Over the Hedge - Arable Barometer farmers' diary

A noisy night in a Travelodge only 10m from the A1 on the way to Cereals 2008 further confirmed to me how lucky I am to live in a rural setting - well rural for Kent anyway.

At the event I was fascinated by a visit to the Soil Solutions stand. Here they had plots showing how their ‘prescription nutrition' programme of fertilisers and micronutrients could help crops.

I've recently started down this track and was pleased, and in fact amazed, to see that a plot of wheat with no nitrogen applied at all but given this programme still looked relatively green next to its completely unfertilised and yellow neighbour.

There were also a number of products in the pipeline such as a phosphite seed treatment and a foliar nitrogen. This ‘not quite there' scenario was echoed at the Speciality Fertilizer Products stand where products to enhance nitrogen and phosphate availability were just around the corner, and at Martin Lishman's display which promoted a brewing system for making a compost ‘tea', the potential great benefits of which were as yet unquantified in the UK.

I felt as though a barman had just poured me a pint and then walked off leaving it just out of reach behind the bar.

Amongst a million other things the new Vaderstad Seed Hawk drill really stood out. It looks a very decent tool to me for the direct drilling (sorry Mr Reynolds I mean no-till!), route I would ideally follow.

The salesman even told me I could pull a 6m version with 150hp, so I was just getting out my cheque-book when he mentioned the retail price of £53,000 - I settled for a coffee and a sit down instead.

Back on the farm we are making hay, which is a relief after last year when the weather forced production into the middle of harvest, which rather stretched our slimline workforce. Nufol should also go on the milling wheat one evening this week.

I'm still not convinced the world is going to harvest a massive crop this year - something is bound to go wrong somewhere. Let's just hope it isn't here!

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Ian Bird's T2 fungicide treatments at Catchgate Farm, Castle Eden near Hartlepool have just been completed on time, despite 64mm (2.5in) of rain in the past week. But the cold wet April has taken a toll on potential yields, he believes.

"Our first wheats look OK, but the second crops are a bit thin."

Winter barley, which received the same T2 treatment - "a nice and simple" 1litre/ha each of Gemstone (epoxiconazole + pyraclostrobin) plus Laminator (mancozeb) appears more promising, especially the hybrid Bronx (see picture), reports Mr Bird.

Bronx barley has come on well since this picture was taken at the end of January.

His oilseed rape varieties Excalibur and Ovation, both still in full flower and having had a sclerotinia spray only a week ago, are due for a late N dressing in about a week's time. "It'll be the first time we've done it and we'll use about 35 units/acre.

"There are 220 acres in all, but about 60 look a bit poor. It never really got away in the autumn and simply hasn't caught up."

Given his experience of the coastal area's weather, T3 wheat fungicide treatments are routine. "We'll definitely be using them. We shan't cut any wheat until the third week in August and that's a long way off."

After earlier rocketing grain prices the recent slip back has been especially unwelcome, says Mr Bird. "I can't sell at £130/t when potash is £520. All the big price rises do is create cash flow problems. We'd be better off with wheat at £100/t and without the diesel and fertiliser price increases."

I've just been out again looking for orange blossom midge, writes Peter Snell from North Farm, Horton, Dorset.

It was a calm, dry and cool evening and there were a few about but nowhere near the one in three threshold our feed wheats require to justify treatment. Anyway I'm reluctant to spray chlorpyrifos, and would need to be convinced by spider webs covered in midges and clouds of them rising from the wheat as you walk through. Meanwhile our Timber is already in flower and now safe.

We've started spraying T3s, and this year we're using Firefly (fluoxastrobin and prothioconazole) at 0.75 litre/ha. This will be three weeks since the T2s - Gemstone (epoxiconazole and pyraclostrobin) plus extra epoxiconazole (as Opus) at 0.8 and 0.4 litres/ha respectively.

Around some of the wheat headlands we've used Atlantis (iodosulfuron-methyl-sodium + mesosulfuron-methyl) and Biopower to control grassweeds - with mixed results.

Tipple spring barley has also recently had its T2 consisting of 0.25 litre/ha of Proline (prothioconazole) and 0.32 litre/ha of Comet 200 (pyraclostrobin).

We would probably have used Fandango (fluoxastrobin and prothioconazole) again but it was all sold out.

The Tipple looks good, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it yields and finding out the grain nitrogen, as two-thirds of its N has been supplied from compost. That's particularly topical given current fertiliser prices and availability!

Meanwhile the new grain store is coming on apace and we've also had one of the farm tracks rejuvenated with 750t of crushed concrete rolled down tightly.

