Crops articles from March 2009

Crops archives from March 2009

Early fungicide sprays may still be needed, despite the cold winter: backward crops and variable disease pressure makes deciding whether to use T0 fungicides more difficult this spring. Mike Abram reports.(TECHNICAL)
March 7, 2009... The decision whether to apply a T0 fungicide is never straightforward; and this year will, probably, be no different. On the face of it, when many crops are late-drilled and much more backward than usual, following the coldest winter for...

Growers air their views on N rates: in the last issue of crops advisers and researchers debated this season's N rates. So what do growers think? Mike Abram asked some of farmers weekly's barometer farmers and farmer focus writers for their views.(NITROGEN)
March 7, 2009... Richard Beachell Bainton, Humberside WHAT PRICE DID YOU PAY FOR YOUR NITROGEN? * Having been offered some 46% urea around the time of Cereals 2008 for sub-[pounds sterling]300/t, an offer that was declined on the advice that our...

Innovation drives herbicide advance: a trio of new beet herbicides make their debut this season. Mike Abram finds out more.(SUGAR BEET)
March 7, 2009... New active ingredients might be short on the ground in the beet herbicide sector, but innovation isn't dead. Bayer CropScience is launching a new formulation of its phenmedipham + desmedipham combination and a four-way mix of those two...

Container abuse means higher costs: look after returnable nematicide containers, or face higher costs, warn manufacturers. Louise Impey reports.(POTATO NEMATICIDES)
March 7, 2009... Abuse of returnable nematicide containers and slow return rates has Jed one manufacturer to introduce a deposit-based system, and two others to consider the possibility. Bill Lankford of Bayer Crop-Science, one of the firm's considering...

Mixture plan required to keep potato crops clean: potato weed control programmes are set for a complete overhaul, writes Agrochemex's John Keer.(WEED CONTROL)
March 7, 2009... After over 30 years of PDQ + linuron as the standard weed control in potatoes, growers will need to totally rethink weed control programmes for 2009. Last season saw the final use of PDQ, and next season a maximum of 600g ai/ha linuron...

Late drilled cereal crops more at risk from mildew.(Weed and Disease Control)
March 7, 2009... The prolonged cold winter weather will have stopped most mildew from developing on the leaves of winter wheat crops, but overwintered inoculum will become active on new leaves as soon as temperatures increase. Growers must not be lulled into a...

Timing flexibility and cost effectiveness, the key to successful weed control.(Weed and Disease Control)
March 7, 2009... Timing flexibility of key sulfonylurea herbicides this spring is going to be an essential factor in taking out troublesome broad-leaved weeds such as thistle, poppy and cranesbill that have seen a resurgence in the last couple of years. ...

Tank mix herbicides only option as available spray days disappear.(Weed and Disease Control)
March 7, 2009... Time is running out for effective control of black-grass and broad-leaved weeds this season as the rain continues to fall and the lack of autumn applied products leaves a broad spectrum of overwintered and established weeds. According to...

Take out broad-leaved weeds early for best control.(Weed and Disease Control)
March 7, 2009... Timely application of spring herbicides in tank mix with partner products, including adjuvants, will be key this year in keeping crops weed free as they emerge from one of the worst autumns on record for herbicide applications. Moray-based...

Early mildew expected so protection vital at T1.(Weed and Disease Control)
March 7, 2009... Treat cereal crops for mildew early using protectant chemistry to maximise the opportunity of controlling the disease and maintaining yield. Backward, thin and stressed crops are still at risk and could easily succumb to mildew attack if left...

Sulfonylurea chemistry vital component of spring herbicide strategy.(Weed and Disease Control)
March 7, 2009... Sulfonylurea herbicides must be a key component of spring strategies this season because cereal crops are backwards and thin with many having not had an autumn herbicide applied. Redrilling failed winter cereals and oilseed rape with spring...

Flexibility--the key to successful weed control.(Weed and Disease Control)
March 7, 2009... "Weed control is likely to be a big challenge this season, with many cereal crops yet to receive a herbicide application," says Alister Mc Robbie, DuPont herbicide product manager. "The flexibility to tank-mix and sequence with other herbicides...

Weapons in the disease battle: crops updated cereal fungicide tables guide you through this year's main disease control options.(FUNGICIDES)
March 7, 2009... * Due to the large number of fungicides registered for use in cereals it has not been possible to include every product and manufacturer. Products have been selected to illustrate the disease spectrum of a single active ingredient, where...

