Arable Farming articles from June 2005

Arable Farming archives from June 2005

Leaked sugar reform proposals are more severe.
June 6, 2005... Latest proposals for sugar reform have been leaked some four weeks before they were intended to be made public. They include a bigger cut in support price than originally expected which will lead to an even bigger drop in the price received by...

New mildewicide with new class of chemistry.
June 6, 2005... A new cereals mildewicide, Cyflamid, offering a solution to resistance concerns, has gained registration from the PSD (Pesticide Safety Directorate). It delivers the combination of protectant and curative activity at low rates of the active...

Mixed results of pesticides in water.
June 6, 2005... Overall levels of pesticide contamination of surface water fell significantly in 2003, compared with the mean for the period 1998 to 2002. The 23% drop in pesticide levels may be a result of the work of the VI, less use of the top nine...

Trailed and mounted sprayers available from 2006.
June 6, 2005... Trailed and mounted sprayers will be available in the UK from Kuhn Farm Machinery from spring 2006, and several machines will make a first appearance in this country at Cereals 2005. The trailed Toprider range is available with a 3,100...

ARABLE BRIEF: Safety: Keep up-to-date on the web.
June 6, 2005... The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched an agriculture e- mail bulletin to provide updates about the latest health and safety issues. The E-bulletin will be issued free to subscribers roughly every three months, giving...

ARABLE BRIEF: Nominate potato personality.
June 6, 2005... The BPC is inviting nominations for this year's British Potato Industry Award. The award is presented to an individual in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the industry. Previous winners include Richard Harris OBE (2003); and...

Don't rat on wildlife.
June 6, 2005... A campaign to promote responsible rodenticide use in rural areas has been launched. The Campaign for Responsible Rodenticides Use (CRRU) involves collaboration between seven companies involved in their manufacture and marketing. At the...

ARABLE BRIEF: More GM trouble for the EC.
June 6, 2005... The European Commission is facing fresh problems over GM crops. Member states' scientists again failed to deliver the necessary majority to allow two recommendations for approval to be accepted. These were for crops to be used in livestock...

ARABLE BRIEF: Sampler for outloading.
June 6, 2005... A new automatic bucket sampler, designed to ease the process of taking a representative sample of grain, will be demonstrated on the HGCA stand at Cereals 2005. "The bucket sampler provides a safe and practical approach to on-farm sampling...

Smith's Soapbox: All on board.
June 6, 2005... Farming opinion from Essex-based Guy Smith In the main part the British countryside is not a natural landscape. You have to go back several thousand years to find it in its natural wooded state. Today the architecture that fashions our...

SPRAY MANAGEMENT: Containers: A clean bill of health?
June 6, 2005... Spray waste management was the focus of a one-day conference held by the Association of Applied Biologists at Harper Adams in Shropshire. Joanna Baker reports. Cleaning chemical containers thoroughly before disposal should be a top...

MILLING CONFERENCE: Lines of defence against mycotoxins.
June 6, 2005... Campden and Chorley Wood Food Research Association (CCFRA) organised a well-attended conference for the milling wheat supply chain to discuss fusarium mycotoxins. Alison Lea picks out the salient points for growers. AGRONOMIC PRACTICE ...

MILLING CONFERENCE: What's the limit?
June 6, 2005... Under EC legislation, the limit for DON contamination is 1250ppb. However, during discussion at the conference, it became apparent that different companies set their own limits, the lowest of which was Weetabix, which imposes a maximum allowed...

MILLING CONFERENCE: Barely in barley.
June 6, 2005... Nigel Davies of Muntons Malt said that the UK has very low levels of mycotoxins in barley and malt, and, provided that farmers continue to manage to maintain this situation, this provides the UK with an export advantage. "This 'country risk' is...

MILLING CONFERENCE: Manage your market.
June 6, 2005... There is more scope than ever for contracts and agreements between growers and buyers of grain. "The grower needs to achieve more price security, and buyers need more supply security," said HGCA economist Julian Bell. He pointed to the...

