Arable Farming articles from May 2004

Arable Farming archives from May 2004

May midge alert.
May 10, 2004... Soil sample checks for wheat orange blossom midge indicate some heavily infested sites - the worst being in East Anglia, in Cambridgeshire and Essex. Recent checks by ADAS at potentially higher-risk sites in the Midlands and eastern...

Now we are 25.
May 10, 2004... The month of May carries some extra clout this year: On May 1, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta joined the EU. This makes the EU the world's largest trading bloc, in terms...

Septoria sleuth is tested out.
May 10, 2004... A disease test kit being tried out for the first time this season shows that 98% of winter wheat crops currently showing no visual signs of Septoria tritici are, in fact, already infected with the disease. The test kit is being developed by...

Chipping in for potatoes.
May 10, 2004... National Chip Week helped trigger increased sales of fresh potatoes and potato products in major retailers and a greater demand for raw product from food outlets, according to the British Potato Council (BPC), which ran the PR campaign in...

Oilseed rape `flower powers' Tesco.
May 10, 2004... Tesco has become the first major retailer to bring biodiesel to customers around the UK with the start of a national roll-out of Greenergy GlobalDiesel. It is a quality blend of 95% Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel and 5% rapeseed biodiesel produced...

Pea protection.
May 10, 2004... Vining pea growers have a new product to defend against pea midge attack this season now that deltamethrin-based insecticide decis Protech has been approved for control of the pest. Pea midge is a very localised pest, principally affecting...

Direct brand dropped.
May 10, 2004... Seed breeder CPB Twyford has scaled back its Internet trading operations, including dropping its CPB Direct brand, which means it no longer offers cut-price deals on the web. Growers will still be able to purchase rape and maize seed on...

Labour agent.
May 10, 2004... After a successful trial last year, the NFU Virtual Job Centre is being extended and launched earlier in the growing season this year. The virtual jobcentre - at www.NFUonline.com - will carry details of seasonal jobs from across the...

Curzate new formulation.
May 10, 2004... DuPont has launched a new water dispersible granular formulation of the blight fungicide Curzate M68 (cymoxanil + mancozeb) in time for use this season. The new formulation is quicker and simpler to use than its predecessor because it does...

Expert seller.
May 10, 2004... Advanta Seeds has reached an agreement for the marketing of its oilseed rape variety Expert with United Oilseeds Marketing Limited. Conventionally-bred Expert was newly Recommended last winter Bred by Momont in France, Expert was...

Smith's Soapbox: Points mean prizes.
May 10, 2004... I am one of those miserable types who can't be bothered with fussy schemes that might save me money. At the supermarket check-out I am constantly being asked if I have a loyalty card, the answer is always "no" and then I always worry that I am...

Smith's Soapbox: Sexing up the dossier.
May 10, 2004... Late April saw a new visitor to the farm - the hoopoe. The hoopoe is quite common in southern Europe, but is very rare in Britain. It is the most bizarre-looking creature and, to the ornithologically challenged, it must look suspiciously like...

Smith's Soapbox: The lapwing challenge.
May 10, 2004... In spite of my insistence that the RSPB is in the business of "sexing up the dossier" I am quite ready to accept that SOME species of bird have not benefited from SOME changes in British agriculture since the war. One such example is the...

WATER ABSTRACTION: Be worldly about water.
May 10, 2004... Getting together is the only way to tackle the geyser of new water regulation. Alison Lea reports Do you abstract water? If the answer is yes, then if you haven't been caught up in CAMS consultations, it is likely you soon will be. ...

WATER ABSTRACTION: Learning to live with restricted water.
May 10, 2004... The earliest abstraction group in the eastern region predates the CAMS process by a decade, and provides a model for how, by grouping together, farmers can make their voices heard more effectively, and work more harmoniously with the...

Consultations: too prescriptive?
May 10, 2004... Consultations: Benevolent or authoritarian in tone? John Kerr comments. Surely 2003-2005 will live in most farmers' memories for a very long time - a time of structural upheaval across the whole farming industry. Wherever you care to look...

Fillip for sustainable farming?
May 10, 2004... The new Environmental Stewardship Scheme includes annual payments for organic farmers. Talking Arable columnist David Pearson, whose Devon farm is fully organic, assesses what it means for his business. On April 14 the European Commission...

BLIGHT CONTROL: EIQ - a new tool in potato production?
May 10, 2004... A leading UK potato packing company believes that the environmental consequences of blight control are an important component of overall potato production, and has set out to devise a benchmarking scheme by which such consequences can be...

