Over the Hedge - Arable Barometer farmers' diary

November 2007 - Posts

• Eastern sugar beet yields improve

  Just over half-way through sugar beet harvest at Hill House Farm, Hedenham near Bungay, John Barrett's output is much improved over his earlier results. "We did another 50 acres two weeks ago and the yield is well up - about 24t/acre - and the sugars are still good, around 18-18.5%. We've now done about 140 of our 270 acres." The following planned crop was to have been wheat, but rain leaving the land wet, and the potentially better return from spring barley for malting have changed his mind. The farm already has 133ha (330 acres) lined up for Tipple on contract at £180/t, he pointed out. "Provided I can get the seed, the gross margin from 2.5t/acre of spring barley at £175/t is better than 3t/acre of wheat at £115/t, which is what I'm budgeting on - even with the seed at £425/t." Having just returned from holiday Mr Barrett now faces a lengthy spell in the office. "We have a whole load of forms to fill in, including our Crop Protection Management Plan, Soil Management Plan, Nutrient and Manure Management Plans, our Soil Protection Review and our LEAF audit. "It's going to take a little while; because with all the different farms we're running we have 42 forms to fill in!" You must be logged in to comment. Posted Nov 27 2007, 04:49 PM by flutefriend with no comments Select Tags... SaveCancel Filed under: Sugar beet, paperwork, forms, malting barley [Edit Tags]

• Beet-free autumn leaves tidier farmyard

  The absence of sugar beet to lift has clearly eased the autumn workload on Farmers Weekly's western Barometer farm in Shropshire. "We've been spending some of the time lifting carrots for an organic neighbour, and we're very nearly up to date with spraying," said Richard Solari. The only winter cereal areas remaining untreated for weeds at Heath House Farm, Beckbury are 20ha of late sown wheat and 40ha of oats drilled in the last week of October. Both could wait until spring without coming to harm, he said. "Certainly the yard's a lot tidier than normal." Machinery maintenance and traying up seed potatoes are the main current tasks. "Seed potato prices are up quite a bit on last year, and some varieties are said to be getting tight. But I'm not convinced there's necessarily a shortage. "Ten days ago I was given 48 hours to make my mind up about some Maris Piper, but the offer's still there." Accord bought in August from Yorkshire cost only £10/t more than last year. But some Super Elite 2 Maris Piper from Scotland, where he acknowledged some seed growers had switched to more profitable ware production, was £280/t. "That's about £50/t more than last year." The farm's planned area for 2008 will be much as last season, though there will be fewer early chippers, he noted. "We've got 170 acres that naturally falls for potatoes, and another 30 that could go potatoes or spring barley. I'll probably decide on the flip of a coin." Rising costs, notably of diesel and fertiliser, especially potash, have left him guarded over potatoes' future. "I'm not very optimistic. We've been warned to expect an average increase of 15% in the cost of growing next year." In the longer term the price of potash, all of which has to be mined, could only escalate, he added. To comment you must be logged in. Posted Nov 26 2007, 10:51 AM by flutefriend with no comments Filed under: Sugar beet, Potatoes, Fertiliser [Edit Tags]

• Northern OSR recovers well

  Andrew Gloag's oilseed rape is nothing like as forward this autumn as it was (pictured above) two seasons ago. But the crop which was earlier giving concern at Busby House Farm, Stokesley, N Yorks, has recovered well, thanks mainly to recent rain and Nutriphite treatment. "We've had some nice steady showers - about 1.5in this month," said Mr Gloag. That helped the 30kg/ha (25 units/acre) of nitrogen applied at drilling to be taken up - albeit belatedly, he believed. "The crop's still backward but it's a nice blue-green colour and we have some good plants. The populations are near the supposed optimum of 30-50/sq m depending on whether they're conventional or hybrids, and the great thing is that they are pretty evenly spaced." Of the 506ha (1250 acres), split equally between the hybrids Excel and Excalibur and conventional Castille and Catana, only one small field has had to be abandoned, mainly because of pheasant damage. "It was nine acres which we re-drilled with wheat." Next week's planned treatment is a second application of Contrast fungicide against phoma plus Kerb to tackle grassweeds. Although at £37/ha (£15/acre) the latter seemed expensive, the cost was effectively spread over the three year rotation, he explained. "It's our one chance to hit the brome and other grasses with different chemistry." Despite spending three day at Germany's Agritechnica event he still didn't manage to see everything. "It's a vast show, and you just can't get round it all," he said. Having viewed masses of non-inversion tillage kit he remained convinced that his earlier choice of the Sumo Quatro had been correct. "I'm more than happy with it." "But I was amazed at the scale of some of the trailers over there - they hold 25-30t and are triple-axled with power steering. It makes you wonder about the legality of them over here in the UK." Posted Nov 22 2007, 10:42 AM by flutefriend with no comments Filed under: OSR, Agritechnica, Machinery [Edit Tags]

