Arable Farming May 2021

Politics Watch

‘New sugar tariff has a bitter taste for growers’

Page 8 May 2021

Volume 43 Issue 5

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23/04/2021 11:09

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CONTENTS: REGULARS

MAY 2021 VOLUME 43 ISSUE 5

In this issue of

23

Business 6

10

Uncertainty rife as new season potatoes planted Potato growers are entering a third pandemic-hit season Beet breakdown The UK sugar beet sector’s future is in question, with growers calling for higher prices

Comment 12

18 19 76

Talking Arable Spring crops have been drilled, albeit a little later than planned Talking Agronomy The cold weather has started to create a backlog of spray jobs Talking Roots Sugar beet weed control set to be a major concern Talking Policy The Government’s decision to roll out E10 petrol this year is a welcome one

Technical 20

28

23 28 40 47

Sugar beet Recommended List boosted First beet variety with mild yellowing virus tolerance Precision farming system helping make the most of data How a timeline tool is helping guide weather data use in potatoes Five key tips in developing disease control strategy Are the risks too great for a blanket wheat T2?

Digital farming: Harnessing the power of Big Data How better data analysis is set to deliver improvements in pest and disease management Product news A new soft wheat and a new class of fungicide for the UK market

Machinery 54

56 60 68

56

Materials handling: Siding with safety Why one Warwickshire farm business invested in a trio of bale trailers with hydraulic sides New interface sets foundation for future developments We get hands-on with the FendtOne control interface Two-in-one beats weeds Why one Norfolk farming company sees a combined drill and hoe as the way forward Strip-till switch allowing business to expand How strip-till cultivated the right conditions for expansion for one farm business

R&D 74

Learning from the black-grass resistance challenges Can black-grass resistance lessons help in the battle against brome?

Podcast 77

What’s new in crop nutrition?

Delving into NUE and plant health plus the latest innovations and regulations

BASIS news 78

Setting new standards for soil management Launch of a new certificate for soil and water management

MAY 2021 AF May p3 4 Contents TR MC RM.indd 2

3 23/04/2021 11:47

CONTENTS: FEATURES

50

36

30 Arable people

Field Leaders Andy Guy on finding the sustainability sweet spot in a farm business

36 Digital farming

Data management Why farming needs to improve risk management and how data can help

42 Farming systems

Regenerative agriculture How Cotswold farmer Ed Horton is combining best practice from conventional and organic farming

64

50 Machinery

Materials handling High-reach handlers are making light work of moving anaerobic digestion plant feedstock in Hampshire

64 Machinery

Drill development With squashes, sweetcorn and sugar beet in the rotation, a bespoke drill adaptation is providing the planting solution at Freshfields Farm

4 AF May p3 4 Contents TR MC RM.indd 3

MAY 2021 23/04/2021 11:48

a word from the

editor

Contacts Group Editor – Arable Teresa Rush 01787 282 822 teresa.rush@arablefarming.com Senior Arable Specialist Marianne Curtis 07815 003 236 marianne.curtis@arablefarming.com Arable Technical Specialist Alice Dyer 07966 445 458 alice.dyer@fginsight.com Machinery Editor James Rickard 01772 799 496 james.rickard@arablefarming.com Production Editor Rik Magliola 01772 799 456 rik.magliola@arablefarming.com Picture Editor Theresa Eveson 01772 799 445 theresa.eveson@arablefarming.com Account Manager Jane Newton 01948 780 783 jane.newton@arablefarming.com Account Manager Mark Jackson 01322 449 624 mark.jackson@arablefarming.com Account Manager Chris Knowles 01772 799 550 chris.knowles@arablefarming.com Head of Commercial Solutions Mike Hartley 01772 799 532 mike.hartley@arablefarming.com Advertising Production Justine Sumner 01772 799 437 justine.sumner@arablefarming.com For circulation queries, to request a copy or subscribe, please contact Emma Williamson 01772 799 452 emma.williamson@arablefarming.com Subscriptions Contact: 03303 330 056 help@subscribe.farmers-guardian.com

W

e find ourselves in the midst of yet another dry spring. As I write in the third week of April, rainfall nationally for the month has been just 12% of its long-term average, with some areas receiving barely a millimetre since the end of March. Our boots are already raising dust, cracks are appearing in the soil and currently there is not much in the way of rain in the forecast until at least mid-May. And if that were not enough of a challenge, this April is also proving to be a cold one.

While sprayer operators may be finding themselves with unexpected time on their hands as they wait for wheat to reach T1, the cold, dry conditions are at least keeping a lid on disease. But there are concerns over nitrogen uptake and herbicide efficacy, as well as the prospect of managing the inevitable race through growth stages once we do get some rain.

Mention of dry, cracking soils leads me nicely on to soil health and regenerative agriculture. These are hot topics right now, although they without doubt mean different things to different people. In this issue we speak to two farmers who have embarked on journeys towards implementing regenerative agriculture on their farms. For Tom Jewers in Suffolk, that process is underpinned by a desire to find ways of working with nature, rather than against it (p32-35), while in the Cotswolds, Ed Horton is drawing on best practice from both the organic and conventional sectors to navigate his route to profitability and sustainability (p42-46).

Worth noting is both farmers see technology as essential to their businesses, which provides the ideal opportunity to flag some of our features on that topic in this issue. Our report on data management

(p36-39) provides a fascinating insight into the value of data in risk management as seen through the eyes of the agritech director of one the UK’s leading soft fruit businesses. We also bring news of developments within some of the leading digital farming platforms, including a tool for buffer zone management (p40) and a variable rate drilling conversion kit (p71-73).

Which leaves me lastly to draw your attention to the British Farming Awards 2021. Entries are now open for this year’s awards, which celebrate the diversity, innovation and adaptability of farmers across all sectors, no matter the size and scale of their business.

Find out more at britishfarmingawards.co.uk. Why not make this the year you enter?

71

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Arable Farming, AgriBriefing, Unit 4, Fulwood Business Park, Caxton Road, Preston, Lancashire PR2 9NZ

www.croptecshow.com November 24-25, 2021

Origination by Farmers Guardian, AgriBriefing, Unit 4, Fulwood Business Park, Caxton Road, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 9NZ. Printed by Precision Colour Printing, Halesfield 1, Stirchley, Telford TF7 4QQ. No responsibility can be accepted by Arable Farming for opinions expressed by contributors.

MAY 2021 AF May p5 Leader MC TR RM.indd 1

5 23/04/2021 11:25

BUSINESS Potato growers are entering a third pandemic-hit season with plenty of other uncertainties influencing how much they will plant. Cedric Porter reports.

Uncertainty rife as new season potatoes planted Average GB potato price 2021 FIGURE IS UP TO END OF MARCH. SOURCE: AHDB

300 250

£ per tonne

200 150 100 50

market, with prices steadily rising and expected to rise further as holiday and post-lockdown trade steps up. English prices are averaging about £150/t for a number of bagged varieties, but that is still around £100/t below the price before the pandemic took hold in March last year.

Excessive stocks Unlike in other parts of Europe, there are not excessive stocks in British stores. AHDB figures for the end of January estimate that 2.110 million tonnes were in farm stores – 2.3% less than in 2020 and similar to the five-year average. Continued lockdowns in February and beyond, increasing fish and chip demand and the return of

Also in this section 10

Beet breakdown – the sugar beet sector is in crisis

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2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

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s the 2020/21 season enters its final stage, there is some hope for increasing demand and a strengthening of prices.

Lockdowns and restrictions on eating out hit consumption of potatoes in foodservice outlets, but in-home consumption has been more buoyant, although the strong demand seen in the first lockdown in March 2020 was not repeated in the latest lockdown.

Average prices, according to AHDB, have risen from £135/ tonne at the beginning of October to £175/t at the end of March.

That quote includes all types of potatoes including contracts.

The average free-buy price has risen from £85/t at the beginning of October to £145/t at the end of March. Those averages hide a wide range of values. Good quality packing English Maris Pipers can make more than £300/t, £200/t more than generic white types.

Demand for processing potatoes is still muted. Most of the UK processing crop is sold on contract, but those with free-buy stocks to sell cannot currently expect much more than £100/t.

The loosening of Covid-19 restrictions and the likelihood of a staycation summer has injected some life into the bagged chipping

restaurant and pub dining mean that pile of potatoes should dwindle nicely into the summer.

As well as ensuring the best market for their old crops, growers are focusing on planting the 2021 crop amid continuing uncertainty. After a very wet winter, in many potato-growing regions of the country, conditions were dry from March to at least the middle of April. This allowed soils to dry out, assisted by sunshine and wind. However, cold temperatures have impacted on establishment.

Independent agronomist Simon Faulkner, of SDF Agriculture, based in south Lincolnshire, says: “Conditions at the beginning of April were much drier than last year, allowing growers to prepare their fields for planting.

“Light soils are now in good condition following the dry

weather, although there are some wetter conditions under more full-bodied soils. The main issue is the cold conditions, which could cause rhizoctonia.”

As well as the usual vagaries of the weather and the more unusual

Light soils are now pretty dry, although there is some wet under more full-bodied soils, making planting a little more difficult SIMON FAULKNER

MAY 2021 22/04/2021 12:13

BUSINESS Most of the growers I know are retaining their area but some have reduced significantly

Continuing uncertainty is pointing to a fall in the UK potato area this season.

SIMON FAULKNER

impact of Covid-19, the potato market is being affected by Brexit. British seed still cannot be exported to EU countries – they normally account for around 30,000t of seed sales a year. The absence of that market is likely to mean a reduction in the British seed area of about 1,000 hectares.

Trade in ware and potato

products has also been up-ended by the UK’s final departure from the EU’s trading system. January export figures showed ware exports were little more than 6,000t. One of the smallest monthly totals on record and just a fifth of the volume shipped in January 2020. In contrast, January ware imports were similar to last year at just short of 10,000t. A

large supply of European potatoes could put pressure on the British market if there is a shortage of UK stocks later in the 2020/21 season or early next.

It is too early to say what the final British potato area will be, but the continuing uncertainty over Covid-19, Brexit, cold spring weather and a market for less risky higher-priced alternative crops

such as cereals suggests that the area could be smaller this year.

“There appears to be a lot more unsold seed around this year and most of the growers I know are retaining their same area, but there are some who have reduced significantly,” says Mr Faulkner.

Based on 2020 AHDB figures, a 5% drop in British plantings would take the national potato area to 113,000ha – the second smallest total on record after 2015.

Average yields of 45t/ha would result in a crop of 5.090mt, with poorer yields likely to drop the total to below 4mt for only the fifth time in history, something which could support prices.

The current uncertainty surrounding potato growing could lead to more growers giving up the crop. There are now fewer than 1,900 registered potato growers in Great Britain.

There were double that number 20 years ago.

