Arable Farming articles from September 2005

Arable Farming archives from September 2005

Diffuse pollution remains river problem.
September 5, 2005... Extra advice is to be offered to farmers in priority river catchment areas where current good farming practice is not enough to protect the environment. In addition, the Environment Agency is encouraging farmers to join agri- environment...

Don't fall foul of the law when farm-saving OSR.
September 5, 2005... As oilseed rape planting gets underway, the British Society of Plant Breeders (BSPB) is reminding farmers of the key points in law when using farm-saved rapeseed: In particular, BSPB, which represents the interests of plant breeders, is...

ARABLE BRIEF: 1m tonne export breakthrough.
September 5, 2005... Grainfarmers has reported record exports for 2004/05 with the total tonnage topping the one million tonne mark for the first time. According to export manager, David Doyle, the company shipped 1,004,000 tonnes of cereals, oilseeds and...

`Low dormancy' year for black-grass.
September 5, 2005... Black-grass seeds shed this summer have low dormancy, grass weed experts have advised. Consequently, there is the potential for maximising seed germination and destruction of plants by spraying off prior to autumn drilling. Interim results...

ARABLE BRIEF: Finnish robot.
September 5, 2005... Finnish students are developing a small battery-powered robot capable of spot treating weeds in a growing crop of potatoes. Called SmartWheels, it was premiered at the recent annual Dutch Field Robot Event. Ten students at Helsinki...

ARABLE BRIEF: Warm weather beet disease.
September 5, 2005... Cercospera leaf spot is likely to show up in sugar beet crops at this time of year if conditions warm up, warns Broom's Barn. In recent years the disease has only been recorded on occasional plants or in small patches in the UK, but it has...

ARABLE BRIEF: New advice on gout fly.
September 5, 2005... A new HGCA topic sheet investigates the need for, and the efficacy of gout fly control in winter wheat. Gout fly is becoming more common with the earlier sowing of winter cereals, and although crops attacked in the autumn generally show...

Plant-based selectors will make GM more acceptable.
September 5, 2005... American scientists have discovered a plant gene that may alter research and production of genetically modified crops as well as public opinion of the technology worldwide. Use of the plant gene as an antibacterial selection marker could...

Smith's Soapbox: Percentage points.
September 5, 2005... Farming opinion from Essex-based Guy Smith Britain has been described as one of the best places in the world to grow crops and one of the worst to harvest them. Our grubby maritime climate saves us from the severity of extreme winter chill...

POTATOES: Coming off acid.
September 5, 2005... Are you still relying on acid to desiccate potato crops? If so, it's worth taking a look at the alternatives now, before being forced to, potato agronomists are advising. Although approval for the use of sulphuric acid as a desiccant on...

WHEAT MARKETING: Corner a contract.
September 5, 2005... Contracts for wheat growing are still not common, but there are signs that this will change. Alison Lea reports. Adding value and connecting with the market place is a favourite theme currently, and with base wheat prices at around #65/t...

BIOMASS: Bio-masses of potential.
September 5, 2005... Farmers could become key energy providers as producers of biomass. How far are we from this becoming a reality? The government's Biomass Task Force, headed by former NFU president Sir Ben Gill, believes that biomass could eventually account...

`Observe and record' must be starting point for black-grass control.
September 5, 2005... Not mixtures and sequences, not dose rates, not even new products. It is grass weed monitoring that has emerged from a 5-year, #1 million research project as one of the key factors influencing the status of herbicide resistance. Teresa Rush...

WEED CONTROL: Nozzle choice boosts black-grass control.
September 5, 2005... Choosing the right nozzles for black-grass herbicides can boost control as much as 15%, new trials by Agrovista have shown. Moreover, using a specialist nozzle can improve control of even a better performing post-emergence treatment, the work...

Weed Control: Fresh lease of life for IPU could help manage resistance.
September 5, 2005... Improved black-grass control from isoproturon, following a break from using it, is allowing a leading crop consultant to re-introduce it back into control programmes in a bid to head off resistance to newer chemistry. According to Richard...