• German machinery show impresses N I Barometer farmer

  With winter cereal drilling complete and all herbicides applied on his land at Dungiven, Northern Ireland, James Wray took the opportunity to visit Germany's Agritechnica machinery event last week with his local contractor Ryan Boggs. "We flew out to Hanover on Tuesday, and the show was incredible," he said. "The scale of things was mind-blowing. I've never seen so much kit in one place. "The trip really emphasised the fact that we are really ‘flower-pot' farming here in Northern Ireland. "The scale of farming over there is massive, with 800 acre fields being sown with 18m self-propelled drills and sprayed by 10,000litre triple-axle self-propelled machines. "The size of both tractors and combines belong to another world." Although the experience was impressive the amount of relevant information to be conveyed back to Co Londonderry was limited, he admitted. "So father was glad to hear that no deals were done and new machines ordered, and I shall have to stick to our ‘Mickey Mouse-scale' kit." Machinery maintenance is now the main task as most of his 4000t of potatoes remain in store. "We've sold just 100t locally. Farmers with dodgy crops or inadequate storage are pushing spuds onto the market which is holding prices down. So it's a waiting game for us." You must be logged in to comment.    Posted Nov 20 2007, 10:18 AM by flutefriend with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Potatoes, Agritechnica, Machinery [Edit Tags]

• Extra fertiliser purchase hurts in Lincs

  With all 20ha of sugar beet at Grange Farm, Rippingale, Lincs lifted and wheat drilling and re-drilling done, Ben Atkinson has been turning his attention to base fertiliser dressing and spraying. Because of the extra crop area previously in set-aside he has had to go back into the market for more triple superphosphate and muriate of potash. "It wasn't a pleasant experience with TSP at £263/t and MOP at £205/t," he said. "And that deal took some finding. However I am sure we are making good use of it with the SOYL GPS application system. "We are about to start applying Kerb and Proline to the oilseed rape. This will be a second fungicide for the forward crops but a first for others. Proline is expensive compared to some of the alternatives. But with a relatively thin stand due to the difficult establishment season and with prices as they are, I think it's a crop worth looking after."  Atlantis (iodosulfuron-methyl-sodium + mesosulfuron-methyl) to tackle some of the more forward wheat crops with  visible blackgrass is also due to be applied soon. "However on most crops the pre-em sprays have worked well, there's little blackgrass, and I can see little reason to apply anything more than a BYDV spray and will leave the Atlantis treatment until the spring. "I know research shows that autumn application is best, but if the blackgrass isn't there I can't see the point." Some land prone to manganese deficiency will also get a liquid Mn dressing.  Wheat has started to leave the farm, noted Mr Atkinson. "The earlier sub £100/t contracts are not much fun to load. But thankfully there aren't too many of those. We console ourselves by constantly remembering that we wouldn't have been saying the price was too bad a year ago - and it was the right decision at the time."  Two Simba SL cultivators fitted with oilseed rape sowing kits have been bought for next year. "These new machines represent the conclusion to work we have been involved in with Simba for the past two years. They are basically the Cultipresses and Horsch subsoilers we have used for establishing oilseed rape combined into single machines. "This has allowed us to shed a lot of machinery and will form the backbone to both rape and wheat cultivation/establishment." To comment you must be logged in. Posted Nov 14 2007, 12:30 PM by flutefriend with no comments Filed under: muriate of potash, Fertiliser, GPS, superphosphate [Edit Tags]

