fwe-20160618 – Page 2

Rise and fall of the roaming empire

★ My son walked towards me with tears down his face and blood down his leg.

I had been stacking horse feed and he had been occupying himself by jumping from precarious bale to bale around the muck heap.

But then he’d fallen, shredding his thigh on a strand of rusty barbed wire that was sticking out from a tree trunk, the remnants of an old fence.

He was lucky; the wound didn’t need stitches and a year later only a silvery line of scar remains, but it was a reminder to us both that farms are not playgrounds.

Over the past year, the media has been full of debate about how childhood has been eroded, lamenting the fact children live in padded, overprotected worlds, ferried from school to structured activity to sofa.

Those of us with family farms feel smug at this point. This is no sterile, cotton-wool upbringing for our kids, we think, as we wash them down with a hosepipe before they are allowed back in the house.

Organisations such as The Wild Network advocate time outdoors involving healthy risk, with tree climbing and den building and the space to be free.

All of this makes sense and is a perfect antidote to the influx of technology into children’s lives.

Is it a mistake, though, for farming families to translate this concept of healthy risk to a farm setting?

You don’t hear proponents of wild play advising kids to explore a factory or building site.

Are we kidding ourselves that just because farms look pretty and idyllic, we have different rules to other industries? No one else takes their kids to work with them.

In the past decade, 45 children and young people have died on farms and more than 400 have been seriously injured.

The risks are very real, yet let us not forget that there are undeniably health benefits to farm life, too, including lots of exercise and time spent outdoors.

A study also found children raised on farms, most notably dairy farms, have lower rates of allergies and asthma than other children.

Farm life has not been immune to the changes seen in wider society. Overall, children’s roaming distance has decreased 90% in 30 years.

Charting my family over the generations, that holds true for us, too, although the level of perceived “reasonable risk” seems to have only decreased in the past 20 or so years.

In my father’s childhood, back 60 years, he got into plenty of scrapes including falling off a bullock he was bare-back riding, setting fire to a tree with fireworks and shooting stuff with a rifle.

I believe he also derailed a train, but perhaps it’s best not to go into details on that.

My own childhood on an arable farm was equally full of unsupervised fun. I made dens in the bottom of massive straw stacks, buried myself in grain and drove an old Escort round the stubble fields by myself, aged 12.

As a mother, I now look back on some of it with horror, but the memories also make me smile. It was a wonderful upbringing, but do I dare let my children recreate it?

At ages seven and five, their play is still fairly managed and controlled in a way that mine never was. We don’t live on site, but even if we did, I don’t think I would let them roam free yet.

If you do, it is about managing the risk points on your farm and setting in place firm rules for your children. It makes sense to secure areas that are unsafe for children and also educate them.

The government leaflet ‘Farms are not playgrounds – 10 ways you can get hurt on the farm’ is a good starting point for a conversation.

‘The risks to children are very real, yet let us not forget there are undeniably health benefits of farm life, too.’

The advice in this highlights slurry pits, grain stores and stacked bales as particularly risky areas. They are also some of the most appealing for children, too.

Meanwhile, the law states that no child under 13 may drive or ride on tractors and other self-propelled machines used in agriculture.

Have any farmers out there broken this rule? My personal view is that the situation counts. If a parent has a child in the tractor because childcare has fallen through and they are just trying to get work done, it is a recipe for disaster.

If it is a special ride around the yard for no purpose other than entertainment, then the risks are minimised (although do note this is still illegal).

When children have less farmwise friends round to play (and are showing off their “backyard”) the risks are likely to be higher.

Similarly, when there are contractors on site, or it is a crazy busy time of the year with lots of long hours and vehicular movements, then the chances of danger are increased. It is worth giving extra thought to how you keep your child safe at these times.

Growing up on a farm is a privilege. I believe if children get out of it in one piece they will have learned masses about risk assessment, their physical limits and established a deep connection to our natural environment.

It is a tragedy every time a child is hurt or killed on a farm, but it would also be a tragedy if kids were not allowed to enjoy the unrivalled lifestyle that comes with living on a farm.

★ Kate Blincoe is a farmer’s daughter, mother-of-two and a freelance writer and author.

WHAT’S YOUR VIEW?

★ Tell us about your childhood experiences on a farm, and what you view as an acceptable level of risk for your children or grandchildren.

Email fwfarmlife@rbi.co.uk

Birds’ nest, hamsters’ cages and brave cats

⁕ Hidden in our garden, almost totally camouflaged by rampant ivy leaves, is a dilapidated shed. Inside this hovel, a jenny wren’s nest.

This is the third year the shed has been her preferred nesting place and we are hopeful that, once more, she will bring off her chicks successfully – unlike in the robin’s nest that John found a few weeks ago in one of the haystacks under the barn. I fear that there was too much tractor/sheep/Land Rover traffic in the nest’s proximity for that little bird. The eggs were laid, but never sat.

Jenny wren’s nest, however, is safely lodged above a garden hoe. Very safely, as there’s not much danger of me using anything so strenuous in the garden as a hoe. So Mrs Wren is providing me with a wonderful, environmentally friendly excuse to not do a lot of gardening.

