TRIALS DAY - MORE COMPREHENSIVE THAN EVER

Fram Farmers are delighted to be collaborating with BASF, Walnes Seeds, Apex Agronomy and Prime Agriculture to stage the 2019 Trials Day on 25 June.

The event will provide an excellent opportunity to compare 32 winter wheat varieties, there will be a dedicated machinery area where you can see some of the latest farm equipment and a test area to try out certain vehicles and cars. You’ll also be able to meet our Arable Inputs Team, electricity specialists and npower, Fram Farmers Insurance and suppliers.

A new attraction will be two panel discussions, ‘Life After Brexit’ and ‘Life After Neonicotinoids’. Chaired by Fram Farmers’ Chief Executive Richard Anscombe they will include panellists Carl Atkin of international agribusiness management and consultancy Terravost and Dr Alan Dewar of Dewar Crop Protection.

Exhibitors are donating to four charities: the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI), You Are Not Alone (YANA), East Anglian Air Ambulance and Farm Safety Foundation - Yellow Wellies.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT WHEAT

Amanda Owen, Fram Farmers’ Seed Specialist

"Choosing which wheat varieties to grow always requires careful consideration, but this autumn will be even more challenging", says Amanda Owen.

With the loss of Deter as an insecticide seed treatment for winter-drilled seed in 2018, farmers have a very limited choice outside Single Purpose Dressings. Therefore, the only control available for BYDV this season will be through crop protection sprays and this new challenge will be covered in the panel discussion, with experts available to answer your questions. With the revocation of Chlorthalonil, members considering new varieties this autumn with the view to home-saving seed for the 2020 drilling season should consider strongly Recommended List Septoria resistance ratings.

There are no new additions to Group 1 this autumn, and for our members the biggest-selling variety in this category for 2018 was RAGT Skyfall - the only one with OWBM resistance and a respectable disease package.

New to the RL, KWS Extase (Group 2) has generated much interest and by mid-April most suppliers had sold out. KWS Extase has the highest score on the AHDB List for Septoria resistance and a good rating on Yellow Rust. However, it has no OWBM resistance, which in recent years has been a key consideration.

KWS Firefly has taken its place at the top of the Group 3 wheats, with the highest treated yield, OWBM resistance, a respectable 7 on Septoria and good all-round disease resistance.

There are two new faces to the RL in the Soft (Group 4) category, LG Skyscraper and LG Spotlight. Both are at the top of the list and both have OWBM resistance, but are lower (5.2) on Septoria resistance. Skyscraper and Spotlight have good overall disease packages.

These are a brief selection of the varieties at our Trials Day. Choosing which to grow is a very personal decision, but we suggest that you seek the advice of your agronomist because they know your land, cropping and conditions.

BASF’S LATEST CHEMISTRY ON SHOW

Matthew Keane, BASF Agronomy Manager, Suffolk

“Last year’s Trials Day was very successful, and this will be even better,” Matthew Keane states. “BASF established trial sites on working farms in key areas of the UK as part of our Real Results Circle programme three years ago. Mowness Hall is an excellent venue, so visitors and exhibitors will get the most out of their day, while the trial plots will allow them to compare current fungicides and upcoming chemistry from BASF on winter wheat.

“We will clearly demonstrate the impact of different types of chemistry through targeted trial plots to highlight PGR activity and fungicide efficacy on a range of diseases. They will demonstrate the effectiveness of BASF’s innovative new Isopropanole-azole fungicide ‘‘Revysol®’. The active ingredient has been registered in Europe and the product is scheduled to go on sale in the UK at the beginning of 2020, so our goal is to ensure that farmers and agronomists understand its potential.

“With Revysol, the company has developed an active ingredient with outstanding biological performance in a multitude of crops. Customers will benefit from a unique combination of fast action, long-lasting control and a favourable regulatory profile. Revysol is the first Isopropanol-Azole in the market. Its unique chemical constellation allows the molecule to assume different conformations easily and to be extremely flexible. Revysol binds to the target site, for example Septoria tritici, up to 100 times more powerfully than conventional triazole fungicides, also where target site mutations have developed.

“The new product is a highly effective tool to help growers better protect their crops, manage resistances, increase yields and maximise quality in a sustainable way. It will also play an important role in integrated pest management (IPM) programs, and provides a cost-effective partner to protect higher-risk single site-acting fungicides such as the azoles and SDHIs to control troublesome wheat diseases such as Septoria and yellow rust.”

BASF will also demonstrate the ezi-connect™ closed transfer system for agrochemical products. BASF Digital Solutions will demonstrate new app-based solutions, while the benefits of the company’s new InVigor hybrid oilseed rape portfolio will be highlighted.

The 2019 Fram Farmers Variety Day will be held at R. H. Forrest Ltd’s Mowness Hall, Mowness Hall Lane, Stonham Aspal, Suffolk IP14 5JJ on Tuesday 25 June from 09.00- 16.30, with lunch at 13.00.

The venue is just off the A140 at Stonham Aspal and approximately four miles from Junction 51 on the A14.

Confirmed Exhibitors Include:

AHDB

AICC

AMAZONE

Anglia Water

Case IH/ Ernest Doe

Command Pest Control

FlyiBot

Fram Insurance/Scrutton Bland

Gleadell Fertiliser

Honda/ MKM Agriculture

Hummingbird

Ilex Envirosciences

MDT

Needham Chalks

Pan Anglia

Premier Seeds

Pro Straw systems

Richard Western

RTKSpaldings

TysonCooper

Walnes Seeds

Yara Fertilisers