North Farm's new grain store is coming on well. 

We've just purchased our third second-hand Howard big baler which we will use for the wheat thatching straw and the new Amazone sprayer and fertiliser spreader should be with us soon for the new season.

Also, ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulphate for next year is starting to be delivered and sewage sludge is arriving for spreading on first wheat ground post harvest.

I'm looking forward to attending the Cereals event, where I want to catch up on new varieties, see some old friends, and investigate (well probably purchase) parallel guidance systems.

Recent rain has left the ground saturated. Until 25 May we had only 7mm in the month and were just beginning to think some moisture would be useful.

In the next five days we had 78mm and four days later another 25mm!

The chart below highlights the costly dry April of 2007 and the wet harvest that followed.

Winter wheats at Chillington Farm, Codsall Wood near Wolverhampton are roaring ahead, writes Andrew Blenkiron.

The fields of Soissons and Humber are now all in ear and due to receive a T3 of 0.33litres/ha of Prosaro (prothioconazole + tebuconazole) and 1.5l/ha magnesium early this week, probably Tuesday if the weather forecast is correct.

The decision to apply a T3 would have been a close call if we hadn't had the 50mm of rain in the past week - things were getting a bit dry. After the rain the decision wasn't that difficult given the septoria knocking around in the bottom of the crop and the prevailing weather.

T3s are planned for the rest of the wheat. Early drilled Claire and Alchemy should be in ear by mid week, with Oakley, being somewhat slower, probably a week behind. Still that should help with combine sequencing!

The late evening white shirt hunt will be on for the orange blossom midge, just in case!

Spring barley is due to receive 0.25l/ha of Fandango (fluoxastrobin + prothioconazole) when the awns appear, which should be soon.

Fodder beet is now up and away and after careful sprayer washing will receive its herbicide.

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We finished T1 sprays just two weeks ago at Chillington, but are already getting going on T2s. Poor old John wanted to go on holiday, let's hope that the wheel doesn't fall off the sprayer again this week or he might have to postpone!

With septoria being the main risk, especially with the weather threatening to break at the end of the week we are applying 0.2 litres Opus (epoxiconazole), 0.8 litres Firefly (prothioconazole + fluoxastrobin) and 3 litres magnesium to Claire, Humber and Alchemy wheats.  We finished the Humber and some of the Claire today (12 May). The rest is planned to happen before Thursday (when John goes on holiday). 

I am not bothering with the Opus in the Soissons as it is as clean as the proverbial whistle. We're planning to do the Oakley next week, when I will have to fathom how to use the sprayer again.  I have been amazed by how forward the Humber has been and I expect to see it out in ear next week

Barley is all out in ear (that reminds me, better get the combine serviced!) and receiving 0.4 litre/ha of Fandango (prothioconazole + fluoxastrobin) and 2 litres of magnesium in the cool of the evening, the last thing that I want to do is scorch it at this late stage!

Beans are really on the move now, trying to make up for lost time now and receiving some attention in the way of 0.5 litres Amistar (azoxystrobin) and 0.5 litres Bravo (chlorothalonil) and a small amount of insecticide for those dammed beetles.  First time that I have gone to the expense of a strob, let's hope that it rains in June to justify it!

OSR just past mid flowering and not too many complaints form the local hay fever suffers yet, although I have had to find an alternative field for an old wheezy pony to get it out from the middle of a 200 acre block of pollen.

Let's hope that those prices pick up again, as I don't really want to have to close my futures option at less than the price that I struck it at and miss out on what has been a £45/tonne upside!!  Good job that I broke into half and keyed into £164/tonne for January 2009.  

T0 treatments at North Farm, Horton, Dorset all went on within five days and in good spraying conditions, writes Peter Snell.

In contrast T1 sprays have been sporadic. The weather has been against us and the difference between the growth stages of Timber and Alchemy wheat is marked, despite similar drilling dates.

However the 1litre/ha of Tracker (boscalid + epoxiconazole) plus 1litre/ha of Bravo (chlorothalonil) T1 treatment has been applied over half the area, accompanied by the second split of chlormequat and, on some fields, Starane XL (florasulam + fluroxypyr), for cleavers control, and on others Topik (clodinafop-propargyl) + oil for wild oats.

The mid-flowering spray of 0.5litre/ha Proline (prothioconazole) and 0.2litre/ha Mavrik (tau-fluvalinate), for pod midge, was put on our Castille oilseed rape last Saturday by Julian Lownds who operates a high clearance self-propelled sprayer. Applied in 200litres/ha of water and hardly marking the tramlines, it went on just before the weather turned.