If by chance the door is opened, although being an old shed with other gaps for her to use as exit and entrances, jenny wren leaves her nest at speed through that opening. It can’t be good for the eggs/nestlings to be deprived of their mum at regular intervals, so I’ve decided I have no choice but to leave the garden shed, garden tools and gardening well alone.

At the front of our house, meanwhile, a flycatcher has made her nest in the branches of a rambling rose. Many years ago, another flycatcher constructed her nest entirely with the fluffy waste material that was used for my youngest daughter’s pet hamster’s bed.

ENTERPRISING

Each week I nagged Jo to clean out the hamster cage, and we discovered after a time that she was disposing of the bedding by simply throwing the cage contents out of her bedroom window. Who needs a waste bin? Waiting for the fluffy bits were a a pair of enterprising flycatchers. Not only did they have a pink and blue flossy nest, but they had also salvaged the remains of some old Christmas decorations I had put out for the bin men, and their nest was entwined with tinsel. Camouflage is apparently not a flycatcher’s chief concern.

Happily, our barn owls have returned to their tea chest home that is wedged high in a tree above a pond in one of our fields. Once again they have hatched three owlets and now both parents spend all the daylight hours hunting for food for them. They have remained oblivious to John in his tractor bringing muck from cleaning out the fold yards to be piled up ready for spreading at a later date.

Equally unconcerned by the tractor has been a doe with twins. They have been resting up in a field of barley and appear oblivious to the fact that a tractor is working within a few yards of them.

Curlews, too, sit tight on their nests and John has to pretend he hasn’t seen them either as he passes close by. It’s just a game of mass deception out there.

What we have not seen – or heard – yet is the cuckoo. But that will change. We are off up on one of our fishing holidays to Sutherland this weekend. Behind the fishing lodge where we stay, and just outside our window, a cuckoo has trilled its song, goo-koo, seemingly all through the night. It doesn’t get very dark that far up in Scotland.

Apparently over half the number of cuckoos that used to return to the UK are failing to appear. The time they spend in the UK is declining, with much of their year spent actually travelling back and forth to their wintering ground as far away as the Congo. That couldn’t be more different from where we are going in Sutherland. A real culture and climatic change for this bird. No wonder they don’t have much time to invest in building a nest for themselves. Much easier to pop one into a “here’s one I made earlier” model.

TERRITORY

And at home, with calves, lambs and chicks all doing well as spring morphs into summer, there has been another young family establishing itself on the farm. A litter of kittens, born to a cat who has dared to squat and make a home in the deepest recesses of a haystack under the barn.

It must be a very brave pussycat as Millie, our Jack Russell, does not take too kindly (putting it mildly) to any feline who dares to venture into her territory.

But this litter has become increasingly bold and now plays out on the hay, teasing and driving Millie to distraction as her little legs can’t get her far enough up the stack to catch cat or kittens. And as the cat is probably helping to keep down the rats, we are not helping Millie to make the ascent.

As a result, Millie is spending a lot of time barking, yelping, squealing and trying to persuade me to lift her up on to the haystack so she can have a go at the kittens. Sublimely indifferent to this demented terrier, mum cat perches just inches out of her reach, languorously licking and preening herself. The kittens ignore all the furore, although I think they may be in some danger when they do start to climb down from their refuge and into Millie’s territory.

At the moment, however, they are safe and developing their own evasive tactics to outwit her – a fierce hiss, an aggressive stance and a very sharp sets of claws.

BOBBI MOTHERSDALE

Bobbi and husband John own the 81ha Lowther Farm near York. They have a suckler herd, a flock of sheep and arable crops. Two daughters, three grandchildren, three dogs, assorted poultry, an overgrown garden and country pursuits also take up their time.

Quest for better soil sets up a no-till challenge

To till or not to till? It’s a question being asked by increasing numbers of growers looking seriously at the options for direct-drilling.

The arguments for and against no-till crop establishment are by no means clear-cut. Inevitably it comes down to the individual farm, its soils and what best suits the farming system that’s already in place.

For Cambridgeshire grower David Walston, it is a topic he has spent a lot of time researching as part of a wider objective of improving the soils at Thriplow Farms.

“For years we had run with a fairly conventional min-till system to establish monoculture crops – like many other farms,” he explains.

“But when I started looking closely at our yield maps and our spend on inputs over the past couple of decades, it became obvious we were shelling out more money for very little extra tonnage.

In fact, when you took varietal improvements into account, we were seeing a decline in yields – something I was obviously very keen to reverse.”

DROP-OFF IN PERFORMANCE

Delving deeper into the data, Mr Walston became convinced that the drop-off in crop performance and increased spend on inputs were down to a couple of key issues – a fall in soil organic matter and a lack of diversity in flora and fauna on the soil surface.

Pretty quickly he realised one way to halt this decline was to use cover cropping to ensure stubbles did not go bare – but that was just a small part of the picture.

Keen to investigate what more he could do, he secured a Nuffield scholarship and embarked on a twoyear research project to discover what he could learn from other growers facing similar issues.

