Crops articles from July 2004

Crops archives from July 2004

Your last chance to win [pounds sterling]15,000-worth of advice and agchems with ProCam and Farmers Weekly/Crops: this is your last chance to win 100ha (240 acres) of free agronomy advice and agrochemicals worth up to [pounds sterling]15,000 in the ProCam 4cast agronomy competition.(Competition)
July 31, 2004... IN THIS final part of the competition two of the key areas of the 4cast system are examined: yields and profits. "The whole 4cast system is designed to help producers improve production efficiency through being able to predict trends,...

Loading up: Pearl malting barley comes off the combine at Wilbraham Farms, near Cambridge.(Viewpoint)
July 31, 2004... Loading up: Pearl malting barley comes off the combine at Wilbraham Farms, near Cambridge. "It's yielding 6.5t/ha," says manager Chris Ascroft. "That's about average for our winter barley." The sample also looks average, he says, although the...

www.fwi.co.uk/harvest.(Viewpoint)
July 31, 2004... WANT to keep up to date with harvest progess? www.fwi.co.uk/harvest is the place to be. Updated daily, our Cropsl Farmers Weekly dedicated reports provide an immediate snapshot analysis of who's cutting what, and how well they're doing....

Symbolic strips.(Viewpoint)
July 31, 2004... WHAT to make of the cross-compliance announcement last week. Crass or considered? Certainly comments emanating from some quarters suggest the Government has, yet again, run roughshod over industry views, particularly when it comes to the...

Atlantis shock.(Viewpoint)
July 31, 2004... NEWS that high levels of sulfonylurea resistance have been found in blackgrass grown from seeds collected in a field in Essex, as Crops exclusively reports (p 12), is sure to shock, although maybe not totally surprise. While the seeds that...

Open letter.(Viewpoint)(Letter to the Editor)
July 31, 2004... To: David Jamieson MP, Minister for Transport, House of Commons, Westminster, London, SW1A 0AA Dear Mr Jamieson, Our readers will be delighted by last week's Royal Assent of the Energy Bill that incorporates a Renewable Transport Fuels...

Last chance for UK biofuels: time is running short for the UK to compete in international biofuels markets, as Marie Skinner explains.(FarmerForum)
July 31, 2004... BIOETHANOL will be available at the pumps in the UK next year. The 20p/litre fuel duty discount that comes into being on 1 January 2005 is sufficient to ensure that low-cost supplies of bioethanol will be commercially viable. Unfortunately,...

It's time to work together: the worsening disconnect between DEFRA and farmers is resulting in poor policy and unnecessary delay, argues Robert Lawton.(FarmerForum)
July 31, 2004... THE proposals for cross-compliance announced earlier this year were greeted by many with disbelief. Farmers were concerned by several measures, and many wondered who sanctioned them, and whether cross-compliance was being abused to get...

Farming in France.(WorldFarming)
July 31, 2004... WE GOT into the first winter barley with the combine on 5 July, and before the evening of the next day harvested 25ha of seed-contract Vanessa at under 15% moisture. That was just half a field. We haven't managed to harvest another hectare in...

Lifeline for mintillage: better soil management was a key topic at last week's Crops/BASF/Go-Till cultivations demo on JSR Farms' Southburn unit in Yorkshire. Charles Abel reports.(Go-Till)
July 31, 2004... JUST as farmers face new soil management protocols under the EU's cross-compliance regulations, funding for soil management advice is ending. But financial incentives could be on offer to help growers switch to min-till. That is the...

Tackling that tilth.(Go-Till)
July 31, 2004... LOOSENING soil beyond seeding depth while creating a tilth on top was among the common themes of tillage tackle demonstrated at the Crops/BASF Go-Till event. The aim of implements that combine rigid tines with shallower flexible tines or...

Resistance threat: Atlantis performance this season has been impressive. But is the sunny mood about to be broken by resistance? Mike Abram exclusively reports.(Grassweeds)
July 31, 2004... TARGET SITE resistance. Three words all users of Atlantis (mesosulfuron-methyl + iodosulfuron-methyl-sodium), or for that matter Lexus (flupyrsulfuron-methyl), are dreading. Unfortunately it's just a matter of time, according to Rothamsted...