On Tipple spring barley we split the first fungicide timing - adding 0.25litre/ha Fandango (fluoxastrobin + prothioconazole) with the graminicide and then follow up with a further 0.5l/ha Fandango with the broadleaved weed spray seven days later. It sounds good in theory, but we're now waiting for a spray window for the second application.

I was disappointed to read that Gordon Brown failed to recognise the importance of British farmers' role in addressing the global food crisis.

As the world population heads towards 10 billion in the next 50 years, both food production and water availability will be major issues, and the recent seven-point plan by Downing Street doesn't seem to recognise our home grown potential.

Of course we are a small element in global food production, but along with the opportunities that biofuels could offer, does the government have to hold us back whilst other European farmers benefit?

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We're progressing with T1 wheat and mid-flowering oilseed rape sprays, writes Andy Barr from East Lenham Farm near Maidstone, Kent.

It's finally getting warmer and allowing the spring rape and spring barley to grow, and the latter will hopefully be at T1 before too long.

BUT, BUT, BUT, BUT.........all I can think about is the meeting I attended the other day run by CropAdvisors buying group regarding next season's fertiliser purchases.

Of course I was expecting something horrible. But when the prices being mooted were actually up there in black and white next to the consequent predicted spending per hectare, I'm afraid the first words that came to mind were, shall we say, a little too colourful to print here.

So what are we going to do? Good question. Use cheaper imported material or urea with inherent spreading limits, put less on, grow beans, apply more muck of whatever description, - all of the above?

Or perhaps something altogether more mysterious?

For instance, I have tried spraying on rhizobium bacteria, the theory being that they will fix nitrogen and at least replace some of the bagged N requirement.

The trouble is that it's been a bit of catchy year for applying anything, and to be honest I've received a lot of differing advice on the practicalities - so we'll see.

At this year's prices it may not pay, but next year?

On the other hand it may not work at all, and indeed you're probably thinking along the same lines as my father who has promised to consume an item of headgear if it does.

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Drilling of beetroot, the key crop at Fleet Farm, West Butterwick near Scunthorpe, Lincs started only yesterday - a fortnight later than Chris Moore had hoped. But he remains hopeful that his 80ha (200 acres) of Pablo will achieve their 50t/ha (20t/acre) yield target.

"It's been so cold," he said. "For vegetables we really need the soil to be warm for 10 days before we go. It's the weather in May and June that really determines how the crop will perform."

When the crop was belt-lifted it was precision-sown so drilling was quite slow. Now being grown and lifted in beds it is effectively broadcast so sowing is speedier, he explained.

"We can do about 25 acres a day, so it shouldn't take long. We're two weeks behind, but I don't think it will affect the yield."

His 20ha (50 acres) of sugar beet sown a fortnight has not yet emerged, despite being from Advantage-treated seed. "This is almost certainly the last year we'll be growing it. We're just too far from the Newark factory, and at only £20/t I'm not losing too much sleep over it."

The farm's winter cereals look "not too bad", though the wheats are only just emerging from hibernation.

"The winter barley moves much faster. But at least the disease pressure is a lot less than last year when I was tearing my hair out over brown rust in wheat."

This year it is the grain market's volatility that is demanding more attention, he said. "I sold some wheat two weeks ago breaking the magic £200/t. Now for the same quality the price is back to £165."

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Spring is here - I think, says Mike Eagers from Trinlaymire Farm, Threemiletown just to the west of Edinburgh.

Up to now the weather has been showery and in generally cold with a recent east wind.

All the spring bean (Fuego) and barley (Optic and Oxbridge) sowings are complete, though only recently after very catchy progress between showers.

Seed-beds are good but still on the cold side.

Heros spring oilseed rape for industrial use is being sown as I write. I want to ensure rapid emergence in warm temperatures.

Fertilising on winter crops is well on the way to completion with the last dressing for wheat nearly done.

Winter barley and rape are wrapped up with 175kg/ha and 190kg/ha of N respectively.

Spring barley was sown with a 10:15:21 compound.

Winter barley and forward wheats have received T0 spray applications.

The barley had Kayak (cyprodinil) against rhyncho and net blotch plus manganese to guard against deficiency problems on our shale land.

The T1 which is imminent will be based upon Jaunt (fluoxastrobin + prothioconazole + trifloxystrobin).

Our winter wheat spray programme is categorized into bronze, silver and gold based on yield potential and exhibited varietal disease traits.