MAY 2021 AF May p6 7 Biz1 TR KH MC.indd 3

7 22/04/2021 12:14

POLITICS WATCH

ABI Kay Benefits of Government’s sugar ATQ seem to be dissolving for growers

T

he Government’s new sugar tariff has left a bitter taste in growers’ mouths.

In December last year, Ministers announced that 260,000 tonnes of raw cane sugar would be allowed to enter the UK without a tariff in 2021 through an autonomous tariff quota (ATQ).

The decision was made in spite of the fact most respondents to the Government consultation on the issue were opposed – a full 79% of them.

The same percentage also said they would be in favour of standards-based restrictions on any ATQ if it was granted – to protect the environment, encourage sustainability in other countries and save UK farmers from being undercut. This request, too, was ignored.

At the time, the beet industry warned introducing an ATQ would put downward pressure on prices.

The Government, for its part, said it did not expect the ATQ to have a ‘material impact’ on the price of sugar in the UK. But that position, we now know, was not unanimous across Whitehall.

A recent Freedom of Information request has revealed some Government departments had serious misgivings about the ATQ. The Department of Health and Social Care, for example, shared industry concerns that the ATQ would result in price reductions for consumers.

8 AF May p8 Politics KH TR AK.indd 2

In protecting cane sugar, Government will likely harm the domestic beet sugar source ABI KAY Meanwhile, another unnamed department performed an assessment and found the quota would likely lead to ‘greater competition for UK and EU beet producers’ – a claim which was also denied in public Government documents, which said domestic beet production would retain its market share.

Misgivings So if Ministers didn’t listen to the respondents of the consultation, or the misgivings about the ATQ in Whitehall itself, you have to ask, who were they listening to?

I think most people know the answer to that question, and the Freedom of Information request makes clear that the viability of the UK’s sole cane sugar refiner is of utmost importance to the Government.

The reason given for this is to allow the public to have access to two sources of sugar, particularly at times of low beet production.

A reasonable enough ambition, you might think. Perhaps less reasonable, though, when you consider more than 400,000t of sugar cane is already imported into the UK tariff-free each year.

And the irony is, in seeking to protect the cane sugar source, the Government will likely do harm to the domestic beet sugar source.

NFU sugar board chairman Michael Sly has already said lower prices will lead to a reduction in the UK’s beet area.

This, at a time when growers are already abandoning the crop because of poor weather conditions and disease, does not bode well for the future.

That’s why it was so disappointing to see International Trade Secretary Liz Truss, who also happens to have a beet processing factory in her patch, recuse herself from discussions on the ATQ because of a ‘constituency interest’.

If Defra Secretary George Eustice can make decisions about the future of the British Lop pig – a third of which are found on his family farm – surely Liz can take a stand on sugar beet?

About the author rAbi Kay is chief reporter for Arable Farming’s sister publication Farmers Guardian.

MAY 2021 23/04/2021 10:40

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22/04/2021 10:19

BUSINESS The future of the UK sugar beet sector is in question as disenchanted growers come together to call for higher prices that reflect the risks associated with growing the crop. Alex Black reports.

Beet breakdown

T

ensions in the UK sugar beet sector have been escalating, with many growers preparing to turn their back on generations of family tradition and ditch the ‘uneconomical’ crop.

Farm businesses which have grown sugar beet for five or six generations have indicated they will be dropping the crop or cutting back their area.

Norfolk farmer Tom Wright’s family has been growing beet for five generations but he will be replacing it with oilseed rape.

Mr Wright says: “We have never grown it [oilseed rape] before. Even a second wheat crop has got a better margin [than sugar beet], fewer

risks and leaves soil in good condition.”

Price is the main driver of a move away from sugar beet, with growers highlighting a dramatic fall in prices since 1990 alongside soaring costs. In addition, growers are facing a diminished plant protection arsenal, with the ban on the use of neonicotinoid seed dressings leading to an increased risk of yield-robbing virus yellows disease.

Risk Lincolnshire grower Andrew Ward says farmers are taking all the risk. His calculations show growers need yields of 68 tonnes/hectare just to break even.

“The [national] beet area is

10,000 acres down this year. I think there will be more,” he says, adding he is tied into a contract but will stop growing beet when the contract ends unless the price ‘began with a three’.

“It is not a threat, it is fact. We are tired of ruining our soil structure and not being paid for all that effort,” he says.

According to British Sugar agriculture director Peter Watson, a number of factors combined to make the 2020 season ‘exceptional’ in terms of the difficulties growers encountered.

“It has been a truly exceptional sugar beet season, starting with more aphids than ever before surviving a mild winter, followed by heavy rains during

February and then the driest May since 1862 affecting the crop’s establishment. We then saw more heavy rain this winter, causing harvesting difficulties and damage. It has been a

Growers speak out rDavid Hoyles, who farms on the Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk borders, says his 2020 season sugar beet yields fell to 37 tonnes/hectare, compared to a five-year average of 92t/ha.

He is committed to honouring a multi-year contract but has cut his beet area in half.

“British Sugar was listening but did not offer any rays of hope,” Mr Hoyles says, adding he is surprised by the lack of ingenuity to offer smarter solutions and incentives.

British Sugar has paid just enough to get the crop grown but that will become uneconomical with a few bad seasons, he adds.

“The disappointing thing is efficient growers like me at

10 AF May p10 11 Biz2 TR MC KH.indd 2

the higher end of yields and a lower carbon footprint are being pushed out of the industry.” rStafford Proctor, south Lincolnshire, says his family has been growing beet since the 1930s.

He achieved yields of 45t/ ha in 2020 but needs around 85t/ha to break even.

He says growers at the meeting seemed downbeat and could not see a way forward without a major reset of the pricing structure.

“They [British Sugar] said another £1/t would take £8 million off their profits. I wanted to say at least you are making a profit.” rMike Neveson, also growing beet in south Lincolnshire,

believes British Sugar is taking growers for granted.

“Unless there is a massive change in the pricing structure there will not be any more beet grown in the UK,” he says.

“British Sugar is massively underestimating growers’ sentiment.”

Mr Neveson will be continuing to grow beet on an existing three-year contract, but an area of beet on a one-year contract has been dropped and the land will be rented out for brassicas or a second wheat crop will be grown. rJonathan Fowler, who grows 60ha of sugar beet south of Boston, Lincolnshire, has not signed a long-term contract but is going to give sugar beet ‘another go’.

However, the risk levels are going up and the return levels are going down, he says.

“I think British Sugar has got the picture, but it is in a difficult position about whether it should be compensating growers for last year. Three-year contracts are causing problems because they cannot, in theory offer more money while these contracts are ongoing.”

An insurance scheme introduced by British Sugar is just ‘tinkering around the edges’ and the processor needs to pay a price which reflects the risks growers are taking.

“We are on a knife-edge as most growers are and it will be the death of the industry if they are not careful,” Mr Fowler says.

MAY 2021 22/04/2021 15:11

BUSINESS It is not a threat, it is fact.

We are tired of ruining our soil structure and not being paid for all that effort ANDREW WARD

Growers have warned the future of the UK sugar beet industry is in jeopardy unless British Sugar increases the beet price.

dreadful season and we thank our growers and contractors sincerely for their hard work and considerable effort over the campaign.

“British Sugar has done all it can to help growers recover the whole crop. We have slowed down, and even paused, production at our factories to give growers more time to deliver their remaining beet. We will continue to explore flexible approaches to campaign dates and beet deliveries in the future.

“We are relieved that the emergency our crop experienced in 2020 is not likely to be repeated in 2021. Backed by more than 50 years of data and research, the Rothamsted Virus Yellows forecast predicts only 10% of the virus levels in this year’s crop compared to last, before any controls.

Long-term solutions “We are implementing in-field solutions for cercospora this season and we continue to work with our industry partners on the long-term solutions we all want to see to tackle virus yellows, including virus-tolerant

varieties, seed technology and stewardship measures.

“We recognise growers’ real concerns and have put in place a range of measures to help support them in growing the crop, including an enhanced support package with a guaranteed minimum marketlinked bonus.

“We have also funded a £12 million Virus Yellows Assurance Fund, in place over the next three years.

“We respect every grower’s decision on what they grow, but we remain confident in the future of our home-grown beet sugar industry, which in normal years has world-leading field yields, factory efficiencies and market positions.”

At an online meeting between British Sugar and growers on March 24, facilitated by NFU Sugar, growers further voiced their concerns about the crisis the industry faces.

More than 350 farmers joined the video conference with Mr Watson and British Sugar managing director Paul Kenward, with those attending expressing their anger over the breakdown of

the relationship between British Sugar and growers.

And there was a feeling of

disappointment after the meeting, with British Sugar appearing to suggest it was just a ‘bad year’ and growers feeling the processor had not offered any solutions.

Contracts Many growers are committed to multi-year contracts but those considering not honouring them were told British Sugar would consider legal action.

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11 22/04/2021 15:12

HANNAH Darby As a partner in her family’s farm, former physiotherapist Hannah Darby switched to farming after studying an MSc in crop management at Writtle College in 2015. She takes on all aspects of running the farm with her uncle and is a keen advocate of continual learning.

It is scary to see how variety resistance seems to be breaking down to disease HANNAH DARBY

Farm facts rT.E. Darby & Sons is a family business based in Sawtry, Cambridgeshire, farming 360 hectares across three farms rLand is mainly organic fen soil with some wasted peats and clay soils rCropping includes wheat (winter and spring), sugar beet, peas, oats, beans and spring barley. Land is let for potatoes rNo-till and cover cropping are utilised where appropriate rThe main farm is around sea level and average rainfall for a harvest season is about 500mm

12 AF May P12 13 Darby TR AD KH.indd 2

S

pring has finally sprung into action and from the never-ending winter we seem to have entered fine, sunny and incredibly low humidity days, followed by the usual and promised spring drought.

Our spring crops have finally been drilled, most a little later than we would have liked, but with direct drilling you are waiting longer than with a cultivated field for it to be in a suitable condition. Usually this is of benefit as you are planting into moisture.

This year we have dropped the spring barley in favour of more oats – but I hope that we can have a more successful harvest – and a few more hectares of peas and spring beans.

Our sugar beet area has reduced from 40 hectares to 17ha and drilling was completed in record time. It seems a shame that the drill comes out of the shed now only for a couple of days a year.

We borrowed a Cousins V-Form to lift and make a strip to be planted into. We followed it with our drill two weeks later.

The dry weather opened the slot and we had to roll the fields to preserve moisture, but the pellet seems to have gone into moisture and we have a clearer strip than last year which should improve establishment.

The sugar beet has been purposely drilled later than our usual end of March window to try to

dodge the late frosts. I hope we get away with it this year and do not get caught out yet again.

The on-farm trial of growing intercrops continues with a 6ha field growing peas and oats together this year.

They have been planted at a seed rate of roughly 100 seeds/sq.m of both. This is a similar seed rate to the tramlines drilled last year and higher than some, but we hope to perfect the rate, so the peas are the more dominant, but the oats are able to help the peas stand, use any available nitrogen and outcompete weeds.