“The key message I got was that, although soil health is a difficult concept to pin down, organic matter is very important for maintaining and improving soil condition,” he says.

“Across the globe the most common practice in conserving organic matter in the soil is no-till drilling. To me that seemed like the obvious route for us to go down as a first step in improving soil health.

“However, here in the UK no-till isn’t common practice and until recently there hasn’t been a massive choice of machines on the market capable of working in our conditions. It seems those farms that are doing it have had to spend extraordinary amounts of money on the bits of kit to do the job.”

CAPITAL EXPENDITURE

Mr Walston wasn’t convinced that vast capital expenditure was necessary – or justifiable – to set out down the direct-drilling route at Thriplow.

“On our easy-working soils, I couldn’t see why our 16-year-old Horsch CO8 tine drill wouldn’t do a decent job in the right conditions,” he says.

“So we tried it and it worked. The crops came up and yielded just as well as the more conventionally established ones.

“But the CO has its pitfalls – without any proper slot-closing you rely on easily friable soils crumbling in over the seed, and its wide row spacing isn’t ideal for all crops. I wanted to see how well a disc-type drill would work in our conditions. Ultimately I would like something to run alongside the Horsch.”

With this in mind, Mr Walston decided he needed to set up a proper field-scale trial at Thriplow using the CO8, a demonstration John Deere 750A direct-drill and a contractor’s Cross Slot.

ULTIMATE NO-TILL SEEDER?

Designed in New Zealand and built in the UK by Primewest, the Cross Slot is often put on a pedestal as the ultimate no-till seeder with a price tag to match – a 4m version costs £116,000, while a 6m Kiwi-built version will set you back £170,000.

By contrast, a 4m 750A lists at £68,919 and the 6m model comes in at £99,371.

Intrigued by how such an outlay could be justified, Mr Walston wanted to see exactly how crops established with the three different machines would perform on his own land, side-by-side in one field.

So in October last year each machine was allocated a tonne of wheat seed and a 4.4ha plot to drill. The field in question has a fairly high clay content, but also lots of calcium, so it is relatively easy working. With each drill set to work at 30-40mm deep, seed placement wasn’t an issue.

“At first glance, the Deere appeared to be causing more surface disturbance than the Cross Slot, but that was probably due to its narrower row spacing,” says Mr Walston. “It has 50% more openers per metre, so disturbance per coulter was probably about the same.”

The John Deere machine has a narrower row spacing than the Cross Slot

What was surprising was the way the two purpose-made direct drills coped with coulter penetration in the relatively dry, hard soils.

The 6m John Deere weighs in at about 6.5t empty, giving a theoretical coulter pressure of 175kg per opener. In contrast, the 5m Cross Slot crosses the weighbridge at a massive 12t empty, thanks to its frame being filled with steel. That means there’s a monstrous 571kg of downforce generated by each coulter.

Despite this, at the lower end of the trial field, where the soil was heaviest, the New Zealand-designed machine needed every ounce of its heavyweight bulk to place seed at the correct depth.

“Last autumn wasn’t too dry and conditions weren’t that challenging, but you could still see the Cross Slot’s weight was essential to keep its openers in the ground,” says Mr Walston. “I find this very worrying, given that the conditions were soft. I really doubt that no-till would be possible in a dry autumn on these heavier fields with the Cross Slot.”

The heavy Cross Slot (left) seemed to need all its weight to get seed to the right depth; the lighter John Deere (right) drilled the seed just as effectively in the trial

DEERE SCORED BEST

As the crop came up, plant counts were done to add a degree of scientific credibility to the trial. The John Deere’s plots scored best, with 85% establishment, while rates for the Cross Slot and the Horsch were in the high 60s. Since then, tiller counts have been done each month to monitor exactly how well the different plots are performing.

By mid-spring, some marked differences had started to show themselves. It appeared that the areas drilled with the John Deere 750A had 25-50% more tillers than the parts of the field sown with the Horsch CO8 and the Cross Slot.

“I am surprised that we have seen such a dramatic difference in crop performance – back in the autumn I thought we would see no variation at all,” says Mr Walston.

“Honestly I can’t say exactly why it is, but at a guess I would suggest that it might be down to slugs. It was warm and wet as the seedlings started to emerge, so perhaps the slots made by the Horsch and Cross Slot provided a better home for the slugs than the Deere’s drill row.

There might be something in that, as many of the NZ Cross Slots are sold with a built-in pelleter.”

CONCLUSION

So what could that mean for the way crops could be treated?

“The main thing that’s different about the wheat drilled with the Deere is that – despite it having the same number of plants per row – there are higher plant populations because it has the narrower row spacing – 167mm rather than the Cross Slot’s 238mm or the Horsch’s 250mm,” says Mr Walston.

“Potentially that could give us the option to reduce seed rates by 20% and save £10-£20/ha. But ultimately we can’t make a judgement call on that until we have seen the harvest results. Once we know how much each plot has yielded, we will know if there’s a true difference – it’s the tonnage it the barn that counts.”

