Crops articles from May 2007

Crops archives from May 2007

Management of mycotoxins is vital: preventing mycotoxin contamination remains a key reason for applying a T3 fungicide. Andrew Blake reports.(TECHNICAL)
May 19, 2007... Given new legal limits to the levels of mycotoxins permitted in grain, a T3 wheat fungicide spray to help control the fusarium fungi which produce them is a sensible strategy. That is the opinion of Simon Edwards of Harper Adams University...

Rainfall should determine T3 wheat recipes: it has been an unusual spring. What does that mean for T3 sprays? Andrew Blake finds out.(T3 FOCUS)
May 19, 2007... After the long dry spell, with many growers applying T2 sprays earlier than normal, rainfall in the run to ear emergence will drive T3 sprays, according to ProCam's David Ellerton. High potential quality crops could easily justify treatment...

Controlling pests at ear emergence: remember insects as well as diseases when determining T3 spray tactics, urges ADAS.(T3 FOCUS)
May 19, 2007... Pests affecting wheat crops around the T3 timing, most often orange wheat blossom midge and aphids, may be controlled by adding an insecticide to the tank mix--but only if the spray timing is right, cautions entomologist Jon Oakley. "The...

Heavyweight Revus 'keeps blight out': how should growers use Syngenta's new potato blight fungicide, Revus? Mike Abram finds out.(FUNGICIDES)
May 19, 2007... Syngenta's new potato blight fungicide, Revus, should be used in programmes once the canopy is complete, particularly where disease pressure is high, agronomists suggest. When choosing a product the first thing to look for is out-and-out...

Flexible approach for preservation: careful margin management might help preserve rarer arable plants, Andrew Blake discovers.(ARABLE PLANTS)
May 19, 2007... Why create artificial countryside with margins of sown, perhaps "foreign" species when, with a little investigation and careful management, it should be possible to recreate more natural areas and help conserve some of the country's rarer...

Irrigation water: don't waste it: tighter legislation means efficient use of irrigation water is increasingly important. But high-tech systems are not always the most suitable option, as Paul Spackman discovers.(RAIN GUNS)(Cover story)
May 19, 2007... Rain guns are rarely seen to be as water-efficient as boom-and-trickle systems, but they're usually cheaper and easier to operate over large acreages. So says grower Paul Wortley, who runs 10 across 350ha of potatoes, onions and parsnips at...

Benefits included in new GM rules? How GM and other novel crops are regulated is under the spotlight after recent ACRE and Broom's Barn reports. Mike Abram finds out more.(REGULATION)
May 19, 2007... It is not a question of making it easier, more a question of making it fairer: Regulations for the release of genetically-modified crops are clearly inconsistent with those for other agricultural crops and practices. The rigorous approval...

Nematodes join campaign to combat slugs: nematodes make an effective, albeit expensive, slug-killing machine for potato growers, Mike Abram discovers.(BIOCONTROL)
May 19, 2007... Nematodes and potato growers usually don't get on. After all, potato cyst nematode costs the industry millions of pounds every year. But another type of nematode could become a potato grower's new best friend. Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita...

Custom-built kit gives 'double' the performance: buying a sprayer to handle agchems and liquid fertiliser can become a compromise or double expense--unless one unit can carry systems for both tasks. Peter Hill reports.(MACHINERY: SPRAYERS)
May 19, 2007... The new self-propelled sprayer for Frontier Agriculture's contracting fleet in Norfolk needed plenty of capacity for crop protection work and booms to fit tramline spacings. For suspension fertiliser application, however, the priorities for...

Smooth drive from new transmission: big capacity self-propelled sprayers are becoming easier--and safer--to drive thanks to a more sophisticated hydrostatic driveline that emulates a mechanical system. Peter Hill reports.(MACHINERY: SPRAYERS)
May 19, 2007... Maximum revs, push the lever forward and off she goes. Sounds simple enough and it's the way operators have been driving hydrostatic self-propelled sprayers for years. But that is now changing with the development of a sophisticated...

