New northern Barometer leading the way in OSR yields

Being a pioneer of precision farming and developing his own one-pass rape establishment method is paying off for Colin McGregor, who last season joined the exclusive over 5t/ha club for oilseed rape.


J&I McGregor is a family farming partnership managed by Colin and Jill McGregor spanning the Scottish/English border at Coldstream, Berwickshire. He is the current 2011 Farmers Weekly Arable Farmer of the Year.


The total area farmed is 2,831ha, an amalgamation of eight different farms managed under a range of agreements. The original tenanted 300ha farm was taken on by Mr McGregor at the age of 21 in 1989; since then he has expanded the farmed area nearly tenfold.



Cropping



Wheat, spring barley, winter barley and oilseed rape are all part of the rotation, as well as spring beans and vining peas. Potatoes are farmed in collaboration with Greenvale AP.


“Every farm has its own rotation and we don’t block crop,” says Mr McGregor, though he accepts this is not always the easiest option.


He points out it can be tempting to drill more oilseed rape when prices are high, but he sticks with his strategy. “We don’t grow rape more than one in five.


“We can stick to that rotation by growing spring beans. He adds: “If sold well, they can be a high gross margin crop. Last year’s average spring bean yield was 6.09t/ha.


High yields were also seen with the oilseed rape where Mr McGregor exceeded the 5t/ha holy grail. “Last year we averaged 5.5t/ha of rape sold; an average that has been continually increasing.” This is significantly above the national yield average, which according to DEFRA statistics was 3.9t/ha in 2011. “The challenge for us is to prove it’s not a fluke,” he adds.








 





Selected Kit List


Combines:
• Claas Lexion 770 TT
• 2 x Claas Lexion 600TT


Tractors:
• Case Quadtrac 550
• Challenger MT865C
• 3 x John Deere 7530


Sprayers and spreaders:
• 2 x Rogator 618 Knight 5,000 litre, 40m sprayers
• Amazone 8t trailed fertiliser spreader
• KRM Bredal 8t trailed lime spreader


Cultivation equipment:
• Kvernerland 12/6 furrow ploughs
• 2x Simba 7mSL cultivator with Opico Variocast
• 2x Simba Aqueel 2 Press
• Simba 10m Cultipress
• Vaderstad 8m Rapid drill 

 

For some northern farmers, last year’s wet harvest proved to be very challenging. “We were pretty lucky, we had a very dry spring, but we then had rain in time and yields were good. At the end of the day we ended up with an average rainfall.”


Potato production is done in collaboration with Greenvale AP. “We collaborate with Greenvale on land and storage. The potatoes fit into the rotation of lighter land.”


The vining peas are grown through Scottish Borders Produce, an agricultural co-operative farming around 1,600ha of fresh peas and beans, Mr McGregor is a past chairman and current board member.


Equipment


The farm has three tracked Claas Lexion combines. The most recent replacement, a Claas Lexion 770TT comes with a 40ft header which combined with the two 35ft Claas 600TT’s makes 110ft of cutting capacity. This is because he believes that once crops are ready to cut, it is crucial to get in before losing quality.


A Cat Challenger M865C and a Quadtrac 550 make up the horsepower for cultivations. “There are pros and cons for each type of tracked tractor so we have both in our fleet.”


The business runs a structured replacement policy. “There’s five tracked vehicles, combines stay five years and tracked tractors stay 5-7 years, depending on hours.”


Two 40m Rogator sprayers handle the fertiliser application and spraying, which he opted for instead of having three 24m sprayers. “They again are on a 5-6 year replacement cycle.”


“We are the only people we are aware of with 40m booms in Scotland.” In order to keep both sprayers working to their potential across the eight farms, he commissioned the building of a new spray tanker.


Built to Mr McGregor’s design by Stewart trailers, the de-mountable body fits on to the high spec chassis of a Stewart grain trailer and can hold 5,000 litres of mixed chemical with a separate 5,000-litre tank for water.


