FARMERFOCUS
FARMERFOCUS
Brian Hammond
Brian Hammond is farm
manager for Carnreagh
Farms at the 182ha (450-
acre) Ballyalloly Farm,
Comber, Co Down where he
grows 50ha (125 acres) of
potatoes as well as cereals
and oilseed rape
Brian Hammond is farm
manager for Carnreagh
Farms at the 182ha (450-
acre) Ballyalloly Farm,
Comber, Co Down where he
grows 50ha (125 acres) of
potatoes as well as cereals
and oilseed rape
WHAT a contrast between this summer and last. Returning home from holiday in the middle of a heat wave, harvest was nearly half done. Winter barley was all cut and most of the straw baled and carted and a start made to the Apex oilseed rape.
Results from the winter barley were a little mixed. From what we have sold and what we have stored in our ventilated bin I estimate a final yield of just over 7t/ha (2.8 t/acre). That is down on our five-year average.
The Pastoral was better than the Regina, probably because it was sown earlier and was on our best fields. The results of an on farm trial to compare Manitou and Pastoral and a blend of the two were lost in the mad rush of harvest.
The lower yields I would put down to a combination of factors. Firstly, the atrocious weather last autumn, not applying any P and K and probably too little nitrogen as well. But probably the most significant reason was a less than effective fungicide programme. We did spend the money – £62/ha (£25/acre) – but timings were slightly out.
On the plus side, no barley needed drying – a first for us. The price is fractionally better than last year – £81/t ex-field – and there is the ever-insatiable demand for straw. We increased our straw prices this year by about 20% (to about £50/t ex-field) thinking that would be the most livestock farmers would pay. But we are heavily oversubscribed with orders and the larger growers in the area are all the same.
Heavy rain has stopped play in oilseed rape, but looks like 3.5t/ha (28cwt/acre) off the combine. But the price of £110/t dried and delivered is far below the cost of production.
Harvest seems to be in a great hurry this year. Spring barley should be ready mid-August and wheat soon after. Given some half-decent weather harvest could be over by the end of the month.
James Moldon
James Moldon manages the
220ha (550 acres) heavy
land Stanaway Farm, Otley,
Suffolk, for the Felix
Thornley Cobbold
Agricultural Trust.
Crops include winter wheat,
barley, OSR, beans, linseed
and sugar beet
AS rain stops play, it is time to reflect on the harvest so far. Combining is progressing well, with crops being cut a week earlier than last year.
Oilseed rape has averaged about 3.5t/ha (28cwt/acre). Although Pronto is a hybrid it did no better than the Alpine at 3.5t/ha, so did not justify the extra seed cost.
The Autocast and broadcast trials have now been cut with yields as good and even slightly higher than the plough and disced areas. The variety used was Apex and Autocast came top with 3.85t/ha (31.2 cwt/acre). Broadcast was next with 3.76t/ha (30.4 cwt/acre), then ploughed and drilled at 3.58t/ha (30 cwt/acre) and finally disced at 3.56t/ha (28.8 cwt/acre).
Although I am cautious with one year of results, there was very little difference in yield between the various establishments, but cost-wise a saving of £100/ha (£40/acre) using non-tillage establishment.
The linseed remained standing and yielded well at 2.3t/ha (19 cwt/acre). That compares well with 2t/ha (16 cwt/acre) last year.
The small area of winter barley was mainly drilled to keep the Morley Research Centre barley trials company and provide an alternative meal to the Suffolk bird population. Even so, the Regina yielded about 7.5t/ha (3.0 t/acre) and had an N value of 1.57% after 200kg/ha (160 units/acre) of nitrogen. Hopefully, a malting home can be found for it.
Half of the milling wheats received 1.5l/ha of glyphosate and 0.5l/ha of tallow amine to ensure even ripening. Charger second wheat was established in a clay pudding in October last year and had an average yield of 8.5t/ha (3.4 t/acre), while Malacca first wheat yielded 11t/ha (4.45 t/acre), which is very pleasing. Proteins have yet to be tested.