Roll up for a glimpse of latest kit

BROCKS

Brocks Wheel & Tyre claims a first in producing an adjustable wheel rim rated to 65km/hour for use on tractors.

At present, tractors capable of running at 50kph and more have been limited to using fixed rims built to handle the increased loading and multi-directional stresses imposed on wheels and tyres at such speeds.

However, Brocks says its BWT design is very strong thanks to high-grade steel with precision-machined holes and a 15mm thick centre secured to the rim by a dozen extra-strong bolts.

EVANS AND PEARCE

A crop store ventilation system being introduced by Evans & Pearce (pictured bottom) could save up to 40% in electricity costs by controlling fans on a differential temperature basis to optimise use of favourable ambient air conditions.

Another feature of CropCool Wireless is that its modular structure can grow from a basic monitoring package to a full-blown store control and crop data logging system in line with budgets and expectations, says the company.

For auto cooling, the system uses wireless temperature probes to feed information to a controller that switches ventilation fans on and off according to temperature and/or humidity. Early autumn ambient conditions are usually most favourable between 2am and 6am.

HORSCH

The Horsch Avatar SD will make its first appearance in final production form, using components such as the hopper and metering system – from the company’s Pronto DC seed drills – to create a single-disc coulter drill robust enough for sowing direct into stubbles as well as into worked seed-beds.

The single-disc opener operates with a side-mounted rubber depth wheel and is carried on a trailing coulter arm along with a press wheel and covering disc.

A coulter frame designed to eliminate sideways movement and up to 220kg pressure should help maintain consistent sowing depth, says Horsch, but an optional weight pack adding 1,400kg to the 6m machine and 1,800kg to the 8m version is available for very heavy soils

The Avatar SD is available in 6m, 8m and 12m widths.

Horsch’s Avatar SD drill will make its first appearance in final production form. Hopper and metering come from the Pronto DC

JOSKIN

A novel trailer that unloads using a roll-up conveyor will be unveiled by Joskin on its first Cereals stand, promising low-damage discharge of vulnerable crops such as sugar beet, potatoes and other vegetables.

Using a conveyor mechanism also means the Drakkar can discharge where limited height overhead makes it difficult to empty a tipping trailer and do so safely on uneven ground.

Push-off and walking floor trailers have the same attraction, but unlike these options, says Joskin, the conveyor approach does not compress the load to any extent.

MASSEY FERGUSON

A tracked option for the Massey Ferguson Centora straw walker and Delta rotary separation combines will make its UK debut on a 9380 Delta with uprated grain handling system. The MF Atrak assembly comprises a heavy-duty rubber traction belt wrapped around a track frame with four rollers positioned between the front and rear idlers to maintain maximum belt contact with the soil surface.

The combine itself has a new returns system and a clean grain elevator with 50% more capacity to help give the 496hp Delta combine’s output a lift.

The uprated elevating auger fills a 12,500-litre grain tank on regular versions of the Delta or a 10,500-litre tank on the chassis-levelling AutoLevel version.

Joskin trailer uses a roll-up conveyor to minimise damage to spuds and veg

MZURI

The Select package devised by Mzuri for easily switching crop row spacing on the Pro-Til seed drill will be seen on the largest model for the first time.

Already available as an option on the 3m and 4m trailed machines, Select becomes the standard set-up for the 6m Pro-Til 6T, which is available only in seed/fertiliser format.

Select uses hydraulic break-back mechanisms to lift alternate leading tines and seed coulters out of work to switch from the standard 353mm, 17-row spacing to eight rows at 706mm for oilseed rape, cover crops and maize.

The Pro-Til will also feature a new electro-hydraulic drill management system with Isobus compatibility and variable seed rate integration and monitoring.

COUSINS

A front-mounted press re-engineered to make it more compact will be shown by Cousins of Emneth.

Taking 175mm out of the main frame and shortening the headstock assembly reduces the load on the tractor’s front linkage and front axle and should make the outfit more manoeuvrable and easier to handle.

The Cousins Front Press is available in multiple widths from 1.5m to 6m, with hydraulic folding on larger models, and a choice of cast rings, Spiroller coils, Razor Ring pressed steel rings and tooth packers.

DALE DRILLS

A following harrow with hydraulic adjustment and the option to use one or two rows of tines or take the tool out of work altogether is being introduced by Dale Drills.

Creating a more level surface after the drill should result in more consistent consolidation when seedbeds are rolled after drilling, while also eliminating clumps of crop residues that can harbour slugs.

Being introduced at the same time is a lower-link arm-mounted drawbar for improved manoeuvrability and a deeper-working tine coulter option to enhance the versatility of Dale’s 3m to 8m Eco-M and 8m to 12m Eco-XL drills in handling direct, min-till or conventional seed-bed sowing.

WEAVING

A range of power harrows with taper bearings for the rotors and a stone protection system claimed to be unique will be unveiled by Weaving Machinery following its appointment as distributor for Breviglieri.

The Italian company has been acquired by the owners of Agrimaster, a manufacturer of linkage-mounted and reach arm flail mowers. These are distributed by Weaving, so the Worcestershire company was the logical choice to take over the Brevi range after former importer Reco closed earlier this year.

