Arable Farming articles from August 2003

Arable Farming archives from August 2003

CROP COMMENT: Follow fertiliser guidance.
August 19, 2003... An important guidance note on new safety regulations for high nitrogen content ammonium nitrate can now be accessed on the Fertiliser Manufacturers Association website, www.fma.org.uk, to assist FMA members in compliance. Since May 1st,...

What do YOUR neighbours think?
August 19, 2003... DEFRA has asked farmers, environmentalists, consumer groups, rural communities and others with an interest in pesticide spraying to contribute to two government consultations on spray operations. The first, described as a preliminary,...

New premises.
August 19, 2003... BCPC and BCPE have moved to Alton, Hampshire from their previous base at Farnham in Surrey. The move to bigger premises allows BCPC Publication Sales to be brought under the same roof. The new contact address for BCPC and BCPE is: 7...

Sir Ben says cereal export licence decision "goes against the grain".
August 19, 2003... Following the suspension on August 1st by the EU Market Management Committee to suspend the weekly tender system for traders wanting licences to sell grain outside the EU, NFU president Sir Ben Gill has written to commissioner Franz Fischler to...

Contractor check.
August 19, 2003... Almost all contractors who specialise in applying sulphuric acid in the UK have now signed on to the new Acid Register set up by the National Association of Agricultural Contractors, and NAAC is urging all potato growers who want sulphuric acid...

Help farmers protect historic sites.
August 19, 2003... Farmers have pledged to work with English Heritage to investigate how more effective protection can be given to ancient sites buried beneath farmland in Britain. This follows campaigning by EH for greater financial support to be given to...

Time to - Speak Out.
August 19, 2003... LEAF has received a financial boost to roll out its Speak Out initiative with money from DEFRA's Vocational Training Scheme. The money will help LEAF to provide farmers with communication/PR training by offering speakers across the country...

Sugar soon.
August 19, 2003... Following early drilling and a good growing season, British Sugar and NFU have agreed the provisional factory opening dates for the 2003 campaign. Newark factory will open on September 12, with the remaining five factories (Allscott, Bury...

Try for no charge.
August 19, 2003... Dalgety is giving away 25kg of certified OSR variety Pyramid to all farmers processing over 125kg of farm saved oilseed rape seed using their mobile processors. The offer is intended to provide farmers with a 'look-see' of the variety...

Book offer.
August 19, 2003... Arable Farming readers can obtain the CLA's book: `A Guide to Rural Business' - containing practical advice to rural entrepreneurs - at a 20% discount off its #14.99 retail price (not incl P&P). Growers should contact LBS Book Services and...

Smith's Soapbox: Circles in your mind.
August 19, 2003... It seems to have been a good year for crop circles with all sorts of detailed patterns appearing in crops as they start to ripen. We had one a few years ago. It was not a very elaborate affair but interesting all the same. When I went to...

Smith's Soapbox: The lessons of harvest 2003.
August 19, 2003... I once read that in a life time a farmer gets about forty opportunities to get it right. I am about half way through this and have never got it any where near right. If I am not careful I might soon be running out of opportunities. So as we...

AUTUMN WEED CONTROL: Make the most of stale seedbed opportunities.
August 19, 2003... Out-of-crop control of grass weeds remains the cheapest and most effective option. Teresa Rush asked stale seedbed experts Monsanto for some advice. Conditions this summer look set to be favourable for hitting grass weeds hard...

AUTUMN WEED CONTROL: Black-grass: time for a re-think?
August 19, 2003... Are we relying too heavily on powerful herbicide technology? Do stale seedbeds in fact have anything to offer black-grass control? These were some of the questions raised by a leading agronomy expert at a recent grass weed control briefing....

Increased grass weed threat this autumn.
August 19, 2003... Missed early treatments last autumn, increasing use of minimum tillage, an increased oilseed rape area and growing resistance problems have all combined to increase the grass weed threat this autumn, believes BASF's Andrew Jones. ...

New herbicide will ease black-grass control pressures.
August 19, 2003... A new cereals herbicide from Mahkteshim Agan will supplement the dwindling range of products that have an ability to control black-grass pre-emergence. While the active ingredients in Uranus - linuron and trifluralin - are not new, they...

