Crop comments

2014 sugar beet price

Tim.Relf — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:24:46 GMT

Hundreds of growers have attended an NFU meeting after rejecting British Sugar's price offer for the 2014 crop.

BASIS help for my project - OSR

rugby1980 — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 18:36:37 GMT

Happy new year all!

Im in need of your help for my BASIS project, which is based on Verticillium Wilt in OSR and how it is being managed.

Below is a link to a survey i have done on this topic, if you have a spare 5 minutes and have had troublke with this in the past, i would be very very grateful if you could complete it, i need to write at least 3000 words on this topic, but this will help loads.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/H9JD2HK

Thanks once again for your help, any problems just drop me a line on this thread.

Look forward to your replies.

Grain store size

Ant Becvar — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 11:14:13 GMT

I'm currently looking to put up a brand new grain store. The size of the area we have available is good to hold a 60ft x 40ft store. We were going to go with 9ft high panel sides. We're going to start block cropping so will only have to deal with one crop for the foreseeable future (wheat and oats, though may break with osr or beans at some point if required). We have 40 acres of wheat in this year due to another 25 failing in the autumn. However, the hope is that next year we will be planting up some more ground to have about 85 acres. Our ground isn't great so we usually make aout 2.75t/acre.

So would a grain store of 60Lx40Wx9H be able to store around 250t of grain? And would it possibly hold another 50t???

Becoming an Agronomist in UK with foreign qualifications

marcin-k — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:52:50 GMT

On this forum, I found a topic "What Qualifications are neeeded to become an Agronomist?" , where it was advised to acquire FACTS and BASIS certificates or to get an agricultural degree. My question is: Is it possible to become an agronomist in the UK having foreign qualifications and no experience in the profession?

In 2006, I graduated from Agricultural University of Wroclaw, Poland (the current name of the university: Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences) with Master of Science degree in Agriculture, but I haven't worked in my profession since then. Recently I have started looking for a job in agronomy, but in most cases you have to be a recent graduate or to be experienced in the prefession. I graduated 7 years ago, and - as I said - have no experience.

Any suggestions what I should do to become an agronomist in the UK? Is it even possible, without having to spend a couple of years gaining a Bitish degree or doing courses?

Thank you for any advice,

Marcin

Corn carting on the move

Bigbull84 — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 17:58:20 GMT

I'm doing some corn carting this summer, although i have sat on headland I've never filled up on the move before and i worried about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Can any body give me any tips? Thanks

Sprayer tank

Bigbull84 — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 18:01:09 GMT

I expected to do some spraying off during the summer for our stale seed bed establishment. But what should i do with the left overs in the spray tank?

Spraying near houses

oxonoxon — Sat, 18 May 2013 19:09:39 GMT

Our back garden backs onto a field in which wheat is growing. Today the farmer sprayed (I assume fertiliser and/or weedkiller!) and I wondered if whatever he used might be harmful to our garden plants and pets. There is also a strange fishy smell in the air - I wondered if this was the spray, or maybe someone is cooking fish! Not bothered about the smell, which will go, but I'd be grateful for reassurance that the spray is harmless. (Farmer was in an enclosed cab.)

Cropping from 2015

6499 — Fri, 31 May 2013 07:03:46 GMT

Does anyone know the % and types of crops that qualify as different that we have to grow from 2015.EG Are winter wheat and spring wheat classed as different

Crop planting

henarar — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 08:51:06 GMT

How is it going

Just wondering how much you boys had got in the ground? and more important what percentage looks like growing into something worth having?

Prompt

welshnwilling — Tue, 28 May 2013 20:36:08 GMT

Have some docks, nettles and thistles in some silage ground and also some grazing. Been advised by local merchant to use Prompt. Fair bit cheaper than Pastor he says. Any thoughts ?

Thanks.

beet herbicide used on peat soils. muck

conny — Tue, 28 May 2013 20:10:26 GMT

Hi Chaps, can you give me details on the best herbicide options to use for growing beets on peat soils ( I think you call muck soils). I intend on growing red beets. Generally speaking preemergent herbicides don't work great on peat soils. Thanks for your help.

aerial crop analysis

dickie — Fri, 10 May 2013 06:56:43 GMT

hi there, i'm new to these farming forums and indeed new to farming but is something I've always had an interest in. I'm presently doing some research in using unmanned aerial systems for crop analysis, the technology and legislation exists in the UK however to my knowledge little to no one is doing this. My question to you is how receptive and or how useful would images from on high be to you, I'm not just talking about regular camera images but also Near Infrared imaging that look at the variations of vegetation colour to determine crop stresses etc? All images would be geo referenced so you could plot these into you GPS systems for precision applications. Is this something that you could see being contracted out at various stages of a crops growth? Have any of you heard of any farmers using a similar system or service? I look forward to hearing from you all.