Wheat The pre-emergence herbicide has only been applied on half of the field, the rest receiving only glyphosate pre-drilling. I am hoping we won’t need to apply any other herbicide or potentially fungicides, but we will have to see how the season progresses. We will try to quantify the effectiveness of the intercrop on the number of weeds.

In the last week the winter wheat has progressed well, except the latest-drilled fields which have been hit hardest with the frost. These are the fields which suffered most from the high winter rainfall and slug pressure. We have been applying lots of manganese and hopefully they will pull through.

The earlier sown Skyfall was suffering with yellow rust and needed an early fungicide. It is scary for us to see how the variety’s resistance seems to be breaking down to disease and we will

Sugar beet was drilled later than normal to dodge the late frosts.

MAY 2021 22/04/2021 15:14

TALKING ARABLE

WRITTEN IN THE STARS A tucked-up Joshua on his first field visit.

probably be looking to spread the risk with more varieties in the mix next year.

All of this progress on the farm has taken place while I have been preoccupied.

We welcomed the arrival of our son Joshua at the end of March, slightly ahead of schedule.

I take my hat off to all of you who manage to combine their time being a parent and running a business, as I imagine it will take a good few months for us to determine how we will do it.

It seems that we are all being

incentivised by Government policy to either grow the size of our business to be sustainable, or diversify.

We are diversifying and secured a LEADER grant to renovate a derelict farmhouse into a holiday let.

The project has taken longer than expected due to Covid-19 delaying work and supplies and the adjoining cottage will be complete in the next week, so everything seems to have come at once, but farming has taught me that things rarely run to plan.

Spring wheat following sugar beet, drilled on March 3.

LG ASTRONOMER WINTER WHEAT

Agronomics and Quality you’ve been looking for @LGSeedsUK lgseeds.co.uk/lg-astronomer

MAY 2021 AF May P12 13 Darby TR AD KH.indd 3

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23/04/2021 12:17

IAN Matts Ian Matts is a partner in his family farm, an independent agronomist at BFC Agronomy, and managing director at Brixworth Farming, a joint venture farming business in Northamptonshire.

Despite the rain stalling our start, the team did well to finish nearly 650 hectares of spring drilling in just over 10 days IAN MATTS

Farm facts rBrixworth Farming is a joint venture farm business in Northamptonshire rCropping includes wheat, barley, winter oilseed rape and winter beans but the farm experiments with other crops. Cover crops and spring barley also feature in the rotation, primarily for black-grass control rSoils are variable, but predominantly consist of Hanslope and Denchworth series heavy clays with some Banbury series loams rAnnual average rainfall is close to 650mm

14 AF May p14 15 Matts AD TR KH.indd 2

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onditions eventually improved enough to make a start drilling this spring, nearly a full month after we had hoped. There was a bit of a false start, with rain suddenly appearing on the forecast and arriving earlier than anticipated following the first 150 hectares.

Despite this, the team did well to finish nearly 650ha of spring drilling in just over 10 days. This involved multiple moves and plenty of changes in seed, as six different crops have been established this spring. It also included a slightly larger area than planned as some of the poorest established wheat failed to improve following the difficult start to spring, so the decision was made to take some out and redrill with spring barley.

Looking at the soil moisture deficit graph over the last two years for the start of September through to the middle of April, it shows a very interesting picture. The similarity between the two years is remarkable, with a dramatic drop in the deficits each year following high levels of rain in autumn – albeit a little later in 2020 than 2019 – followed by a continued wet spell over winter and a rapid drying in spring.

The 2020/21 season is almost an exact replica of 2019/20, just shifted by 10 days and slightly more extreme. Looking back to autumn 2018, this shows a much more gradual reduction in the SMD over

autumn/winter. However, what is quite surprising is the similar trend at the end of March and into April. This really highlights the increasingly drier springs we have been facing and although three years does not necessarily show a trend, it does appear to be more common and something that will clearly need careful consideration when planning future cropping.

Colder temperatures Despite the conditions now turning quite dry, and no rain on the forecast, all spring crops have gone into moisture and were rolled in good time. The earliest drilled are just starting to come through, so although they will be in need of rain before too long, the dry conditions haven’t so far been an issue. Of greater concern is likely to the be the colder temperatures, especially the recent overnight frosts, which are driving soil temperatures in the wrong direction for the time of year.

Having reached just over 10degC in March, following the brief summer-like weather, they have since almost halved, not a great situation for spring crops that ideally want to hit the ground running. Despite this, conditions for these crops are as good as could be expected and better than last year, when soils dried too quickly for the spring cropping area we had to drill.

Yellow rust has been kept in check through a combination of chemical means and environmental factors.

MAY 2021 22/04/2021 15:18

TALKING ARABLE Soil temperatures reached 10degC in March, but soon plummeted to almost half that.

Recent temperatures are really the driving factor on the ground at the moment. Winter crops were beginning to grow well, having started to pick up the earlier applied nitrogen. The yellow rust that was present in almost all varieties a few weeks ago has now been controlled through a mixture of chemical means and environmental factors.

The cold weather has also put the brakes on these crops, creating a reluctance to apply any growth regulators at the moment.

The last time we had late frosts we cut back on growth regulators and the winter barley motored afterwards. I was a bit apprehensive when some pre-harvest storms hit as it looked very close to going flat and was standing very tall.

With the main field work starting to slow down this month, attention has turned to small plot work again. Winter bird food plots have all been topped and sprayed off and will shortly be worked ahead of drilling later in the month as and when soil temperatures rise.

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MAY 2021 AF May p14 15 Matts AD TR KH.indd 3

Profit from our knowledge

15 22/04/2021 16:01

TALKING AGRONOMY

JO Bell Many soils are cracking rapidly as they dry out from being so wet

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ur winter crops were perking up nicely and spring drillings well set in decent seedbeds in the run-up to Easter, only for everything to be stopped in its tracks by another spell of winter.

Unnerving it may be, but oilseed rape’s ability to compensate means crops coming into flower in snow and ice shouldn’t be a problem for us, with good establishment helping them through winter and few spring cabbage stem flea beetle issues.

The cold snap has certainly held pollen beetle levels back. So, we haven’t needed any insecticide with our deliberately delayed spring spray.

Holding this back to yellow bud in most cases has enabled us to bolster good early light leaf spot control and set a firm foundation for our sclerotinia programme.

We’ve also taken the opportunity to add extra manganese, magnesium and boron to bring tissue levels up to where our interpretation curves show they should be at flowering.

Agronomist facts JJo Bell is an Agrii agronomist covering Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire. She has been an agronomist for 30 years and advises on all combinable crops and some root crops.

She is BASIS and FACTS qualified, and studied at Bishop Burton College.

16 AF May p16 Bell AD TR KH.indd 2

Even the wheats that went in late and initially sat very wet are in pretty good shape. Coming into mid-April, they are only just getting enough temperature to grow away. I have to say though, that many soils are looking ‘ugly’, cracking rapidly as they dry out from being so wet.

A timely T0 and manageable levels of disease have given us the flexibility to hold off on T1 spraying until we can fully coat leaf 3 for the best activity from our combination of SDHI, triazole and folpet. Where yellow rust is the main concern, our preferred mixture will be Solatenol with prothioconazole. But we will be saving this SDHI for T2 wherever brown rust control is a priority.

Rooting enhancement Even if it stays as dry as it has been recently, we won’t be deflected from reasonably robust T1 plant growth regulation. This will add good stem strengthening to rooting enhancement from our T0 PGR. That way, when it does start raining again we won’t be caught out.

A good spring weed clear up is also on our T1 agenda. Other than the wild oats and the forward umbellifers and cleavers we treated at T0, we like to leave control to make sure we catch the late germinators.

One thing we may look to preserve though, is the clover coming up in wheats following two-year legume-rich AB15 stewardship mixes.

This won’t do the crops any harm and it will be interesting to see what benefit it could give as a ‘free’ companion in next season’s OSR.

Despite the very cold January, our winter linseed has come through without losing any growing points – probably because it wasn’t far enough forward to need a pre-Christmas PGR. It too is looking well. But it is confirming our theory not to grow on fields with black-grass problems.

The late March/early April window was just what we wanted to get all our spring cereals drilled decently, leaving just the peas and oats to go in. All we need now is some rain, the continued lack of which makes us glad we included the adjuvant Backrow with our pre-ems and employed protected phosphate seedbed fertilisers as well as giving our winter crops the best early root-boosting nutrition.

As well as three PGRs to promote rooting and minimise brackling, our spring barleys will be getting the T1 combination of SDHI, stobilurin, triazole and possibly folpet we always find gives the best return on investment.

Also in the ground, our sugar beet has been sown more in hope than confident expectation.

The cold winter means a lower virus yellows risk. But this also meant no triggering of the neonic derogation and we have even fewer actives available for aphid control now. So, it’s all in the lap of the gods.

Looking up from our immediate priorities, we are beginning to consider how best to get rotations disrupted by a second successive wet winter back on track. This is taking some serious head scratching.

MAY 2021 22/04/2021 12:51

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22/04/2021 13/04/2021 10:21 14:25

TALKING AGRONOMY

BEN Boothman Growth regulation is always a hot topic when crops are reluctant to move

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ell, 2021 keeps dishing out the surprises to us and as the country eases itself out of lockdown, winter crops refuse to follow suit and have shown few signs of progression these last two weeks. Can we blame them for thinking we are still in the firm grips of winter?

Only five days ago I awoke to what could only be described as a winter wonderland.

It was only the necked over daffodils that reminded me where in the seasonal calendar we are. The sixth successive overnight frost and lows of -5degC have meant my shorts have only made a brief cameo appearance so far.

Not only does the cold weather dictate my wardrobe choice, but it has started to create a backlog of spray jobs, mainly final grass-weed and manganese treatments. Some T0 fungicides have yet to be applied, however,

Agronomist facts JBen Boothman is an independent agronomist and member of the Arable Advisor Group and the Association of Independent Crop Consultants (AICC), covering Yorkshire and the North East. He is BASIS, FACTS and BETA qualified and studied for a degree in agriculture and crop management at Harper Adams University.

18 AF May p18 Boothman AD TR KH.indd 2

with the main target being yellow rust, the lower temperatures are keeping this migraine to a slight headache for the time being.

Conditions for spring sowing have been near perfect and now, dare I say it, we could do with a socially distanced drink. Emergence is very slow but with soil temperatures not budging much above 5degC this is no surprise.

Moisture retention Emerged crops vary in growth stages – early drilled crops are now at 2 leaf stage while most are just emerging. In the later sown crops on heavier ground the direct drilled systems seem to have the edge as minimal soil disturbance has retained moisture and crops are starting to emerge. I am pleased with my choice not to pre-emergence spray most of my spring corn, without any rain forecast in the near future efficacy of products will vastly be reduced.

