pulses conference. * World stocks of oilseeds are very high as production has soared. * Rape oil often preferred in food...

Potato agronomy: Alternative option for spraing control.
April 3, 2006... Is there a viable alternative to Temik to suppress the spraing virus, which is carried by free-living nematodes (FLN) or are growers going to have to completely re-assess crop management strategies, rotations and varietal choice? According...

Precision farming: Multi-function control units.
April 3, 2006... The LH Agro Legacy 6000 is one of a range of new multi-function in-cab monitor and control units. It is built using its own CAN-Bus system, which allows a range of different elements to be added with the minimum amount of extra wiring. This...

Precision farming: Blue Tooth connectivity.
April 3, 2006... The first guidance lightbar to use `Blue Tooth' connectivity comes from Farmworks. It costs #350 and provides parallel guidance using the firm's GuideMate software, which is typically loaded into a small PDA, although it can run from any...

Precision farming: Remote sensing device.
April 3, 2006... There are three versions of the NTech GreenSeeker, sold in the UK by J&S Industries. The remote sensing device comes in hand-held, mapping and boom-mounted versions. All the sensors work in the same way, by shining a beam of infra-red...

Precision farming: Savings in fungicide.
April 3, 2006... Crop thickness can be used to detect differences within a crop and to define management zones, according to Agrocom, the Claas electronics subsidiary. Sold and backed in the UK by SOYL, the firm's Crop-Meter costs #8,000 including its ACT...

Precision farming: BBVRT controller.
April 3, 2006... If you can work a digital camera, you can operate the BBVRT controller, says Richard Price, of Patchwork. With the aim of removing the complexity from variable rate applications, the firm has developed the new controller to be as simple and...

Precision farming: New generation controllers.
April 3, 2006... The latest terminal from Muller is one of the first new generation controllers built to the ISOBUS 11783 standard. Sold in the UK by David King electronics, it costs E2,200 for the basic version on to which it is possible to build various...

Precision farming: Sprayer controller.
April 3, 2006... Controllers don't come much more `multi-function' than the AgLeader Insight sold in the UK by Precise-Solutions. The basic unit costs #2,700 and by adding various elements it builds to a comprehensive monitor and control package. Using its...

Precision farming: Crop scouting sensor.
April 3, 2006... The Soil Essential's Crop Circle `crop scouting sensor', costs #2,495, and is designed to measure crop canopy density. This figure can then be used to target particular areas and determine variable rates of fertiliser, fungicide and growth...

Talking Arable with our Bedfordshire grower David Felce.
April 3, 2006... March 18, 2006 On the farm, things are on hold as the cold weather we were promised for winter seems to have turned up in March. Having waited as long as possible, we took the opportunity provided by the dry weather to top our areas of...

Sprayers: Blazing a trail with 36m booms.
April 3, 2006... Self-propelled sprayers are not always the answer when it comes to high output, ease of use, and, in particular, cost, as Arable Farming found out when we visited a Shropshire farming company. The need to increase efficiency and outputs...

Sprayers: Dribble Bar - `two for one challenge'.
April 3, 2006... Essex-based nozzle manufacturer, Billericay Farm Services (BFS) is offering farmers the opportunity to try out the company's new Dribble Bar in an exchange deal for existing nozzles. All farmers have to do is hand in two fertiliser nozzles,...

Sprayers: Keep on testing - before an `inspector calls'.
April 3, 2006... The Voluntary Initiative may have run its `official' 5-year course (see AF March 20), but, whatever happens from here on, the `best practice' climate it has created on-farm must continue. Here, John Parry meets a sprayer tester for the National...

WHAT'S NEW in sprayers: Biggest ever boom.
April 3, 2006... A trailed sprayer with a 3800-litre tank and 40-metre boom - the biggest ever built by Knight Farm Machinery - was launched earlier this year. The EUA trailed model with a sprung steering axle and electronic control system, combines...