With rising temperatures and intermittent rain septoria is the main concern.

Wheats in the gold category, ie 9t/ha plus, have received a T0.

Silver and bronze have not had a T0 due in the main to low disease pressure.

The T0 was Ceando (metrafenone + epoxyconazole) + manganese + growth regulator.

The T1 will be the same product at a higher rate topped up with Joules (chlorothalonil) for the septoria pressure.

Oilseed rape has had a second fungicide for light leaf spot in the form of Monkey (prochloraz + tebuconazole) + boron.

Spring beans have received a pre-em - Nirvana (imazamox + pendimethalin).

The long awaited details of the Scotland Rural Development Programme have been published with a substantial menu of options which I am still trolling through with some help from FWAG and SAC.

Single Payment Scheme time is looming with two of six forms completed.

The improvements to the grain handling facilities have been agreed by the landlord and, pleasingly, much of the work can be done in-house.

Costs are rising with the most telling being diesel at 57p/litre. When I arrived in Scotland nearly 10 years ago, it was 9p/litre. This and the prospect of Grangemouth refinery going on strike and the resultant panic-buying in the central region focuses the mind.

It's a fragile world!

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Wet soils mean Clive Patrick (left) and Tony Reynolds' recent spring sowing has required drill modification. 

 "In common with everybody we have the coldest and wettest spring we can remember," writes Tony Reynolds from Thurlby Grange, Thurlby, Lincs.

"We started drilling spring beans - Fuego - on 9 March. We sowed some 2ha in wet conditions and then sank to our axle and spent the next hour extracting ourselves.

"We tried again on 9 April, after Clive had designed, welded and fitted modified depth controls for each of the drill openers, and struggled them in, in ground conditions as bad as we have ever attempted in the spring.

"The first drilled have emerged and are being attacked by slugs. We followed one down the centre of the bean shoot and found it in the centre of the bean itself. So we've now applied slug pellets to all the bean ground.

"Three swallows arrived on 9 April in the frost looking starved to death. They stayed two days, and whether they went north or returned south we can't tell. 

"With a drier top to the soil a day later we drilled 9ha of Abacus linseed being observed for an hour by two red kites circling overhead - a first for us here.

"The cold and frost has put back T1 spraying by 10 days, we think.

"T0 is almost complete between hail showers.

"The oilseed rape has been dressed with 250kg/ha of 33.5% nitrogen and the wheats have had 100kg/ha after the first dressing of 50kg. 

"We've applied Atlantis to 70ha of wheat. Starting on 3 April it took us three days working between the showers.

"Everything is bursting to grow, we just need warmth."

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Ian Bird (left) and Paul Summerbell have had few chances to get on the land recently.

Field work at Catchgate Farm, Castle Eden, County Durham has ground to a halt since Easter.

"I'm really not sure whether it's April or January," said Ian Bird. "We had 4in of snow on 7 April, heavy rain since then and it's been snowing again today. We've had quite a few white frosts too.

"Last year at this time it was already too dry.

"The oilseed rape is extending, 2ft tall and in desperate need of its anti-phoma Charisma and growth promoter spray.

"Our T0 on the wheat, which we always try to get on, is now totally out of the question, so we'll have to use something a lot stronger at T1. But this won't be until mid-May given the speed that crops are growing at the moment."

Fortunately the wheat appears reasonably disease-free. But he is concerned at his inability to give it a growth regulator. "It's also due for another 70 units/acre of N - it's only had 30."

The final 300t of last harvest's wheat left the farm at the end of March sold for £183/t. "But the weights aren't back yet so I can't tell what last years final yield was.

"The moon's due to change in the next few day, so hopefully we should be in for some better weather."

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Andrew Blenkiron with some of his green waste compost.  

Ground conditions at Chillington Farm, Codsall Wood, near Wolverhampton are very wet after 50mm of rain and 125mm of snow over the past two weeks, writes Andrew Blenkiron.

Very cold winds and night time temperatures well below freezing are holding things back a little. That said I have noticed a real difference in colour of crops. Oilseed rape is massing up ready to burst into colour, the hedgerow buds are bursting, the swallows have arrived and Jennifer has had to cut the lawn!  So I would say that spring has eventually arrived.

We have made reasonable progress with land work, playing catch up after drying winds with second nitrogen dressings applied to cereals and rape. They have now received 110kg/ha and 70kg/ha of sulphur. Winter barley has had all it's going to get at 150kgN/ha and 90kgS/ha.

Spring barley drilled in early March is up and away and has received 100kgN/ha.