MILLING CONFERENCE: No cost benchmarking.
June 6, 2005... An HGCA project, entirely funded by government, provides farmers with an opportunity to benchmark performance against other growers, in complete confidence. Chris Barnes, project manager for the Cereal Industry Forum, explained the aspects of...

MILLING CONFERENCE: A fresh look at bread.
June 6, 2005... Paul Molyneux of RHM gave an insight into the bread market. "Forty loaves of bread are eaten per person each year. Though this is a falling market, as consumer tastes widen, we are proud that use of UK wheat in grists has risen from 15% in the...

MILLING CONFERENCE: Trouble at the mill.
June 6, 2005... Insufficient supply, poor protein levels, and even more haulage problems. These were all concerns about the impact SPS on the milling industry, expressed by George Mason of Heygates Ltd. "If 10% of land came out of production, this would...

SUGAR BEET: Resistance on the rise.
June 6, 2005... For the first time, the variety with the highest sugar yield potential on the sugar beet Recommended List is Rhizomania resistant. John Parry discovers what this now means for beet growers in this country and whether it might spell the end for...

SUGAR BEET: Virus yellows effect doubled on rhizomania sites.
June 6, 2005... Edward Long reports. Sugar beet grown on rhizomania-infected land are particularly at risk from the yield-sapping effects of virus yellows, according to scientists. "The two together give a 1+1=2.5 scenario," explains virologist Dr...

WINTER BARLEY: Will Flagon fill the barrels?
June 6, 2005... Pearl still dominates the winter barley market, but could its successor have arrived? Alison Lea assesses the only winter malting variety to be added to this year's Recommend List. Diamond, Pedigree, Aquarelle. They all looked promising,...

Talking Arable with our South Devon-based organic farmer David Pearson.
June 6, 2005... May 22, 2005 Completing the SP Scheme occupied several hours of my time and considerable input from a friend who actually seems to relish this sort of task. Am I paying him too much? But, joking apart, the whole project turned into a...

Talking Arable with our Borders-based farmer Guy Lee.
June 6, 2005... May 23, 2005 They say a week is a long time in politics. Well, it is seven weeks since I last contributed, and much of what I wrote then is unrecognisable as to what has happened since. Then, I felt pleased with myself for sowing...

INTEGRATED FARMING: Min-till: Not plain sailing, but worth it.
June 6, 2005... The switch to min-till at Loddington has brought many benefits, notably cost savings, environmental benefit, and improved soil structure - principally from the build up of organic matter and earthworm populations - but has also brought...

INTEGRATED FARMING: Action against resistance.
June 6, 2005... Herbicide resistance develops about three times as fast in a non- inversion tillage situation than in fields that are ploughed annually, according to TAG's Jim Orson. "You are selecting more for resistant types as you are spraying more...

INTEGRATED FARMING: All in good order with soil cross compliance.
June 6, 2005... Showing that you are keeping land in 'Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition' (GAEC) for SPS cross compliance, is currently concerning many farmers. Soil specialists Ian Bradley and Paddy Johnson gave key recommendations for fulfilling...

INTEGRATED FARMING: Gain for game and wildlife.
June 6, 2005... Years of game and wildlife crop type trials at Loddington provided valuable information for ELS and Higher Stewardship schemes in which farmers are paid for growing small areas of cover. Many different crop types don't grow well together,...

AGRONOMY: What lies beneath?
June 6, 2005... A new initiative from Bayer CropScience aims to help growers better manage the threat posed by slugs and to promote an integrated approach to control of the pest. Teresa Rush reports. Under the banner of 'Slugwatch' Bayer is monitoring slug...

MIN-TILL: Conserving the soil.
June 6, 2005... Conservation tillage is a cost effective method of crop establishment that has the ability to improve soil structure and resilience, while also having a huge impact on environmental quality. That was the message from Vic Jordon, Soil Management...

