Arable Farming articles from March 2005

Arable Farming archives from March 2005

Markets must yield more of income in the future.
March 7, 2005... More returns must come from the market as the single farm payment starts to reduce over future years, according to HGCA crop marketing director, Alastair Dickie. "With EU and UK modulation, the national reserve, the national envelope and...

Rising hopes for Egyptian milling market.
March 7, 2005... Egypt, the world's biggest buyer of wheat, has included the UK on its official list of suppliers for the first time. The Egyptian state buying department, General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), announced recently, that it was seeking...

Atlantis flexes up for spring.
March 7, 2005... Bayer CropScience has announced a revision of its recommendations for spring applications of grass weed herbicide Atlantis, giving the product greater flexibility and increasing the number of situations where it can be used. Bayer product...

Prepare for climate change - it is happening!
March 7, 2005... Veteran weather forecaster Bill Giles lightened the mood of the recent UK Irrigation Association seminar (see report on page 16) with an insight into life with the BBC. Mr Giles also gave his thoughts on climate change: "There is no argument...

'No more non-organic cereals'.
March 7, 2005... The Organic Arable Marketing Group (OAMG) is calling for an end to the practice of using conventional and `in-conversion' cereals in organic livestock production. Current EU legislation allows up to10% of conventional and 30% of grain from...

Amistar OSR approval.
March 7, 2005... Syngenta Crop Protection has now received full label approval for the use of Amistar in flowering oilseed rape, for the control of sclerotinia and alternaria. Sclerotinia is an increasing problem in post-flowering oilseed rape and the risk...

New herbicide.
March 7, 2005... Recommendations for getting the best out the clopyralid+picloram herbicide Galera have been fine-tuned as the product goes into its first full season of use, says its manufacturer. The new herbicide is the only post-emergence material available...

Smith's Soapbox: Processors - committed to UK supply?
March 7, 2005... It is easy to get melodramatic about this, but I honestly feel British agriculture may be on the brink of something serious. Things are very much in the balance. We have millions upon millions of affluent consumers on our doorsteps. The...

Smith's Soapbox: Beckett: evading necessary action.
March 7, 2005... Mrs Beckett was in an evasive mood at the NFU annual general meeting. When confronted with two of the key issues where government action could help agriculture, she chose to do nothing. The link between badgers and TB is just about as...

Smith's Soapbox: The word is out.
March 7, 2005... Thank you to all those who have written to me asking for copies of the Farm, Food and Countryside booklet so that they can distribute them to the non-farming public. Generally, the response to the project has been overwhelming. I trusted the...

SPRAYER HYGIENE: New sulphonylurea washout procedures with SX.
March 7, 2005... When time is tight, spray tank washouts between crops are without question a downright inconvenience, particularly where sulphonylurea herbicides are involved. And with less manpower and more acres to spray, most farmers, at one time or...

SPRAYER HYGIENE: Time and water use savings among new SU benefits.
March 7, 2005... Essex farmer and contractor Charles Gunary believes the SX herbicide formulations will make a significant difference to his spraying operations. He was involved with washout trials for the SX products over two seasons during their development...

COLLABORATION: Moving forward with collaboration.
March 7, 2005... The 14th Sentry Farming Conference, held at Chilford Hall, near Cambridge, carried the theme `Collaborating to Compete'. Tia Rund and Dominic Kilburn report. In practical terms, collaboration at farm level is one of the most sensible ways...

FARMING IN SPAIN: The snow in Spain falls mostly - in the south.
March 7, 2005... As more British migrate to the Med, wintery weather has gone to join them. And it's played havoc with cropping plans as our farming correspondent Richard Smith reports. I was amused by a recent comment by Tony Blair: "Why is it that I have...

NFU CONFERENCE: Less interference will help farmers deal with change.
March 7, 2005... These are turbulent times for the farming and food industries - for some it is an exciting time, for some bewildering and for others frightening, said NFU president Tim Bennett in his opening address. The current year is momentous for...

Platform for farming politics: Delay and still no certainty on SFP date.
March 7, 2005... In her formal address, Defra Secretary Margaret Beckett said she could not disguise her `deep disappointment' that the first SFPs could not be made before the current estimate of February 2006. However, despite her concerns, she appeared...

Platform for farming politics: Sugar sector `must be brought into line'.
March 7, 2005... The EC would do the sugar industry no favours if it failed to adopt a reform that provides a clear long-term perspective on the direction it must go. That was the message from European agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel. She...

