Spuds are the reason
Fresh rotation aims to revive soil structure nee needs a rest
Keeping early sown Claire under control and disease-free could be quite fun this spring, says Sandy Walker. Extensive set-aside last year after the sodden autumn of 2000 tempted him to drill on Aug 21.
ROOT crops and a run of wet seasons are poor companions. Its a familiar message all too clear to Sandy Walker, who runs the 560ha (1250 acre) family partnership at Ercall Park, High Ercall, with a full-time staff of four.
Although the land is not particularly heavy, ranging from sandy to medium loam, and most is underdrained, harvesting potatoes and sugar beet in recent autumns has exacted a heavy toll.
"Our soil structures have taken a real hammering," says Mr Walker. The wet autumn of 2000 left about 18 acres of potatoes unharvested and 40% of the farm in set-aside.
As an Arable Stewardship pilot farm, he acknowledges the attraction of putting more land into the scheme. But after the recently announced reduced payments, he is determined to return most of it to full output as soon as possible.
"Were easing the farm back into production. If it wasnt for set-aside we would have been knocked really hard last year."
About 160ha (400 acres) of land rented nearby will help extend the interval between root crops to allow the structure to recover, he says.
"Were moving most of the potatoes to a one year in five rotation instead of one in four." The strategy should also reduce the risk of eelworm build up, though egg counts to date remain low.
Min-till has long been the main establishment route for cereals after roots. "I dont like ploughing after potatoes because we need to leave volunteers to get frosted. But I always plough after the beet and we have used it much more in the past two years because of the poor conditions."
A 6m Overum Tive is the main cereal drill, but a 3.5m Nordsten/ Khun combination provides back up. "We bought the Nordsten in the spring of 1993 after we only managed to get 70 acres of winter wheat in. Wet weather problems here are nothing new."
Winter feed wheats the main cereal
APART from some winter barley to spread harvesting and spring wheat and beans left unsown last season, winter feed wheat is the main cereal.
With much of the crop sown after roots, average yield rarely exceeds 7.4t/ha (3t/acre). But some extra early sowing – prompted by Masstocks Smart Farming scheme – could improve that this season.
"With all our set-aside last year we had a chance to try something which might put a bit of fun back into the job," says Mr Walker. "Until then, we had never sown winter wheat before mid-September.
"We drilled 40 acres of Claire on Aug 21 after set-aside following potatoes, which I now think is far too forward. The seed rate was just 37kg/ha, giving us about 90 seeds/sq m. Ten days later, we did another 40 acres at 100 seeds/sq m, which looks much better." Consort is Mr Walkers main variety this season.
All wheat and the barley – this years choice is Heligan – goes to a neighbours chicken unit from which valuable litter at £2/t for the beet and wheat land is bought. However, NVZ proposals cast a shadow over the operation, says Mr Walker.
"We dont have any blackgrass and Ace appears to have worked well on wild oats. But couch has taken a hold in the past few years, probably because of the more open crops."
Agrovistas Neil Buchanan is his main source of advice on how to tackle such problems. "He is here at least every fortnight during the growing season."
Spuds are the reason
were here
POTATOES, all marketed through Greenvale, largely determine the farms fortunes. "Without potatoes we wouldnt be here," says Mr Walker.
Production includes Accord for early chipping, Marfona early bakers from under fleece, Nadine for pre-packing and Maris Piper and Saturna for short-term storage. Maincrop Saturna averages about 47t/ha (19t/acre).
"We have an ambient store for 800t and 500t of box storage space which we also use for chitting."
Two 6m gallon reservoirs and abstraction from the River Roden supply six irrigation hose reels during the season. "We can irrigate all our fields, which is important for getting the right quality. The real difficulty is getting round everything in time." Sugar beet occasionally soaks up any spare watering capacity.
The farm has equipment for all potato operations, including an essential destoner. "We harvest our own beet with a belt lifter, but will also use contractors when we are busy with potatoes or the ground is frosted."
However, after British Sugars problems in the east this campaign, Mr Walker fears for beets future in the west now the Kidderminster factory has closed.
Despite BS assurances that Allscott, which takes his crop, is being upgraded, longer campaigns seem inevitable. "There is a lot of concern in this area. Well have to learn more about storage, and I might even have to consider a shed, though it would be very hard to justify."
Although the farms 2945t quota was only just met after late drilling, this seasons sugar levels have been unusually high. It is possible the cold snap just after Christmas was partly to blame, he says.
"We normally hope for 17-17.5%, but our January lifted beet was up to 18.8%." *
Winter wheat 232ha
Potatoes 101ha
Sugar beet 65ha
Spring wheat 28ha
Spring beans 24ha
Winter barley 24ha
Set-aside 35ha
Continuing our series of articles profiling
this years farmers weekly barometer farms,
Andrew Blake visits Shropshire