Crop Doctor 2 Helicopter Tour

Clarkee12 — Fri, 03 May 2013 08:55:29 GMT

Farmers Weekly is again teaming up with Bayer CropScience on a helicopter tour around the regions to investigate disease risk in winter wheat and offer advice on fungicidal disease control ahead of the crucial T2 flag leaf spray timing. Sites visited will again be in Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Herefordshire and Hampshire.

On board will be two leading independent experts. SRUC crop protection team leader, Fiona Burnett, who will answer any questions and offer advice on septoria control this season.

Also taking part is Phil Jennings from FERA, who is a leading voice on fusarium and ear diseases such as microdochium. He will discuss the differences and implications of these diseases and offer advice on how to get the most out of your fungicides to reduce yield loss and mycotoxins at T3.

Septoria and fusarium were the key diseases last year.

If you have any questions for our experts, including the independent agronomists, growers and Bayer technical managers that will also be present at each site, please write them below. You can also email adam.clarke@rbi.co.uk or use the Twitter hash tag #cropdoctor

Pest Control

Rebecca1 — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 18:25:18 GMT

Hi my name is Rebecca and I am currently studying Advertising Design at the university of Huddersfield and I am working on a project based on BASF (the chemical company), I would really appreciate if you could answer some questions on Pest control and how it effects your farm/livestock. You either reply on the forum or email me at U1058594@hud.ac.uk Thank you so much for your time Here are a few questions, all answers will only appear in my univeristy work, and will not be made public. Have you had any experience with pest control? If so how has it effected you? Have you heard of BASF and the products they supply? Is pest control a main concern on your holding/farm? If there was a pest occurrence on your holding/farm, would you seek advice online, from friends or a farm supply shop? If you have every used pest control services or products, which ones did you use and why? (eg recommended from a friend, used it before and know it has positive results etc) When it comes to your livestock and business what type of advertising appeals to you? -Print ads -Television -Events -Social media, such as youtube virals, facebook, twitter etc What tone of advertising do you prefer when it comes to your livestock and business (whether its pest control, livestock food, equiptment etc) Humorous Serious Straight to the point Different/eye catching visuals Thank you so much for your time, I am really grateful

Cash back guarantee: A new way of selling barley seed?

Richard Allison — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 16:44:48 GMT

Earlier this week Syngenta unveiled a novel scheme where they will offer the cost of the seed back to growers if a crop does not give its claimed yield advantage. The firm is effectively offering a cash-back guarantee of £60/ha for the half a tonne yield boost from growing a hybrid winter barley next autumn.

Yes the optional scheme comes with some caveats. The yield guarantee of 0.5t/ha over conventional varieties is based on Syngenta's regional reference sites, not farm performance and growers will be required to use the company's own fungicides and plant growth regulators. Also they will need to use a specified seed rate and apply nitrogen by a certain timing.

Is this guarantee a welcome addition taking some of the risk? Could this be the start of a new way of selling seed? Would you be tempted to take up the offer?

Question for potato growers

Celine — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 09:59:14 GMT

Hiya,

I'm currently working on a project for the biocontrol of potato cyst nematodes with SASA (Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture) and I was wondering if any potato growers on this forum would be up for giving me their point of view on PCN control...

How big is the problem for you?

How do you currently manage it on your farm? if you could give me an idea of your related costs, nematicides, crop rotation, resistant cultivars used...

What impacts has the changing EU regulations on plant protection chemicals?

Any personal opinion/experience with trap crops/biofumigation? Do you think it could be promising? Can you afford using it (growing a non cash crop for 12 weeks)?

Any input will be useful.

Thanks a lot,

Celine

Any Finola growers here?

depo_hemp — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 22:43:50 GMT

Anybody ? Where are you based, how many acres, what`s your yield, what do you do with your seed? :)

What to do?

dan new house — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 17:41:22 GMT

I've 60 acre that i haven't managed to get wheat into, is it worth buying spring barley at £595/ton to put in or is farm saved a better option? i don't know of anyone who has any around here, Huddersfield. anyone else's thoughts? loosing the grain isn't too bad as it would have been sold, but having to buy all the extra straw at what will be rocketing prices could be costly.