POTATOES: Sheeting approach favoured for dump blight control.
September 5, 2005... Visitors to this year's BPC-sponsored Potatoes in Practice event near Dundee were treated to news of the latest potato R&D and technology via a series of growing plots, practical demonstrations and seminars. Arable Farming reports some of the...

POTATOES: Dig down for compaction clues.
September 5, 2005... Digging down the soil profile quickly reveals the true extent of potential soil compaction problems for the growing crop, visitors to PiP were told. SAC advisors John Sarup and Mike Inglis were demonstrating the effects on soil structure,...

COMPETITION NEWS: The final cut - 2005 Milling Wheat Challenge.
September 5, 2005... We received a good number of entries for the Advanta Seeds/Arable Farming Milling Wheat Challenge, and your entry forms, providing details of fertilisers and budgeted margin over nitrogen costs, triggered a lot of tapping on calculators and a...

WEED CONTROL: Suspended re-animation.
September 5, 2005... The effectiveness of Avadex Excel (triallate) as a pre-emergence herbicide to control major grass weeds, including wild oats and black- grass, can be enhanced and widened when applied as a tank mix with Omex suspension fertiliser, according to...

SWEDEN: Mobile dilemma.
September 5, 2005... The mobile phone has become an indispensable tool on modern arable farms. However, if Swedish research is anything to go by, there could be a high price to pay for keeping in touch. It appears that countryside users of mobile phones are far...

FRANCE: French insurance.
September 5, 2005... Some 4,000 French arable farmers have signed up for the new harvest insurance scheme offered from Pacifica, a subsidiary of Credit Agricole. Under the scheme, the French ministry of agriculture says it will pay up 35-40% of the insurance...

SPAIN: Spanish potatoes.
September 5, 2005... A drop in the area grown for the fifth successive year does not appear to have helped to stabilise Spanish potato prices. There was a further drop of 3% this year, and there is now 94,000 ha, but growers have to settle for prices of just...

GERMANY: German research.
September 5, 2005... Phytophtera is potato disease number one, and can lead to production losses averaging 20 to 30%, warns researchers at the Munich Technical College, who suggest that the losses can be as high as 50% in some sensitive varieties. Furthermore, the...

BELGIUM: Belgian spuds.
September 5, 2005... A wet start to July could reduce Belgian potato production by as much as 10 to 20% this season, according to the country's PCA experimental station. Average production levels are likely to be in the region of 33 to 35t/ha. More than 100mm of...

Talking Arable with our Shropshire-based farmer Arthur Hill.
September 5, 2005... 18 August 2005 The weather this harvest has been a huge improvement on last year, and as of yesterday, we were 450 acres further on with the crop than we were on the same day in 2004. The big bonus, however, has been the quality of the...

Talking Arable: Kit Papworth.
September 5, 2005... From our North Norfolk-based farmer Kit Papworth of L. F. Papworth Ltd, Lower Farm, Tuttington, Norwich. August 22, 2005 Writing the mid-harvest slot on the Sunday before the Bank Holiday weekend, I am in the privileged position of...

MIN-TILL: Cereals en France.
September 5, 2005... When British arable farmers where attending Cereals 2005, the French were making their way to Les Culturales, the French equivalent of our Cereals event, held near Boigneville south of Paris. Although Cereals is probably the number one outdoor...

MACHINERY: Combine capacity reaches 500 tonnes a day!
September 5, 2005... Can combines get any bigger? Yes, it seems, as Claas launches its biggest Lexion machine to date. Dominic Kilburn reports. Labelled as a combine for the `business end of farming' Claas's biggest combine to date will suit growers with...

Claas combine additions.
September 5, 2005... There are two further additions to Claas's combine line-up for 2006. One new Lexion model - the 570+ and the Mega 370. Existing 570 models, says Claas, target the top end of the straw-walker market - growers who are looking to move into rotary...