Residual argument: residual or contact? DuPont trials provoke debate over sulfonylurea timing and role. Mike Abram reports.(Grassweeds)
July 31, 2004... BEWARE of Atlantis' (mesosulfuron-methyl + iodosulfuron-methyl-sodium) lack of residual activity, warns DuPont's Mike Ashworth. That's his conclusion after a DuPont trial with significant spring blackgrass germination showed only 86% control...

Weather strategies working well.(FarmDiary)
July 31, 2004... IT NEVER rains but it pours! We seem to have gone from one extreme to the other in the past month and the long-term forecast looks little better. I am relieved we adopted a robust growth regulator programme on the wheat this year, a split...

The rape grower: market news.
July 31, 2004... Winter oilseed rape continues to remain a very attractive cash crop despite July/August ex-farm prices back in the last few weeks to the [pounds sterling]145/t to [pounds sterling]150/t mark, compared with wheat at [pounds sterling]60/t,...

The HGCA Recommended List--use it.
July 31, 2004... You should be using the HGCA Recommended List in the next few weeks to help chose your winter oilseed rape varieties. Why? "Because it provides the results of the most extensive oilseed rape variety trials database in the UK," says Dr Jim...

Volunteer threat to emerging rape.(Oilseed Crop Protection News)
July 31, 2004... The drive towards low cost establishment techniques for oilseed rape has completely reversed the challenges of weed control, according to Syngenta Crop Protection technical manager, lain Hamilton. Whereas broad-leaved weeds are the key target...

Trials report: a snap shot of progress in the current crop from Syngenta Seeds' oilseed rape trial sites extending from Dover to Kinross, and its 13ha commercial field scale trial of hybrids and coded conventional varieties with Springdale Farms, based at rudston, Driffield.
July 31, 2004... Crops in general are looking healthy and pods appear heavy, particularly the hybrids. However Alternaria and lodging are taking their toll among crops, particular those in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire according to Syngenta Seeds' trial officer,...

Royal--setting the standard: Royal has the highest seed yield on the HGCA Recommended list at 105%, combine that with a good oil content and it's hardly surprising that the variety is the UK's most widely grown hybrid.
July 31, 2004... One of the reasons Royal has gained such popularity is the fact this high yielding hybrid has proved to require moderate inputs to realise its potential. Commercial field scale trial findings over a three year period at Springdale Farms in...

NK-Victory scores in Scotland.
July 31, 2004... Scottish oilseed rape crops have been severely plagued by Light Leaf Spot this season. "The north east has been particularly hard hit--it offers the best conditions in UK for the disease and is know as 'the capital' for Light Leaf Spot," says...

From dry to wet in 24 hours.(FarmDiary)
July 31, 2004... HOW things can change. In my last article, I said we were faced with drought conditions. Within a day of that report it began to rain and has continued to this day. We managed to make some good silage in the middle of June, slightly...

Successful sensing: using N Sensor technology is paying off for two Yorkshire growers. Mike Abram reports.(Nitrogen)
July 31, 2004... FLAT crops are almost a thing of the past for North Yorkshire grower David Lister, thanks to using Yara N Sensor machines on his 1,800ha holding. Add in an average 3.5% yield response, quicker combining and more consistent protein levels...

Rape survival guide: drought-struck rape seedbeds proved a nightmare last autumn. Gilly Johnson looks at one farmer's chance solution, and gets some tips for the coming season.(Establishment)
July 31, 2004... IN TWENTY years, I've never seen such a difficult autumn for rape establishment," says TAG agronomist David Parish. Based in the Beds/Cambs/Northants area where heavy boulder clay predominates, winter rape failures forced a significant...

Parish pointers.(Getting It Right)
July 31, 2004... "The first principle of successful rape establishment should always be good soil/seed contact," says David Parish. "The second is to conserve soil moisture around the seed. "Heavy soils are the most vulnerable to lack of moisture....