Implementing the Water Act.
March 7, 2005... A packed house at the UK Irrigation Association seminar discussed, with Environment Agency and other speakers, new regulations affecting water abstractors. Alison Lea picks out the main points. Impacts of the 2003 Water Act Defra head...

WATER: Licence change - the EA view.
March 7, 2005... "You as farmers are dealing with demands of supermarkets. Regarding abstraction licensing, we are trying to balance your need for security of supply with the needs of the environment," Anne Dacey of EA's abstraction licensing group told...

Talking Arable with our Borders-based farmer Guy Lee.
March 7, 2005... February 22, 2005 I have just sold my 2004 wheat harvest at #69 for payment in May. I took this option rather than #67.50 in March because when I go to the pub I can rush around asking what prices others achieved. I know I could have got...

SOIL HEALTH: Soil management makes a difference.
March 7, 2005... In chapter 3 of the book `Target on Establishment', co-authors Dr Vic Jordan and Dr Alastair Leake look at the delicate balance of the soil ecosystem and how changes in cultivation practice can benefit both the soil and the environment. ...

What next for beet?
March 7, 2005... SWEET TALK with Simon Fisher Another sugar beet campaign comes to an end - the last for those selected from the many that volunteered for British Sugar's buyout scheme. For the rest, uncertainty looms in the shape of a new sugar...

Talking Arable with our South Devon-based organic farmer David Pearson.
March 7, 2005... February 21, 2005 With the start of lambing just over the horizon, the weather has decided it's time for winter to start. With the wind from the east, the nice covering of grass will be burnt off if the forecast is right for the week. We...

Fire flares up again.
March 7, 2005... Global Report from our Australian farmer columnist Neil Unger The second part of our Australian farming correspondent, Neil Unger's, account of the terrifying fire that swept through his farm in December 2004. December 1 (First day of...

New tractors on the up!
March 7, 2005... There are plenty of makes and models of tractors if you are in the market to upgrade your horsepower. Steven Vale rounds up what's available. New tractor registrations increased for the fourth successive year during 2004, according to the...

CULTIVATION: Min-till: where next?
March 7, 2005... PRACTICAL MIN-TILL with Jim Bullock A recent survey commissioned by the Soil Management Initiative (SMI) indicated that more than 40% of farmers growing combinable crops in the UK are using some form of minimum or non-inversion tillage. ...

SPRAYERS: Commander sprayers with pivot steering and extra capacity.
March 7, 2005... Mervyn Bailey travels to Denmark where manufacturer, Hardi unveils its latest Commander trailed sprayers. A novel pivot steering system and increased capacity are two of the features of the latest Commander trailed sprayers from Hardi. The...

POTATOES: Cleaning and grading system.
March 7, 2005... With the potato planting season upon us some growers may be turning their thoughts to later in the year when the crop is lifted, transported or stored. Here we look at new grading equipment and four- row lifting systems. Mervyn Bailey and...

POTATOES: Large-scale growers have more choice.
March 7, 2005... Large-scale potato growers looking to go down the four-row harvesting route could soon be able to choose between both trailed and self- propelled versions. That is the message from Dutch-firm Amac, which has just revealed the prototype of...

WHAT'S NEW IN ARABLE.
March 7, 2005... Large arable farms in the market for additional pulling power might like to know that a new 240hp articulated wheeled tractor costing around US$81,000 could soon come to the UK. Made by Argentine-tractor maker Zanello Pauny, the new tractor is...

Crop Talk: Co-op folly.
March 7, 2005... It is sad to see the Co-op producing a list of prohibited chemicals (which are approved by our, and EU, authorities) that cannot be used on crops, and, presumably, food from those crops e.g. bread or beef, that they purchase for resale. As an...

Crop Talk: IPU up and out?
March 7, 2005... It has also been sad to see so much IPU used in the autumn when it is already under threat, because of levels in drinking water, and the Water Framework Directive. If high levels are found this year again it is likely to bring forward its...

Crop Talk: Winter crops in spring.
March 7, 2005... Spring is around the corner, snowdrops are out, daffodils and primroses (yes, we still have them in hedgerows and banks!) are coming out even though some winter weather is, at last, here. Winter crops look very well, black-grass where sprayed...

Crop Talk: Defra at Entry Level?
March 7, 2005... It is strange to me to see the waste of money spent on Defra's Management Plan booklets. In my view they would have been better distributed to primary schools to educate the under sevens because they are at that level! One can only suppose that...

Crop Talk: Sentry duty.
March 7, 2005... It was good news to see that, at the Sentry Farming conference, Professor Anthony Trewavas put in perspective conventional methods of food production in modern agriculture, showing that it is at least as safe, and almost certainly safer, and...