In my view

arable & root crops To delay or not to delay… that is the OSR question

With the new cropping cycle just around the corner, ADAMA recently hosted a Twitter poll to fnd out when growers plan to drill their new crops of winter oilseed rape. Of the 238 people that responded, the majority (42%) have no set date in mind and will let the weather dictate when drilling can commence.

Of the remaining participants, 38% stated that they intend to drill in late July or early August to enable the crop to establish and grow away from the threat of damage caused by adult Cabbage Stem Flea Beetles. The remaining 20% intend to delay drilling until September in order to allow the CSFB migration to have taken place.

“Deciding when to drill oilseed rape is always a tricky conundrum,” explains Dr Bill Lankford, ADAMA’s herbicides technical specialist, “not least because of the need to balance the costs of ensuring the crop establishes viably against its overall proftability.

“Essentially there’s no right or wrong answer as no two farms are the same and neither are any two rotational strategies. Instead, growers must weigh up the pros and cons of drilling early versus the benefts of waiting until after the CSFB migration has taken place.

“It’s interesting to see that 20% of respondents are willing to delay drilling until after the migration of adult fea beetles: if conditions later in the year enable these growers to establish a decent crop one would expect a lower risk of feeding damage and a reduced numbers of eggs being laid.

“On the other hand, 38% are clearly determined to get a crop in and established before the CSFB migration. Whilst this strategy has the beneft of enabling the crop to build suffcient biomass that any feeding at the time of adult beetle migration will be inconsequential, there is always the risk that egg laying will be signifcant, and a forward crop will foster a large population of larvae which could cause notable damage later in the season.

For more information about ADAMA’s autumn herbicide recommendations download a free copy of the latest autumn cropping guide athttps:// uk.campaigns.adama.com/ autumn-cropping-guide-2021

By John Cameron Balbuthie, Kilconquhar, Fife

“We wait and wait and wait”

So far, there have been several sets of proposals from different organisations as to the future direction of Agricultural Policy and support, following our exit from the EU.

Many of these have understandably come from agricultural organisations but some have originated from independent institutes and some have been set up by Government itself – for example all of the so called ‘Farmer Led’ groups have been initiated by Government – a move that was welcomed at the time by the industry.

In the Government’s Political Manifesto published around election time we were assured that ‘guidance’ at least – if not ‘decisions’ would be forthcoming within 100 days of the new Government.

Well like the catchphrase from the old film ‘Casablanca’ we ‘wait and wait and wait’ and in fact at the time of writing we are still waiting!

We all accept that changes in policy and support measures are going to develop. Apart from our exit from the EU we have to face up to the implications of Climate Change, ever changing biodiversity requirements as well as changes in the existing agricultural financial support structure.

We will meet these new challenges as we always have done but for future welfare and performance of the industry – because of the long term nature of our productive capacity we need to know the future requirement and the future policy direction of the industry and we need to know it sooner rather than later if we are to achieve our new objectives.

What we also need to know is the Government’s reaction to some of the largely unsubstantiated claims made against the industry. For example the requirement for the National Beef Herd to be reduced by some 25% if we are to achieve our emission target, with no reference to the obvious increase in emissions to import even part of that beef deficiency.

Secondly what is Government’s reaction to the increasing evidence that in order to protect bird diversity and numbers the successful areas of bird habitat need to be grazed by livestock. Also by way the way – how about some credit for the role of livestock and agriculture in maintaining the social fabric of the less favoured areas. Oh, - I know - how would we measure it?!

Lastly – to allow me to complete my feelings I get a bit fed up when our industry is criticised for its emissions by others who are blatantly creating an even bigger problem!

Meanwhile for the industry’s future guidance and policy we wait, and wait, and wait!

arable & root crops Plotting a new course

An Aberdeen crop trial feld which has been providing Britain’s farmers with vital scientifc data for 60 years is being dug up and transported a mile along the road.

Around 450 tonnes of soil – the equivalent of 90 fullgrown elephants – is being taken by tractor and trailer from Woodlands Field at Craibstone to a pre-prepared feld nearby to “preserve the unique historical legacy of the soil’s management”.

The soil will be used for new research to better understand the relationships between acidity, carbon and nutrient dynamics and help design agricultural systems with lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Operated by Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), Woodlands Field has been home to a pH gradient rotational experiment since 1961.

