NIABtrials on Internet
NIABtrials on Internet
A NEW Internet service containing a daily update from NIAB cereal trials is speeding access to results this season.
The Rapid Result service posts findings from the 25 recommended list trials sites around the country as soon as they are analysed, usually within 24 hours of harvest, says NIAB cereals specialist Richard Fenwick.
Cost is £25 to register, and a downloading fee of £5 for each major crop per day. It is proving most popular with the seed trade, though some growers are also using it, he adds.
David Neale of Dalgety finds the system useful. Quick access to trials results is important to build the national and local picture farmers expect seed merchants to have. "We put a lot of stock in NIAB results. They give us added confidence in building a reliable database." However, he would like to see NIAB produce results even sooner, matching commercial organisations.
"NIAB trials are on a much grander scale, with large numbers of replicates. A lot of effort is needed. Nevertheless, with the staffing and technology it has, I would have thought it could be quicker."
Mr Fenwick maintains that although NIAB sites were not the first to be combined, that is because they were not fit. Nearly half of the 25 sites were in by the start of this week. "We cover the whole of the UK. Trials in the west and the north are much later to mature."