Most oilseed rape crops are limping into their show phase and up until a few days ago were littering the countryside with their characteristic golden yellow glow. Recent frosts have sickened a few, but these will soon recover as temperatures rise. Pollen beetles were present earlier, but the cold spell has sent them packing and once the first few petals start showing they switch their allegiance and become beneficials.

Focus now switches on to sclerotinia control during flowering. If conditions remain parched

then sclerotia spread throughout plants will be minimal and my approach will be a one-spray, prothioconazole-based programme, during late flowering.

Early sown winter barleys are standing up well and will soon romp through the growth stages once the warmer temperatures I ordered arrive. I am assuming they must be lost in the delivery service, alongside my running shoes. Growth regulation is always a hot topic when crops are reluctant to move.

With most of my farms comprising mixed enterprises, soils are rich with manure and experience tells me when the heavens do open, they will make short work of scavenging these reserves. My advice is to be cautious and never skimp, you cannot have the straw if the crop is flat. Trinexapac and chlormequat combinations are my favoured approach at T1 with a slight tweak to each dependent on crop size and soil fertility.

Winter linseed crops are starting to kick into gear and will be having spring herbicide applications of metsulfuron, dependent on target weeds, accompanied by a dash of zinc to help soften the blow. Spring linseed has been drilled but I have yet to see any germination.

The sugar/fodder beet campaign has also started with around 60% of my acreage now planted. As with the spring linseed, germination is yet to start so I will keep the excitement of my herbicide approach to my next column.

MAY 2021 22/04/2021 12:53

ROOTS TALKING AGRONOMY

DARRYL Shailes Over the next few weeks sugar beet weed control will be my major concern

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old, dry springs seem to be the thing these days, certainly in the last few years at least. Maybe they’ve become more frequent than we remember or did we once have the springs we wished for, dry enough for the land work then enough warmth and rain to get it all going?

This succession of cold, dry spring brings its own challenges but with seedbed conditions much better than those last season due to frost mould, we should have a better emergence for sugar beet across the board. All we need to set things up is a nice warm rain, with most crops having gone into excellent conditions.

The cold weather has bought one benefit in that we’ve only had to cut the grass once so far, which is just as well. I’ve always been surprised at the number of times growers have commented that the combine or stone separator, for example, has broken down as soon as it’s gone in the field. I’d been thinking why not check before? Now I know what it’s like – we put our mowers away last winter working well and had two breakdowns the first

Agronomist facts JDarryl Shailes is root crop technical manager for Hutchinsons, with a nationwide remit. He has been working in potato agronomy for more than 20 years.

time out. These are now with the mower repair man but, luckily, we still had another to get the job done. Over-tackled, the fixed cost experts will tell me.

Over the next few weeks sugar beet weed control will be my major concern. With the loss of the desmedipham-based products and their excellent modern formulations, such as suspo-emulsions and oily flowables, we are limited to suspension concentrates without desmedipham.

In the days before desmedipham we at least had Betanal E (phenmedipham), Nortron (ethofumesate) and Twin (phenmedipham + ethofumesate), all emulsifiable concentrate formulations, and these were pretty potent materials.

Less effective As we go into this spring, we are limited to generally less effective products, especially if we start to encounter difficult conditions and larger weeds. We had hoped for good activity from the pre-emergence herbicides we have applied but the lack of rain since most of them have gone on means they are having limited effect at present.

That, when combined with the recent run of sharp frosts as the beet are emerging, doesn’t bode well. I think a few weeks of pretty intense field walking and lots of herbicide recommendations and beet spraying on shortened intervals are ahead of us.

Potato-wise, growth is pretty slow. This is not surprising with the soil temperatures being so low, but again planting conditions are good.

One of the notable things from this season for me so far has been the extremely low incidence of black scurf I’ve seen during seed inspections.

With no real threshold for treatment, many crops are treated with something as an insurance, but so far this season I’ve recommended hardly anything on the processing crops.

This could be the last season with mancozeb in potatoes for phytophthora and alternaria control. It may have a stay of execution but will go within the next one to three years.

We’ve always had multisite contact materials in crops, certainly since I’ve been working, and mancozeb has always been there in potatoes.

While not as effective as the single site actives, these multisites have been in the background protecting the more active materials from resistance issues.

In my working life I’ve seen the loss of activity of the phenylamine group of systemic fungicides on certain genotypes of phytophthora and more recently fluazinam on Dark Green 37 and strobilurins on alternaria. Without the support of mancozeb, the risk of genotypes of blight and alternaria developing that are resistant to the remaining chemistry won’t necessarily increase if used wisely, but when they do appear their effect could be more damaging. The potato fungicide programme of the future will be as much about protecting the chemistry we have left by utilising a robust anti-resistance strategy as it will be safeguarding the crop from damage caused by phytophthora and alternaria.

MAY 2021 AF May p19 Roots AD TR KH.indd 2

19 22/04/2021 12:54

TECHNICAL SUGAR BEET

Selecting tolerant variet

First beet variety with partial BMYV tolerance joins RL

W

ith virus yellows causing major yield losses for many beet growers last season, it is timely that a variety offering partial tolerance to beet mild yellowing virus (BMYV) is

among the six new varieties which have been added to the 2022 British Beet Research Organisation/British Society of Plant Breeders Recommended List (RL) of Sugar Beet Varieties.

While some way off the highest yielding varieties on the list, scoring 93.5% of controls

Also in this section 23 28 30 32 36 40 42 48

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20 AF May p20 21 22 Sugar MC TR KH.indd 2

on yield, Maruscha KWS is said to provide partial tolerance to BMYV and hopes will surely be pinned on higher yielding varieties with tolerance to yellowing viruses coming forward in the future.

BCN New variety Katjana KWS, tolerant to beet cyst nematode (BCN) and from KWS, comes in second highest yielding on the list (102.7% of controls) after BTS 1915, which keeps its lead for the second year running (107.3%). In third place on yield is BTS 3020 from Limagrain (102.2%), followed by Wren

from SESVanderHave (101.7%), and BTS 5770 (101.5%).

The latter offers the second highest sugar content on the list (17.6%) after BTS 4100 (17.7%).

Smart Rixta KWS (92.2%) is an ALS herbicide-tolerant variety. The claims for tolerances are based on breeders’ data as these characteristics are not tested in the RL trials.

Maruscha KWS and Smart Rixta KWS are not recommended for early sowing (before mid-March), but both have shown low bolting characteristics AT 0/hectare and 14/ha, respectively, when sown after that date in the last three years of RL trials. Katjana KWS and BTS 5770 produced no bolters in those three years of normal sown RL trials.

All of the other four new varieties are recommended for early sowing. Of existing varieties, the highest yielder, BTS 1915, is not recommended for early sowing and neither are Evalotta KWS and Philina KWS. Mike May, chairman of the RL board, says that as well as having several new varieties yielding closer to the top-yielding BTS 1915, it is good to see that a variety, Maruscha KWS,

N

A difficult Sugar Beet Recommended List trials season due to adverse weather and Covid-19 restrictions was reflected in lower yields of control varieties. However, there were some bright spots, including the first variety with partial tolerance to beet mild yellowing virus joining the list. Marianne Curtis reports.

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A strip of Maruscha KWS virus yellows-tolerant sugar beet in a field of non-tolerant beet.

JWhile sugar beet varieties tolerant to diseases, pests or herbicides perform a useful function on land where there is a problem, there can be a yield penalty and they are not appropriate in all situations.

In the case of beet cyst nematode (BCN), Mike May, RL board chairman, says the first step is to establish whether land destined for sugar beet is infested.

“Get it tested before sowing. If you have it there are three varieties available – go with those.

“Katjana KWS is one of

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MAY 2021 23/04/2021 13:31

TP252

SUGAR BEET TECHNICAL

ant varieties – the pros and cons the highest yielding varieties [102.7%] and BCN-tolerant and it can be sown early as can Daphna and Lacewing [also BCN-tolerant].”

Unlike BCN, there is only a small area of sugar beet land affected by the rhizomania AYPR strain and only one variety with tolerance – Philina KWS. “If you have AYPR strain that’s what you should use,” says Mr May. He cautions that the variety is prone to bolting in the early sowing slot.

For growers sowing into fields with a weed beet problem, ALS-

tolerant (Conviso system) beet is ‘worth thinking about’, adds Mr May. “Otherwise work out how you are going to control weeds and the cost and balance it up.”

with tolerance to some of the yellowing viruses is on the list.

“The trend is still to higher yields and new traits are coming in. We need virus yellows tolerance and may well need

cercospora tolerance. If we breed these in it will have some effect on the system and may mean lower yields in the short term when the focus is on breeding for these

Herbicides

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C O -F O RM UL AT IO N

Although the two ALS herbicidetolerant beet varieties on the RL have a lower yield than conventional varieties, they are only tested with conventional herbicides in RL trials. When used with Conviso herbicides the yield is higher ‘but I’m not sure they get to 100%’, says Mr May. Knowing what yellows virus

Work out how you are going to control weeds and the cost and balance it up MIKE MAY is most prevalent in the local area can help with the decision on whether to go for virustolerant beet.

traits. An example is BCN tolerance.

Breeding “When it first arrived varieties with it were lower yielding as

In virus yellows trials in East Anglia over three years, Maruscha KWS demonstrated tolerance to beet mild yellowing virus (BMYV) as well as a positive response to beet yellows virus, according to KWS. “It is an option if you know you get BMYV but not, perhaps, if you are not sure,” says Mr May. “It is a low-yielding variety [93.5%] if you only get mild infection. It is the first of a line.

It will never be perfect. It is very unlikely you will get tolerance to all three or four of the viruses if bred normally.”

the breeding was going into that but after that yields improved,” says Mr May. KWS says it has made developing varieties with tolerance to virus yellows a X

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22/04/2021 12:57 31/03/2021 17:20

TECHNICAL SUGAR BEET breeding priority for the UK as it has one of the highest seasonal risks of infection of any country in Europe. Breeding varieties with strong tolerance remains a difficult and complicated

process because of the different nature of the strains that make up the virus yellows complex.

In 2020 trials there was slightly more bolting than in previous years but as well as previously

mentioned new varieties, Daphna and BTS 4100 continued to show good bolting suppression, with no bolters recorded in normal sown trials in the last three years, says Mr May.

More information JVisit the British Beet Research Organisation website, BBRO.co.uk

New Recommended List varieties What the breeders say rBTS 5770 BTS 5770 has one of the best disease resistance packages available along with high sugar content, says Ron Granger, arable technical manager for Limagrain.

“Sitting among the pack for highest yields [101.5%], BTS 5770 offers flexibility in drilling, showing excellent early sown bolters and normal sown bolters characteristics.

“BTS 5770’s robust disease resistance profile illustrates how sugar beet breeders are raising the bar when it comes to breeding for disease resistance.