The maintenance of the soils at different pHs (levels of acidity) from 4.5 (very acid) to 7.5 (alkaline) has resulted in a range of chemical environments and microbial communities which create a unique facility for investigating how soils, plants and microbes work together to infuence productivity as well as address important questions about carbon dynamics in soils.

But with the Woodlands Field site now earmarked for housing, the soils from the pH experiment will be used for new research. This is thanks to a partnership with the University of Aberdeen, which owns the recipient feld at Ashtown – the steading next door to Craibstone.

The two institutions have created the Aberdeen Cropping systems Experimental (ACE) platform, which not only secures the legacy of the Woodlands Field long-term experiments but has the potential to reinvigorate cropping systems research in the North East of Scotland.

The partnership hopes to develop and fund additional crop and soil experiments and instrumentation at the new site. These will address issues such as climate change, carbon sequestration, novel crops and alternative inputs as well as assess the impacts of extreme soil environments on crop productivity and soil functioning.

Test soil to reach new standard

Farmers are being urged to test soil and establish a baseline that will help improve soil health ahead of a new 2022 standard. The Arable Soil Standard was issued in June 2021 as part of the government’s Environmental Land Management (ELM) and Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) plans. To best prepare for the new standard, farmers should test soil more regularly to identify organic matter content before adding inputs or adjusting their rotation, suggests Eurofns Agro managing director, Daniel Robinson“The new standards will be more easily achieved if farmers accurately analyse their soil before making changes to the rotation or farming methods. Understanding the soil status at the start of the process, the baselines, helps to provide the data needed to take the correct actions. Our tests provide chemical, physical, and biological insight, offering farmers a better way to monitor, manage and improve the health and fertility of their soil ahead of these new land management targets,” he says.

Eurofns offers three new products: Fertilisation Manager®, Soil Crop Monitor® and Soil Life Monitor®. Fertilisation Manager measures soil fertility. “This includes the chemical values of macro and micronutrients,” says Mr Robinson. “Detailed organic matter and carbon fractions, as well as the overall structure of the soil is also analysed in conjunction with biological components such as fungi and bacteria,” he adds.

development, as well as knowledge exchange and connecting researchers to growers.

“The aim of the group is to ensure a healthy and sustainable UK horticultural industry within which businesses can thrive,” said Martin Emmett, an ornamental grower. “The GBLG is group of concerned levy payers, not a democratically elected board.

“We feel that our proposed way forward on how R&D is conducted for the industry is the right approach and has the support of all 36 businesses involved, as well as a number of research organisations and grower groups.”

The group has outlined all the priority areas of critical Innovation, Research & Development required by the UK’s horticulture and potato sectors and has also defned how a grower-run R&D investment board might operate.

The Group chair, Phil Pearson, Group Development Director at APS Group, added: “We have met Victoria Prentis from Defra yesterday and explained that we want to see the green light, and Defra’s support for, an independent, growermanaged research agency funded by an investment levy.

“The Agency would emulate models that already exist in both New Zealand and Australia. The R&D would be directed by an elected, independent board of representative growers who would decide on research priorities and projects, in consultation with the wider industry, including businesses and grower associations.”

New mobile washing system creates efficiencies for major UK potato supplier

A new mobile washing facility, featuring Tong’s next generation barrel washer, is bringing increased throughput and a highly fexible washing solution for UK potato supplier Wolds Produce this season. Based in East Yorkshire, Wolds Produce Ltd supply high quality potatoes into the crisping, chipping, ware, catering and seed industries, working with a wide base of growers throughout the UK.

In order to wash crop across multiple sites, Wolds Produce needed a mobile washing system that would bring effective destoning, washing and inspection of crop at high capacities, for quick yet gentle processing to meet contract demands.

Featuring the latest model of Tong’s popular potato barrel washer, the new mobile washing system is built to handle high throughputs of crop, with a 4m long, 1200m wide barrel washer and integrated destoner for reliable removal of stones from crop prior to washing. Once crop is washed, it is gently transferred to an inspection conveyor with canopy. For ultimate ease of transporting between sites, the mobile system has been designed with foldable modules to allow the machine to be quickly and easily adapted for transport.

Simon Tootell, Managing Director at Wolds Produce “We have worked with Tong for many years. They supplied our existing washing line at our main site in Pocklington East Yorkshire, so when then time came to look for a mobile system, Tong was the natural choice to work with to design a custom-built machine that we knew would ft the bill.”