The 3m MekFarmer 230T power harrow will be shown in combination with Weaving’s own Tine Combi Drill, as well as a larger folding model from the 1m to 8m, 50-450hp line-up.

SUMO

Toolbar versions of the Sumo DTS and DD drills will be shown for the first time, highlighting the potential to run two different drills at the lowest cost using a tractor front-mounted hopper and metering/distribution system.

While the DD is designed as an ultra-low-disturbance disc drill for zero-till and minimum tillage with the ability to work in heavy residues and cover crops, the DTS is a strip-till tine drill that uses a series of soil-engaging elements to create a straw-free tilth in strips.

Cousins will be showing a more compact version of its front-mounted press

Both toolbar drills are available in 3m rigid and 4m folding versions, with 187.5mm and 200mm row spacings, respectively, for the DD, while the DTS sows 150mm bands at 333mm spacing.

TRP

A five-row heavy spring tine cultivator for stubble and secondary cultivation being introduced by TRP Imports is available with three tine designs and spacings to suit different soil types and cropping situations.

Well-controlled working depth is claimed for the Carré Penterra (pictured below) as a result of pairing front support wheels with a twin U-profile steel rollers, to create 2-3cm deep stale seed-beds at typical working speeds of about 12kph.

The semi-mounted version is pulled on a lower linkage drawbar, but a conventional trailed format is available for the 3m, 3.5m and 4m rigid, and 4m to 7m folding implements.

VADERSTAD

A smaller Spirit drill a revised design shared with the 4m model and revamped Rapid seed drills will be exhibited for the first time by Vaderstad, along with new capacity-increasing options for the Tempo precision seeder.

The new 3m Spirit R general-purpose trailed drill is also available in 4m configuration with a smaller and lighter plastic rather than steel seed hopper with 2,800-litre capacity. A high mounted fan to avoid dust and a Fenix electrically driven metering system provides half-width shut-off.

Final cultivation is by two rows of discs mounted on a central beam chassis, with a choice of paddle levelling tines preceding them if required, followed by packer tyres, 380mm offset V-disc openers, press wheels and a covering harrow.

Spray needed to control pea weevil pests

KENT

Andy Barr farms 700ha in a family partnership in Kent. Combinable crops of about 400ha and include milling wheat and malting barley in an increasingly varied rotation. He also grazes 800 Romney ewes and 40 Sussex cattle and the farm uses conservation agriculture methods

⁕ “With regret… you’re sprayed” were my recent Lord Sugar-esque words to the weevils on my peas. It certainly was with regret, as I try my utmost not to spray any foliar insecticide.

I seem to have got away with it on cereals and oilseed rape, but legumes are another matter.

Despite being notched, the beans grew away quickly, but the peas were being eaten back to the leaf ribs in patches and fire brigade action was required.

No doubt the bruchid beetle will also need attention, but with a recent farmer meeting discussion revealing no difference in bean damage from a wide variety of spray applications, we really need an integrated solution fast. I often learn most from these farmer discussions and field visits.

As part of Biodiversity Agriculture, Soil and Environment UK I have a small conservation agriculture trial where I am ploughing next to direct drilling to see how it compares.

This year I also have tine and disc direct drilling next to these trial sites and members are welcome to have a look at any time.

I am on the steering committee for the new AHDB arable monitor farm in Kent. It is a beautiful mixed farm and topics for discussion and demonstration through the year include strip and no-till, fixed costs, cover crops and soil health. You can also suggest further topics to be discussed at the introduction meeting on 23 June. That day will also spark talk about another, rather larger, collaboration – the EU.

I am a fan of farmer co-operatives and believe we can be much better off working together.

However, I do want to maintain my own business. It would be mad not to have easy trading agreements with our European neighbours, but even most “In” voters still feel they do not want to be part of a large super-state.

Will the fact we are voting be enough to jolt the euro-politicians into realising we do not want a United States of Europe? Or will an “In” vote need to be extremely close in order to do the trick?

@EwenMcEwen

a.barr@eastlenhamfarm.co.uk

T2 timings hit with wheat looking good

BEDFORDSHIRE

Matt Redman operates a farming and agricultural contracting business specialising in crop spraying, Avadex application and direct drilling in Bedfordshire. He also grows cereals on a small area of tenancy land and was Farm Sprayer Operator of the Year in 2014

⁕ T2 fungicides have all been applied pretty much bang on time, which was a relief after the struggle with the T1s.

Overall, wheats are looking well, although blackgrass has continued to germinate all year and is now starting to poke through in areas that were considered pretty clean.

Further monitoring over the next couple of weeks will allow a decision on whether areas need glyphosating before the Cereals event.

Drilling finally finished in May after a very difficult spring. Slugs have been a big issue this year, regardless of establishment method – the mild winter was no doubt a factor.

Even in winter cereals it is possible to find loads of them, so caution and careful product choice will be needed going into the autumnespecially when using metaldehyde.

The Basic Payment Scheme 2015 application process was an absolute shambles and 2016 wasn’t much better. Thankfully, the deadline wasn’t extended or there would only have been increased confusion and the whole process would have been behind before it started.