WHAT'S NEW in sprayers: First 36m trailed sprayer.
April 3, 2006... Chafer Farm Machinery has launched its first 36-metre trailed sprayer with 4000, 5000 and 6000-litre tank size options, designed specifically to cater for larger growers and contractors. Features include a stainless steel square tank,...

Global view: Affluent Chinese turn away from traditional wheat products.
April 3, 2006... The world's grain traders have long hoped that increasing population and growing affluence would, one day, make China a major wheat importer, but that very affluence is driving wheat consumption lower - just as China's farmers are increasing...

New beet varieties on the List.
April 18, 2006... Out of 13 new varieties considered for addition to the British Beet Research Organisation (BBRO-) funded NIAB Recommended List of Sugar Beet varieties for 2007, six new additions were approved in the Provisionally Recommended Year 1 (PR1)...

Waste exemption for on-farm disposal.
April 18, 2006... The Environment Agency has produced an exemptions application pack ahead of the new waste regulations coming into force on May 15. Under the regulations farmers will no longer be able to dispose of waste by burning or dumping on-farm. All...

Battling the `superbugs'.
April 18, 2006... Soil could prove to be a valuable resource in the battle against `superbugs' such as MRSA, scientists have revealed. An international team of scientists is using bacteria found naturally in the soil to produce new antibiotics in the fight...

Things you didn't know about...Oats.
April 18, 2006... Oat grain could become a highly valuable raw material for a range of medical, cosmetic and pharmaceutical products. Naturally rich in oil, it contains at least four times as much as wheat, which could be used as an ingredient for ice cream,...

Proving a breadmaker.
April 18, 2006... A call for nabim to return to its system of 'proven and not proven' for new potential milling wheat varieties was made at the official launch of Mascot this month. The variety, which comes from the PBI/Monsanto breeding programme acquired...

ARABLE BRIEFS: Speaking out on June 11.
April 18, 2006... From the Fens to the Kingdom of Fife, and from the Wolds to the Weald, June 11 2006 is for Speaking Out. LEAF is urging as many farmers as possible to sign up to Farm Sunday and hold an open day for their neighbours, friends and customers...

ARABLE BRIEFS: Eagle approval.
April 18, 2006... The Pesticides Safety Directorate has approved the use of Eagle (amidosulfuron) in sequence with a spring Atlantis (mesosulfuron-methyl + iodosulfuron-methyl) application, manufacturer Bayer CropScience has announced. Previously the use of...

ARABLE BRIEFS: Wireworm ranking.
April 18, 2006... New work at Scottish Agronomy and SCRI is starting to establish the first ever ranking of potato varieties' susceptibility to wireworm feeding damage. With wireworm now a widespread problem throughout arable areas of England and Scotland,...

ARABLE BRIEFS: Red Tractor Day.
April 18, 2006... Assured Food Standards (AFS) has announced the launch of Red Tractor Day, a new initiative to raise the profile of the Red Tractor logo and communicate its values to a wider audience. Scheduled for April 21, Red Tractor Day will be supported by...

New race of mildew identified.
April 18, 2006... The key findings from last year's Cereal Pathogen Survey were the identification of a new race of mildew that attacks Robigus and a new race of brown rust which attacks a number of varieties including Claire, Istabraq and Alchemy. Results...

ARABLE BRIEFS: Shaping up.
April 18, 2006... Anew sugar beet variety that has been promoted to Provisionally Recommended on the BBRO-funded, NIAB Recommended List for 2007, is claimed to offer savings to growers from lower tares resulting from its shape. The variety OPTA, offered by...

Smith's Soapbox: Young minds.
April 18, 2006... Farming opinion from Essex-based Guy Smith Like many farmers I am keen that young people in schools learn positive things about farming. They are our future customers and they are our future neighbours. I am a great believer in getting...

Smith's Soapbox: Dream on.
April 18, 2006... I had another one of those `Mrs Beckett' dreams again the other night. This time she had summoned me into her office at the top of Defra towers in Whitehall. Before I could say hello she gave me her best toothy smile and announced: "Mr Smith,...