AUTUMN WEED CONTROL: Clean OSR break for grass weeds.
August 19, 2003... The chemistry of fluazifop and propyzamide may not be new, but together they still offer oilseed rape growers the opportunity for total grass weed control. Oilseed rape still provides a real opportunity to tackle herbicide resistance in...

GRAIN STORAGE: Best pest protection.
August 19, 2003... Protecting stored organic grain from pests without falling foul of the rules. Alison Lea picks up some tips. A golden rule of combat is 'know the enemy'. Producers of organic grain are not permitted to use chemistry such as...

PESTS: Do you have a slug strategy?
August 19, 2003... A recent survey suggests that 60% of growers don't have a strategy when it comes to slug control and only react when seeing signs of activity. We hear from two growers who have their pest control plans firmly in place. `Wet weather in July...

PESTS: Flea beetle main pest threat to OSR.
August 19, 2003... Latest results from a farmer survey, conducted by the National Farm Research Unit (NFRU), reveal that farmers consider cabbage stem flea beetle to be the most common autumn pest, and phoma the most common autumn disease, of winter oilseed rape....

PESTS: A more subtle approach to slug control.
August 19, 2003... Alison Lea reports on progress mid-way through a LINK project looking at improving slug control by combining cultural and chemical methods already available. With reported widespread re-drilling of cereal and break crops last autumn due to...

PESTS: Getting to grips with gout fly.
August 19, 2003... HGCA-funded research aims to develop guidelines for improved control of gout fly. Teresa Rush reports. The gout fly appears to be raising its game. Traditionally viewed as a 'southern' pest of winter wheat, it has spread in the last three...

MILLING WHEATS: Managing nitrogen to pass protein requirement.
August 19, 2003... Complex calculations are needed to maximise yields and take care of proteins in milling wheats, but it can still be made straightforward for agronomist and grower. Alison Lea reports. Growers are shifting away from feed wheats, favouring,...

HARVESTING: How did they harvest?
August 19, 2003... Combines have brought in the bulk of the winter barley and oilseed rape crops. How did varieties perform? Alison Lea and Joanna Baker report. WINTER BARLEY On-farm, though winter barley samples have been bright, yields have been...

Two new Mega combines.
August 19, 2003... Not everyone needs a full specification Lexion, Claas is well aware and the line-up for next year includes two new Mega combines. The five walker 350 and six walker 360 are based on the previous Medion 330 and 340 and have more or less the...

Terra Trac without bounce.
August 19, 2003... The suspension system which Claas is now using on the Terra Trac front tracks enables the machine to run across tramlines at speed with virtually no bounce on the raised header. The #21,000 tracks are mounted on a trailing arm and the...

Slimmer bale from latest Quadrant.
August 19, 2003... A new `mid-size' square baler is being added to the Claas line-up. Based on the Quadrant 2200 but with a narrower chamber, the new Quadrant 2100 produces 80cm wide bales while retaining the 70cm height of the 2200. In practice this means about...

Talking Arable with our south Devon-based organic farmer David Pearson.
August 19, 2003... 3rd August 2003 With the sun shining and a good forecast for the week ahead it seems unnatural to have no crops ready for the combine. Last year we had oilseed rape but it was the final crop as we started our new rotation. Interestingly,...

Talking Arable with our Borders-based farmer Guy Lee.
August 19, 2003... 4th August 2003 Dear Mr Fish, please don't forget there is life north of Yorkshire. You and your colleagues tell us of the record heat waves for the likes of Guy Smith and imply it covers the whole of the UK. Yet as he is making hay while...

GLOBAL REPORT: Spanish feeling bullish.
August 19, 2003... From our Spain-based farmer/columnist Richard Smith Temperatures in some inland areas of southern Spain hit 50+C last week, in the hottest summer for fifteen years. Bush fires have burnt down houses around Madrid, and the whole country is...

CULTIVATIONS: Soil management - the key to rising profits.
August 19, 2003... Soil structure, texture and suitability for working must all be thoroughly assessed, whether or not there is a plan to change on-farm cultivation techniques. According to the latest information leaflet from the HGCA `Soil management for...

