Are you likely to spend the same/more/less on herbicides/fungicides/insecticides this year compared to last year?   What are your views on the potential rust infestation this spring?  Would like to hear your views.

Not worried at all.

Expect herbicide spend to be lower in all crops this year, although roguing costs higher, due to a combination of later drilling / better seedbeds / better pre-em activity / no late autumn herbicide / harsh winter taking out the volunteer beans. Insecticide costs will be lower. Fungicide costs in wheat broadly the same depending on what levels of mildew are about. Overall fungicide in rape about the same - autumn cheaper but spring and summer will be dearer. Will be dropping some of the hocus pocus trace elements from the wheat but not the rape.

Only about 100ac of Robigus this year, the rest of the varieties on farm are more resiliant to yellow rust. Crops will be pushed for yield in any case and normally get a 4-spray program of fungicides.

With all the talk of yellow rust, I would be more worried by a severe attack of brown rust as in 2006(?). All our inputs will soon be though a buying group so dont expect to get too badly stuffed on prices.

only worried that it appears there will be no profit at all.

I guess I have two perspectives on this - one from Syngenta and one from the home farm!

Certainly at home we have better established crops than the previous year. Rabbits are plaguing small areas of wheat and pigeons are hammering the well established rape in this hard winter. I hope warm weather arrives to enable conditions to dry and for nitrogen applications to start. Despite the cold weather, the wheats have both brown and yellow rust so we will be using a robust T0 spray of Cherokee according to our agronomist. 

Some wet, heavy land wheat has suffered in the weather and will not make it. The cost of controlling blackgrass in the crop will be so high we feel the better route would be to use glyphosate and plant a good crop of red wheat on this land in late March/ April. The cost of seed and drilling the winter crop will have to be written off. With some 40% of our estimated harvest sold so far, our average price should remain above £100/t this year and lower fertiliser costs should mean we achieve better costs of production than 2009. We remain optimistic of a profit from the wheat and rape crops.

With my Syngenta hat on, I have been to speak to a number of our farmer meetings this year and the mood appears reasonably optimistic this year. A recent barometer survey of 200 UK farmers showed greater confidence in profitability of their crops compared to last year; they expect higher yields but anticipate a 3 to 4% price increase on crop protection inputs this year. From our perspective this is probably a fair assumption - exchange rates remain an issue for the UK business but the real driver of price increases is the cost of registering and re-registering products here.

Hmm. If your "heavy" land will allow you to replant a crop then it cant be that heavy.

T0 will be vital this year. But then its never a bad idea.

We had rabbits, but then we spent a winter putting rabbit netting up (about 2km) and no now rabbits. Cost of netting circa 65p per meter plus labour to better than Forestry Commission spec.

Cant comment on famr profitability, although I expect to make one with high rents, 4 fungicides, robust grassweeds, full P&K replacement, no straw sales, albeit very well bought N.

All our crops were sold within weeks of drilling. Those with a shed currently full of unsold wheat, who have no 2010 harvest crop sold, who wont consider hedging their SFP, better have very low rents or rental equivalent. Epecially with wheat c£95ex for Nov 2010.  Glad your locals are optemistic. If they got a spreadsheet out and put current data in and add a decent 2010 harvest, its doom and gloom. Expect wheat sub £85 by harvest. Winter barley now more profitable as a straw crop than for the grain!

Agronomist talk here is of no price rises from last year. Either way, you have to be a big farmer to not get a better deal putting it through a buying group for cost control.

I'd be interested to know what crop varieties you are growing at home. And if you managed to get an autumn fungicide on your OSR.

Well done on your crop selling!

You'll need a bucketful of luck to make 13% with Gallant. We need to hit 13%, but with Cordiale so shouldnt be quite as tricky.

For right drill, read Moore Unidrill.

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