Darren has also been busy with the compound fertiliser with cereals and beans receiving 350kg/ha of 0:20:30, and the rape has had MOP to balance soil reserves in accordance with last summer's soil tests. I adopted a spring-based application policy about three years ago.

John hasn't been quite as fortunate in getting going with the sprayer. He managed to treat the rape with Proline (prothioconazole) about two weeks ago and made a start on about 100ha of wheat T0 sprays at the end of last week with a cocktail of 0.06litre/ha of Boxer (florasulam), 0.5 of Mirage (prochloraz), 0.5 of Bravo (chlorothalonil), 2 of chlormequat and 2 of manganese.

But then the sprayer wheel came off, quite literally, when the bearing went. Still, he managed to get the Humber finished - a good job because it is romping away and just about at GS31 already.

Compost is about to be applied at 30t/ha on land for maize, fodder beet and stubble turnip/fodder rape. We'll try to plough this in and have these crops sown by the end of the month.

Game strips have been topped off and we're waiting for glyphosate to arrive to give them a clean up prior to muck spreading and then ploughing.

The lapwings have eventually started to nest on the Countryside Stewardship summer fallow and in the winter beans. There are probably about ten nests so far, so let's hope that Jeff, the keeper, can manage to get on top of magpie and rook control. I'm afraid that he can't do anything to stop the badgers taking the eggs though.

We have 16,000 broadleaved mixed species trees all in and ready to grow, so John and Al can turn their attention to other matters.

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It's all go at North Farm, Horton in Dorset, writes Peter Snell.

The Castille winter oilseed rape has had all its nitrogen now - just in time as the variety is coming in to flower and the crop height would impede the spread pattern if we had gone later. The total N applied this spring was 220kg/ha.

The second wheats, which had an early dose of 40kg/ha of N, have now received a further 100kg/ha.

T0 spraying on the wheat has been stop-start. The 1litre/ha of Cherokee (chlorothalonil + cyproconazole + propiconazole) is accompanied by 2litre/ha of chlormequat and 0.75litre/ha of manganese. The chlormequat would benefit from some more consistent warm weather, and if the wind abated we could continue spraying.

Planning future fertiliser requirements is giving me some cause for concern.

When should I enter the market for next season? What will be the availability for the season after that and should we order more now to provide cover?

Also with P + K prices continuing to rise we will definitely be chopping all our wheat straw again this year (apologies to straw buyers).

There is speculation that triple super phosphate (TSP) could reach £700/t. So presumably if other growers chop their straw will this push the value of straw up, or will the increase in cereal area counter this?

Also taking up our time is the new grain store. Steels are up, the concrete floor is shortly to be laid, and the panels and Challow floor have all been delivered this week.

I'm also busy designing a new website for the farm business and we've just ordered a new Amazone trailed sprayer and Amazone hydraulically driven mounted fertiliser spreader for delivery after harvest.

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I don't know if I dare I say it, but with the oilseed rape extending rapidly the pigeon wars seem to be abating slightly, writes Andy Barr from East Lenham Farm, near Maidstone.

Mind you I spoke recently to someone farming several thousand acres who had 14 gas guns deployed and was using a box of rope bangers every day, so I suppose I've had it easy really.

The Tipple barley turned a nice shade of grey in freezing winds over the Easter weekend but now looks healthier again, so I'm keen to put the last nitrogen on and am hoping to do the same to the oilseed rape before it's too tall.

I also have wheat T0 fungicides and nutrients ready to go and even have a little bit of spring rape to put in. But everywhere is very, very wet.

I am in a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (it irks me a little that some of my field boundaries form the NVZ boundary) and carefully worked out my total nitrogen doses using the Planet software.

You probably won't be surprised to hear that I had concerns over the 180 kg/ha recommended for wheat after oilseed rape on what is potentially my highest yielding bit of land.

I duly had a couple of soil N tests done predicting that I could use the outcome to justify a higher input. The result? A potential supply of 136 kg/ha of N.

Why, I'm not sure. Maybe it's the result of sewage sludge applied two years ago, and/or very shallow tillage for seven seasons.

Although they are of disputed worth, I have had such tests done for several years and have never had such a high result in a continuous arable situation, sludge or no sludge.

So if I had started off wanting to apply 220 kg/ha of N, and then followed TAG's advice of taking off one kilogram of N from the fertiliser applied for every kilogram the test reads over 100 kg/ha, that would leave a revised recommendation of 184 kg/ha - very close to the Planet figure.

Perhaps there is something in this RB209 after all!

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