Farmer Focus: Feed wheat at risk with pig and poultry decline
Andrew Wilson © Angela Waites Photography We finished our combinable harvest on the first of the month with a very unremarkable crop of spring beans, notable only as the first bean crop I’ve grown that didn’t need drying.
We’ve sent samples for testing for bean stem nematode, ascochyta and germination in preparation for home-saved seed.
Wheat and barley results all came back favourably and drilling has commenced.
See also: Potato yields suffer in the dry with high storage costs to come
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For the first time we have strip-tilled some winter barley (after spring barley that had followed sugar beet), and are watching with interest.
We ploughed and combi-drilled barley after wheat, following our usual philosophy of “as little as possible, but as much as necessary” in terms of cultivations and crop potential.
The wheats have all been strip-tilled to date, with most double rolled, and a pre-emergence herbicide applied.
Variety spread is almost as last year, with the addition of some Dawsum. We will also mix some Costello and Skyscraper to emulate this season’s best-performing crop.
It’s easy to add cost and complication rather than margin, but if we don’t try new things we cannot progress.
I’m unsure if we need a crystal ball or Aladdin’s lamp at the moment, but the decline of the UK pig and poultry industries should be a concern for the UK feed wheat market.
We are but a drop in the ocean of the world market, but local supply and demand need to be aligned to keep prices at a viable level for all.
With a depressing tale of poor potato yields, stratospheric electricity prices and lacklustre contract prices, it is good to see a glimmer of positivity in the sector with the sprout suppressant DMN available in the UK.
I’ll end with a rapeseed report – suffice it to say the slugs and flea beetle are controlling growth, so the pigeons will have easy entry… I now remember why I stopped growing it back in 2010.