Gene developments could eliminate septoria spray: new wheat varieties could soon have better natural disease resistance, as Sarah Henly discovers.(RESEARCH IN FOCUS)
March 7, 2009... Within seven years or so we should have better-yielding wheat varieties with good resistance to the number-one disease, Septoria tritici, says James Brown of the John Innes Centre. New research is locating genes in wheat that confer...

Uphill task to satisfy world's needs: agriculture faces huge challenges in the next 20 years, says the director of the Scottish crops research institute. Andrew Blake reports.
March 7, 2009... Farmers needed to pull out the stops as never before if they were to feed and help fuel the world in future, Peter Gregory told a recent Farming in Tough Times conference in Perth. Putting the challenges for crop production into global...

Select the right spray tips to do the best possible job: the characteristics of the target and where it's located are key factors influencing champion sprayer operator Nick Stevens' choice of nozzles. Peter Hill reports.(NOZZLE CHOICE)
March 7, 2009... When the pressure's on to get through a heavy crop-spraying workload, it can be tempting to throw caution to the wind and go for output over other considerations. But, despite the challenging workload presented by the 1050ha (2600 acres)...

Rinse system keeps it clean and safe: sprayer control systems are continually being updated to help make the operator's life easier. Peter Hill catches up with developments.(SPRAYER DEVELOPMENTS)
March 7, 2009... Sprayer operators may have to use more rigorous rinsing if the standard applied in France is adopted across the EU. This recommends that after spraying in the field, any liquid remaining in the tank and the spraying system must be diluted...

Lemken goes for on-board ISOBUS compatibility.(SPRAYER DEVELOPMENTS)
March 7, 2009... Control systems and on-board electronics with ISOBUS compatibility have been introduced on Lemken sprayers to meet demand for machines with a higher specification and more sophisticated operation. The German manufacturer has adopted the...

Househam stays on track with its own GPS steering guidance.(SPRAYER DEVELOPMENTS)
March 7, 2009... Sprayer maker Househam has developed its own GPS control unit to complement the touch-screen vehicle instrumentation and sprayer terminal fitted as standard to its self-propelled applicators. The Field Master unit provides steering guidance...

MAXImiser control in Muller terminals.(SPRAYER DEVELOPMENTS)
March 7, 2009... Electronic controls for operating the MAXImiser plumbing system on Knight's 1830 self-propelled sprayer have been incorporated into the Muller terminals that already provide various control functions on the machine. The MAXImiser system...

Easier and faster to select rates.(IMPROVED STREAM BAR APPLICATOR)
March 7, 2009... A new version of Chafer's Streambar applicator for liquid fertiliser has an integrated metering mechanism instead of restrictors, which makes it quicker and easier to select different rates and extends the range of rates it can deliver. ...

Cereals 09: in search of 'working farms': isn't it time for the Cereals Event to get more mud on its boots? asks Stephan Carr.(CARR'S CORNER)
March 7, 2009... "It was with great interest that I read, in Crops (7 February), that new "working farms" are being sought on which to hold the Cereals Event. Cereals has always alternated between Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, but now Bedfordshire and...

Set-aside--a change of heart? Benn gives voluntary approach a chance.(Podium)
March 7, 2009... "Hilary Benn delivered some good news for the arable sector at the annual NFU Conference in Birmingham, when he agreed to include the NFU's voluntary environmental measures in a government consultation over a replacement for set-aside. ...

Chance to show you're the best in your field.(BRIEFING)
March 7, 2009... British arable farmers and their advisers are the best in their field. You know it, we know it. Everyone else needs to know it, too. Positive PR for UK farming is critical. It's invaluable when promoting home-grown food. It's crucial for...

Herbicide tables.(INSIGHT)
March 7, 2009... In the cereal herbicide tables (Crops, 7 February 2008, p18) the entry for Dow AgroSciences' Galaxy should state that certain sequences or tank mixes with a range of ALS inhibitors are permitted, although only one other product with that mode...

This GM stalemate can't go on.(VIEWPOINT)
March 7, 2009... Another vote, another stalemate. The inability of EU member states to decide collectively to approve or reject the growing of new genetically modified crops is no surprise--but it cannot continue. The latest impasse took place in late...