The biggest problem this harvest is the virtual lack of signal for the yield mapping system. An annual fee of about £500 is paid each year, but at the one time when we need the signal we find the local Taccleston mast is under maintenance until September.
However, after 6.30pm they turn up the power when the engineers have gone home. So perhaps combining will now be carried out through the night.
Mike Cumming
Mike Cumming is manager at
Lour Farms, Ladenford,
Forfar, Angus, where spring
malting barley and seed
potatoes occupy about half
the 749ha (1850 acres).
Other crops include winter
wheat, barley and oats,
oilseed rape, swedes
and grass
DURING my two weeks away all the crops ripened very quickly and our Pastoral winter barley was cut at the end of July. It came off at 14.8% with a respectable specific weight of 67.5kg/hl.
As for the yield I can only guess. But it will be in the region of 7-7.25t/ha (2.8-2.9t/acre). Not a bad physical start to a gloomy financial harvest.
As for rape, the Gazelle has been lifted and looks reasonable, while the Commanche has just been swathed. Although I have forward sold wheat and barley, no rape has been sold to date. The budget price of £115/t looks decidedly sick against a market price of £100/t currently offered.
The main harvest concern in these parts, the price of malting barley, will not become clear for some time yet – spring barley is at least a week away.
Last year the crop averaged £81.50/t, but with the buyers market that will inevitably exist we will be lucky to equal, let alone beat that this year.
The strong action taken at ear spray to control wheat mildew appears to have paid off, although there is some Septoria evident in the crop. My concerns regarding mildew control with Landmark (kresoxim-methyl + epoxiconazole) resulted in a crop inspection by BASF technical staff.
Having discussed the problem in depth I accept that our Airtec sprayer had a part to play in the situation. On the early crops the flag leaf was lying horizontally when sprayed and it appears the 70l/ha water volume used was insufficient for crop penetration.
The later crops, however, where disease control is much better, were sprayed with the flag still vertical, allowing better coverage. That said, we have used 70l/ha for seven years on cereals without incident and I am not convinced this is the whole answer.
The lesson learnt is that Landmark rates at flag will have to be increased and a mildewicide added if the disease is a threat. The excellent protective properties appear to have little effect on levels of infection invisible to the naked eye.
Leonard Morris
Leonard Morris is tenant at
206ha (510-acre) White
House Farm, South Kyme
Fen, Lincoln. His heavy land
grows winter wheat and
oilseed rape and spring peas
and linseed. Lighter ground
is cropped with potatoes,
spring rape and linseed.
WEATHER has always had a central role in farming fortunes and this summer is no exception. So far August is off to a scorching start, with a top temperature of 33.5C already and several days over 30C. But once again, with the intention of starting winter wheat combining, it has started raining.
Somewhat surprisingly we had 1mm more rain in July than last year. It was also warmer, the average maximum temperature up from 21.9C to 24.3C and the average up from 16.8C to 18.2C.
Combining started with oilseed rape on 18th July, the earliest in a long time. The Apex yielded about 3.2t/ha (1.3 t/acre), but rain delayed the Synergy hybrid rape for five days and it only yielded 2.8 t/ha (1.15 t/acre).
Oilseed rape certainly suffered from slugs and blackgrass this year, especially the hybrid variety. The two thunderstorms flattening the Apex cost it a lot of yield. I have heard of several yields in the area around 3.7t/ha (1.5 t/acre), and the occasional one around 4.8 t/ha (1.9 t/acre).
The peas have been desiccated with 3 litres/ha of Reglone (diquat) and Enhance at 100ml/100 litres of spray. There has been a lot of late germinating oilseed rape in the peas this year, which even after desiccating still caused problems at harvest with the stems getting in the sample.
We have harvested the Avola vining peas for seed, which yielded about 2.5 t/ha (1 t/acre), the best we have had for several years. The Espace peas will be ready shortly.
Finally, I have desiccated the linseed on the light land. Plenty of combines were working in the area last week and most of the grain was coming in very dry. Hopefully, we will join them shortly.