• South-western maize harvest set to be 'wrapped up' this week

  Given a clear run, maize harvesting, including tomorrow's MGA/ADAS grain maize demonstration event, should be complete by the end of the week on the land Troy Stuart farms in Devon. About a third of the crop around Clyst St Mary, Exeter, cut at 30-35% moisture, has been crimped and sealed into 2m x 60m ‘sausages' with a Korte bagger for use as high quality dairy feed. The rest is being dried and stored. The only wheat drilling remaining was after the maize and that was going well as was the cereal spraying programme, Mr Stuart reported. "We're still suffering from slugs, but we're pretty well up to date with everything. The Vaderstad Topdown has gone well allowing us to do much more work in a day. "It's been a doddle of an autumn, but that really only makes up for the diabolical summer." The post-maize varieties were Einstein and Istabraq, especially the latter for its good fusarium resistance, he explained. Two days at Germany's Agritechnica show left him with "quite a shopping list". "It's not the place to buy, but from my point of view the thing it showed was that we are already dealing with the better end of the market, especially Claas and John Deere. The new Claas forager looks very good." The trip had its downside, however. "We flew from Bristol at 3pm but didn't get there until after 11pm, having spent six and a half hours at Amsterdam airport which was a bit tedious." To comment you must be logged in. Posted Nov 14 2007, 11:17 AM by flutefriend with no comments Filed under: Harvest, maize, crimping [Edit Tags]

• Berks spray programme under way

  With his Berks autumn sowing completed Nigel Horne (left) has just embarked on the main spraying programme at Catmore Farm, West Ilsley. First off was 2litres/ha of simazine on the recently drilled home-saved Wizard beans. "We went over first with the Simba Cultipress just to level the ground," said Mr Horne. The most pressing subsequent operation for the Knight airjet mounted sprayer, due to start this morning once the sharp frost had cleared, was to apply 0.4litres/ha of Sanction (flusilazole) to tackle phoma in the oilseed rape. "We usually get away with one autumn fungicide. We'll add 2litres/ha of Kerb where we know we have blackgrass." After slow establishment much of the crop is not as encouraging as it should be, he noted. "The problem is that it's not very forward and it's uneven. "I've already mentally written off 10% and that won't get any more inputs. We've been lucky that until this morning's frost we've had a pretty mild autumn. But there are huge numbers of pigeons about." Next in line will be the wheat which, on agronomist Steve Cook's advice, will mostly get 2.4kg/ha of Tolurex (chlorotoluron) granules plus 3litres/ha of Stomp (pendimethalin) in 80litres/ha of water. "Unfortunately we haven't been able to get the granular version of pendimethalin, Bunker, this year," said Mr Horne. "It makes filling much easier." Pre-em treatments are only rarely used as the farm's policy of ploughing in the past and later drilling has left the land relatively clear of blackgrass, he explained. Only on two fields will the approach differ to deal with the weed. "There we'll be using IPU granules with Hawk and oil because we want a bit more contact action. We used IPU granules for the first time last year. "Atlantis might figure later." You must be logged in to comment. Posted Nov 12 2007, 11:03 AM by flutefriend with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Wheat, OSR, spraying, blackgrass, phoma [Edit Tags]

• Final fling for 21m sprayer in Northern Ireland

  Pre-emergence wheat spraying and post-em barley treatments have been going on well under the new 24m tramline system at Dungiven, Co Londonderry, according to James Wray. That's despite his having to apply them with the soon-to-be replaced Amazone mounted sprayer which has only 21m booms. "I'm marking by stepping out and then following the drill marks. It's not ideal." But given the relatively dry conditions and flotation tyres, travelling over the crop instead of the tramlines has posed no problems, he explained. "I wanted a self-propelled Bateman [with 24m booms], but there's a year and half waiting list. So they are bringing three good second-hand ones over in January, and I'm told I can have first pick." With meadowgrass the main target the wheats have been receiving an isoproturon plus pendimethalin mix pre-em. "On the barley, which we do post-em, I've been using IPU/Defy. We've had scorch damage from some other post-ems in the past, but the Defy mix is much kinder to the crop and we've had some excellent results with it." Hallmark (lambda-cyhalothrin) against BYDV-bearing aphids has been included in all applications. Even though two of his wheat sowings, after late-lifted potatoes, have yet to emerge he is unconcerned. "There are a lot of very thick and lush crops around here. I'd be a bit worried about winter kill and the high levels of disease they're likely to get. "Fortunately most of our drilling is quite late because of the potatoes." So far he has not had to apply any slug pellets and has seen no damage from the pests. "We don't have oilseed rape," he pointed out. "But I've set up some traps." To comment you must be logged in. Posted Nov 09 2007, 09:32 AM by flutefriend with no comments Filed under: Defy, Amazone, Bateman, Sprayer [Edit Tags]