Getting cross with cross-compliance.(DIARY)
March 7, 2009... MONDAY * While farmers man the barricades in Greece, Latvia, Bulgaria, France and Germany to protest at falling farm incomes, Maggie and I found that all was relative peace and harmony at the first day of the NFU conference. Insulated from...

A challenge to establishment: two very challenging winter oilseed rape establishment seasons in a row have exposed the serious weaknesses of many regimes, says Masstock SMART Farming specialist, Philip Marr.(PERSPECTIVE)
March 7, 2009... Growers across the UK need to take the past winter in particular as an urgent wake-up call to put far more care and attention into their early crop agronomy and variety choice. Less-than-ideal establishment hasn't really been a problem on...

Time reviewing the figures will be time well spent: taking the financial pulse of your business is an essential health check that must be done at least once a year. Suzie Horne finds out where to place the stethoscope.(YOUR BUSINESS)
March 7, 2009... Time in the office is your most valuable time if used properly to review and plan your business, says accountant Robert Hatch, a partner with chartered accountant Ensors, Bury St Edmunds. "You need to be on top of the job, not stuck in it,"...

Bigger spray bills pay off for top oilseed rape growers: what is it that sets the best oilseed rape growers apart from the rest? Andrew Blake delves into a company's data to find out.(TECHNICAL)
March 28, 2009... The best oilseed rape yields come from growers prepared to invest in fungicides and insecticides. That is a significant finding from analysis of the ProCam Group's 4cast agronomy tool carried out by the firm's Nick Myers. By examining last...

Slower crops bring timing into focus: later-developing crops might make T1 a more tricky timing decision this spring, reports Mike Abram.(T1 INPUTS)
March 28, 2009... Assessing disease control requirements on generally later-drilled, more backward wheat crops is likely to be exercising the minds of most agronomists and growers this spring. When will the optimum T1 timing be, and does that mean a higher...

Variable application trials surprising: the technology used to fine-tune fertiliser use in cereal crops is being applied to PGRs with some surprising results. Louise Impey reports.(GROWTH REGULATORS)(Financial report)
March 28, 2009... Backward wheat crops may respond to a higher dose of plant growth regulator this spring than you might think. Results of Syngenta trials investigating the potential benefits of proportionately dosing growth regulators according to crop density...

Push milling wheats to win premium: new evidence suggests a mix of fine-tuned N rates with T1 and T2 strobilurin fungicide could be just what milling wheats need this year. Charles Abel reports.(T1 INPUTS)
March 28, 2009... Most milling wheats struggled to establish last autumn and had a miserable winter. So how can you boost their chances of securing a milling premium this summer? A key tactic could be to help them squeeze more out of the nitrogen they...

Rhyncho resistance to strobs in barley.(T1 INPUTS)
March 28, 2009... Detection of resistance in the barley disease rhynchosporium to strobilurin fungicides doesn't mean there should be wholesale changes to fungicide programmes this season, Andreas Mehl, fungicide resistance expert at Bayer CropScience, believes....

Selecting best wheats for biorefining: as a large biorefinery in north-east England nears completion, Andrew Blake examines work under way to create wheats more specifically for its and others' consumption.(BIOETHANOL)
March 28, 2009... About lm tonnes of the UK's next wheat harvest are expected to be used by the Ensus Group's [pounds sterling]250m biofuel production plant at Wilton on Teesside, according to ADAS's Daniel Kindred. A similar amount from the 2010 harvest is...

New strain sees growers being vigilant with control: potato blight is even more of a headache now the A2-Blue 13 strain dominates. Charless Abel asks what control strategies should be adopted.(POTATO BLIGHT)
March 28, 2009... With aggressive potato blight strain A2-Blue 13 now dominant, skill is again needed to strike the right balance between effective control and acceptable fungicide use. The new strain first showed up near Ipswich in 2005 and has rocketed in...

Seed treatment error bring pesticides into bee debate: the approval of clothianidin on maize seed in the UK has coincided with rising concern over bee health effects from neonicotinoid insecticides.(POTATO BLIGHT)
March 28, 2009... A round this time last year in Germany a catastrophic error was made during the treating of maize seed with the insecticide clothianidin. A failure to use the glue that sticks the pesticide to the seed led to the chemical getting into the...

Loosen and consolidate for best growth: they sound contradictory. But loosening and consolidation are key elements of effective soil cultivations for arable crops.(CULTIVATIONS)
March 28, 2009... First, loosen the soil. Then, consolidate it. That may sound like a contradiction, but says Philip Wright, former Simba design director and now technical consultant to the tillage equipment manufacturer, it is critical to get these two aspects...