CULTIVATIONS: Broadcast and harrow system proves successful.
August 19, 2003... Establishing autumn crops through a broadcast and harrow system has proved successful in HGCA/ARC trials looking at the importance of plant spacing in Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire. Results from the Bainton trial site in East Yorkshire...

CULTIVATIONS: Min-till or direct drill: consider impact on agronomy.
August 19, 2003... Growers considering a move to reduced cultivation systems such as minimal tillage or direct drilling as opposed to ploughing must consider all the implications to crop agronomy. "If there's going to be a major change to the way crops are...

CULTIVATIONS: Lemken looks to lighten the load.
August 19, 2003... Machinery manufacturers are hard at work finishing new product developments ahead of this year's Agritechnica, in November. One of these is Lemken, which has just revealed some of the new products it will unveil at the show. Just before the...

CULTIVATIONS: PRACTICAL MIN-TILL with Jim Bullock.
August 19, 2003... The two most important areas to be managed in a min-till system are the double SS's - soil structure and stale seedbeds. It is a well known fact that for crops to perform well using min-till a natural soil structure is essential. This is...

CULTIVATIONS: Reducing traffic trouble.
August 19, 2003... A new one-pass cultivator developed by Vaderstad has been designed to bridge the gap between deep cultivations and shallow tillage. Dominic Kilburn sees it in operation. The latest bit of kit to come off the Vaderstad cultivation conveyor...

CHALLENGING THE ESTABLISHMENT: Stale thinking.
August 19, 2003... Down-to-earth views on making `more from less' in crop establishment from leading independent tillage and soil husbandry consultant Steve Townsend. You don't spray when it's raining do you? And, if you do get rained on, you certainly...

CULTIVATIONS: Minimum tillage pays in French fields.
August 19, 2003... Top arable growers in France have bigger farms, spend less on machinery and labour, and use fewer inputs - just as in the UK. David Millar looks at some cultivation stats from across the Channel. Minimum tillage systems are being widely...

POTATOES: Hail to the flail.
August 19, 2003... The combination of a 3-bed flail & spray implement and stem desiccant is providing growers with options on early and main season crops aside from traditional split dose desiccation treatments. Dominic Kilburn reports. With the legislation...

POTATOES: Spotlight on Spotlight.
August 19, 2003... Now in its third season since approval, Spotlight (carfentrazone-ethyl) is a stem desiccant mainly used in the second phase of a desiccation programme after a T1 application of diquat, glufosinate or acid. T2 application rates of 0.25 l/ha...

POTATOES: Trap cropping shows potential for PCN control.
August 19, 2003... Some of the latest PCN control research was outlined to farmers at a Harper Adams University College open day in Shropshire. Kenneth Bowe reports. Populations of potato cyst nematode have been reduced by up to 50% in trap cropping studies...

POTATOES: BP2003 is fast approaching.
August 19, 2003... If you're serious about potatoes, visit British Potato 2003. That's the message from organisers, the British Potato Council, as finishing touches are made to one of the world's largest and most respected single-crop events. BP2003 will run...

CULTIVATIONS: Cutting it by half.
August 19, 2003... Replacing conventional plough, disc and power harrow autumn cultivations with a rotational plough and cultivator press system can halve seedbed preparation costs, improve operation timeliness and make a significant contribution towards...

WHAT'S NEW IN ARABLE: Powerful 4-cylinder from Valtra.
August 19, 2003... Valtra's new M Series is the first line of tractors in the world offering 150 horsepower from a four-cylinder engine, says the company, claiming its design has been determined by three main customer demands: versatility, efficiency and economy....

COLIN MYRAM'S CROP TALK: GM panel sees sense in crop by crop evaluation.
August 19, 2003... JULY 28, 2003 Following on from the last issue I mentioned the EU ban on `GM-free zones' and the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit Report. Since then the GM Nation Debate has closed and the GM Science Review has been published - all 300 pages...

BACK CHAT: Catholic tastes.
August 19, 2003... The Vatican has pronounced GM as a potential saviour of the world from starvation, reports The Times. It has stunned opponents of genetically modified foods by declaring that they hold the answer to world starvation and malnutrition. Until the...