Visit the Arable Event on FWi

11 May 2001



Visit the Arable Event on FWi

By Edward Long

CEREALS 2001 may have fallen victim to foot-and-mouth, but Velcourts Arable Farming demonstration plots have been saved from the set-aside threat.

From Friday (11 May), growers will be able to monitor what is happening to them by logging on to the Arable Event pages of FARMERS WEEKLYs website FWi.

Faced with the loss of a lot of valuable information and experience, Keith Norman, of Velcourt Arable Farming demonstration, asked the sponsors to continue backing both the reprieved plots and the new web pages.

Our industry could not afford to lose results from a years worth of advances at a time when technology is moving so fast, he says.

The website provides a unique window on the world of arable technology in the field and will provide weekly updated independent information.

The sponsors – Case IH, Monsanto, Banks Cargill and Simba – are to be congratulated for their foresight in continuing their support for the plots, and enthusiastic backing for the new website.

Growers logging on will find a site plan to show the layout of the plots and treatments, and background information on varieties and treatments used.

Weekly updates will include reports of what is happening in the plots, including plant and tiller counts.

Any worries will be flagged up to alert website visitors to possible troubles in their own crops.

After harvest, yield results will be posted so implications of the various treatments on crop performance can be seen.

The weekly updates will include colour images of weed, disease and crop development so on-going comparisons can be made.

This years event was intended to provide cereal growers with a comprehensive demonstration of the latest varieties, pesticides, and growing techniques.

Although the gates will not open to the public, the electronic link will feature

• hybrid wheat;
• candidate varieties for the Recommended List;
• a range of treatments for controlling blackgrass and brome; and
• the combined effects of different nitrogen regimes on wheat drilled early and late into conventional and undisturbed seed-beds.

We are pleased that we have managed to pull something worthwhile from the ashes of the cancellation of the arable farming industrys premier event and that a lot of worthwhile information will be both generated and accessed by those who need it, says Mr Norman.

If it proves successful the new website is likely to be a regular feature of future Cereals events, so growers attending in 2002 will have the opportunity to monitor what is happening in the plots before seeing them in person, and checking their progress through to harvest.

• Click here to visit the Arable Event web pages