SOIL MANAGEMENT: Assessing your soils.
June 6, 2005... Vaderstad recently organised a field day which, apart from providing visitors with an opportunity to assess the company's latest cultivation and drilling machinery, also presented, for many, a first glimpse of a new soil management aid -...

FARM ASSURANCE: Assuring an advantage.
June 6, 2005... Independent assurance company Genesis QA has launched `Genesis Advantage' - a scheme devised for growers to add value to the farm and offset some of the costs incurred by farm assurance. Genesis Advantage, the latest scheme from the farm...

FERTILISER SPREADER MAINTENANCE: Caring for the spreader.
June 6, 2005... One of the most corrosive and moisture-attracting materials found on the farm, fertiliser can wreak havoc with spreaders which have not received a good "going over" at the end of the season. Michael Bird highlights the areas on spinning disc...

COLIN MYRAM'S CROP TALK: Wheat ears.
June 6, 2005... Spraying of wheat ears (T3) is now taking on greater importance as Septoria resistance and susceptibility drift to fungicides are upon us. This is because curative (that is, after infection but before symptoms) effects are diminished in...

COLIN MYRAM'S CROP TALK: Fast sprays.
June 6, 2005... The first piece of information to come out under their new label is a fascinating innovative video on CD showing high speed photography of droplets impacting on different crop or weed species with a range of pesticides with and without...

COLIN MYRAM'S CROP TALK: New ear wash.
June 6, 2005... This year we have some additions to the T3 stable, which has traditionally included the triazoles, Folicur and Caramba, and the strobilurins, Amistar and Swing Gold. From the triazole camp is prothioconazole, as in Proline or Presaro; the...

COLIN MYRAM'S CROP TALK: Industry moves.
June 6, 2005... Nothing seems to stand still for long these days, and the long awaited management buyout has taken place at distributor UAP from previous owner Conagra. They should be wished every success, as it would not be in anyone's interest - and that...

Bioethanol plant is a step nearer.
June 27, 2005... Peterborough-based British Sugar has announced that it has placed a contract for the design of the UK's first bioethanol production facility. Planned to come on-stream in 2007, the plant will be capable of producing 55,000 tonnes of...

Monitoring midges reduces spray use.
June 27, 2005... Use of insecticides to control wheat orange blossom midge has been restricted to just two commercial fields of susceptible varieties of winter wheat on the ADAS Boxworth farm as a result of applying findings from a LINK project. The aim of...

Monitoring for peas please.
June 27, 2005... Growers of peas are advised to keep a watchful eye on pea moth and pea midge numbers following early sightings of the pests. "A few pea moths are now appearing in pheromone traps in certain parts of the country," said Anthony Biddle of...

Sorting slug populations.
June 27, 2005... Slugs may not always be top of the list of agronomic considerations, but they are without doubt a pest that growers ignore at their peril. Given suitable weather and soil conditions, slugs can completely devastate an establishing crop of...

ARABLE BRIEFS: Ergot increase in FSS.
June 27, 2005... The ergot problem is now so bad that every grower of milling wheat should have their seed treated this autumn with a fungicide that is active against the disease, according to one of the UK's leading mobile seed cleaning companies. "Our...

ARABLE BRIEFS: IOB approves two barleys.
June 27, 2005... Winter barley Flagon, which joined the HGCA Recommended List for 2005/06 has received Provisional 2 Institute of Brewing (IOB) approval for its UK malting quality. Flagon from New Farm Crops, the cereal breeding arm of Syngenta Seeds, is...

ARABLE BRIEFS: Ergot in certified seed.
June 27, 2005... Incidence of ergot in Certified wheat seed samples was just 1% last year - down from 5% in the previous year. But it could rise again if conditions favour the fungus, according to NIAB pathologist Bruce Napier. He adds that the...

