Archive Article: 2000/12/22
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
FIELDWORK is still at a standstill so it is very much the season of conferences and sharing of information.
A trip to Co Kildare left me rather envious as apart from selling wheat at £79/t (IR£103) most farmers had received their IACS cheque by Nov 20. I fail to see why the Department of Agriculture here in Northern Ireland cannot have claims processed and ready to pay out by Nov 16.
The Smithfield Show was an enjoyable day. The frustration of having to queue to register having paid the entrance fee was soon dispelled with a cup of fortified coffee on the McHale stand.
I returned home convinced that at todays cereal prices, scale has become more important and machinery bigger. Contracting will have to play a much bigger role in arable farming in this country.
An Ulster Arable Society visit to the Agriculture and Food Science Centre at Queens University in Belfast was a morning well spent. We visited the laboratories in small groups and heard about ongoing research from the people directly involved.
Of particular interest to me were the results from a trial looking into the use of specific weight as an indicator of nutritive value of wheat. The results concluded that there was no reduction in performance even when wheat as low as 60kg/hl was used in broiler rations. Such results question the validity of compounders discounting or rejecting wheat under 72kg/hl.
Other experimental work looking at the increasing build up of wild oats suggests that in some fields seed was a major factor in spreading the weed as the wild oats were found predominantly in the rows.
It will be apparent reading this article that arable work has not been to the fore over the past month. In fact, all weve managed is two-and-a-half soggy days digging potatoes. However, with stock all housed, work is plentiful. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a dryer New Year. *
It has been a month of conferences and communication for John Best. Specific weight findings at Queens University were particularly interesting.