With increasing demand for soya, both in Britain and across the world, one UK company is seeking more growers to sign up and grow the crop.

David McNaughton, managing director of Soya UK, highlights one reason behind the new attempt was that the price of soya had more than doubled in the past five years to £340/t, making it a profitable break crop for the British grower.

Over the past 18 months, new seed varieties have come onto the market designed specifically for growing in UK conditions. The new varieties, such as Elena bred in the Ukraine, are “light years ahead” of those available 10 years ago and they offer early harvests, excellent yields and quality, Mr McNaughton says.

Simon Chiles is one of just four growers in the UK who is giving the crop a go this season, having tried growing soya nine-years ago.

He explains the rise in soya price was one of the reasons tempting him to give soya another try. “The price of soya is now £340/t, so why would any farmer choose to grow oats only fetching £75/t?

“If you get the right advice and follow the guidelines, I can see no reason why growing soya cannot be a success with these new varieties.”

Mr Chiles direct drilled 16ha at a rate of 125-150kg/ha in late April at the 120ha unit he share farms near Edenbridge, Kent.

The seed was sown into moist soil, as a dry seedbed is the second major potential agronomic pitfall for soya – after pigeons. Mr Chiles achieved this by direct drilling it into wheat stubble, thus retaining moisture. After six weeks, the crop is emerging well despite the recent cold weather.

“The challenge with soya is trying to keep the pigeons off until you get a few leaves. We use helikites and rotating lights to try and keep them away,” Mr Chiles says

Soya bean seed is a low-input crop, adds Mr Chiles. “There’s no fertiliser requirement, just a bit of P&K. We sprayed the seedbed with a bit of RoundUp (glyphosate) to clean up weeds before drilling.”

Apart from the early threat from pigeons, soya has no real pests or diseases, so no fungicides are required.

Video: Simon Chiles on growing soya

Mr Chiles aims to harvest his crop in September and expects a yield of around 2.5t/ha.

The crop is on a buy-back contract with Soya UK to supply seed to other UK growers next season. The company has 40ha of soya being grown in the UK, but Mr McNaughton believes there is a potential area of tens of thousands of hectares.

He hopes to attract more than 50 growers next year, but he accepts that much depends on this year’s results. However, he believes the large increase in nitrogen prices has made soya, with the high nitrogen legacy it leaves behind for the following crop, an attractive option.

It’s not the first time soya has been grown in the UK. An average of 1200ha of soya per year was grown from 1999 to 2003.

Mr McNaughton insists the last attempt to grow soya was not a complete failure, but was mothballed due to various difficulties. Varieties were not as good and gross margins were uncompetitive due to the lower soya prices, he says.

The introduction of the Single Farm Payment has also removed the problem of the differential in area payments, he adds.

There was also a “serious problem” under the old IACS system, he says, which attracted a reduced level of area payment since soya was classified as an oilseed.

However, Mr McNaughton warns that the right conditions are still necessary to grow soya successfully. “Soya is not a crop for everyone. The heavier the land, the bigger the risk,” he says.

Growers on light land in the South are best placed, but those farming north of the Vale of York, or Pembrokeshire in South Wales, should not attempt to grow soya, says Mr McNaughton. Similarly, anyone plagued by pigeons should also not to attempt grow the crop.