Archive Article: 2000/09/29
John Best
John Best farms 320ha
(791 acres) from Acton House
Farm, Pointspass, Co Down.
Wheat, conservation-grade
oats and potatoes are main
crops on his 220ha (544 acres)
of clay loam arable land
A GREAT start to harvest has given way to very changeable weather and we still need three fine days to finish our wheat and beans. Unfortunately, that includes my seed wheat plots of Consort, Aardvark and Charger.
Yields have been exceptionally good. The only disappointment was a field of early-drilled Consort that appeared clean and was well established but only produced a yield of 7.7t/ha (3.1t/acre). Later drilled fields of Consort on less fertile land achieved better yields, and stem-base fusarium seems to be blame for the early crops poor performance.
Much of the oat stubble has been ploughed and pressed and a good flush of volunteers, especially where slurry was spread, will be tackled with glyphosate prior to drilling. Demand for oat straw is still very slow so most has been stacked; no doubt there will be a market later in the year for any not required for home use. Wheat straw will go to a local mushroom composter during the winter.
Low levels of blight infection in the potatoes have prompted a switch from Shirlan (fluazinam) to Super-Tin (fentin hydroxide) which has been applied at 0.33kg/ha. That should help check tops that are still very green. The tubers have been slow to come into size but I hope they will be ready to burn off this week. I will reserve judgement on skin finish until harvest.
With a 30p/litre difference between the price of derv in NI and the Republic of Ireland, I fill-up farm vehicles across the border as often as possible. However, last week my Isuzu Trooper demonstrated that this policy is not without hazards. After "chugging" around all day, investigation revealed a blocked fuel filter, two burnt out injectors and some very cloudy fuel in the tank. Not that that is going to persuade me to swell the Chancellors coffers by buying in the north. I will simply have be more selective about which garages I stop at. *
Fuel crisis? What crisis? John Best simply pops south of the border to fill up with derv at 30p/litre less than at garages in Northern Ireland.