TRACTORS: Agrotrons advance.
September 5, 2005... Deutz-Fahr has introduced a new range of Agrotrons known as the K Series, ranging from 90hp to 120hp. The range is available in either standard build or Profiline, which adds the bells and whistles, says Mervyn Bailey. The latest K Series...

BACK CHAT: A goose that lays a golden egg?
September 5, 2005... The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is proving an ally to British sugar beet growers. Together with the World Wildlife Fund and Oxfam, the bird conservation charity is currently lobbying environment secretary, Margaret Beckett, ahead...

Fuel price hikes follow hurricane Katrina.
September 19, 2005... Fuel prices have rocketed following reports that Hurricane Katrina has shut down 95% of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. For the first time ever, crude oil prices have exceeded $70/barrel with a $4 increase in just one day, and forecourt...

Early indications show good wheat quality.
September 19, 2005... The first indications from this year's HGCA Cereal Quality Survey suggest that early harvested wheat samples show improved quality on the final results for last year. "Early estimates suggest an improvement in Hagberg Falling Numbers for...

Microwaved molluscicide.
September 19, 2005... A novel type of slug pellet will set new standards for slug control in the future, claims its manufacturer. Benefits of Pathfinder Excel pellets are said to include rapid kill, better wet resistance, increased palatability and longer...

Send back Surefill packs or expect delays in future supply.
September 19, 2005... Failure to return reusable Nemathorin packaging could result in delays in supply or unavailability of the nematicide in the spring, growers are being warned. Virtually all Nemathorin is now supplied in 20kg Surefill containers but only...

ARABLE BRIEFS: CPMPs worth 2 points/ha.
September 19, 2005... The NFU is urging farmers and growers who have not already adopted a Crop Protection Management Plan (CPMP) to take one up to supplement their ELS applications. Newly updated CPMP forms for 2005-7 are now available from the Voluntary...

ARABLE BRIEFS: Sowing hope for skylarks.
September 19, 2005... Skylark plots - small patches of land left bare when seed is sown - are among a range of easy measures for which farmers are now paid in the Entry Level Scheme, and the RSPB is asking farmers to consider this option when they drill crops this...

ARABLE BRIEFS: CropMonitor confidence.
September 19, 2005... It's only been going for two full years, but cereal disease experts at Defra's Central Science Laboratory are quietly confident that their web- based CropMonitor service is on track to become the UK's first effective national scheme for...

ARABLE BRIEFS: Think farm woodland now.
September 19, 2005... Start thinking about your application now if you are planning to claim the new Woodland Grant Scheme this winter, advises the Forestry Commission. The Woodland Management Grant will pay #30/ha (#12/acre) annually while the Woodland Improvement...

Generic herbicide is `worth looking at'.
September 19, 2005... Makhteshim Agan has introduced a new, 330g active ingredient formulation of pendimethalin to its range of Alpha branded products. Backed by a full registration, tank mix and label support package, Alpha Pendimethalin 330EC is already widely...

Smith's Soapbox: Powder blue and flame red.
September 19, 2005... Farming opinion from Essex-based Guy Smith The only bright spot in a rather uninspiring harvest was the 30 hectares of linseed. Drilled in mid-March it had only witnessed 55mm of rain by the time it had finished flowering at the beginning...

CEREAL DISEASE: Fusarium shifts trigger mycotoxin fears.
September 19, 2005... John Parry pays a visit to the Central Science Laboratory in York to hear the latest thinking on Fusarium and gets an update on the organisation's disease prediction service. Many millers are already operating a nil tolerance level for pink...

CEREAL DISEASE: Septoria forecasting to improve.
September 19, 2005... Dr Steve Parker, a member of the CSL team, acknowledges that cereal disease prediction has not been successful in the past but he believes there are further improvements in the pipeline for the forecasting of Septoria tritici in the spring,...

RL TRIALS: What came top of the trial crops?
September 19, 2005... What did Recommended List trials reveal about established and Candidate varieties this year. Alison Lea talks to Jim McVittie of CEL Winter wheat Although there were still four Recommended List trials results still to come in to Crop...