Mycotoxin threat in perspective.
June 27, 2005... Results from a three-year survey of 1,400 sites in northern Europe have provided an insight into the relative significance of mycotoxins in wheat. The survey was carried out by BASF ahead of the proposed imposition of maximum limits by the...

ARABLE BRIEFS: Fertile ground.
June 27, 2005... Fertiliser manufacturer Yara has brought out two new products. Green Crop 27:6:6+6.5% SO3, and Incrop 25:7:7 provide the option of blends with or without sulphur. The two compounds form part of Yara's Incrop System Approach, launched in the...

Smith's Soapbox: 24 hours with Oliver Walston.
June 27, 2005... Farming opinion from Essex-based Guy Smith A weekend with Oliver Walston in the middle of France might sound like some sort of penitential sentence but for me it was a time spent with a man whose company I always enjoy and whose infamy I...

Walston writes back.
June 27, 2005... I always knew there was something strange about Guy Smith but the problem was I had no concrete proof of this condition. His GP was reluctant to release his medical records, his hockey coach changed the subject when I probed and his Vicar...

POLICY: UK Presidency: Opportunity or threat?
June 27, 2005... With the UK taking over the mantle of the Presidency of the EU Council imminently, Robert Gooch explains what this will really mean for UK agriculture. Tony Blair will be in charge of Europe from July 1 until the end of the year. On the...

AGRONOMY: New cereal seed treatment options for autumn 2005.
June 27, 2005... The arrival of a new seed treatment is an infrequent occurrence but, this autumn, cereal growers will have the option of three new products. Teresa Rush reports. The new products all incorporate new seed treatment active ingredients and...

OSR: A SMARTer way to grow OSR.
June 27, 2005... Precision pays, a nationwide OSR growing trial concludes. Manage your winter oilseed rape with the precision of wheat, and you can consistently harvest at least 5 t/ha, insists Masstock agronomist, Philip Marr. He and his Brotherton...

OSR MARKETS: Oiling the rape market wheels.
June 27, 2005... There are exciting potential markets for oilseed rape. Alison Lea reports. Oilseeds are an ideal vector to deliver large industrial volumes to a range of technical industries, and have the potential to be one of the major non-food crops...

OSR TRIALS: OSR open to scrutiny.
June 27, 2005... Current and potential future OSR varieties are compared side by side in a breeder's trials. OSR breeder Syngenta NK is inviting growers to scrutinise existing Recommended OSR varieties (its own and others), and potential future varieties....

OSR BREEDING: Achtung! 1t/ha more.
June 27, 2005... German growers are big supporters of hybrid OSR varieties. Should we take a leaf out of their book, asks Alison Lea. The highest yielding OSR growing area in Germany - the north - is on the same latitude as Scotch Corner in northern...

OSR: Poland plans for oilseed expansion.
June 27, 2005... Poland is the fourth largest producer of oilseed rape in Europe, behind the UK, Germany and France and has plans increase its production. Teresa Rush reports. Oilseed rape occupies some 538,000 hectares in Poland, broadly similar to the...

OSR: T1 timing, growth regulation.
June 27, 2005... Polish oilseed rape growers currently use fungicides as much for their growth regulatory activity as for disease control, explained DuPont's Robert Matysiak. At the autumn or T1 timing, growth regulation is the key reason Polish growers...

OSR: Open minded on varieties.
June 27, 2005... A spread of varieties reduces the effects of swings in the weather for last year's Cereal Event host farm. Hybrids or conventionals? Low biomass or taller types? Last year's Cereal Event host, Andrew Ward is open-minded on variety choice...

COSTINGS: Assault on the rock face of costs.
June 27, 2005... Keep chipping away at variable costs, but take a sledgehammer to operational costs. Tia Rund learns more about Sentry Farms' approach. Leave no stone unturned in your quest to reduce costs, and also be prepared to farm more extensively....