It’s one of those few moments where I’m glad I only have a small area of ground at the moment. At least it is easy to fill in the forms and there’s less chance of the Rural Payments Agency messing it up (although they lost the whole thing for a few weeks last year).

Cereals is just around the corner and it looks as if it is going to be a busy show for me this year – although there isn’t anything I’m dying to see.

On the first day I have the presentation of the Farm Sprayer Operator of the Year award – I was part of the judging team this year.

We had a brilliant couple of days visiting finalists and took away many great ideas, hints and tips from each of them. I would strongly encourage anyone thinking about it to enter and have a go next year.

Also on the first day of the event is the launch of the next Cereals Development Programme by the NFU and Openfield – a great little training scheme that I was lucky to be part of the last time it was run.

Pop along to the NFU stand at 4.15pm to see what it’s all about and have a chat to some previous participants.

@redmanmatt

office@mattredmanag.co.uk

Move to grow anything but cereal grain crops

NEW ZEALAND

David Clark runs a 463ha mixed farm with his wife Jayne at Valetta, on the Canterbury Plains of New Zealand’s south island. He grows 400ha of cereals, pulses, forage and vegetable seed crops, runs 1,000 Romney breeding ewes and finishes 8,000 lambs annually

The harvest here at Valetta has drawn to a close. Cereals are now in the silo without any need for drying and the grass and clover crops are away being dressed.

A few days of warm north-west winds at the end of April saw the hybrid carrots, radish and red beet crops combined and the 2016 harvest done and dusted.

It has been a mixed bag of results, but overall we had a good average harvest. We were desperately dry through the spring, with only 18mm of rain in October and 13mm in November. Our irrigation struggled with wells at all-time low levels due to little winter rainfall and minimal recharge.

We got a handy break with 100mm in January that finished cereals and the late grasses, but badly affected the flowering of white clover, pea crops and early grasses that lay in the windrow for three weeks.

February dawned with a run of hot weather and virtually no rainfall, giving us the best harvest conditions for several years. We achieved exceptional autumn-sown cereal yields, with some fields averaging 14t/ha. This was balanced by very disappointing weights of about 8.5t/ha out of the spring cereal crops.

With the autumn cultivations all finished and the kit cleaned and away in the shed for a few months, we will certainly be looking for a wet winter to recharge our underground aquifers ahead of next spring.

We have had an unseasonably mild May, which would normally suggest we are heading for snow at some point during winter. The collapse of global milk prices is having far-reaching effects here in New Zealand with the viability of dairy farms being severely tested.

Dairy farmers’ reluctance to purchase supplementary feed has left much of the cereal crop and winter fodder areas unsold, with growers searching for mouths to eat the winter fodder and alternatives to plant for the new season.

Here at Valetta, we have been fortunate to secure similar or greater areas of white clover, ryegrass, carrot and hybrid oilseed rape seed crops for autumn sowing and will seek to increase our springsown areas of seed peas, borage and radish crops, but this will very much turn on contract availability.

Our plan is to load up our crop rotation with as many non-grain crops as possible as we focus our farm system on our ABCs – anything but cereals.

valettafarms@ashburton.co.nz

New Focus writer

Insect pest pressure found rising in winter wheat crops

The next few weeks are critical for yield and AICC agronomist Antony Wade points to several threats that could spoil otherwise reasonable looking crops. For example, the mild winter may see crown rust in oats.

Sean Sparling highlights that yellow rust and septoria pressure remains high and aphid numbers are rapidy rising in wheat crops.

For Paul Sweeney, it’s barley yellow dwarf virus which is spoiling wheat crops, as it becomes evident that aphids were flying in December.

Finally, Richard Harding looks ahead to the T3 fungicide timing and believes aphid control may also need to be considered in the mix.

EAST

Sean Sparling

AICC (Lincolnshire)

⁕ It’s the beginning of June and, for the first time in a few years, we are still applying flag leaf sprays to the later drillings.

Fortunately most of my winter wheat has had its flag leaf spray protecting it for 10 -14 days and that could prove very important in the weeks to come. Currently the septoria and yellow rust pressure is as high as I’ve seen it for a number of years.

Aphid numbers are rapidly increasing in wheats and so we may have to deal with this pest for the first time in a number of years.

It all now depends upon the weather – because if those forecasters are right and it does come hot and dry for the next three months, brown rust will be the issue. Unfortunately, the same people predicted that it was going to be a long cold summer of Atlantic storms, so hedging one’s bets will once again be the best approach.

Oilseed rape is now going out of flower rapidly, I think most of us would say that light leaf spot has been a challenge this season, sclerotinia has been less so thanks to the cool weather.

However, there have been some issues with some of the more backward oilseed rape crops where late frosts have caused some main racemes to abort all buds and, therefore, setting no pods. This seems confined to the areas which were slow getting away in the autumn and equally slow this spring.

It could be attributable to all aspects of stress and we have seen this before. Yields are always better than they appear – we will wait and see.