“The reason for two tanks is when you top-up your sprayer with mixed chemical, you can then flush with fresh water so when you disconnect pipes, any spillage will be fresh water,” he adds. “It can effectively add the capacity of another sprayer.”


Three John Deere 7530 tractors make up the rest of the fleet “These tractors are sold at about three years old, with more hired in during the peak working season.”


Cultivations are done by two 7m Simba SL700s which drill rape and apply liquid fertiliser in one pass. “That’s 14m of rape drilling at once,” which he points out can be crucial with the late harvest dates and unpredictably of Scottish weather. “Basically we chase the combines; it all happens very quickly.”


Other cultivations are handled by a Simba 10m Cultipress or ploughing using Kverneland six or 12-furrow ploughs. “We rotationally plough, generally areas for spring cropping and for winter barley.”


The three combines are split up during harvest with one combine running alone. The farm uses six high spec 16t Stewart trailers with airbrakes and ABS for carting grain. “We don’t have chaser bins. We tried it once and it doesn’t work for us, due to combine capacity and grain storage.”


Combines, sprayers and the larger tractors are all fitted with precision-guidance technology, taking the signal from the farm’s own RTK station.


This heavy use of the latest technology has allowed Mr McGregor to increase his farmed area while maintaining high crop yields and consistency. But it required taking on a full-time arable technical manger to help manage the expanded area. “As we got bigger to maintain that attention to detail we needed to beef up the management; that’s why David Fuller came to join us.”


“He can really focus on it and get it right. If you look at our average yields they have been consistently growing.”










































Crop 2012 area (ha)


2011 yields (t/ha)


Winter wheat


1417


9.98


Winter barley


50


8.9


Spring barley


38


6.62


Oilseed rape


574


5.5


Maincrop potatoes 160


n/a



Vining peas


144


n/a


Spring beans


274


6.09


Environmental stewardship


171


n/a



However, farming across the border does present some unique challenges as the different farms fall under different national jurisdictions.


“All the farms we are involved with are participants in some sort of environmental scheme, Higher Level Stewardship and Entry Level Stewardship in England and the rural stewardship scheme, and land managers options in Scotland. Funding for environmental work in Scotland is proving harder to secure.”


Despite being unsuccessful in securing Scottish rural development programme funding, grass margins are still being maintained. A reed-bed has been installed to filter run off from the farmyard.


Investments


Being prepared to invest in the latest technology and land improvements is a key part of Mr McGregor’s approach.


He was one of the first Scottish growers to adopt precision farming methods, starting with yield mapping in 1996 and a year later, soil mapping. All land is now GPS soil mapped.


“We are building our information up gradually and seeing the differences in variable application over a number of years,” says Mr McGregor. “We are now variably applying nitrogen, potash, lime and are currently conducting electro-conductivity mapping to allow us to variably apply seed.”


He is also investing in a range of projects including a wash station, accommodation for seasonal employees and a BASIS-registered chemical store.


The farm already has one 12,000-litre liquid fertiliser tanker and is in the process of building another 10,000-litre tanker in the workshop.


It will be used to supply liquid fertiliser to the Two Simba SL700 cultivators when they are establishing rape.


It’s not just equipment; he is also investing in land drainage. Good drainage is essential in maintaining good crop yields and ensuring machinery can travel on land, particularly in higher rainfall areas.


“We are currently draining a 50-acre field using two diggers. We are digging back all the laterals and stoning them in using 100mm or 160mm plastic, perforated piping with a teran wrap to stop silting.


“It’s a big job, but it will be well worth it. It’s good land and it will make a big difference. With light land like this, we have big problems with frost heave.”


Mr McGregor also finds it’s a good way to deploy his full-time employees in quieter period. “This work ensures our assets are maintained and enhanced.”







Picture gallery




  • Colin McGregor
  • Colin McGregor
  • Colin McGregor
  • Colin McGregor
  • Colin McGregor
  • Colin McGregor
  • Colin McGregor
  • Colin McGregor
  • Colin McGregor

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