• Scottish wheats OK but min-till OSR disappointing

  Wheat spraying is well under way and ploughing for spring crops continues in good conditions at Leckerstone Farm, Dunfermline in Fife. But about half John Hutcheson's 162ha (400 acres) of oilseed rape is beginning to cause concern. "I'm a bit disappointed about some of the crops that have been slow to establish. They seem to be mainly in fields that were min-tilled and had all the straw incorporated," he said. "Fields established by ploughing and/or had straw removed seem to be doing much better." The reason may simply be down to seed-bed quality and the dry spell after sowing, but he suspects something else may be at work. "It's just a theory, but I wonder whether there might have been a bit of Roundup left on the straw after we'd sprayed all the barley. "It's not looking good in some fields - there is a large variation in plant size. But all the rape has now had 34kg/ha of nitrogen, and this might help, but time is running out - the pigeons are coming!" Establishment method is also driving his wheat herbicide treatments. "We are spraying for weeds and aphids." Crops after ploughing are getting 2litres/ha of isoproturon, 0.1litres/ha of Hurricane (diflufenican) and 25ml/ha of Hallmark Zeon (lambda-cyhalothrin). "For fields are after rape or beans we're adding 0.5litres/ha of Duplosan." On the min-tilled fields 2.4litres/ha of pendimethalin has replaced the Hurricane to boost grassweed control, he explained. "One block of wheat established by min-tilling after spring oats has so many oat volunteers that the tramlines are barely visible! "This will get 50ml/ha of Topik + Crop Oil added to the IPU/pendimethalin mix to kill off these oats. "The slug problem has largely disappeared as the most at risk fields grow away from danger. But I am still checking." Some of the oilseed rape is due for an anti-light leaf spot Proline (prothioconazole) spray next week. "We've been giving the wheat priority," said Mr Hutcheson. "But we shan't have to treat the Catana as it's resistant." To leave a comment you must be logged in.   Posted Nov 07 2007, 11:56 AM by flutefriend with 1 comment(s) Filed under: OSR, ploughing, min-till, establishment [Edit Tags]

• World record wheat yield exposes UK growing constraints

  World record wheat grower Mike Solari (left) with brother Richard at Heath House Farm in Shropshire last summer.  Last week's confirmation that brother Mike's Savannah wheat, harvested in New Zealand last March, has broken the Guinness world record for yield, highlights the difference between growing conditions there and in Shropshire, according to Richard Solari. At 15.36t/ha (6.2t/acre) the crop at Alvia Farm, Otama, on South Island stood a much better chance of yielding more than wheat grown at Heath House Farm, Beckbury. There the target on its sandland is only two-thirds of that at best. "We aim for 4t/acre, and on some land we used to farm about five miles away, which is a bit better bodied, we've had 4.8. Here we feed for 4t and just hope that we get the all-important rain," said Mr Solari. There are three key differences between the farms, he explained. "Soil type, climate and expertise. Mike knows what he's doing. I don't!" The New Zealand unit is on deep silt loam and much closer to the equator, he added. "It's like being in the Paris basin. There's also a hole in the ozone layer which means the sunlight's much more intense. I know that to my cost when I didn't wear a hat at barbeque down there. I was caught out the next day." Annual rainfall down-under is about 760mm (30in), distributed fairly evenly month by month. The Shropshire farm averages only 608mm (24in), and although it has irrigation, the last time it was applied to wheat was in late April and early May 1984, the year of bumper output and when the crop's value could justify the exercise, he explained. "Maybe if £150/t is going to become the norm, perhaps we should be looking at it again." To leave a comment you must be logged in.   Posted Nov 01 2007, 04:55 PM by flutefriend with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Wheat, yield, World record [Edit Tags]