Linseed is being slaughtered by flea beetle in some areas of Lincolnshire, with several fields being written off on one farm alone, despite multiple applications of insecticide. Are we getting to the stage where oilseed rape and linseed are going to be impossible to grow without neonicotinoid seed dressings?

Sasaagronomy@gmail.com

SOUTH

Richard Harding

Procam(Sussex)

⁕ Winter barley crops on the Downs are now all fully out in ear and looking impressive. Ideal growing conditions during May have really helped late-sown spring crops get well established and more borderline winter crops are now showing potential.

Forage maize has been going into ideal seed-beds and good levels of moisture are also allowing well-timed pre-emergence herbicide applications of pendimethalin.

Wheat ears are emerging on many crops now and have emerged on the more forward crops for a number of weeks. Many T2 fungicides are only just being completed in some areas, but T3 options now being planned.

These will be largely based around prothioconazole, tebuconazole and spiroxamine for late mildew control, which seems more noticeable this season.

The optimum timing for best effect on fusarium and mycotoxins is preflowering which is likely to mean a short interval between the T2 and T3 applications for some crops.

Growers can still top-up nitrogen on wheats which have a high yield potential

Aphid numbers are still high despite recent cooler conditions and will continue to be monitored, and control may need to be factored in with the T3 fungicides. Numbers are also building in pulses, particularly peas.

Both chocolate spot and rust are building in winter beans, with many having had or due to have a T2 fungicide application of cyproconazole + chlorthalonil. Bruchid beetle monitoring is now taking place as spring beans move towards flowering and first pod set.

Overall oilseed rape crops are looking like they have good yield potential. The latest sclerotinia report for this season shows the risk levels are dropping with many crops now at the tail end of flowering and are back to an overall green appearance again.

Richard.harding@procam.co.uk

NORTH

Paul Sweeney

AICC (Cheshire/Lancashire)

⁕ With a good spell of settled weather, crops have now made up for lost ground. Fungicides applications at the T2 timing were all finished in good time and no “septoria time bomb” appeared – surprise, surprise.

All we need now is more rain because it’s been quite dry in Cheshire and very dry in Lancashire, especially near the coast. Winter crops will be fine for a while, but spring sowings are starting to struggle already.

Oats are coming to head slowly and should have something cheap to keep crown rust away, probably a low dose of strobilurin to help improve specific weights.

What is spoiling many wheat crops is the amount of barley yellow dwarf virus, especially in those surrounded by trees. Infection is not severe in terms of stunting, it’s more just extensive yellowing, so they will hopefully tolerate it without a great impact on yield.

Given that it has affected both crops with insecticide seed treatment and those sprayed with insecticide up to mid-November, it must be down to aphids arriving just prior to Christmas – when it was so wet that treatment was impossible anyway.

There is a bit of mildew in the wheat, but nothing to worry about – and the rust problems seem to have been well controlled with fungicides. Septoria control has been excellent and will remain so as disease pressure has abated.

They can wait till heads are fully emerged and then be treated with T3s as soon as flowering commences with something effective for fusarium species, but there is no need to throw excessive cash at them now.

Spring cereals have developed rapidly, but need more rain soon if they are to stand a chance of coming to something reasonable. Make sure that weed control is effective and disease, especially mildew, is controlled.

palsweeney@psaagronomy.co.uk

WEST

Antony Wade

Hillhampton Technical Services (Herefordshire/Shropshire)

⁕ I always think winter crops in late May and into early June can look their best, although they can both flatter and deceive when it comes to the end of the season, as the coming weeks are critical in terms of final yield.

Flattery comes in the form of barley that has now romped into ear, finally put on some normal height and wheat with visible septoria symptoms confined to lower leaves and yellow rust kept in check.

Then there are oats with low mildew levels and are short thus masquerading as having a low lodging risk and oilseed rape with good open canopies and not too tall.

Potential deception may reveal itself in brome, ryegrass and wild oats eventually overtaking barley and spoiling the uninterrupted sea of awns and in wheat, uncontrolled septoria infection after a delayed T1 reducing green leaf area early and limiting efficient radiation conversion.

Crown rust may erupt in oats after a mild winter reducing grain filling and specific weight and oilseed rape stems with abundant light leaf spot.

Spring crops are still early in their short season that has to be even faster paced than normal due to later than ideal sowing dates, but also look to have made a good start.

Barley is tillering well and getting its first fungicide, growth regulator and herbicide where pre-emergences were not applied. Beans have got away without significant pea and bean weevil damage and are now out of danger with pre-emergence herbicides having done a good job generally.

Hopefully, my predicted deceit will be outweighed by the flattery helped by some good yield forming radiation over the coming weeks. But I am fairly sure that the flattery won’t get us anywhere near the performance levels which we saw from most crops last season.

Antonywade70@gmail.com

online fwi.co.uk

Read our agronomists’ reports in full this week at www.fwi.co.uk/cropwatch

Tip of the week:

⁕ It’s not too late to top-up nitrogen on wheat where you can see that they have high yield potential and are undernourished, but don’t waste more money on any poor crops.

If they look chronically short of nitrogen then check the sulphur status because that’s likely to be the reason.

