Crops articles from July 2007

Crops archives from July 2007

Keeping wheat disease under control: rust, regulation and resistance were all topics under discussion at this year's open days. Mike Abram rounds up some key messages.(TECHNICAL)
July 14, 2007... Strobilurins, T0s and an adjuvant have been crucial to keeping rust at bay on the very susceptible wheat varieties, Agrovista trials at Stoughton in Leicestershire suggest. Varieties could be split this season into broadly three...

Legislation adds pressure to pesticide registrations.(TRIALS DAYS)
July 14, 2007... Proposed new European legislation would probably make it more difficult for new pesticides to achieve approval, while subjecting current chemistry to ever more severe regulation, Terry Tooby, a registration expert from JSC International, told...

Standing power not standing still: how are we to keep wheat crops standing until harvest as yields climb ever upwards? Asks Sarah Henly.(WHEAT LODGING)
July 14, 2007... Increasing yield potential will undoubtedly remain the key focus for wheat breeders. But as yield potential creeps up so, too, does the risk of lodging. Physics dictates keeping heavier-laden crops upright until harvest will be an ever greater...

Be cautious with treated seeds: interest in seed treatments offering early season foliar disease control is at an all time high. But not everyone is convinced, as Louise Impey finds out on page 12.(CEREALS SEED TREATMENTS)
July 14, 2007... Don't react to one bad brown rust year by rushing out and spending more on seed treatments, says Dick Neale, technical manager of Hutchinsons. "It's worth waiting until the combine has been through the crop," he advises. "Things might not...

Flying start's crucial to achieve 6-7t/ha yields: unless oilseed rape is established properly, yield potential can be capped and performance may disappoint. Andrew Blake relays some topical advice.(OSR ESTABLISHMENT)
July 14, 2007... Establishment is critical to the success of oilseed rape, whether it is winter-or spring-sown, says Masstock agronomist David Langton. "You only get one chance to do it right, so you must be careful not to jeopardise yield potential from...

Coming to an engine near you: biofuels have arrived, and are here to stay. But second-generation technologies will be required to supply more than 5% of the UK's road fuel requirements from plants, writes the National Non-Food Crops Centre's Martha Simpson-Holley.(BIOFUELS: THE NEXT GENERATION)
July 14, 2007... Biofuels are fuelling vehicles across the UK; biodiesel is being manufactured and bioethanol will soon be produced in the UK The biofuel industry could provide UK farmers with income for many years to come. But what does the future hold for...

Bypass obstacles with trip-leg design: plough makers have been busy developing their implements to cope with more powerful tractors and make life easier for operators, as Peter Hill reports.(MACHINERY: PLOUGHS)
July 14, 2007... Ahydraulic trip-leg version of Lemken's Tansanit semi-mounted plough is expected to widen the appeal of the implement in areas where stones and other buried obstructions--such as Scotland and southern Ireland--demand nonstop protection against...

Flexible kit for tough tasks.(MACHINERY: PLOUGHS)
July 14, 2007... The Vari Flex EX heavy-duty reversible plough added to Kongskilde's Overum stable is pretty much an all-new design with a beefier headstock, revised line-of-draft adjustment and stronger beam. It is being produced in four-, five-and...

Making light work of headland turns.(MACHINERY: PLOUGHS)
July 14, 2007... Operators using Kverneland's novel three-in-one plough--the seven- to 12-furrow RW (shearbolt) and PW (auto reset) semi-mounted reversible--will find headland turns easier with the development of an electronic system giving an automated...

Bracing strength from slimline kit.(MACHINERY: PLOUGHS)
July 14, 2007... Internal bracing within the main beam is one of the secrets of Pottinger's ability to produce a plough that appears to be slimmer and sleeker than it should be for its weight and power rating. "It's a feature of all the Austrian firm's...

High-tech gadgets make for more accurate job: operators need all the help they can get when handling bigger capacity, wider boomed and faster working sprayers. The latest electronic control systems are designed to do just that, reports Peter Hill.(MACHINERY: SPRAYING)
July 14, 2007... Automatic boom section on-off control; boom self-levelling and height regulation; and steering guidance for pre-emergence applications where there are no tramlines to show the way. These are just some of the high-tech features being built...

Beware the mighty Carrbranovich: biofuel power politics are only just starting, says Stephen Carr.(CARR'S CORNER)
July 14, 2007... "BP, it seems, finds it hard to learn from its mistakes. No sooner does it get booted out of huge natural gas fields in Russia than it announces that it is to invest in a massive biofuel plant at Hull in the UK. What few commentators seem to...

Biofuel credentials are provable: key questions can be answered, says Jonathan Scurlock.(Podium)
July 14, 2007... "Biofuels for transport are developing fast and there is every reason to expect UK farmers to benefit from the surging interest in the sector. There are powerful reasons why the UK needs biofuels, the main drivers being climate change and...

New editor for Crops.(BRIEFING)
July 14, 2007... Robert Harris has been appointed the new editor of Crops magazine following the promotion of former editor Charles Abel to Head of Content for the Farmers Weekly Group, including Farmers Weekly, Crops, Poultry World, Dairy Update, Farmland...

Competition champ.(BRIEFING)
July 14, 2007... Winner of the online Bayer Crop-Science competition hosted by Farmers Weekly is Mr Willett of Lound Lodge, Witham, Essex, who won [pounds sterling]2500 of Kuoni holiday vouchers by answering questions on wild oats control in cereals. He...

FWi hit parade.(BRIEFING)
July 14, 2007... Weather woes have dominated our website, www.fwi.co.uk, since 18 June. Every month more than 200,000 unique visits are made to the site, which carries news, business, markets, weather, technical, fun and forum content, plus classified machinery...

Tough call on biofuel standards.(VIEWPOINT)
July 14, 2007... Sodden fields, damaged crops and flooded buildings: Don't let anyone tell you climate change isn't happening. And if farmers must suffer downsides, they should also work hard to extract all the upsides of climate change that they can. ...

What meaningless waffle; surely a future PM.(JUSTIN MCDONALD'S DIARY)
July 14, 2007... MONDAY * Maggie and I at a very washed out Royal Show, but plenty of high profile speakers, not least new DEFRA Secretary, Hilary "Vegetarian-For-The-Past-35-Years" Benn. Mr Benn is a rising man in New Labour and he showed why, with...

Driving home the wrong message? Biofuels bonanza or biofuels bombshell? Experts gathered at the Royal Show to consider the issues. Charles Abel reports.(PERSPECTIVE)
July 14, 2007... Biofuel interest is booming, but its future will be far from smooth, warned BBC rural affairs correspondent Tom Heap at a Royal Show biofuels conference. "British biofuel is proving to be a monstrous challenge to get off the ground, not...

Ukrainian tiger's ready to roar: Ukraine is proving a fertile home for Europe's newest arable farming giant, as Charles Abel discovers.(YOUR BUSINESS)
July 14, 2007... Here's an interesting business model: Rent prime arable ground for [pounds sterling]13/ha, on a 15-year deal with first right to renew or buy, pay skilled labour [pounds sterling]200 a month and market on forward contracts to multinational...

Counting casual workers: it is imperative you look after the health and safety of your casual workers as well as permanent employees. Suzie Horne reports.(HEALTH AND SAFETY)
July 14, 2007... It is probably easy not to take casual workers' health and safety as seriously as you should. After all, they tend to be recruited quickly and often at the last minute, and harvest, or another operation, is about to start. There may simply not...