Arable Farming articles from January 2002

Arable Farming archives from January 2002

Challenging the establishment.(tillage and alternative agricultural systems)(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... No-till; Lo-till; Min-till; Eco-till: the list of `alternative cultivation techniques' seems to grow with every season. And the sometimes conflicting and often confusing practice surrounding them is hardly designed to instil confidence in those...

Global biotech plantings burgeoning.(International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications )(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 26, 2002... FARMERS WORLDWIDE grew almost 20% more genetically engineered crops last year, despite resistance from consumers. The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), a group that promotes the technology in...

Make 2002 the year of better business planning.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... Make better business planning one of your New Year's resolutions, suggests Lloyd's TSB head of agriculture Tim Porter. "Our 2001 Focus on Farming survey showed that just a third of farmers used budgets or farm business plans - most...

Timely reminder.(lodged crops)(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... Many growers escaped lodging last season. But don't get caught out this year! Anticipating widespread lodging this season after early drilling, Syngenta's Jason Tatnell says this aerial picture of a lodged crop last year serves as a timely...

Beet the deadline.(extension of beet harvesting deadline)(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... DEFRA has extended the sugar and fodder beet harvest deadline for fields to qualify for set-aside payments this year. The normal 15 January deadline has been extended to allow for the delayed harvest - over a million tonnes of sugar beet...

Tractor sales upturn.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 26, 2002... Registrations of agricultural tractors (over 40hp) increased by 11.7% in 2001 to 11,645 units from 10422 units in the previous year, reports the Farm Equipment Council (FEC). This total is higher than the previous three years, and arises...

Rhizomania row.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... Protected zone (PZ) status must be extended for the whole of the UK for at least two more years to give industry and government time to develop policy for a new disease control status. This is the NFU's response to the government's consultation...

Dowdeswell is back.(Dowdeswell Engineering)(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... Nine months after Dowdeswell Engineering suspended its manufacturing of whole goods the company is planning once more to offer a full range of ploughs, disc harrows and furrow presses to growers. "We have now pared down the company to a...

Birlane reprieve.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... Birlane 24 can continue to be used under Specific Off-label Approval (SOLA) until 25 July 2003 when its continued use will be considered at European level. Growers of winter vegetables were facing a ban from 31 December - 3 years ahead of...

ICM explained.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... A new HGCA/DEFRA guide entitled `Arable Cropping and the Environment' explains the issues surrounding integrated crop management, and seeks to help growers to prioritise ICM decision-making. The 36-page guide draws on data from research...

Mixing juices.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... No organic sugar will be produced in the UK this season, despite successful growing and processing. This is because of a mechanical failure at British Sugar's Newark factory, resulting in juice from this year's conventional crop being mixed...

Three pea suite.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... A NEW PEA seed dressing is available for growers this spring. Wakil XL is Syngenta's triple-action formulation recommended for use on vining and combining pea crops. Its broad-spectrum activity combines three active ingredients with...

Bedding down with royalty.(Royal Warrant for hemp bedding for horses)(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... EAST ANGLIAN-based hemp processing company Hemcore Ltd. has started the New Year with a double dose of good news. Her Majesty the Queen has awarded a Royal Warrant for the supply of hemp horse bedding to the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace....

Calling all anoraks.(rain totals)(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... In the interests of all you rain gauge anoraks out there I hereby publicly declare my total rainfall for 2001 - 700mm or 28 inches. Do I keep my claim to being the driest farm in the British Isles? For those of you who begrudge my claim to this...

Day dreamers and dumpers.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... The glory of the British countryside in mid-winter! Below is a photo I took on New Year's Day. While most of us take it easy over the festive period the dumpers and tippers do not. Burnt out cars, old tyres and other rubbish are now a regular...

Fatted goose.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... On this farm one winter job is spending time and money firing fire- cracker rockets at the Brent geese to stop them grazing the wheat down to the ground. This year this gaggle of Russian visitors are not doing much damage as the crops are...

The 2002 Recommended List.(Statistical Data Included)
January 26, 2002... Alison Lea reports the fate of the candidates for the last NIAB- selected Recommended List. It has been a year of above average yield increases for new varieties joining the Recommended List. The average yield advance is around 1.5% year...

Forward wheat crops need careful management.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 26, 2002... Twelve months ago the challenge facing many growers was to nurse late- established, thin crops through to harvest. Now many of the same growers are faced with lush, forward, high yield potential crops going into the critical spring period....

Get set for safer spraying.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... At the end of last year Ross-on-Wye-based crop protection specialists Technicrop hosted the first of a nationwide series of operator workshops designed to help farmers and sprayer operators avoid water pollution. Teresa Rush reports. ...

Giving grass weeds both barrels.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... Pending registration, there will be a new weapon in the armoury of products to fight the battle against grass weeds in wheat this autumn. Alison Lea reports. A new grass weed herbicide for use in winter wheat contains not one, but two...

Variety choice.(seeds)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 26, 2002... Optic now accounts for over 50% of the English market and nearly 40% in Scotland. Newly Listed Spire (PBIC Monsanto) advances yield by 7% over Optic, but is still being evaluated by maltsters, so its market is still uncertain. Of the rest...