Townsend tips.(Getting It Right)
July 31, 2004... "You must drill rape into moisture," says soils specialist Steve Townsend. "Last year the best rape was drilled at two inches deep, where the moisture was." That's the key to success, he believes. "We are generally drilling rape deeper...

Justin McDonald's diary.(Calendar)
July 31, 2004... Monday It's sadistic of the new-crop wheat price to keep falling like it has done as harvest approaches. It was always going to be difficult enough to decide on next year's planting now that Arable Area Aid has gone. But with new-crop...

Busting the mites: with most pesticide options gone, how should you keep stored oilseed rape free from mites? Sarah Henly finds out.(Oilseed Rape)
July 31, 2004... LAST season's dry harvest for oilseed rape ensured the withdrawal of organophosphate insecticides for mite control in stored rapeseed had less impact than feared. But cases where growers sought to damp over-dry grain highlighted the...

Short back and sides: routine trimming of hedges encourages thicker growth and prevents crops being overshadowed. Peter Hill rounds up the latest flail cutters for the job.(Machinery)
July 31, 2004... REACH mower manufacturers have been busy preparing new and improved models for the coming post-harvest round of hedge maintenance work. With no radical changes made to the hedge cutter layout, the design effort has gone into improved...

Case-IH JX1U Maxxima tractor.(Machinery)
July 31, 2004... THEY may be small but the revised 70-100hp JXU Maxxima tractors from Case-IH pack a useful punch--thanks to the improved power and torque performance of a new engine. The EEA 4.5-litre fourcylinder that replaces the elderly 3.6 and...

Changing the contract: a week after the scheduled announcement for the cross-compliance regulations, Suzie Horne asks what impact the measures will have on contract farming arrangements, and how the decoupled payment will affect negotiations.(Business)
July 31, 2004... WHAT cost cross-compliance? It's the question that has vexed many involved with contract farming deals being agreed or renewed this summer. And recent delays in finding out exactly what the measures entail have meant many agreements have been...

Wrong occupation warning.(Business)
July 31, 2004... CONTROLLING and establishing the occupancy of land let out on short-term cropping or stocking arrangements will be crucial in maximising claimed area and entitlement to the Single Farm Payment in May 2005, an East-Anglian solicitor is warning....

Ergot boost Kinto.(Last Word)
July 31, 2004... POORER blackgrass control or increased areas of grassy margins in stewardship schemes could be to blame for the increase in ergot incidence, suggests NIAB's Jane Thomas. "Something has happened in the agricultural environment for the increased...

Leaf stripe problem?(Last Word)
July 31, 2004... RECOGNISE this? It's leaf stripe in wheat, cephalosporium leaf stripe, not to be confused with barley leaf stripe (Pyrenophora graminis), says SAC plant pathologist Simon Oxley. "In certain min-till situations it can build up causing small...

Metazachlor plus benefit for rape growers.(Last Word)
July 31, 2004... BASF's oilseed rape herbicide Novall (metazachlor + quinmerac) is a new broadspectrum option for growers, but particularly where field speedwell, pansy or red dead nettles are causing problems, suggests product manager Diane Heath. "It's...

JAU jumps approval hurdle.(Last Word)
July 31, 2004... BAYER CropScience's long-awaited fungicide prothioconazole (coded JAU) has been recommended for UK approval by the Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP), with approval likely to be confirmed in August, the firm have announced. Foliar and...

Harvest blossom midge grain first.(Last Word)
July 31, 2004... HARVEST breadwheats as early as possible and use preharvest glyphosate to maintain Hagberg Falling Numbers, which are particularly at risk from wet weather following orange wheat blossom midge infestation earlier in the season, says RAGT Seeds...

IPU recommendation of Hawk increased.(Last Word)
July 31, 2004... SYNGENTA has upped its recommendation for IPU in mix with Hawk from 2.0 litres/ha to 3.0 litres/ha for this autumn. Although the change will not appear on the label, the company's Alison Bosher says it will support applications at the...