Farming Scotland Magazine (November - December 2020 Issue)

Page 7

arable & root crops Root and yieldboosting seed treatment gains UK approval for spring wheat

UK spring wheat growers have a new seed treatment option for this season’s plantings, with news that the SDHI-based fungicide seed treatment, Vibrance Duo, has gained UK approval for the crop. This adds to the list of cereal crops that the seed treatment can now be used in, says Vibrance Duo producer Syngenta, a list that has increased since its launch in 2017, which was chiefly into winter wheat. “This new approval marks an important milestone for UK spring wheat, which can often be planted in challenging growing conditions,” says Gillian Colman, seedcare marketing manager for Syngenta. “Vibrance Duo controls a range of diseases that threaten crop establishment. However, as well as doing this and improving

early vigour across a range of cereals in trials, it has also repeatedly been shown to boost root growth and, even more importantly, to increase yield. “In spring wheat specifically, independent university research showed that seed treated with sedaxane, the SDHI active ingredient in Vibrance Duo, produced plants with greater root and shoot mass, even in the absence of known disease. Improved rooting effects were also long-lasting, still evident when the crop was coming into ear.” Establishing good root structures can be particularly important in spring cereals with their short growing season, says Mrs Colman. It is associated with improved access to soil moisture and nutrients, she notes, and greater resilience to drought.

FARMING SCOTLAND MAGAZINE Subscription details on page 87 www.farmingscotlandmagazine.com

In my view By John Cameron Balbuthie, Kilconquhar, Fife

A BROAD FRONT These last few weeks have seen the industry having to tackle not just Brexit but also a number of other critical issues which have now moved into the front line! First of all the future of support for the LFA’s which in 2018 amounted to £65M is required to support a sector of the industry worth more than £1B to the economy as well as being the backbone of the social fabric in these areas. The present Government gave a pledge in their manifesto to maintain the CAP rate of funding – but since then - silence! However trying to be impartial, I do think the Government received some unfair criticism recently regarding their recent Agricultural Capital Grant Scheme when it was criticised for being ‘excessively bureaucratic’. Personally, I didn’t consider it to be bureaucratic bearing in mind it could support a 50% grant – to a limit of £20k per holding – for a range of new equipment to allow better control of environmental impacts. My retort would be if you don’t want to avail yourself of the scheme – then fine, but don’t criticise an offer of financial help!

Some good news on the Marketing front with an announcement from the new owners of Asda that they would join Lidl. Aldi and Morrisons and sell only ‘British Beef’. Let’s hope these commitments will be sustained. There is currently a new demand from Europe for meat ingredients and terms to be replaced by plant based products. Unfortunately – thanks to the ‘green lobby’ – plant based products are now more attractive politically and we will all have to counter this argument whenever we can. And finally to our ‘old friend’ Brexit! It does appear that there is now a spirit – by no means a certainty – but a spirit of compromise in the air. However before we all start clapping let us also note in passing that at the recent ‘virtual Conservative Conference’ the Prime Minister’s main speech on environmental matters made no reference to agriculture! What do we have to do to get the message across that without the co-operation and participation of farmers – the environmental targets set by both Edinburgh and London will simply not be achievable. As I have said before – time will tell! 7


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook

Articles inside

Finance

4min
page 93

Machinery

14min
pages 94-112

Life on the Islands

3min
page 86

Agri Showcase

11min
pages 88-92

Final part of ‘Into The Peatlands

5min
pages 84-85

Scottish Land & Estates

3min
page 81

Conservation Matters

6min
pages 79-80

30 years of Quality Assurance Scheme

3min
page 66

Travel Dreams for 2021

5min
pages 76-77

Quality Meat Scotland

4min
page 65

NSA Scotland

4min
page 63

Crofting

4min
page 62

Pigs

2min
page 64

Sheep

2min
pages 60-61

Dairy

8min
pages 54-58

NFU Scotland

3min
pages 50-53

The Vet

3min
pages 46-49

Science & Technology

2min
page 44

Farming for the Climate

3min
page 39

Next Generation

3min
page 37

Rodent Control

6min
pages 32-33

With Athole & Christina Fleming

4min
pages 34-35

Christmas Trees

3min
pages 42-43

Glengorm Highland Cattle

6min
pages 30-31

R.S.A.B.I

4min
pages 10-14

Ladybirds

1min
page 20

Norway

3min
pages 22-23

Food

2min
page 18

Home-grown feeds

5min
pages 16-17

Farm Advisory Service

3min
page 19

Hutton Institute

3min
page 15

In my view

3min
pages 7-9
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.