BLIGHT CONTROL: No fall-back position on blight.
May 10, 2004... Potato growers are being warned not to lower their guard in the fight against blight. "They could lose the battle if they economise on spray programmes this year in response to low levels of disease in the 2003 crop," says BASF potato products...

BLIGHT CONTROL: More research needed?
May 10, 2004... Research commissioned by the British Potato Council sought to investigate possible changes in the blight population in England and Wales. Teresa Rush reports British Potato Council (BPC)-funded research into the frequency of mating strains...

WHEAT: A wheat 'for all seasons'.
May 10, 2004... Group 2 wheat Cordiale is fast developing and early maturing so it is highly flexible James Gibson discovers. Cordiale, CPB Twyford's 2003 Recommended Group 2, is capable of giving high yields from early and late sowings in both first and...

DISEASE CONTROL: DON legislation by 2005?
May 10, 2004... Legislation on toxin contaminants of grain and cereal-based foodstuffs could apply to crops drilled this autumn. Teresa Rush reports. European Union legislation imposing maximum permitted levels in grain of a range of toxins, including...

DISEASE CONTROL: No compromising over uptake of triazole partners.
May 10, 2004... Use of Bravo (chlorothalonil), either straight or in formulation with azoxystrobin in Amistar Opti does not compromise uptake of triazole partners, maintains Syngenta. Such has been the level of debate on this issue since the renewed...

DISEASE CONTROL: The short route to Septoria control.
May 10, 2004... Irish wheat growers have opted for short spray intervals and robust rates of triazole fungicides in response to the threat posed by strobilurin-resistant Septoria tritici. The so-called `foci' of Septoria infection that experts believe may...

DISEASE CONTROL: Two is better than one.
May 10, 2004... Results from 2003 Septoria tritici resistance trials demonstrate that strobilurins continue to provide clear yield benefits in the absence of disease, says Syngenta. Yield benefits from strobilurins were higher than expected last year...

DISEASE CONTROL: Activity ratings challenged.
May 10, 2004... Strobilurin manufacturer Syngenta has challenged guidance on fungicide activity ratings published in HGCA's `Wheat disease management - 2004 update'. Speaking at a fungicide technical briefing in Ireland, Paul Varney, the company's cereals...

Talking Arable with our North Lincolnshire farmer Ambrose Fowler.
May 10, 2004... April 26, 2004 Talk about April showers! It has proved to be an interesting spring so far with unseasonably cooler temperatures and days that didn't really dry at all. Nevertheless, we managed to be drilled up by the week after Easter and...

CEREALS 2004: PREVIEW.
May 10, 2004... After a record-breaking year in 2003, Cereals 2004 is expected to continue its wave of popularity. Some 300 specialist exhibitors have booked and the organisers, Royal Agricultural Society of England is expecting to welcome thousands of...

CEREALS 2004: The host farm.
May 10, 2004... Visitors to Cereals 2004 could be forgiven for thinking that host farmer Andrew Ward has an easy life, with the free-working, 'forgiving' land at the appropriately-named Heath Farm, where the event is being held on a 53 hectare site. But,...

CEREALS 2004: Add value throughout the food supply chain.
May 10, 2004... HSBC is principal sponsor of Cereals 2004. Through its sponsorship and exhibits at the event, it will be encouraging arable farmers to forge stronger relationships with their customers and work together with others in the food supply chain....

CEREALS 2004: Open plan welcome at the Velcourt event.
May 10, 2004... Velcourt has devised a varied selection of demonstrations for its Arable Event at Cereals 2004, presented this year in a more 'open-plan' arrangement that will allow visitors to easily dip in and out of its 'event within an event'. ...

CEREALS 2004: Syngenta previews two new products at Cereals event.
May 10, 2004... Two new crop protection products, currently under development, will be previewed at this year's Cereals event. Both are being exhibited by crop protection manufacturer, Syngenta. Under a stand theme of, "Better protection through...

CEREALS 2004: Disease control decisions.
May 10, 2004... Disease control decisions take centre stage in the Central Science Laboratory (CSL) exhibit at Cereals 2004. Whether it's tracking disease progress and severity across the country, using decision tools to explore treatment options, or keeping...

CEREALS 2004: Pest control for free.
May 10, 2004... Agri-environment schemes such as Defra's Countryside Stewardship and Entry Level schemes aim to enrich the landscape and improve biodiversity. Rothamsted Research's exhibit at Cereals 2004 will explain how compliance with such schemes can also...