OSR trials: Oilseed rape - not a vintage year.
September 19, 2005... It all looked very promising, but 2004/05 turned out to be a "below average" year for oilseed rape, says NIAB's Simon Kightley. "Crops struggled for moisture right the way through, especially in the south where rainfall was only just frequent...

OILSEED RAPE: Don't compromise disease control for sake of PGR benefits.
September 19, 2005... Can we make better use of fungicide inputs in the quest for higher yields from oilseed rape? Teresa Rush reports. The challenge to find ways of harvesting more of the yield potential of oilseed rape has been taken up. And, with the market...

Talking Arable with our Borders-based farmer Guy Lee.
September 19, 2005... September 6, 2005 Each year I go through the anxiety of waiting for results just as those who take A levels and GCSEs do every summer. I take the sample, deliver it to a collection point and then wait anxiously for 24 hours by the fax...

ENVIRONMENT: MAKING THE MOST OF ELS - Marginal decisions.
September 19, 2005... Experienced Rural Development Service (RDS) adviser, Geoff Howe and Norfolk-based, Masstock Arable Group agronomist, William Ridgwell of Dalgety put the spotlight on Buffer Strips (EE1, EE2 and EE3) and Field Corner Management (EF1) in the...

CONSERVATION TILLAGE: El amigo no-till.
September 19, 2005... South America was the chosen destination for Nuffield Scholar John Geraghty for his study on conservation tillage. Here, he relates what he found out. The adoption of Conservation agriculture (CA) requires new techniques and a wide range...

Talking Arable with our South Devon-based organic farmer David Pearson.
September 19, 2005... September 6, 2005 Today, harvest is nearly done. Just a few acres of spring wheat left which simply will not ripen. It has been a mixed bag of results with spring-sown barley bringing up the rear. Optic did better than Dandy which was...

WEED CONTROL: Hit black-grass early to reduce yield loss.
September 19, 2005... Don't skimp on black-grass control this autumn by waiting and trying to tackle the problem in the spring, wheat growers are being advised. Left untreated, even an average black-grass population could slice #150/ha off crop income. However,...

COMBINES: More power and more choice.
September 19, 2005... The UK combine market in terms of new machines being bought by UK arable farmers each year is clearly in decline, but this statistic hasn't stop manufacturers expanding their product ranges. Steven Vale reports. The final figures have yet...

2005 Combine Harvester Suppliers' Guide.
September 19, 2005... Key - Includes model number, HP, number of straw walkers/rotary, grain tank capacity and price including the recommended header. Case IH Straw walker models include the CT 5050 (238hp) 5 walkers 7200-litres #110,100 (5.2m); CT 5060...

TRACTORS: Power and productivity.
September 19, 2005... Mervyn Bailey reports on the latest high horsepower tractors to come out of the green and yellow camp. More power, frugal on fuel and a CVT option. The John Deere 8030 series may not look drastically different to its predecessor but plenty...

CROP TALK: Creeping land nationalisation?
September 19, 2005... Not only have we seen the right to roam across other people's land with CROW (Countryside Rights of Way Act) but now with cross compliance we are being told how to manage our field edges, hedges, ditches, buffer strips, etc. We are even being...

CROP TALK: Who pays?
September 19, 2005... We must pay if we break the ever increasing rules but, if they break or change them, do they pay us? Is there any compensation for changing the ELS application rules whereby one could have applied earlier if not all of the maps were complete?...

CROP TALK: Trial judgement.
September 19, 2005... Enough CROWing; what have we learnt form this year's crops? I was impressed when I was given a tour of the distributor Hutchinson's work, particularly on black-grass and disease control in wheat. On the latter it certainly seems as though...

CROP TALK: Programmes tested.
September 19, 2005... On the black-grass front, the benefits of pre emergence products was again confirmed, as were the good results from Lexus plus Hawk, but only when applied early, at the one leaf of black-grass and particularly when following a pre-emergence....