Crops articles from November 2006

Crops archives from November 2006

Changing times for early-sown wheat: new thinking on fungicide timings could help growers keep crops cleaner next season. Andrew Blake finds out why.(TECHNICAL)
November 18, 2006... Firmer wheat prices should make investment in fungicides even easier to justify next spring. But many growers could be timing applications, especially to early developing crops, to better effect. Those were underlying messages from a recent...

Help in the pipeline.(PULSE PERFORMANCE)
November 18, 2006... A range of trials is being conducted by PGRO to help growers with the variability encountered this year, says Mr Gent. Bruchid beetle is being studied at several sites with a history of damage. "We're re-appraising control strategies...

Early maturing varieties could solve pulse problem: it has been a disappointing year for pulses, but new trials aim to overcome some of the key problems growers faced, as Louise Impey discovers.(PULSE PERFORMANCE)
November 18, 2006... Most spring crops came to grief this year and pulses were no exception, reports Geoffrey Gent of the Processors and Growers Research Organisation. "It was a disappointing year in lots of ways," he says. "There were both yield and quality...

Greener fields: pressure to recycle green waste may soon make it easier for growers to use compost on the farm. But is it worthwhile, asks Sarah Henly.(RESEARCH IN FOCUS: COMPOST)
November 18, 2006... If your soils require organic matter and a fertility boost, and you haven't a ready source of muck--think compost. Using the green garden waste product improves soil organic matter and nutrient contents far more than previously thought,...

Putting a figure on the cost of storage: with energy prices rising, it's more important than ever for growers to know their potato storage costs and how to keep bills to a minimum, says the British Potato Council.(POTATO STORAGE)
November 18, 2006... How much does it cost you to store your potatoes? If you can't put a figure on it, then join more than half the growers in Britain who are similarly in the dark. This was one of the main findings of the last British Potato Council...

Improving returns for spud growers: seed potato growers can help themselves make more profit by more effective marketing, delegates at the British Potato Council Seed Industry Event heard. Mike Abram reports.(POTATOES)
November 18, 2006... Want to make more money from exporting seed potatoes? Then stop allowing merchants to over-represent how much tonnage is actually available, Mike Cumming, a seed potato producer from Angus told the British Potato Council Seed Industry Event in...

Winter spreader test pays: specialist contractors are ready to inspect, calibrate and test fertiliser spreaders this winter to ensure growers make the most of applications next spring. Peter Hill reports.(MACHINERY)
November 18, 2006... With fertiliser prices continuing to rise and farm assurance schemes wanting evidence of good spreading practice, contractors providing an on-farm calibration and testing service are anticipating increased demand this winter. Staffordshire...

New machinery on show: cultivation kit makers had a record turn-out of farmers and contractors when tillage 2006 visited Dalhousie estate, Angus. Peter Hill reports.(TILLAGE 2006)
November 18, 2006... * With Roger seed drills, previously marketed as KRM and now transformed into Sulky machines, importer Ruston's Engineering (Reco) was keen to put the French firm's new Maxidrill TR cultivator drill through its paces. There are 3m and 4m sizes,...

Power boost option gives new Deere tractor range the edge: John Deere is offering fresh options across the whole of its new tractor line-up, as Peter Hill reports.(MACHINERY)
November 18, 2006... With "power boost" features now commonplace, growers setting out to buy a 200hp tractor can--with the right make and model choice--end up with a 250hp machine and put the added performance potential to good use. Having dallied with this...

Michelin MultiBib.(TYRE DEVELOPMENTS)
November 18, 2006... The driver of a New Holland TS-A jumps down from his cab to attach what looks like a hefty rope to the front of a Fendt 818 Vario before setting off across the field with the big green tractor in tow. It's not because the Fendt has succumbed to...

Goodyear R+.(TYRE DEVELOPMENTS)
November 18, 2006... A graphic illustration of the static footprint generated by Goodyear's new Optitrac R+ tyre emerges on a laptop computer at the firm's Luxembourg R & D centre as a test tractor is rolled onto an electronic pressure pad. The longer length...

Keep 'GMs' away from UK farming: do you feel you can co-exist with government ministers? Stephen Carr is not so sure.(CARR'S CORNER)
November 18, 2006... "Plans designed to protect UK farming from GMs (Government Ministers) have received a hostile reception from various quarters over recent weeks. Concern has been growing about GMs ever since a "Dynamic Hybrid" was unleashed upon the English...