CEREALS 2004: Focus on weed beet management.
May 10, 2004... Cereals 2004 forms an important part of the British Beet Research Organisation (BBRO) Technology Transfer summer demonstration programme and the organisation will have a stronger presence than ever at this year's event with its largest ever...

CEREALS 2004: New products from BASF.
May 10, 2004... BASF will be demonstrating a `significant ` new fungicide product coded BAS 549 at Cereals 2004. Planned for market introduction in 2005, BAS 549, will be in the BASF cereal trial plots. Visitors will also be able to see a new high...

CEREALS 2004: From new varieties to dealing with price volatility.
May 10, 2004... Decision support The focus of the HGCA's research and development marquee will be the use of decision support tools to help farmers with the huge number of decisions they have to make with regard to fungicide, pesticide and herbicide...

CEREALS 2004: `Merge yield and conservation'.
May 10, 2004... "Cereal growers must look at the art of merging conservation with producing high yields. Yield alone is not sustainable for the future," says David Bright, seeds specialist. Mr Bright's Salisbury-based company, David Bright Ltd, will be...

FWAG forum focus on agri-environment and cross compliance.
May 10, 2004... FWAG will be hosting a series of forums to run throughout Cereals 2004 to bring farmers up to date with the latest decisions made by Defra in relation to the Single Farm Payment and the new agri-environment scheme, due to come into effect...

CEREALS 2004: DICKSON SUITABLE FOR MILLING.
May 10, 2004... On Cebeco Seed Innovations' stand there will be the opportunity to discuss management of Dickson winter wheat, which joined the Recommended List last year as the highest yielding Group 3 soft wheat. Dickson has approval from European buyers as...

CEREALS 2004: Gladiatorial strength.
May 10, 2004... Gladiator will be the central focus of the PBIC Seeds' stand at Cereals 2004, joining the Recommended List for the first time last autumn with a top yield rating and a complete agronomic package which the company claims sets it apart from every...

CEREALS 2004: Six-row success.
May 10, 2004... Free advice will be available to help growers maximise margins from six- row winter barley through correct combine set-up. Also, latest advice on boosting barley profitability by including six-rows in this autumn's rotations. Both will...

CEREALS 2004: Food chain integration.
May 10, 2004... Integration into the food chain through the creation of long-term strategic alliances, the benefits of pool marketing and the increasing importance of industrial oilseeds will form the focus of Centaur Grain's presence at Cereals 2004. ...

CEREALS 2004: Information on new wheat varieties.
May 10, 2004... Come and discuss your cropping programme for this autumn and learn how new wheat varieties Gladiator, Dickson, Cordiale, Istabraq and Nijinsky can boost gross margins. That's the invitation from the Dalgety Masstock stand at Cereals 2004....

CEREALS 2004: Debut for high output, low biomass OSR.
May 10, 2004... Monsanto and Grainfarmers UAP will feature the UK's first high output, low biomass oilseed rape variety. With a hybrid-level gross output of 106% of controls in National List trials, conventionally-bred Castille boasts the highest merit rating...

CEREALS 2004: Product information on the intranet.
May 10, 2004... UAP is demonstrating Web ASSET, its recently revamped Intranet database system, on the Grainfarmers UAP stand. It provides product information on agrochemical labels, product safety datasheets and environmental information sheets for around...

CEREALS 2004: On the machinery lines.
May 10, 2004... Dominic Kilburn provides some highlights of what growers can expect to see on the machinery lines at this year's event. * The heavily-revised Accord MSC drill from Kverneland is available in 3 and 4m variants for 2004 - though wider working...

SUGAR BEET: Herbicide damage on sugar beet.
May 10, 2004... Consultant Simon Fisher provides a guide to identifying some of the possible problems if they show up on your farm. Despite the best of intentions, there are several cases of damage to sugar beet crops each year. Often it is caused by...

POTATO STORAGE: Small changes key to big quality improvements.
May 10, 2004... Small changes to storage facilities can make significant improvements in potato quality and those changes don't need to cost the earth. That is what the British Potato Council is telling growers in its campaign to encourage growers to look at...

HGCA REVIEW: Levy goes under microscope.
May 10, 2004... A briefing staged in London by the HGCA focused on the organisation's future, on what levy payers' money should be spent - and how much they are prepared to pay. Giselle Jones reports. The levy paid by growers to the HGCA is expected to...