Rook Control

the cornish ba#t*rd — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:24:41 GMT

Rooks are playing havoc with what little spring barley we've planted. Obviously it's pretty slow to come up a get away now! Any top tips on how to pop a few of the little beggers off? Can't get close enough, but I do feel I need to kill a few... Just to make myself feel better!

Spring?

cropexpert — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:55:02 GMT

Is there a weather forcast out there that is predicting one yet ? Looks like a re run of 2012 April onwards except extreme cold/snow instead of extreme rain.Blocking highs over Greenland to Baltic , makes a slight change from continuous lows.

soil tests

dan new house — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 20:49:44 GMT

are soil tests worth doing?

what would you advise testing for? pH ? and what elements?

who's best to do this or is it worh buying a test kit?

we had some tests done 2 year ago pH was approx ok

phosphorus and potassium high and magnesium rediculously high

F1 ph 5.9, P (index) 3, K 2+, Mg 4

F2 ph 6.6, P (index) 2, K 2-, Mg 6

F3 ph 6.3, P (index) 4, K 3, Mg 6

F4 ph 6.6, P (index) 3, K 2+, Mg 5

F5 ph 7, P (index) 5, K 3, Mg 5

mixture of permanent pasture and what was winter cereals at the time this year there going to be spring ...

Well said Stephen Carr!

AllyR — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 08:14:05 GMT

At last an acclaimed farming columnist slams our Crop Assurance schemes for the pain in the neck which they are. (Crops Magazine, 9th March page 53).

Farmers sold themselves too cheaply into those, so called voluntary, Schemes. lured to sign up with the offer, of £1 / tonne premium when you are a member, which soon became £1 / tonne less if you didn't, which soon became "not legally sellable" if you were not in one of these schemes. Once started, these organisations are helluva difficult to get rid off. Oh! How did we manage before?

In every line of his magnificent piece of writing, Stephen hits many a nail on the head. Never have I enjoyed reading a farming article so much. This was music to my ears. I found myself involved with every aspect which he raised - and more. The fact that no one comes into the farm to look at and discuss our grain any more. The fact that I have controlled rats and mice to the best of my ability for years without drawing little diagrams and maps of where I lay the poison. The fact that I know my grain storage moisture and temperatures so well now that I could write out next years for the Quality assurance inspector now; if you see what I'm getting at.

Legal standards and traceability I accept with open arms, but Quality assurance is some thing which is between me and my customers, which in many ways are actually higher than those of the Assurance Scheme. This firm has in the past put good Scottish livestock to more than fifteen countries world wide without being in any Assurance Scheme other than that built up between ourselves and our customers. Similarly, so have many other of my farming friends.

I hope Stephen's words don't fall on deaf ears. I have yet to hear a farmer talk up these Schemes, (except the NFU Office Bearer who was involved in the committee of such a Scheme, who said "Things could be a lot worse if we were not involved". Okay, he got off with that one). It is time to take a stand. There is one way we can all help. Each year they send round a circular asking for members opinions of how their organisation is run. Fill this in with your own views. I put in a really strong reply last time so I am a bit worried about next inspection! Well, as they say, No pain - No gain.

WHD Cereal Seed Growers - where are you?

farming4profit — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 15:31:39 GMT

About 15 years ago the WHD Seed Growers Association morphed into the British Association of Seed Producers concentrating 99% on grass seed production. I would really like to talk to any of the old WHD Seed Growers who did not join BASP because their expertise and production quality is needed in 21st Century CEREAL seed production. Anyone else interested in growing winter cereal seed can also contact me - we can accommodate up to 1000 tonnes per farm so open to large scale arable units too. 1st wheat positions. info@farming4profit.co.uk Spring cereals for 2014 planting too

Buying arable land - how much/acre roughly?

rav725 — Wed, 11 May 2011 18:56:33 GMT

Hi everyone, I'm new here and this is my first post. I am contemplating buying grade 2-3 flat arable land up to 4-5 acres which is next to a small road. The purpose of the purchase is for investment reasons and to hold for at least 4-5 years. The agent I spoke to said adjoining plots without the good access had gone for up to £8500/acre and this plot was worth just above £10000/acre. I thought it was too much but despite spending several hours on the internet haven't been able to determine what a reasonable price should be. Can anyone here give me some advice on what a fair price might be - I appreciate it can only be a rough guide without particular details. Also whether its worth going ahead with the purchase as an investment. Thanks!!!

Spring Wheat

6499 — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 21:21:00 GMT

Started drilling spring wheat to-day, went in surprising well.Just wondering if we should roll the field in a few days time as the forcast is dry.