Recently in arable farming Category

The UK wheat crop totaled 15.3m tonnes this harvest, 3% more than last year, according to final results from Defra’s national survey published today (22 December).

Wheat production was up due to a 2% increase in the sown area to 2m ha, combined with a 1% increase in the average yield, to 7.7t/ha. The highest yields (8.1t/ha) were in the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, while the lowest yield was in the North West and Merseyside at 6.5t/ha.

Barly production was up 5% in 2011, to 5.5m tonnes, as a 13% increase in the spring barley area more than compensated for a decline in winter barley and a small reduction in overall yields.

It was a record year for oilseed rape though, as yields were up by 13% to an average of 3.9t/ha and area was 10% higher than 2010. This led to total UK production of 2.8m tonnes, some 24% more than last year.

Buoyant grain markets have helped grain trader Wessex Grain make record annual profits in the year to 31 July 2011.

The company made an operating profit of £427,127 on turnover of nearly £56m, significantly up on the £41m the previous year.

“Not only were the markets buoyant, with feed wheat prices increasing by £80/t from the market lows, but for significant periods, the market followed clear trends which the company took advantage of,” managing director Simon Wilcox said.

The business opened its expanded Henstridge store in July, providing space for an extra 20,000t of grain and boosting overall capacity to around 70,000t.

Fuel prices rose again last month, according to the latest Farmers Weekly/ NFU Inputs Price Monitor survey.

Farmers paid an average of 67.7p/litre for red diesel in November, up almost 2p from October and well above the average price of 53p/litre paid last November.

White diesel was up almost a penny to 117p/litre, while kerosene typically cost 59p/litre, up 3p on the month.

Go to www.fwi.co.uk/IPM to take part in the December survey - it’s quick, free, anonymous and helps give a clearer picture of what farmers are paying for inputs.

Wheat straw was in hot demand at a recent hay and straw sale at Newbury in Berkshire.

The sale saw 70 lots totalling almost 1000t on offer, with big bale wheat straw selling to a top of £17 a bale, or £85/t. But there was a wide variation in prices due to variable quality, with some lots down to £55/t and an average price of nearer £70/t.

Carter Jonas Auctioneer, John Read, reckoned straw demand was being driven by strong exports to Holland and France, where farmers were desperate to make up the shortfall after their own poor crops this year.

Hay and barley straw trade was more mixed though, with some lots unsold. Top price of £19.40 a bale (£79/t) went to a batch of Mini-Hesston spring barley straw bales. Conventional hay bales sold well, but big bales proved harder to sell.

United Oilseeds says its turnover has rocketed by 47.1% in the past year on the back of higher commodity prices and membership growth, Nick Fone writes.

The company saw approximately £148m pass across its books this year, up from £50m just five years ago.

That’s reflected in profit too, which stood at £819,000 for the year-ended 30 June 2011, 6.4% more than last year. Good news for United Oilseeds’ trading members who will receive a bigger than usual payout based on that performance - last year that sum totalled £325,000.

The company estimates the area of oilseed rape planted this autumn is up by 8.3% on last year, taking the UK total to 763,000ha (1.89m acres). Its 2011 harvest survey shows rape yields averaged 3.99t/ha (1.61t/acre) this year.

Farmer-owned supply co-operative AtlasFram Group has announced its best ever results for the last financial year.

The Group’s financial reserves rose to a record £2.5m for the year to 30 June 2011 on turnover that was 21% higher at £168m.

All divisions recorded increased volume as its 1060 members bought more through the co-operative, although the livestock and energy supplies departments performed particularly well.

The formal alliance with ADM Direct also proved successful, giving AtlasFram’s grain marketing department a significant boost.

Richard Anscombe, chief executive said: “The UK is now just a small part of a truly global marketplace and our domestic agricultural sector is becoming less important to increasingly-large international suppliers and end-customers.

“To remain competitive, farmers will have to work together more closely through a strong, stable cooperative which purchases the inputs they require, achieves the best returns for their combinable crops and provides impartial advice to enable them to operate more profitably.”

Rising costs are set to push the average cost of production for feed wheat up to £130/t for 2012, according to the latest forecast from Agro Business Consultants.

The November edition of its costing book shows that costs including rent and finance charge are up about £6/t on 2011, although with a predicted selling price of £140/t, feed wheat is still profitable without support.

Oilseed rape was also likely to give a decent margin. Costs were set to rise by £13/t to £320/t, but this was still £25 below the budgeted selling price.

But margins for feed winter barley were less promising as costs were predicted to total £153/t, over £20/t above the expected selling price.

There was also inflationary pressure in the livestock sector. For example, production costs for a year-round calving dairy herd were put at 25.6p/litre, up by just over a penny from the current year.

Go to www.abcbooks.co.uk to find out more about the book and order a copy.

Gleadell Agriculture has announced it is to buy the specialist pea and bean seed company Dunns (Long Sutton) Ltd.

The company said it had reached “agreement in principle” to buy the holding company of Dunns, Tabmellow Ltd, subject to the necessary legal procedures and expected the deal to be completed within the next three months.

"The companies have traded together for over ten years and see clear benefits for Dunns from the support provided by Gleadell’s shareholders Toepfer International and Invivo,” a Gleadell statement said.

“In addition, Dunns’ expertise in both the seed and pulse sectors will provide good synergy alongside Gleadell’s international export pulse trading activities and growing seed business."

Potato production in Great Britain is estimated at 6.053m tonnes from the 2011 crop. This is an increase of 3.5% on 2010, with average yields at 47.9t/ha, compared with 46.1t/ha last year.

The yield increase of 3.9% was on a slightly lower area of 126,328 ha, which is down by 0.4% on 2010, says the Potato Council.

Potatoes are the world’s sixth largest crop by volume, with more than 325m tonnes grown worldwide. Top producer is China with almost 69m tonnes, then India, which grows 34m tonnes. While consumers in Britain eat about 92kg of potatoes each a year, those in Belarus top the consumption league at almost 189kg a year.

It’s been a good year for farmer-owned agricultural suppliers ACT, which has announced record results.

The co-operative made a pre-tax profit of £2.4m on record sales turnover of £108m in the year ending 30 June 2011. It has allowed the company to pay out a £1.1m trading bonus to its 5000 farmer shareholders, the nineteenth year of doing so.

ACT managing director John Hamilton said the performance was driven by a 10% increase in fertiliser and feed volumes, with particularly strong growth in Scotland. There was also the “largest ever” annual sales of forage seeds.

“This demonstrates that farmer-owned co-operatives can trade competitively and deliver good service and good value,” he said.