BALER MAINTENANCE: A clean start to baler maintenance.
May 10, 2004... Before starting any post-season maintenance work on your big baler, wash down and clean the outside of the machine thoroughly, removing dust, grime and accumulated dirt, all of which will make inspection and servicing both difficult and...

Talking Arable with our Shropshire-based farmer Arthur Hill.
May 10, 2004... April 27, 2004 It's the end of April and some of the tramlines have still got water lying in them. We have certainly experienced the strangest weather in the last two months - definitely not the April showers that I remember. When I...

DRILLS: Self-propelled drill treads softly.
May 10, 2004... Lemken's very first self-propelled drill is about to get bigger. Unveiled as a 6m machine in prototype form at last year's German Agritechnica show, the company has just revealed that it is now looking to develop wider 8, 9, and possibly even...

CROSS-COMPLIANCE: Buffer strips: to pay or not to pay.
May 10, 2004... Do you think you should be paid to provide two-metre buffer strips around field edges? Or do you think that you should provide them for free? This is one of the questions arising out of Defra's consultation on implementing cross-compliance for...

Colin Myram's Crop Talk: Worry over beet future.
May 10, 2004... East Anglian-based Colin Myram is a consultant to the agricultural industry, including farmers and suppliers. As I sit typing this piece on a quintessentially English sunny spring morning, it appears there must be quite a lot right with the...

BACK CHAT: Future bean, not has-been.
May 10, 2004... "Let's hear it for legumes!" That's the message from researchers at the John Innes Centre (JIC) at Norwich, Norfolk who want to bring legume crops such as peas, field beans and chickpeas higher up European agriculture's agenda. Currently,...

BACK CHAT: Respect your elders.
May 10, 2004... "A tower block of lives and lifestyles" was actress Prunella Scales' description of ancient trees at the launch of a campaign to encourage better care for the venerable giants in British fields and woodlands. As trees get older, their...

Mildew alert in barley.
May 24, 2004... Record levels of mildew last autumn could mean spring barley in the north of England and Scotland this year is at risk of serious disease infection, warns CSC CropCare. "Despite a cool March, enough visible mildew infection was still left...

Getting together on EC cereal issues.
May 24, 2004... French and German cereal growers have linked arms with their British counterparts to produce a joint plan of action on CAP and European issues affecting their sector. The plan of action follows meetings between the NFU and French and...

Save time, declare seed on-line.
May 24, 2004... Farm-saved seed declarations can now be made on-line via the BSPB's website www.bspb.co.uk. Growers with internet access can now complete their returns this straightforward, paper-free method, says licensing and intellectual property...

In-field advice.
May 24, 2004... Control of orange blossom midge, grass weeds and Septoria are crucial to the economics of wheat production. These topics will be discussed at a series of field-based events organised by HGCA and The Arable Group. Specialists will...

LEAF hits 50.
May 24, 2004... LEAF will be welcoming 5 new farms to expand its network to 50 demonstration farms spanning the length and breadth of the country. All farms are examples of how, through Integrated Farm Management, production and conservation are working...

Sex on a sticky trap.
May 24, 2004... Levels of wheat orange blossom midge can be monitored with a new trap. The new trap, launched by spray company Certis, contains a sex pheromone to lure the midges, and sticky inserts to trap them. Funding from HGCA and Defra helped the...

Not ready for Roundup wheat.
May 24, 2004... Monsanto has announced that it is deferring all further efforts to introduce its GM Roundup Ready wheat "until such time that other wheat biotechnology traits are introduced". It says that it will be concentrating research and development...

Collaboration is a key future strategy.
May 24, 2004... Collaboration is a key strategy to improve the long-term profitability and sustainability for farmers and farmer-controlled businesses (FCBs). This was the over riding message at a recent conference 'Collaborating for Profit' organised by...

Yearbook yields information.
May 24, 2004... The Dalgety Yearbook, now in its 20th edition, has just been published. "The Yearbook is an exceptional resource, pulling together a wealth of data on the strengths and weaknesses of leading varieties, enabling growers to see how exactly...

Smith's Soapbox: A Sunday morning in May.
May 24, 2004... The late spring is a glorious time of year for being out and about. Sunday mornings are particularly cherished. The son has disappeared up the village to practice cricket. He will never play for Essex but he has a sweet bowling action....