A spring in barley's step.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... Markets and margins are looking up for malting barley. Alison Lea reports. Spring barley has a positive place in the rotation, and not just on traditional barley growing land, says Simon Mountjoy of Brown & Co (top right). "Capacity...

The market for malting barley.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 26, 2002... Export is already very important for malting barley, be it malt or grain, and forecast increased demand could provide great opportunities for British malting barley within the first decade of the 21st Century. This is the verdict of Mark...

Accurate applicator replaces liquid asset.(fertilizer application technology)(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... Investment in fertiliser application technology has relieved machinery work loads as well as reduced fertiliser costs on one Suffolk farm. Dominic Kilburn finds out why. Improving profitability through investment has long been the sales...

High capacity Magnum spreads to 36m.(DPX Magnum from RECO)(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... A new high-capacity fertiliser spreader designed for large-scale farming has been added to the Sulky range distributed in the UK by Huntingdon-based RECO. The DPX Magnum has a spreading width from 12 to 36m and hopper capacities from 2000...

Setting the Trend with electronic flow rates.(EXW Trend fertilizer spreader from KRM)(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... The EXW Trend spreader from KRM with its two-in-one vane system for double, double overlap in-field spread pattern and precise headland spreading by reversing the discs, has a new electronic control system for 2002. KRM was the first to...

Break for the border.(Kuhn Farm Machinery's cab-operated)(spreader)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 26, 2002... A cab-operated border fertiliser spreading system developed by Kuhn Farm Machinery is now available as an option on all machines in the company's Multi-Disc System (MDS) twin disc fertiliser spreader range. Telimat comprises a...

Lely kit back in UK.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... Following the announcement by Lely last year to cease production of its arable-based machinery lines, including its Centerliner fertiliser broadcasters, Dutch company, Tulip Industries has struck a deal with the company to re-introduce the...

Watch urea.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... Farmers considering urea as a nitrogen fertiliser for the coming season should check the source and physical quality and - assuming these are acceptable - be prepared for restricted spreading options due to lower bulk density, says independent...

Sulphur shortfall not being addressed.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... The amount of atmospheric sulphur available to crops continues to decline but there is evidence that growers are not making up the shortfall with sulphur fertilisers. Yields and quality may be suffering in a range of crops as a result. Teresa...

Cost-effective software keeps business on track.(from Farm Works)(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... There's a lot to be said for keeping software simple. Arable Farming talks to a Worcestershire grower who's all-purpose computer software programme assists in the day to day running of every farm operation. Andrew Symonds was first...

Organic debate in Union.(Oxford Farming Conference)(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... Arable Farming columnist Guy Smith witnesses lively debate at the Oxford Farming Conference. It is now becoming an annual tradition for the Oxford Farming Conference to hold a debate in the Oxford Union building. Most of the 500 or so who...

Selling cereals our way. (Pertwood Organic Cereal Company Ltd.).(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... Alison Lea visits a Wiltshire farm where breakfast cereals and flour, made from home-grown organic cereals, are marketed under its own brand. Sixteen years ago Lower Pertwood Farm was indistinguishable from any other holding on the...

Gearing up for spuds.
January 26, 2002... Dominic Kilburn provides potato equipment and agronomy updates. In the process of offering potato growers a full-line of machines for a three-bed system, Grimme UK has developed a high capacity three-bed topper and sprayer unit. Called...

Talking Arable with our Borders-based farmer Guy Lee.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... 12TH JANUARY 2002 Another year and another chance to get it right and not repeat the mistakes of previous years. What an advantage it is to be a born optimist! As years go on, my optimism has not waned but I do find myself putting off...

Scandinavian harvest suffers wet weather losses.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... Prolonged wet and cold weather meant that large areas of cereal crops in both Sweden and Denmark were written off last year. The Swedish grain industry has just disclosed that last year's total production of 5.4 million tonnes, was 4%...

Potato production down 17%.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... Last autumn's wet and cold weather conditions are thought to be one of the main reasons for a big drop in potato production in a number of European countries last year. In Germany, the ministry of agriculture has just confirmed that total...

Russians ready to export wheat.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... Russian growers harvested a record 80m tonnes of cereals last year, an increase of 20% on 2000. In fact, according to the Russian ministry of agriculture, the country is in a position to export 5m tonnes. It is suggested that this figure could...

Drop in German sugar tonnage.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 26, 2002... The drop in the area grown is one of the main reasons why German sugar beet growers harvested only 24.46 million tonnes last year, a big drop on 2000's total of 27.87 million tonnes. Whilst average yields of 54.4t/ha were only slightly down on...

3% of EU land organic.(European Union)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 26, 2002... According to EU figures, 3% (3.7m hectares) of agricultural land is now farmed organically. In total, 130,267 farms are registered as operating organically (1.9% of all farms). However, whilst the area increased by 25% during the period 1995 to...

Spanish in Euroland.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2002... Global Report from our Spain-based farmer/columnist Richard Smith Spain braced itself for the introduction of the Euro. A massive security operation was in place as the first of the new notes and coins were circulated into the banking...