CEREALS 2005: Einstein wins.
June 27, 2005... The NIAB Cereal Cup, awarded in recognition of a variety's success in the market place, was presented to Nickerson for its winter wheat, Einstein. Commenting on Einstein, NIAB said the Group 2 variety has made a real impact in the wheat market...

CEREALS 2005: Firebird takes flight.
June 27, 2005... Bayer launched a low dose (0.3 l/ha) herbicide for pre- and early post emergence control of annual meadow grass and a range of broadleaved weeds in all varieties of winter wheat and winter barley. Firebird contains flufenacet and...

CEREALS 2005: Survey suggests Single Payment scheme will hasten change.
June 27, 2005... A new survey suggests that the introduction of the SPS will hasten the restructuring of the farming industry, not only on farms, but also the businesses that supply them. HSBC, the principal sponsor of the Cereals event, conducted the...

CEREALS 2005: Campaign for Fairplay for seed breeders.
June 27, 2005... A drive to stamp out unpaid farm saved seed (FSS) royalties was launched by the British Society of Plant Breeders (BSPB). The Fairplay campaign aims to recoup #2 million - around 10% of FSS royalties - that BSPB estimates farmers are not...

CEREALS 2005: VI focus - keeping pesticides out of water supply.
June 27, 2005... `Stay focused on protecting water quality' was one of the key messages from the Voluntary Initiative at Cereals 2005. Launching the 2005 H2OK? Keep it Clean campaign at the event, VI manager Patrick Goldsworthy said that whilst much had...

CEREALS 2005: POWER to pesticide applicators.
June 27, 2005... A new certificate of competence for managers, foremen and supervisors in agriculture and the amenity sector was launched at Cereals. The Protection of Water, the Environment and Recommendations (POWER) Certificate has been developed by BASIS...

CEREALS 2005: Velcourt selection block.
June 27, 2005... A selection of the 50 projects funded under the Sustainable LINK programme was on show at Cereals in the 'What's New in Arable Farming' area, supported by Velcourt, Bayer CropScience, Syngenta, Househams, Vaderstad and Case IH. LINK has...

CEREALS 2005: Two herbicides for the future.
June 27, 2005... New herbicides from Syngenta offer the potential of new options for grass weed control in wheat and barley. Prosulfocarb is targeted at pre- or peri-emergence treatments for control of black-grass and ryegrass. Timing is dependent on soil...

CEREALS 2005: Grow green fuel for Glencore.
June 27, 2005... Glencore was offering rape growers the opportunity to secure a rapeseed price of #140/t ex-farm for harvest 2006. The ability to secure this price so far forward should enable growers to plan and plant rape crops with confidence this...

CEREALS 2005: Short rotation coppice contracts.
June 27, 2005... Greenergy, whose annual turnover in European fuels is #1 billion, was an early entrant to the biofuels market with its 'Field to Forecourt' contract, launched in 2003. It now has over 1200 signatory farmers accounting for 160,000t/yr of...

CEREALS 2005: Plant power to halt global warming.
June 27, 2005... Biofuels was a recurrent theme around the Cereals site. Stealing the show was a car, the only one of its kind in the UK to run on 85% bioethanol - although it can also run on petrol. The Ford Focus FFV - which stands for Fully Flexible...

CEREALS 2005: Think before locking in.
June 27, 2005... Growers should be able to profit from biofuels production, but they should proceed with caution, warned the Tenant Farmers Association. TFA's south east regional chairman, Andrew Martin, who farms on Romney Marsh, has obtained funding to...

CEREALS 2005: ELS bonus for spring crops.
June 27, 2005... With low prices expected to prevail into next year, growers should consider establishing spring crops into over-wintered stubble, said SW Seeds' Emma McMillan. "The points available for spring cropping after over-wintered stubble under the...