SUGAR BEET: Strobs set to boost beet.
May 24, 2004... Stobilurin chemistry is to be used on sugar beet crops this season for the first time. Tia Rund gets the detail at Broom's Barn research station in Suffolk. Sugar beet crops in the UK are set to derive similar physiological benefits from...

MILLING WHEAT: Read a slice of this.
May 24, 2004... A capacity house of growers, millers and others in the food industry squeezed into the officers' mess at Duxford Imperial War Museum, Cambridgeshire to learn about the changing needs of the industry at HGCA's annual milling wheat conference,...

MILLING WHEAT: Consumers will accept GM within a few years.
May 24, 2004... GM crops will be "rife in Europe" within just a few years, predicted Sean Rickard, senior lecturer at Cranfield University. "Europe will soon overcome its resistance to GM. Consumers are always looking for new experiences and I believe they...

MILLING WHEAT: What the miller wants.
May 24, 2004... Although the price of bread in Paris is four times greater than in the UK, British farmers receive a greater proportion of the purchase price of grain than overseas rivals, said Peter Knight, MD of Smiths Flour Mills. "The UK does not have...

MILLING WHEAT: A supply network not a supply chain.
May 24, 2004... In the UK we are strong in farm traceability and quality assurance across the food chain. But we compare badly in attracting high calibre people and establishing good business processes. We could also do a lot better in aspects such as...

WHEAT PESTS: Blossom midge brings fungal threats.
May 24, 2004... The true cost of damage by wheat orange blossom midge could be more than the estimated #2-#5m a year in lost yield and quality, a leading plant breeder believes. It is widely recognised that wheat orange blossom midge (WOBM) can have a...

WHEAT PESTS: Other progress in breeding for resistance.
May 24, 2004... Breeder Elsoms Seeds at Spalding, Lincolnshire has bred the first variety that is truly resistant to WOBM with Group 4 variety Welford joining the HGCA Recommended List for 2004. Yields are 5% below the top Group 4 and highest yielder on...

WHEAT PESTS: PEST LIFE CYCLE.
May 24, 2004... The pest overwinters in soil, where it can survive for up to 14 years, as larvae. Some pupate each May and on calm, warm evenings, and females fly 2-3km in search for a suitable host for egg laying. They fly for 2-3kms with the breeze...

WHEAT PESTS: PESTICIDES.
May 24, 2004... Chlorpyrifos (Dursban WG) is the only insecticide approved for midge control. Treatment threshold is when one or more adult midges can be found on three ears of a feed crop, or six if it is for milling or seed. Pyrethroids are frequently...

What is Agriculture LINK?
May 24, 2004... There are four programmes led by Defra. The programme 'Technologies for Sustainable Farming Systems' has been running the longest and is now closed to new projects. The Arable Programme (Sustainable Arable) is the newest. Non-Food Crops...

30 YEAR INITIATIVE: Challenge and change.
May 24, 2004... British farming has changed out of all proportion in less than half a lifetime, with output increasing by 20%, inputs falling by 20% and total farm productivity growing by a massive 45%. Improvement is evident on every side. Annual wheat...

Celebrating 30 years of progress.
May 24, 2004... We believe we should all have immense confidence in our future in the brave, new `decoupled' European world. Continued uncertainty over Single Farm Payments, cross-compliance and all the accompanying rules and regulations is, naturally, a...

POTATOES: Water availability decisions to be made locally?
May 24, 2004... Potato growers who irrigate crops need to understand their farm location in order to help ensure they have continued low cost access to water in the light of new water legislation. That was the message to growers from the British Potato...

POTATOES: Same day bruising test.
May 24, 2004... Work at the University of Durham to develop a tool to accurately predict the susceptibility of a potato crop to bruising pre-harvest has yielded some promising results. A near-perfect correlation between a biochemical factor (reactive...

POTATOES: BPC bid to beat bruising.
May 24, 2004... With bruising in the potato crop estimated to be costing the industry #26 million each year, the British Potato Council now plans to focus its latest knowledge transfer campaign on the problem. To kick-start the new campaign, in January the...

POTATOES: Latest Blight Alert launched.
May 24, 2004... A new version of the Blight Alert service has been launched by Syngenta Potato. Providing blight forecasting information direct to a growers' mobile phone or farm computer, the service allows growers to assess blight risks in time to take...

POTATOES: Growers must embrace industry change.
May 24, 2004... UK growers must embrace the change that is taking place in the potato industry, according to Nick Vermont, managing director of McCain Foods. Speaking at the Roots event, he said that a sustainable future is about adding value throughout...