Contamination is a concern: don't believe GM lobby platitudes, argues Oliver Dowding.(Podium)
November 18, 2006... "At the heart of genetically modified crop "coexistence" there seems to be a presumption that only scientists have a right to present and judge evidence. Or should I say, only scientists who are deemed to be "right". I wonder, is that...

FWi hit parade.(BRIEFING)
November 18, 2006... Crops' website, www.fwi.co.uk, averages 180,000 visits a month. These are the top 10 most popular arable stories for the past four weeks. 1 Using sulfonylurea sequence risks resistance--and court (19 October) 2 Organic lobby concedes...

Window on the web.(BRIEFING)
November 18, 2006... Topical websites chosen for you by the Crops team: * Trouble identifying wild oats or ryegrass species? Bayer's www.weedspotter.co.uk will help * Visit www.voluntaryinitiative.org.uk for all the latest seasonal advice and decision...

Better than last year? Big deal.(VIEWPOINT)
November 18, 2006... A lot better than last year. That's how junior DEFRA minister Lord Rooker explained away his boss's announcement that English farmers may have to wait months before receiving their full single farm payment for 2006. Speaking in the House...

Farm debts are out of control.(JUSTIN MCDONALD'S DIARY)
November 18, 2006... MONDAY Breakfast proved a torrid affair this morning as Maggie came across an interview in the newspaper with Environment Secretary, David Miliband. He was being asked about the government response to the Stern report on global warming. As...

Making plans for a brighter future: arable farming may not regain the position it once held, but there is no shortage of opportunities for those who are prepared to take them, says Geoff Elliott, an arable farmer and new chairman of independent research and advice provider the arable group.(PERSPECTIVE)
November 18, 2006... Arable farmers face an interesting few years. I am certain there is much more value to come from local food production and the reduction of food miles, especially given the rising public interest in such topics. Once the true environmental...

Under the skin of levy board reform: agricultural levy boards face the biggest reforms in their history. Johann Tasker examines the steps involved in their restructuring.(YOUR BUSINESS)
November 18, 2006... Radical reform of the UK's agricultural levy boards is gathering pace this autumn, as DEFRA presses ahead with plans to restructure the way money is spent by the public bodies that represent growers' interests. Within 18 months, five levy...

Organic flour mill opens its doors: the message that growers need to get closer to the consumer is being taken seriously by a farmer-owned business in North Yorkshire, which has set up its own flour mill. Wendy Short reports.(LOCAL MILLING)
November 18, 2006... Yorkshire Organic Millers has only been trading since May, but is already proving that there is a healthy demand for niche goods that can add significant value to commodity products. It opened for business at Hill Top Farm, near York in May...

Germany seizes chance--but sums not right yet for UK: german farmers lead the way in Europe in using biodiesel. As part of his Nuffield Scholarship Martin Davies wanted to find out more.(VEG FUEL OIL)
November 18, 2006... It seemed entirely appropriate to go to Germany to discover more about the possibilities of biodiesel. After all, it was back in 1900 at the Paris Exhibition that German inventor Rudolf Diesel demonstrated engines could run on vegetable oils....

Hope well on the way to reality: biofuel hopes are fast turning to biofuel reality. Our exclusive Hutchinsons/crops conference will help you get involved.(VEG FUEL OIL)
November 18, 2006... Biofuel production is long overdue in the UK, but is finally coming to fruition, giving growers the chance to get involved in an exciting new market, with huge demand for core commodity crops. But how do growers get involved and what must...

Hutchinsons explores bioethanol agronomy.(BIOFUELS CONFERENCE)
November 18, 2006... When looking at the issues the agronomy sector will face over the next few years, it became apparent to Hutchinsons director Andrew McShane that there was limited knowledge in how to enhance ethanol yields using different agronomy practices....

Olives or oranges? Drought stress, poor prices, decoupled aid and cut-price producers on the doorstep--familiar tales for growers in the UK and Spain alike, as Charles Abel discovers.(FARMING IN SPAIN)
November 18, 2006... OLIVES Water availability can make or break a farm in southern Spain and for Ivan de Artega, who farms between Cordoba and Seville, drought nearly destroyed his Andalucian farm 10 years ago. "We were growing carrots, red beet and...