“The variety has an 8.1 rating for rust, 5.2 for powdery mildew and the limited available data from both Betaseed trials and the RL trials suggests it has better than average cercospora resistance.” rBTS 3020 BTS 3020 joins the RL as the early bird variety in the Limagrain portfolio having consistently delivered three years of very low bolter counts in the early sowing period before March 5, says Mr Granger.

“This result has been consistent over the last three years, including data from 2020, which we know was a higher year for bolting.

“BTS 3020 has high adjusted tonne yields of 102.2%, the third highest yielding variety on the RL, and again also offers a very good disease resistance package with a rating of 7.5 for rust and 4.6 for powdery mildew.”

22 AF May p20 21 22 Sugar MC TR KH.indd 4

BTS 5770 has an 8.1 rating for rust and 5.2 for powdery mildew.

rKatjana KWS With an adjusted yield of 102.7% of controls, Katjana KWS is the highest yielding variety with tolerance to beet cyst nematode (BCN).

Ben Bishop, KWS country manager for sugar beet in the UK, says: “Katjana KWS is our highest-yielding BCN-tolerant variety and, with its excellent low-bolting performance, will appeal to those seeking to reduce their risk from this pest for which there are few conventional methods of control.

“We expect it to find interest among those with a history of BCN as well as those looking to protect the viability of land for the long term.” rSmart Rixta KWS As growers ponder weed control strategies without desmedipham, the appeal of the Conviso Smart system continues to grow, says Mr Bishop.

“The addition of Smart Rixta to the BBRO RL marks

the solid progress KWS is making in bringing varieties to market with tolerance to ALS herbicides. Smart Rixta KWS is a good fit to this system, with low bolting when sown in the main drilling window and an adjusted yield close to the average of control when grown under the Conviso Smart system.”

Smart Rixta KWS offers a yield of 92.2% compared with existing RL variety Smart Janninka KWS at 88.6%. rMaruscha KWS Sugar beet growers will have the option of growing virus yellows-tolerant beet in 2022 with the addition of Maruscha KWS to the BBRO RL. But the distinct nature of the viruses involved means that tolerance to one form of the virus does not necessarily confer equal protection against another, says Mr Bishop.

“Maruscha KWS is the first variety to come through the KWS breeding programme with a level of tolerance that

supports commercially-viable yields. It has recorded minimal losses to beet mild yellowing virus infection and respectable losses with beet yellows virus compared to those seen in susceptible varieties,” says Mr Bishop.

The introduction of varieties with tolerance to yellowing viruses represents an opportunity to protect yields but exploiting this possibility will also involve the continued use of cultural measures, such as good field hygiene, adds Mr Bishop. rWren Wren, from SESVanderHave, has been developed and tested under UK conditions and tailored to the needs of Britain’s sugar beet growers, according to the company.

SESVanderHave UK managing director Ian Munnery says: “UK growers face the twin challenges of an uncertain market and variable weather patterns every season.

“Wren has been selected from our extensive breeding programme, in which we have invested in more than 25,000 trial plots each year in the UK over the 10 years it takes with conventional breeding to bring a new variety to market.

Therefore, we are confident it will perform consistently well regardless of what the environment throws at it and show the durability you would expect from our varieties.”

Wren has the highest root yield (104.5%) of the new entrants, second to BTS 1915 (107.3%) on the RL.

MAY 2021 22/04/2021 12:57

PRECISION FARMING A new timeline tool is designed to help potato growers make better use of weather data. Arable Farming finds out more.

Timeline tool guides data use

O

n-farm weather specialist Sencrop more than doubled its network of ultra-local weather stations in the UK last year, as farmers latched on to the value of both remote monitoring and data sharing.

Now a new tool, launched for the 2021 potato growing season, promises to help growers – whether existing customers, or those considering joining the Sencrop network – make better use of their weather station data.

The ‘crop timeline’ is designed to guide growers in how to apply their weather station’s metrics – temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind and the optional leaf wetness sensing – to each stage of the crop’s development, helping to aid decision-making around essential tasks throughout the crop calendar.

Harry Atkinson, Sencrop’s UK business development manager, says: “It’s a simple idea but one that customers have been asking for.

“Compared to a standard manual rain gauge, there’s a wealth of information coming out of one of our units. There’s a lot of opportunity for growers to apply that data constructively and proactively.

“All the weather station’s data is available through the app dashboard in real time, making it easy to see things such as

HYBRIDS

You can link your station to a much wider network to access current and historic weather HARRY ATKINSON rainfall, whether it’s for the last hour or the last 24 hours.

“As a Sencrop user, you can also link your individual station to a much wider network – local, regional or even national – to access current and historic weather from more distant units.”

Weather patterns Mr Atkinson cites the example of an eastern counties weather station user who also follows stations set up in the South West, the prevailing direction for most of the UK’s weather patterns, which allows him to keep track of incoming wind and rain.

Many growers just enjoy the ‘luxury’ of not having to traipse out to take readings from manual, analogue weather stations, says Mr Atkinson, and view the information on their phone’s screen instead. But this luxury also has a practical benefit: growers X

MAY 2021 AF May p23 24 25 Precision TR MC KH.indd 2

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22/04/2021 13:00

PRECISION FARMING DATA MANAGEMENT

A new timeline tool is designed to help potato growers make better use of their weather station data.

on contract or rented land may have several remote sites and driving between them to assess wind speed or check rainfall can be a time-consuming process.

And an increasing number of growers want to use the information more constructively, to act as guidance and decision support throughout the entire crop cycle.

Mr Atkinson points to France, where decision support tools (DST) such as Mileos – a popular agronomic model focused on preventing late blight in potatoes – have been part-funded by the French Ministry of Agriculture.

Mileos exists to optimise fungicide applications using a range of inputs, including weather station data, disease observations, variety resistance and other agronomic factors, such as chemical inputs and irrigation schedules.

In a recent study, more than 1,400 growers were equipped with weather stations to take part in a late blight trial across 80,000 hectares. Those weather stations fed their data into the Mileos system.

“Users reported a typical three-spray reduction where

24

they’d been using the Sencrop/ Mileos combination to support their decision-making,” Mr Atkinson says. “That translated into a €160/ha saving.”

Mileos is not yet available to UK growers, but Sencrop has been working to validate the French results under British conditions. If the outcome is favourable, then Mileos could join other DSTs, currently focused on vineyard and fruit production, in the Sencrop data ecosystem.

Decision support “Providing a DST with ultra-local metrics from a Sencrop unit gives growers an in-depth interpretation that aggregates real-time, accurate data in a seamless and automatic fashion,” says Mr Atkinson. “But it’s important to note that these are ‘decision support’ tools: they inform but leave the final decision in the hands of the grower.

“It’s all about giving them the full picture, on the basis of all the data they have available, to make the best possible decision for their crop at that time and place with a greater degree of confidence.”

It is this wait for a suitable UK

DST that, in part, lies behind the development of the crop timelines.

Soil operations “Perhaps more than any other crop, the success of potatoes relies heavily on the grower’s ability to manage and control disease. But the onset and extent of that disease, whether alternaria or late blight, is inextricably linked to weather, as are soil operations, such as planting and ridging, as well as other agronomic interventions, such as weed control, desiccation and harvesting,” says Mr Atkinson.

As growers have got used to trusting the information provided by the app and the Sencrop system, feedback has indicated an appetite for using the data across more farm operations, Mr Atkinson adds. In an effort to show the extent of how the data can be used, the potato timeline divides the crop cycle into six distinct stages: planting, emergence, active growth, tuber development, senescence and harvest.

Within each stage, at-a-glance pictograms show which of the

weather data metrics growers should focus on and why.

“Planting decisions and early weed control, for example, demand accurate knowledge of temperature, rainfall, humidity and wind speed to select an optimal planting date.”

Later in the season, humidity and leaf wetness data will help guide decisions about when to begin fungicide programmes, he says, while at harvest it is the remote sensing ability that will be most valuable in planning operations, helping growers decide which sites remain dry enough to harvest.

“Growers have said that in an on-off harvest, working efficiency has markedly improved by knowing where they should relocate machinery without having to check the site in person.”

More information JThe potato crop timeline joins others for wheat, sugar beet, onions and carrots. All can be downloaded from the Sencrop website at sencrop. com/uk/crop-timelines

MAY 2021

AF May p23 24 25 Precision TR MC KH.indd 3

22/04/2021 13:00

PRECISION FARMING Leaf wetness sensor JLaunched in 2019, Sencrop’s leaf wetness sensor has already found an enthusiastic market across the English Channel in French vineyards.

Using novel technology, Leafcrop detects moisture by modifying an electric field and sensing minute variations. Highly sensitive, it is designed to mimic the unique properties of a leaf – water retention, evaporation and natural drainage – before feeding its data into the same app dashboard used by the main Sencrop weather station.

Sencrop co-founder Martin Ducroquet says: “Unlike standard leaf wetness sensors, which measure only dew and precipitation accumulating on the leaf surface, the Leafcrop also monitors the air temperature and humidity for disease risk and measures the quantity of water present on a leaf with the highest precision.

Leafcrop also monitors the air temperature and humidity for disease risk MARTIN DUCROQUET “By ‘crunching’ the data flows from the sensor and the weather station, the dashboard can build up an accurate picture of the precise conditions in the crop canopy.”

Onset Armed with Leafcrop data, a grower might decide that a spray application is no longer needed. Conversely, data might alert them to the onset of disease before it really takes hold.

Grow the Future YaraBela

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AXAN

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Strength • Confidence across the bout width • Shatter resistant

Sencrop’s Leafcrop tool feeds its data into the same app dashboard used by the main weather station.

Uniformity • Zero segregation • Even spread for even growth Accuracy • Unrivalled accuracy up to 54m • Increased wind resistance Environment • Half the ammonia emissions of urea + inhibitor* *DEFRA, NT2605

agronomy.uk@yara.com Yara UK @Yara_UK

MAY 2021 AF May p23 24 25 Precision TR MC KH.indd 4

25

www

www.yara.co.uk

22/04/2021 13:03

SPONSORED CONTENT

Chocolate spot control i Despite the loss of chlorothalonil (CTL), growers still have effective options for controlling chocolate spot, one of two dominant diseases in beans. Capable of completely defoliating crops and causing yield losses of 50% or more, it is a potentially margin-sapping disease.

T

wo dry springs have kept chocolate spot pressure low in recent years. Yet experts are reminding growers not to become complacent and to check crops regularly as treatments are preventative rather than curative.

Dr Lea Herold, plant pathologist at the Processors and Growers Research Organisation (PGRO), says: “Chocolate spot [Botrytis cinerea, Botrytis fabae] is the earlier of the two dominant diseases in beans, the other is rust.

“In winter beans, chocolate spot is generally seen from early May onwards, in spring beans it’s a little later. It favours cool and wet conditions. The earlier infections in winter varieties are due to the earlier sowings, the denser canopies and microclimates they produce creating ideal conditions for the disease.