Paul Sweeney

Five things not to miss at this year’s Cereals event

1 DRONE ZONE

The first new area is the Drone Zone, where farmers can discover how to operate a drone, work the video camera, programme a flight and use the data to create variablerate applications.

By pre-registering or collecting a voucher on the day, visitors will not only be able to have a go, but will also receive a follow-up presentation on how to use the information the drone collected on their flight.

Keith Geary of G2Way explains: “After the trial flights we will take visitors through the information and data they have gathered and explain how this can support business decisions about weed control, reducing input costs and drainage decisions, for example.”

To register interest email keith@g2way.com specifying the day (15 or 16 June), morning or afternoon, saying whether you are an agronomist or farmer; how many hectares you are responsible for and whether you already use precision techniques on your own farm.

2 THE SOIL PIT

The second novel feature at this year’s event is the Soil Pit – a trench farmers can step down into to see first-hand how cover crops can improve soil structure.

Sponsored by Niab Tag and Rothamsted Research, the Soil Pit is 4m wide, 1.2m deep and 8m long – gives visitors a great chance to examine below-ground benefits of four cover crops selected for their strong root growth.

Winter and spring rye, winter wheat and spring barley have been sown on the other side of the Soil Pit for comparison, and a sub-soiler will be used to provide a backdrop for the latest advice.

THE FOUR COVER CROPS ARE

⁕ Tillage radish: A brassica that can grow rapidly in the autumn, producing deep roots to help rectify structural issues and “mop up” nitrogen to reduce input costs.

⁕ Radish and spring oat mix: Deep-rooting brassica (radish) and vigorous cereal (oats) combine to provide good ground cover and soil improvements.

⁕ Spring oats, radish, vetch and phacelia mix: Wide-ranging mix with vetch – a vigorous legume that picks up nitrogen at different times of the year.

⁕ Crimson clover, black medick and vetch mix: Three nitrogenfixing legumes which complement each other well.

3 SYNGENTA SPRAYS & SPRAYERS

The Sprays & Sprayers area profiles the most up-to-date innovations. This year’s key launches include John Deere’s early preview of its new R4050i self-propelled sprayer. The model will be available in limited numbers from early 2017.

Vicon will be demonstrating its new iXdrive self-propelled sprayer, first seen earlier this year. The company’s first trailed sprayer, which is set for production later this year, will also be on display.

4 VARIETY PLOTS

A popular part of the event for growers is the AHDB and Niab Tag variety plots, offering the chance to see new varieties and candidates for the first time. It is a chance to learn more, helping with variety decisions for the upcoming autumn drilling season.

A key theme with current low prices and high disease pressure this year will be maximising the value of disease resistance.

The seed trade now expects varieties with enhanced disease resistance such as Siskin, Illustrious and Costello to attract attention.

5 CONFERENCES

With Cereals being held just a week before the key EU referendum, the key panel debate organised by the Oxford Farming Conference will look at arguments for both the leave and remain sides.

Other topics being covered in half-hour technical seminar include tackling blackgrass and no-till farming.

CEREALS 2016

⁕ Tickets are available to buy online for the two-day event on 15 and 16 June, near Duxford Cambridgeshire.

Go to www.cerealsevent.co.uk

online

fwi.co.uk

Watch our video with Association of Independent Crops Consultants agronomist Matthew Paterson highlighting some key crop plots to visit at Cereals. Go to www.fwi.co.uk/cereals-plots cereals-plots

Two winter wheat varieties tipped to do well in Borders

Winter wheat newcomers Graham and Zulu could become well-established varieties in the North due to their early maturity as well as good yields and disease resistance.

Growers in Scotland and northern England are focused on early maturity because of their later harvests, and Andrew Wallace, agronomist at advisory group Agrii, believes these two varieties could do well.

“Graham is good for early drilling and early maturity, and has good yields and a good disease-resistance package,” he tells Farmers Weekly.

Mr Wallace believes the variety could take some of the early drilling market share that is held by Grafton, while challenging the dominance of the variety Leeds in the North.

Leeds has done well in Mr Wallace’s region of Northumberland to East Lothian, but it has a weakness for mildew and so Graham may take some of its share.

Biscuit-making wheat Zulu could also find popularity at the expense of Myriad, which, like Leeds, is a soft milling wheat and is favoured by distillers.

“Zulu looks an early maturing variety, shows good early spring vigour with good disease resistance and fits in to a mid- to late-drilling slot,” he says.

Mr Wallace adds Reflection is also an early maturing variety and has not seen the high levels of yellow rust that have been seen further south.

Later maturing varieties Evolution and Revelation look good on yield and disease resistance, but their late harvest is likely to restrict their level of uptake in the North.

On winter barleys, Mr Wallace sees Infinity as an advance on fellow KWS varieties Glacier and Tower, with slightly better yield and good resistance to rhynchosporium.

“Infinity looks a slight improvement on Tower and Glacier and could give growers up here another option,” he says.

Mr Wallace adds that growers are increasingly looking at good specific weights for barley as well as yield and disease resistance, and this is reflected in the renewed interest in two-row barleys instead of six-row barleys.