Needed: program to sort RPA shambles: as the June deadline nears, the RPA faces missing yet another target, says Stephen Carr.(CARR'S CORNER)
May 19, 2007... "I've never been very fond of computers. I've learnt to use them to the point that part of my farming has even come to rely on them. They have, for instance, become essential for my field recording (in the end I couldn't find a back of a brown...

Innovation at heart of Cereals: make the most of your agronomy, urges Dominique Gill.(Podium)
May 19, 2007... "Agronomic innovation is alive and well, driving profits, easing environmental impacts and ensuring governmental compliance. And Cereals 2007 is the ideal shop window for securing a timely update. The Cereals event has always espoused the...

Carr the conqueror.(BRIEFING)
May 19, 2007... Engaging content, sharp insights into farming and humour regardless of the prevailing farming climate--those are the traits that won Crops columnist Stephen Carr the coveted title of Magazine Columnist of the Year in the Perdiodical Publishers...

FWi hit parade.(BRIEFING)
May 19, 2007... What topped the arable farming news agenda over recent weeks? Our website, www.fwi.co.uk, carries the latest news, views, advice and market prices, with over 200,000 unique visits per month. FWi's most visited arable stories since we last...

Away with Blair's straitjacket.(VIEWPOINT)
May 19, 2007... What legacy has prime minister Blair left on your farm? It's a question sister title Farmers Weekly and website www.fwi.co.uk asked the industry last week, as the long-awaited resignation was finally announced. Not surprisingly the answers...

Ideal GM beet grower--a backhanded compliment.(JUSTIN MCDONALD'S DIARY)(Calendar)
May 19, 2007... MONDAY * It's an ill-drying wind that brings no one any good. While my crops look parched by the April and early May drought, the prospect of reduced yields has put life into the value of my old crop in store and the coming harvest. Prices...

Back home-grown biofuel or lose out: farmers must dig deep to back British biofuel now or miss the chance to profit from this new market, says Edward Sharp.(PERSPECTIVE)
May 19, 2007... British arable farmers must make a dramatic contribution to the national renewable fuels effort. That doesn't just mean signing supply contracts or petitioning government for more support. It means forking out hard cash. It means volunteering...

Renewed threat from Septoria--don't take the risk: maximising your cereal yield potential.(the Agronomist)
May 19, 2007... With all the talk about rust this season it has been easy to put Septoria to the back of the mind and concentrate on the immediate threat. However, we have perhaps been lulled into a false sense of security and are now being complacent about...

Tight stocks and weather make for nervous market: volatile is one word that springs to mind when describing the wheat market. And it looks likely to be a suitable adjective for some time to come, as Suzie Horne discovers.(YOUR BUSINESS)
May 19, 2007... Low world stocks and a weather market provide the main background to wheat price prospects for new crop. This is an edgy combination as European crops go through their critical final few weeks for quality and yield. The 2007 crop has...

Don't underestimate the true cost of contracting: hiring out men and machines is a popular way to help spread costs and earn extra income. But, as Suzie Horne discovers, it's worth doing some number crunching to make sure the rates really do leave a profit.(BUSINESS)
May 19, 2007... Too many farmers are selling themselves short by failing to charge a high enough price when offering contracting services, warns TAG machinery consultant John Bailey. Ploughing, forage harvesting and baling are among the most competitive...

Too little capacity to satisfy Scottish distillers' demand: a lack of malting capacity in Scotland could mean growers miss a great chance to supply a rapidly expanding market. Eddie Gillanders reports.(MALTING PROSPECTS)
May 19, 2007... One of the many things the Scots do well is whisky. And you don't have to be a connoisseur to appreciate the stuff; anyone with even a passing interest cannot fail to be impressed by the incredible variety of Scotch that the country's 105...