Simba's latest is built for one pass: Versatility in set-up and use is one of the key features of the latest tillage tools for preparing the way for new crops.(MACHINERY: NEW CULTIVATION TACKLE)
March 28, 2009... Amounted tine, disc and press cultivator that slots between the mounted X-Press and trailed SL and Solo implements is the latest addition to Simba's tillage equipment range. "While the X-Press is designed for tractors of 100-175 hp, the...

Quick-change set-up goes from shallow to deep at pull of a pin.(MACHINERY: NEW CULTIVATION TACKLE)
March 28, 2009... A quick-change system that allows shallow-working sweep tines to be replaced by deeper-working chisel points is available for Lemken's latest stubble cultivator, the Karat 9. Introduced to replace the Thorit design, the three-row newcomer...

Knight offers less intensive working at a lower price.(MACHINERY: NEW CULTIVATION TACKLE)
March 28, 2009... Slotting into the Knight cultivator-press range is the "SC", which is essentially a scaled-down version of the "C" model for growers wanting a less intensive cultivating effect from an implement that costs less. The main difference between...

Spring-tine device provides greater spacing flexibility.(MACHINERY: NEW CULTIVATION TACKLE)
March 28, 2009... A generously-proportioned frame giving added flexibility in tine spacing is a feature of the Free Space spring-tine cultivator from Cousins of Emneth. Two rows of pigtail tines ahead of the depth/transport wheels on the trailed model are...

A 'miserable' survivor's guide: even though we aren't doing too badly at the moment, don't show it, says Stephen Carr.(CARR'S CORNER)
March 28, 2009... "Like many farmers I have much to be positive about at the moment. But, with the rest of the economy in recession, we must be careful not to show it. A 30% devaluation of sterling against the euro has provided us with a useful subsidy bonus and...

Why UK needs a no-till alliance: farmer-run groups must offset lack of research.(Podium)
March 28, 2009... "Growers are under ever-increasing pressure to reduce their impact on the environment as well as seek ways to cut costs and maintain profitability. It is well known that by adopting no-till it is possible to tick a number of the...

Show you're the best.(BRIEFING)
March 28, 2009... * British arable farmers and their advisers are the best in their field. You know it, we know it. Everyone else needs to know it, too. Positive PR for UK farming is critical. It's invaluable when promoting home-grown food. It's crucial for...

FWi hit parade.(BRIEFING)
March 28, 2009... * Commodity prices remain a popular read on FWi, with both fertiliser and wheat price prospects making the top five stories in the period since Crops last issue on 7 March. Two new threats to arable farmers--DEFRA's set-aside proposals and...

Time to speak up for pesticides.(VIEWPOINT)
March 28, 2009... As the spring workload builds, the office is the last place farmers want to be. But setting aside an extra hour or two over the next couple of weeks could be time well spent. For, once again, pesticides are coming under EU scrutiny, this...

Immune from the crunch ... for now.(DIARY)(Calendar)
March 28, 2009... MONDAY * Can't pick up a farming journal at the moment without some high profile national firm of land agents trying to reassure me that "the farmland market will remain fairly resilient during the economic downturn." These are the same...

Marketing gain from 'water footprints': where you source the water you use to grow crops could matter in the future, says Tim Hess of Cranfield University.(PERSPECTIVE)
March 28, 2009... Reducing the environmental impact of the water used to grow crops could potentially give growers a commercial advantage in the future. But, just as with carbon footprints, there still needs to be much debate about how to use the concept. ...

Weigh the factors before deciding: sell or store? A difficult-to-read wheat market and reduced sowings mean more growers than usual have held back on forward sales. Suzie Horne reports.(YOUR BUSINESS)
March 28, 2009... UK growers have so far committed between 20% and 30% of their 2009 wheat crop against a very unusual market background which sees new-crop wheat trading at a premium of between [pounds sterling]12 and [pounds sterling]13/t to old-crop. ...

Right on course to get the best price for your grain: Grain marketing is an important driver of profitability. So a new price risk management course had plenty of appeal, writes former Formers Weekly Barometer farmer Ben Atkinson.(MARKETING)
March 28, 2009... The two main factors that influence our bottom line in producing grain are now big the heap is in the shed and how much we sell that heap for. We can influence its size through our husbandry, but at the end of the day most of it is...