CEREALS 2005: Start crop planning with Seed Selector.
June 27, 2005... An updated and expanded edition of Grainfarmers UAP's Seed Selector wheat, barley and oilseed rape variety guide was available to visitors to the company's marquee. The 8-page, A4 guide folds out to wall chart size and takes the reader...

CEREALS 2005: Top of the crop.
June 27, 2005... A new winter oilseed rape variety with the highest seed yield on the HGCA Recommended List 2005/06 was launched by NK, the oilseeds brand for Syngenta Seeds. NKBravour is a conventional variety, whose attributes include short to medium...

CEREALS 2005: New Group 1s?
June 27, 2005... Two RL Candidate breadmaking wheats were promoted at Cereals 2005. RAGT's Chris Black reported "extremely positive" feedback from millers Allied, RHM and Heygates on Mascot. "All three say they have no hesitation in calling Mascot a Group One,...

FARM BUSINESS: To crop or not to crop?
June 27, 2005... A consultant's view on factors that should influence the decision on whether or not to grow a crop under the Single Payment Scheme. Alison Lea reports. With subsidy and production now two completely separate aspects of the farm business,...

CPB TRIALS: Vertical viewpoint.
June 27, 2005... Keeping crops from the horizontal is an overriding consideration for growers in the Borders, finds Alison Lea. Wet and windy isn't just a passing weather front, it's a way of life for growers in the Scottish Borders. Even along the...

Talking Arable with our Bedfordshire grower David Felce.
June 27, 2005... June 1, 2005 The end of May saw some varied weather - from the hottest May day since Tesco last failed to make a huge profit, to some very welcome rain. As a result, oilseed rape looks better than last year, but is always difficult to...

SUGAR BEET DISEASE: Robust beet strategy.
June 27, 2005... Sugar beet growers could be faced with a challenging season because of the unusually cold weather during May, which compromised early growth of the crop in some situations. Early onset of mildew and rust in the crop means growers -...

CONTRACTORS: Getting to grips with MF's giant.
June 27, 2005... Massey Ferguson's 8400 Dyna-VT series - comprising four models, and spanning 215 to 290hp - was launched at the end of last year. Steven Vale takes a closer look at the top model, the MF 8480. Although the 8480 is rated at 290hp at 2200rpm,...

TRACTORS: Mid-range models from France.
June 27, 2005... Claas has stamped its mark on the Renault Agriculture business with the introduction of the new four-cylinder and smaller six-cylinder Ares tractors. Mervyn Bailey reports from France. Trevor Tyrrell of Claas UK says that the company will...

WASTE DISPOSAL: Fantastic plastic waste solution.
June 27, 2005... How are you going to dispose of waste plastic when the burning and burying ban comes into force this autumn? Alison Lea reports on one simple and environmentally-sound solution. Legislation will come into effect this autumn prohibiting...

MIN-TILL: After a piece of the min-till market.
June 27, 2005... German cultivation equipment manufacturer, Rabe is turning its attention to the min-till market. Mervyn Bailey reports. Rabe is a name well known to plough and power harrow users but it now wants a slice of the growing min-till market. ...

MACHINES: Terrasem disc coulter drills.
June 27, 2005... Landmec Pottinger has extended its range of trailed mulching seeders to include two completely new models - with 3 and 4m working widths. Called 'Terrasem', they join the existing 6m machine. At the front, two rows of 51cm diameter discs...

MACHINES: Turn-assist for Case tractors.
June 27, 2005... Case-IH MXU tractors can now be fitted with Turn-assist known as Fast Steer when fitted to the New Holland TSA. This uses a smaller steering wheel inside the main one and once pressed down allows the front tyres to achieve full lock once the...

MACHINES: Standen to import Ploeger.
June 27, 2005... Standen Engineering is to import the Ploeger range of self-propelled potato harvesters for the UK and Ireland. The AR-4B machine from the Dutch manufacturer can lift four-rows at 75cm (30in) or 90cm (36in) but there is also a three-row machine...