“In some years, like this one, chocolate spot can occur much earlier; we have had reports already in some of the winter bean crops from this year. While in February and March control is very rarely justified – most crops will outgrow the infection and it is unlikely to impact yield. It’s important to note that there are already inoculum sources around the country,” Dr Herold adds.

Will Foster She encourages growers to keep a close eye on crops by crop walking and monitoring the forecast.

“Recently we’ve had such dry springs that chocolate spot didn’t develop and applications probably weren’t economical.

But there’s no guarantee we’ll get the same conditions this year and with predominantly preventative tools in the toolkit, if you leave it unchecked and conditions are suitable for disease development, you could be facing significant yield losses.

“Chocolate spot survives on crop debris from previous years.

The first symptoms are small, brown, circular spots, which can coalesce to form greyer coloured lesions that extend over the leaf surface. Stems and pods can also develop a covering of spots or

Chocolate spot has already been seen in some winter bean crops this year.

flecks. Infections tend to start at the bottom of the crop, so if newer leaves have pustules, it is time to get applications on,” she says.

Loss of CTL Will Foster, independent agronomist based in Lincolnshire, recognises the impact that losing CTL will have for growers.

“Up to now, CTL had been a cheap and effective option. For some winter bean growers, this may be the first season without the chemistry. With product in stock, and a May 20 cut-off date for applications, some winter bean crops potentially had a CTL-based treatment in 2020.”

BASF business development manager Iain Ford agrees:

“Losing CTL has had a big impact. It’s never been the only active but it’s been a useful way of keeping on top of disease. It offered growers a different mode of action, it was effective and relatively cheap.”

But growers still have options, notes Mr Foster.

“The mainstays are Signum, tebuconazole, azoxystrobin and metconazole. Most tebuconazole and azoxystrobin products are generics so they are cheaper than Signum, which is a premium product. Signum uses SDHI and strobilurin chemistry, differing from the triazoles and offers help in resistance management.

“If you’re also looking to apply a pyrethroid, you can also

About BASF WE are on a mission to increase the national yields of field beans and combining peas.

Together with growers, industry experts and agronomists, we plan to uncover the key aspects of high yielding,

26

profitable pulse crops and to help further unlock some of their untapped yield potential.

Sharing current best practice advice, seasonal updates and agronomic approaches of growers, as well as new research and findings,

resource to experienced and new pulse growers, wanting to get the most from their crops. we aim to develop a simple, yet comprehensive knowledge hub to serve as an additional

>>To find out more about the BASF Pulses initiative, visit agricentre.basf.co.uk/ en/Real-Results-Circle

MAY 2021

AF May p26 27 BASF OSR TR (Signed off).indd 2

23/04/2021 11:07

SPONSORED CONTENT

ol in beans

Optimising applications In PGRO trials, the greatest yield responses from applications have come from chocolate spot applications at mid-flower, when the first pods are developing in the crop.

Sometimes in winter beans if infection is very high ‒ and only if infection is early

and very high ‒ then an application at T0, for example at early flowering, could be justified, says Dr Herold.

Preventative

As a guide, very high is where you have more than 10% leaf area infected. The

Mr Foster agrees: Get in early at the first signs of disease at robust rates to ensure it doesn t get established. Beans can get quite a dense canopy, so to get best coverage through the canopy and reach those lower leaves, keep speeds down and water volumes up.

problem is the products are mainly preventative and early curative, meaning you can t wait until there s 30% infection.

It s just too risky. It s why we say if chocolate spot is visible and the forecast is for cool, yet humid weather, don t risk it, apply it.

If you’re looking to apply a pyrethroid, you can use Signum at flowering which you couldn’t with a triazole Will Foster

Iain Ford use Signum at flowering, which you couldn’t with a triazole as you’d be increasing the risk of damaging bees,” says Mr Foster.

Trial results In PGRO trials conducted in 2014, a year in which chocolate spot pressure was high, Signum gave the best yield response – up 17% in comparison with the untreated crop. In comparison, Alto Elite (chlorothalonil + cyproconazole) gave only a 3.5% yield uplift versus the untreated.

“The yield uplift is partly due

to the absence of disease, but it’s also a result of the greening effect of the pyraclostrobin,” explains Dr Herold.

Last year BASF took the trials a step further. Conducted by PGRO and OAT, the two trials sought to assess the yield uplift and return on investment. Two applications of Signum were compared with tebuconazole plus azoxystrobin treatments in commercial crops of Tundra and Vertigo. Signum was applied at mid- to late-flowering and again at the end of flowering to the beginning of ripening.

Mr Ford says: “The mean, untreated yield of the trials was 4.2 tonnes per hectare. The mean yield of the azoxystrobin plus tebuconazole programmes was 4.8t/ha and the mean yield from the Signum programmes was 5.1t/ha.

“At market prices, the cost of Signum more than paid for itself, giving a margin over fungicide

costs of more than £100, £30/ha greater than a standard programme of azoxystrobin plus tebuconazole. This was a noteworthy result in a low chocolate spot, high rust year.

“Signum is widely recognised for being the best product for chocolate spot control, but this trial also showed how it offers good protection from rust too.

“Whichever disease it is preventing, by keeping crops greener for longer and maximising the time that they are photosynthesising, Signum protects yields,” he explains.

to mid-flowering, followed by another three to four weeks later.”

“Conditions so far this year have met the brief for ‘cooler and wetter’,” adds Mr Ford.

“We had a really cold snap in February which will have checked any chocolate spot already in crops, but is unlikely to have killed the disease completely. March has been cooler and wetter with largely overcast conditions, making it ideal for the disease’s development,” Mr Foster says.

Find out more

This year After two dry springs with little chocolate spot disease pressure, Mr Foster warns growers not to get complacent.

“A sensible strategy in beans is always a two-spray programme with a robust programme at early-

Receive the latest press releases from BASF via WhatsApp on your smartphone or tablet.

Register for our news service at basf.com/ whatsapp-news.

MAY 2021 AF May p26 27 BASF OSR TR (Signed off).indd 3

27 23/04/2021 11:07

TECHNICAL DISEASE CONTROL

DIS

Agronomists are advising against a blanket T2 fungicide across wheat crops as there are too

man

Risks too great for bla

W

ith the flag leaf contributing about 50% to winter wheat yield, the importance of protecting it properly is unquestionable, according to ProCam agronomists Luke Stevens, who advises in Essex and Suffolk, and Jamie Hughes,

who operates in Herefordshire and Warwickshire.

This season especially, with wide-ranging drilling dates, septoria and yellow rust pressures already building in March and decent grain prices, the two agronomists say the case for tailoring T2 fungicides to individual fields is particularly strong.

Mr Hughes says: “There are just too many variables affecting disease, which can therefore affect yield, to rely on a blanket programme. Yes, you need a provisional fungicide plan. But you also need to be light on your feet.”

To help devise a field-by-field T2 strategy, the two agronomists offer the following five tips.

Identify your main disease risk(s) Mr Hughes says: “The appearance of a new yellow rust race affecting a variety with a previously high resistance rating is one example.

“Similarly, attacks of yellow rust in regions not traditionally associated with the disease is another. This has happened here in the West, possibly

JIdentifying whether your main T2 disease risks are septoria, rusts, mildew or various pathogen combinations, based on factors such as local climate and variety, is an essential starting point, says Mr Hughes, but also be prepared for unexpected risks that could catch you out.

Factor in drilling date JAs well as a variety’s resistance ratings, drilling date can have a huge impact on septoria pressure in particular, says Mr Stevens, but it can have an added impact on spray intervals, so it is important to take into account.

Mr Stevens says: “With its high septoria tritici resistance, a lot of people chose Extase this season and drilled it early. But we have seen at our trials hub at the Stockbridge Technology Centre, Cawood, Yorkshire, that even a variety with high septoria tritici resistance can be infected if drilled in September.

“Also, while later drilling tends to reduce septoria pressure, do not assume late-drilled crops are less susceptible to yellow rust.

28

Despite all varieties in our Cawood trial last season being rated 7-9 for yellow rust resistance, some still became infected when drilled in January.

“Earlier drilling can also lengthen the T1 to T2 interval, which increases the chance of T1 fungicides running out of steam. But this stretching effect is not consistent between varieties.

“The interval for one variety at Cawood, for example, increased from 16 to 24 days as drilling moved from October to September, while another with roughly similar disease resistance increased from 15 to just 16 days, making it questionable whether the same fungicide programme would be appropriate for both crops.”

because varieties were selected more for their septoria resistance. Also, bear in mind risks from previous crops.”

Although the impact of growing a second wheat on infections such as yellow rust and septoria should have become obvious before T2, Mr Hughes says another risk to

consider is fusarium in wheat after maize.

“Assessing all this information helps to shortlist active ingredients. Some SDHIs, for example, are more active on rusts. Others are more active on septoria. And including a fusarium-active azole may also be important in some fields.”

Identify disease pressure at spraying JTailoring fungicides to disease levels at the time of spraying is obviously crucial at T2, adds Mr Stevens, and several factors besides variety and drilling date can affect these.

He says: “The weather building up to T2 influences disease pressure, with septoria loving rainfall and yellow rust loving humid conditions. But T2 disease pressure is also

affected by the effectiveness of what was applied at T1.

“If the T1 fungicide was lacking in some way in certain fields – for example if it was applied late or early so leaf 3 was not fully protected, or if it was weak against a sudden increase in rust or for persistence – disease levels could be higher than expected.

In these cases, relying on a T2

Have a plan B JTaking into account all these factors is important.

But if the weather suddenly turns wet and T2 is delayed, it is important to have a back-up plan to deal with the need for greater

curative activity, Mr Hughes adds.

“It should never be your intention to apply fungicides curatively.

“You should always keep crops in a protectant state.

MAY 2021

AF May p28 29 DiseaseControl TR MC KH.indd 2

22/04/2021 11:35

e too

DISEASE CONTROL TECHNICAL many variable risks. Arable Farming reports.

blanket T2?

The case for tailoring T2 fungicides to individual fields is strong this year, say Luke Stevens and Jamie Hughes.

ng fungicide strategy designed earlier can become outdated.

“In addition, the weather can further lengthen T1 to T2 intervals by slowing down crop development or shorten them by speeding it up. And humid microclimates in thicker crops will encourage disease.

In all these situations, T2 fungicides may well need adjusting,” he adds.

Consider post-T2 risks JAs well as responding to disease levels at the time of spraying, remember to build enough strength into T2 fungicides to protect green leaf area throughout the yield-producing period that follows, says Mr Hughes.

“Do not let dry weather or a lack of visible disease at T2 lull you into a false sense of security. Latent infection is almost certain to be present.

This can explode in suitable conditions, as we saw in the wet summer of 2019.

“Therefore, factor in how future weather could affect disease risks, even if applying a T3 fungicide. Long-lasting T2 protection is an important consideration, as is dose.”