Mycotoxins: Mycotoxin management is a must.
April 18, 2006... With new legislation governing limits, guidance levels proposed and an appearance in the cross compliance handbook, mycotoxins can not be ignored. Teresa Rush provides an update on the latest developments. The UK has a mycotoxin issue, but...

Biofuels: Fuel injection?
April 18, 2006... The potential for growing crops for biofuels is bringing fresh hope to UK farming. Alison Lea takes a look at how the market is developing in the UK. There's nothing new about harnessing the sun's energy for power through crops grown...

BIOFUELS FACTS.
April 18, 2006... * A 5% inclusion of bio-diesel in mineral-derived diesel in the UK requires 1.1 million tonnes of oilseed per annum. * Known biodiesel plants in the UK (nearly all are at ports, and most are close to oil refineries - transport...

GLOBAL REPORT: Chances and challenges.
April 18, 2006... The photograph; Goolwah Marina, South Australia. No I have not retired. More later. First, let me run through some agricultural enterprises in Australia - this while the Australian economy is supposedly booming: Sugar - Slight price...

Potato blight: A cautious and practical approach to blight control.
April 18, 2006... New developments in potato blight forecasting come along from time to time and then tend to fall fairly quickly by the wayside. The Smith Period and Plant-Plus systems are currently the standard decision support tools and will certainly remain...

Talking Arable...with South Devon-based organic farmer David Pearson.
April 18, 2006... The growth in the organic chicken market in the SouthWest should provide increased opportunities for marketing locally produced organic cereals and pulses. No, I haven't had mine either! And according to the latest correspondence from the...

OSR: Intelligence service and resistance movement.
April 18, 2006... Light leaf spot is an annual scourge, particularly for northern growers. Alison Lea reports from a seminar where UK experts talked about future prospects for tackling the disease. Light leaf spot is set to make "a bit of comeback" this...

OSR: What impacts on OSR yield?
April 18, 2006... An HGCA-funded project has concluded that the biggest single yield robber is disease, and, of all OSR diseases, light leaf spot is by far the worst. "We have seen a steady increase in wheat and barley yields over the last decade, whereas,...

Cereal disease: Tanspot - increasing incidence in the UK?
April 18, 2006... Tanspot severely damaged a small number of wheat crops for the first time in the UK last year. Joanna Baker takes a look at the disease and how arable farmers can tackle it. Although it has been around at low levels in Britain for some...

Cereals: Oats bounce back.
April 18, 2006... Oats are back. After a period of low prices with no CAP safety net, the lure of higher contract prices, coupled with firm market demand, has triggered a big rise in the area grown on UK farms. This looks set to spill over into next year,...

ELS: Plus points from ELS management plans.
April 18, 2006... Score points for your own benefit by opting for management plans in Entry Level Stewardship. Alison Lea reports. How to tot up those 30 points per hectare for ELS? Choosing varied features, such as beetlebanks, skylark patches, hedge...

ELS: Software to make it less like hard work.
April 18, 2006... There is no prescribed approach to completing the Soil Management Plan. Defra only provides notes and an example for guidance. To make the task less onerous and to ensure that the plan is quick to reference for future use, Hutchinsons has...

MACHINERY MATTERS: Same CVT.
April 18, 2006... Same Deutz-Fahr is at an advanced stage of development with its first CVT tractor. Known as the Continuo, as this picture of the prototype clearly shows, it is based on a Same Iron tractor. There are two models - 164hp150.7 Continuo and 174hp...

MACHINERY MATTERS: New maxxum.
April 18, 2006... Following a year of intensive rumours, the first photographs of the next generation of Case IH MXM Maxxum tractors have started to appear. Although the full technical details remain under wraps, it is clear that the new tractor uses similar...

MACHINERY MATTERS: TJ updates.
April 18, 2006... Case IH Quad trac operators are likely to be aware that the company recently revealed a new generation of the rubber-tracked tractors. It is unlikely to come to the UK but news from the US confirms that New Holland has also just launched new...