With rising temperatures in midsummer, brown rust risk also increases around T2, says Mr Stevens. And while a variety with good brown rust resistance should have been chosen, where variety decision was driven by end market, he says this may not have been possible. Also, several varieties with good septoria tritici resistance do not provide high brown rust resistance, he adds.

SHINING BRIGHT IN ALL SITUATIONS

LG ILlUMINATE WINTER WHEAT

Older, less expensive chemistry can do a very good job in these situations if used correctly.

“However, there are times when you cannot avoid getting into a curative position. In these situations, it may be a

case of increasing fungicide dose within label limits to boost curative activity, or there may be no option other than reaching for a more curative product,” he says.

MAY 2021 AF May p28 29 DiseaseControl TR MC KH.indd 3

C asts new ligh t on flex ibility of drilling, market op tions, grow ing regions & conditions @LGSeedsUK lgseeds.co.uk/lg-illuminate

29

Tel: 01472 371471 lgseeds.co.uk enquiries@limagrain.co.uk

23/04/2021 14:50

FIELD LEADERS When Andy Guy first started his consultancy business in 2010, sustainable food and farming was something of a niche area, in contrast to today where it is top of the agenda for many businesses. Alice Dyer finds out more.

Finding the sweet spot for farm sustainability

A

n enterprise that is environmentally sustainable, socially acceptable and profitable is the definition of a successful business for consultant Andy Guy, whose approach revolves around the application of integrated farm management (IFM).

“If it’s not those three things, it is not sustainable,” Mr Guy says.

“IFM is a way of thinking, rather than a rule book. If you follow that way of thinking diligently you will reduce the negative aspects of your environmental impact, increase the positive aspects of it, make more money and get on better with your neighbours and the society you are farming in.

“Thirty-five years ago it was about getting more, which was probably right at the time, but now it’s about optimising, not intensifying output and finding the sweet spot that’s right for your business.”

In March Mr Guy became the first consultant to be officially endorsed by Linking Environment and Farming (Leaf).

“My involvement with Leaf started when I took on a council farm tenancy in Gloucestershire; I was new to farming and craving information. I joined Leaf and saw it contributed towards our success environmentally and financially. The IFM they advocate worked for me and forms the basis behind a lot of the advice I provide to farmers now. If you follow their

30 AF May p30 Field Leader TR AD KH.indd 2

It’s not just a crop we’re selling but a whole story about the British countryside ANDY GUY model you will make more money than you did before.”

Much of his work involves simply providing businesses with a ‘health check’. As an adviser on Corteva and Leaf’s Resilient and Ready programme, his approach underpins the phrase ‘the devil is in the detail’.

Recording “One business on the programme knew how much energy they were using but not where it was going exactly. They started recording precisely how much diesel they put in and the job they were doing and it showed all sorts of things. They have two identical grain trailers, except one had old super single tyres and the other had flotation tyres which are kinder on the soil.

“While working the two machines on the roads, they discovered the amount of extra fuel it took to pull the trailer with flotation tyres was significant compared with the super singles.

When they calculated this, they

could buy a spare pair of wheels and tyres for each trailer so they now have two sets and it’s reduced their diesel consumption significantly. That’s less carbon they’ve burnt, less money spent on diesel.”

And with some major challenges ahead for arable farmers, Mr Guy says there is no better time to be honing in on these details.

“There will always be a need for commodity crops, but in the UK we’re trying to compete with countries that are always going to be cheaper. We need to upsell a bit, either by selling exactly what our customers want or persuading them that we have something they want. That might be net zero or biodiversity – it’s not just a crop we’re selling but a whole story about the British countryside.”

This is particularly relevant in the context of farm assurance schemes such as Red Tractor, where Mr Guy recognises growers’ frustrations in adding costs to already tight margins.

“The markets we are trying to

sell in are global ones where the lowest cost of production wins so you can see the desire to do away with any of those costs.

Red Tractor is not without its problems, but my concern is the main supermarkets and big buyers would look for something like Global GAP to replace it, which would be different but not necessarily better.”

Despite the impending challenges facing the sector, Mr Guy believes the prospects for young farmers are good.

“When I was trying to get into farming, a farmer told me if you can put together a business plan that shows a profit when a lot of businesses are struggling there would be opportunities, and he was right. However, there’s no point in coming up with a plan that looks how farming looked 10 years ago. You’ve got to look at how farming might be in five to 10 years’ time.”

For our full interview MORE ONLINE with Andy Guy, visit croptecshow.com

MAY 2021 22/04/2021 11:37

ADVERTORIAL

AGRONOMY INSIGHTS Wheat and winter barley crops are currently at a wide range of growth stages. Many winter feed wheat crops have now had at least two fertiliser applications whilst the nitrogen programme for hybrid barley will be approaching completion. In higher risk situations, higher levels of disease, especially Septoria tritici and Yellow Rust, have been reported in wheat and higher levels of

disease, especially brown rust and net blotch, have been reported in winter barley. Early drilled crops, more susceptible or moderately resistant varieties and fields with spring barley volunteers can all increase disease risk.

Below are the key agronomy tips for feed wheat varieties and hybrid winter barley right now from Syngenta.

KEY AGRONOMY FOR WHEAT • For feed wheat apply remaining split doses of nitrogen to optimise yield

• Assess risk factors to determine requirement for growth regulation, such as MODDUS at GS31/32

• Monitor disease levels in crops and determine fungicide requirements. The T1 fungicide should focus on targeting final leaf 3

• Prioritise growth regulation on higher risk crops and varieties (e.g. early drilled, high biomass)

• If Yellow Rust is primary target, utilise best available chemistry at T1 with ELATUS Era

• Variety: a programmed approach reduces the risk for varieties which are more prone to lodging

WINTER WHEAT PGR ADVICE Timing

Apply

Target

GS 30

MODDUS 0.1-0.2 l/ha +/- chlormequat*

Promotes root foundation and tiller survival.

Key in second wheat situations.

GS 31-32

MODDUS 0.1-0.2 l/ha +/- chlormequat*

Increased stem strength and thickening.

Height reduction.

GS 37-39

Ethephon-based product*

Reduce height and centre of gravity in high lodging risk situations.

Adjust rates according to risk. Apply to actively growing crops. *Chlormequat at ~50% dose rate. Various products and formulations exist. Please consult a BASIS qualified advisor. Rates dependent on situation, ask your agronomist for advice. Risk is dependent upon several factors including variety, soil fertility, seed rate and drilling timing.

KEY AGRONOMY FOR HYBRID BARLEY • Complete the nitrogen application programme • Avoid late nitrogen applications (which increase the risk of secondary tillering)

• Variety: a programmed approach reduces the risk for varieties which are more prone to lodging

• Assess requirement for early season growth regulation, such as MODDUS, at GS30 and GS 31-32

• Monitor disease levels in crops and apply appropriate fungicides, such as ELATUS Era at either T1 or T2, to control disease

• Prioritise early-season growth regulation for higher risk crops and varieties (e.g. late-drilled)

• Be aware that crops have typically reached only half of their final height by GS39

HYBRID BARLEY PGR ADVICE Timing

Apply

Target

T0 (GS30)

MODDUS 0.1-0.2 l/ha +/- chlormequat*

Foundation: Promotes rooting, strengthens tillers & reduces height

T1 (GS31-32)

MODDUS 0.1-0.2 l/ha +/- chlormequat*

Stem: Strengthens tillers & reduces height

T2 (GS37-39)

Ethephon-based product**

Centre of gravity: Reduces height, brackling & lodging

Prioritise higher risk crops and varieties. *Chlormequat at approx. 50% dose rate; various products and formulations exist ** Avoid applications after GS39 (especially high risk if the leaf sheath has split and the ear is visible). Please consult a BASIS qualified advisor for specific advice for each field.

FIND OUR MORE AT SYNGENTA.CO.UK

T @SYNGENTACROPSUK

Syngenta UK Ltd. Registered in England No. 849037. CPC4, Capital Park, Fulbourn, Cambridge CB21 5XE Tel: 01223 883400 Fax: 01223 882195 Technical Enquiries Tel: 0800 169 6058 Email: customer.services@syngenta.com Website: www.syngenta.co.uk MODDUS® (MAPP 15151) contains trinexapac-ethyl and ELATUSTM Era (MAPP 17889) contains benzovindiflupyr and prothioconazole, and are Registered Trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company. Use plant protection products safely. Always read the label and product information before use. For further product information including warning phrases and symbols refer to www.syngenta.co.uk ©Syngenta AG April 2021.

AF_05_P31.indd 1

23/04/2021 09:57

TECHNICAL PRECISION FARMING

N

ow in his second season with Hutchinsons at G.D. Jewers and Son, Wood Hall Farm, Rattlesden, Mid Suffolk, Tom Jewers says he believes the Helix Farm project will help him work with, rather than against, nature to achieve a more ‘agroecological’ farming system.

However, he adds the project, which is based on an ‘improve or remove’ approach to raising farm productivity and profitability, is posing as many questions as it is delivering answers.

A socially distanced farm walk on a cold but sunny April day provided an opportunity to catch up with some of the work underway this season.

Helix Farm East’s other projects rWheat variety blends rCover cropping rTramline trials with Tiros treatment (endophyte seed

treatment said to enable crops to fix N, sequester P, K and Zn, and better withstand drought) rHybrid wheat

The opportunity to conduct validated, on-farm farmer Tom Jewers has grasped with alacrity

‘Improve or r to a regene ra Wood Hall Farm, Suffolk r385 hectares, 260ha owned, 125ha contract farmed rFamily partnership rCropping: Winter wheat,

winter barley, spring barley, OSR, linseed, winter beans rCountryside Stewardship Mid Tier scheme

Making better use of nitrogen JNitrogen response work at Helix Farm East is assessing the effects of a range of four N rates between zero and 240kg N per hectare, applied as AN, UAN and UAN plus urease and nitrification inhibitors. This work will consider economic and environmental aspects of nitrogen use.

Hutchinsons trials and technical manager Dr Bob Bulmer says: “If we can use N more efficiently and maintain productivity, it saves cost. We are looking at ways of bridging the loss of income from BPS and fertiliser is about 30% of farm input costs and N probably about 70% of that.

So, we’ve got an input that is very cost-effective but by using less there is an opportunity to reduce the farm’s carbon footprint and improve the economics.”

From a farm business perspective, nitrogen provides the best return on investment of crop inputs, says Tom Jewers.

“So we are always a bit hesitant to reduce rates as we know nitrogen will build yield.”

But equally there are occasions when N rates are reduced because areas of a field may look poor, but end up

32

Dr Bob Bulmer

combining as well as the rest of the field, he adds.

“And you think, we used 60kg N/ha less on there, so we’ve wasted it elsewhere. But would it have been the same result in another season? These are the questions we need to answer.”

Technology support tools including tissue testing, N-Tester, chlorophyll meter measurements, grain nutrient analysis and NVDI image analysis are also being used to determine whether they can support decisions on more efficient nutrient use.