MACHINERY MATTERS: Combine plans.
April 18, 2006... Same Deutz-Fahr's top man Massimo Bordi, has just outlined ambitious plans to kick-start the Deutz-Fahr combine business. Part of the plan is to boost combine production at its Croatian combine facility to 450 machines a year by 2008...

Talking Arable...with our Borders-based farmer Guy Lee.
April 18, 2006... April 3, 2006 Bureaucracy and a complete lack of practicality and common sense are overburdening us. The most ridiculous directive coming out of Brussels recently is the classification of field stones as commercial waste and the necessity...

Farming in Spain: Spanish concerns as EU funds move east.
April 18, 2006... Another Spanish season draws to a close, and yet again we seem to have set more records in terms of hours of sunshine (lack of), on-going rain, and unseasonably cold temperatures. There seems to be mixed messages out of the grain trade,...

Balers: Have you ever considered a `combi-baler'?
April 18, 2006... The need to cover the ground quickly and increase work rates to the maximum means that new ways to increase straw input speeds and bale weights feature prominently in many of today's new large square balers. The next stage could be to take the...

BALERS: EASY TO PICK UP.
April 18, 2006... Krone Big Pack square balers can now be fitted with a new pick-up, which eliminates the need for a cam track control unit. Known as the EasyFlow Pick-up, the main feature is that the tine mountings are attached directly to rotor discs to...

BALERS: BIG PACK GIVES EXTRA BALE COMPACTION.
April 18, 2006... Visitors to last year's German Agritechnica might have seen that Krone used the event to launch a new Big Pack baler. Called the Big Pack 1290 HDP (Ultra High Pressure Baler) and producing a bale size of 1.20m wide x 90cm high x 1-2.7m long, it...

BALERS: Moisture Monitoring system.
April 18, 2006... Arable farms are likely to be aware of the problems of mould and wadding when baling straw when the moisture content is too high. Take heart as the Profitable Farming Company has just launched a system that allows accurate moisture readings...

BALERS: First big square baler for Gallignani.
April 18, 2006... Although the future of the former Laverda big square balers has yet to be decided, if last year's Italian EIMA show is anything to go by then Rustons Engineering could at some point offer a couple of models. On display at the show was...

Potatoes: Up front applicator is better all round.
April 18, 2006... Adapting a front-mounted nematicide applicator to be more environmentally- and user-friendly has resulted in a more cost- effective operation at potato planting time on one Cambridgeshire farm. Cambridgeshire potato grower Chris Dyer's...

MACHINERY: Top of the range addition.
April 18, 2006... One year on from the launch of the MXU MAXXUM X Line tractors, Case IH is adding a fourth model to the range, the 131hp MXU130X. Features include electronic hitch control, a six-cylinder engine, high capacity hydraulics and a choice of...

MACHINERY: RoGator 618 with fertiliser injector.
April 18, 2006... AGCO has launched a RoGator 618 to operate with a liquid fertiliser injector system with a 12m working width and Auto Guide steering. The RoGator 618, designed and constructed by Ag-Chem Europe B.V, has a 225hp Caterpillar engine, combined...

MACHINERY: 8m drill from Moore.
April 18, 2006... Drill manufacturer Moore Unidrill has launched a Tandem Model DPA series drill in an eight metre working width. The drill features a Simba Horsch-supplied hopper, with radar ground speed drive, variable seed rate adjustment and a hydraulic...

MACHINERY: In-store efficiency.
April 18, 2006... Martin Lishman has introduced a complete building ventilation system that will maximise the efficiency of crop cooling and drying systems, it says. The StoreVent system improves crop store ventilation by extracting from the building warm, moist...

Global view: That `special relationship'.
April 18, 2006... We may be America's closest ally, but in recent years Britain had given up its position as US farmers' best customer in Europe. A weak dollar, our taste for high value foods and a market which often mirrors US trends have combined to put...