The Helix East team hopes the work will also help inform the debate around nitrification inhibitors’ positive impact on GHG emissions but detrimental impact on soil microflora.

Dr Bulmer says: “Inhibitors are

good at reducing nitrous oxide GHG emissions, but we have a debate about what they are doing to soil life as they inhibit the activity of some bacteria in the nitrogen cycle, which convert ammonium into nitrate.

“So, we’ve got a conflict between healthy soils and putting on a nitrification inhibitor.

One of the things we are doing here is reviewing a new in-field soil biology test to find out what is happening to soil life in these plots. We can certainly see some opportunities with inhibitors but also potentially a bit of a dilemma in terms of a healthy soils approach.”

Inhibitor Tom Jewers adds: “A nitrification inhibitor allows you to put on a lot of nitrogen in one go and not lose it, but is this then killing everything in the soil and encouraging more disease? These things have to be weighed up.”

A baseline assessment of the soil health status of the field has been obtained using the Eurofins Soil Life Monitor soil test. This recently launched test provides a detailed insight into a soil’s chemical, physical

Nitrogen response trial rCrop: Winter wheat rVariety: Gleam rDrilling date: October 23-24 rSoil type: Hanslope Series rN rates: 0-240kg/ha N

and biological properties. Soil Life tests were done at the beginning of the season and will be repeated later in the season, once nitrogen applications are complete, says Hutchinsons fertiliser and crop nutrition specialist Rob Jewers.

The farm’s soils have also been mapped using Hutchinsons’ Terramap soil mapping service and components of yield, including plants/sq.m; tillers/sq.m; ears/ sq.m; grains/ear; thousand grain weight plus grain nutrient analysis will be measured.

Dr Bulmer adds: “Last season the soil test was predicting low nitrogen availability and the grain analysis also picked this up.

This is something Tom is concerned about in the context of the dry spring/early summers we have been having.”

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PRECISION FARMING TECHNICAL R&D on a home farm is one many farm businesses aspire to and one that Suffolk as host of Hutchinsons’ Helix Technology Farm East. Teresa Rush reports.

or remove’ a viable route e rative farming future Focus on phosphate JNitrogen is not the only nutrient under the spotlight at Helix Farm East. Last season, of 167 grain nutrient sample tests done nationally by Hutchinsons, 46% returned results of either marginal or deficient P levels, says Dr Bulmer.

The most common soil test for phosphate is available phosphate, but of this chemically-available P only one or two kilos may be available out of hundreds of kilos in the soil and most is chemically locked up through interactions with calcium, iron and aluminium, which means crops are unable to access it, says Rob Jewers.

In addition, triple super phosphate (TSP) has just 10% use efficiency, compared with nitrogen’s 60%.

Tom Jewers believes phosphate deficiency problems are an availability issue rather than a failure to supply sufficient P.

Phosphate availability trial rCrops: Spring barley rVariety: Planet rDrilling date: April 2 rDrill: Weaving GD drill

Our phosphate levels here have been holding up fairly well

in order to access what’s in the soil than it is using it to maintain indices. You are eventually going to run it down I’m sure but probably we don’t need to put on anything like the amount we do, we just need to get our soil into a state where we can access it better.”

The phosphate work at Helix East will look at the interaction between soil biology and P availability and is being conducted on spring barley. The effects of four novel treatments intended to either supplement phosphate

TOM JEWERS “Our phosphate levels here have been holding up fairly well, but we’ve got high levels of calcium and whether that locks it up I don’t know. It’s called available P but it’s not necessarily plant-available P. “I was discussing with my father whether we should have a P and K holiday and we

realised that not once have we looked at a margin over input costs with a TSP or MOP application. As farmers we’ve got to do that. It’s only 10% efficient and I’m increasingly convinced that is more to do with how we get our soil

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TECHNICAL PRECISION FARMING Focus on phosphate (continued) or improve the availability of phosphate to the crop – Crystal Green (continuous release, root-activated P fertiliser), Biolite (fertiliser recycled from power station and water industries by-products), Primary P (starter fertiliser) and a bacillus amyloliquefaciens bacterial consortium PC25 (soil-colonising bacteria said to help plants mine phosphate) are being compared with TSP in terms of effects on components of yield and economic performance.

Dr Bulmer says: “Can we use soil life to mobilise more P? There are associations between fungi and roots that help plants take up nutrients.

We do know that adding P fertiliser can switch off that interaction ” Tom Jewers adds: “And is

Combining digital This season the bacillus amyloliquefaciens, which is supplied in powder form, has been applied down the drill slot, with the spring barley seed, using Biolite granules as a carrier.

Bacteria Rob Jewers

300kg per hectare of DAP negatively impacting the soil bacteria you need? We’ve done four treatments on spring barley with placing phosphate and for me the most interesting one is placing phosphate-solubilising bacteria with the seed. To me that seems a much better solution because it seems to be working more with nature than against it, which is something I really want to do.”

“Last year we sprayed the bacteria on top after drilling, in bone dry conditions and didn’t have any rain for four weeks, so it was possibly a waste of time and it probably needed to go in the [drill] slot.

“This year we’ve managed to get it down the drill slot, where it should be. The powder goes on at 500g/ha and was difficult to get on in that form. We’ve used 3kg/ha Biolite granules as a carrier so we could get an even distribution,” says Tom Jewers.

far

JHutchinsons’ Omnia digital farming platform, along with its Terramap soil mapping service, underpins the work being undertaken at the Helix Farm East and other Helix Farm sites, providing a way of recording, retrieving and analysing information.

Dr Bulmer says: “There is quite a focus on these sites looking at contrasting soil zones. Our aspiration as agronomists is to pick up problems as they are developing.”

A field headland at Wood Hall Farm provides a perfect example of this approach in action.

Tom Jewers says: “Over the last two or three years it hasn’t been performing well but we thought we won’t put it into a scheme because it

*

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farming and biology has been hammered down with a bit of traffic.

“It’s had two wet autumns with the drill turning on it, which hasn’t improved it at all, but there are certain areas where we’ve said we’ll take this piece out and put it into an environmental scheme and there are other areas where we’ve thought that is bad because of this and we think we can cure it.

Performance map “The beauty of Omnia is we can put in all our yield maps and combine them into one performance map and it shows you that actually this part of the field isn’t consistently bad, it’s just been bad this year, so let’s rectify the issues.

“But another area is always

Using the performance mapping tool in Omnia has helped decision-making on poorer performing areas. This headland is destined for a wild bird seed mixture under Mid Tier CSS.

bad, and we could earn £640 per hectare by putting it into a wild bird food mix, so let’s do that. It means that decision can happen so much earlier.

“You can even work out what net margin you think you

are going to make out of an environmental option, put that in and it will tell you which bits are making you consistently more by cropping and which bits aren’t and then it makes the decision easy.”

More information JFor more information on Helix Farm East and other farms involved in the Helix Farm initiative, visit: helixfarm.co.uk

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22/04/2021 15:23 17/02/2021 10:23

TECHNICAL DATA MANAGEMENT

How data could help you Putting data at the centre of agriculture is providing new insights for growers and companies further up the supply chain and could lead to a Big Bang moment in agriculture. Marianne Curtis reports.

A

s data-enabled agriculture is accelerating in adoption and impact, enabling quick, simple interrogation of data and rapid actionable insights has never been more important.

That is the view of the Agri-TechE network, which includes organisations which have developed platforms to gather, manage and analyse data in an unprecedented way, yielding new, real-time insights and ways of informing decision-making.

Fruit business uses data to reduce waste JThe National Food Strategy shows that growers receive the lowest returns in the supply chain and this needs to change, argues Antony Yousefian, agritech director of Bardsley England, Kent, one of the largest top fruit growers in the UK, at 840 hectares.

He is also CEO of the agritech company he is incubating in the business, Bx. Mr Yousefian describes farming as extreme manufacturing that is high risk but the least digital industry on the planet.

“It is not a technology problem it is a people problem.

Risk management has been done elsewhere in industries such as banking. We need to take those people who have solved risk management in those industries and bring them into our industry.”

Improving feedback loops, which are slow in agriculture, could help, he explains.

“Feeding back what is happening in R&D, what is happening on-farm or in

36

We need to take people who have solved risk management in other sectors and bring them into our industry ANTONY YOUSEFIAN production, is analogue. The right people can solve this.

In banks in the 1980s and 1990s it was pen and paper. In agriculture a lot of processes are pen and paper.

“Their feedback loops were days. With digital transformation they are now nanoseconds. We are about to see a Big Bang moment in agriculture.

“If we can incubate agritech on farm, feedback loops will become rapid knock-down

barriers in agriculture and the speed of development will go through the roof.”

The tech team at Bardsley England are all from outside agriculture, says Mr Yousefian.

“There are many experts in agriculture around the business.

We are bringing people in from Google, Microsoft, virtual gaming companies – people who are experts with data, can understand it and work with farmers to get deeper understanding.”

The team has started by building databases, says Mr Yousefian.

“With a bottom-up

approach, we are bringing data standardisation to every single orchard which allows us to put in different data pipelines, such as weather feeds and data from satellites, easily and we can start managing data very well.”

The new data infrastructure has generated insights that can reduce waste, explains Mr Yousefian.

Quality control “At harvest, every harvested bin of apples is geotagged and QR coded. The team has also set up a feature where the farm manager gets an instant alert when deterioration in grading or

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More data management examples over the page. quality of picking is picked up by quality control.

“Before it was pen and paper and we didn’t know about any fall in quality in the picking process. The feedback loop was days, sometimes even weeks when [quality deterioration was] spotted in store later.

“Now as soon as the problem has been digitally alerted and someone has checked they can instantly alert not only the farm manager, but the store team and packhouse team who can quickly shift the affected bin of apples to pack straight away. Before, waiting

for someone to enter data into a spreadsheet could take days or weeks.”

Using the new data set-up, apps can also be developed in minutes, he says.

“We have had frost events just recently and can spin up an app to capture data on what is happening regarding frost damage in an orchard in 10 minutes.

“We can quickly quantify the damage to orchards from frost and the impact on forecast and budget. This used to take weeks. If farm managers come to us with ideas, we can do rapid product innovation.”

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MAY 2021 AF May p36 37 38 39 Data MC TR RM.indd 3

37 23/04/2021 10:55

TECHNICAL DATA MANAGEMENT Sharing knowledge key to solving potato storage challenge JLoss of CIPC came as a blow to the potato industry, but one company, LiveTrace, has been quick to respond and by sharing knowledge and best practice is enabling the sector to adopt new approaches to storage.

The LiveTrace Grower Management system brings together data from a variety of sources such as Farmplan, Muddyboots, Gatekeeper and the John Deere Ops Centre, with weather data from Sencrop, all on to one platform and offers bespoke apps to help manage variety trials and storage.

LiveTrace was established

by Jon Kemp and his brother Phillip to provide potato suppliers with improved supply chain management.

Following the ban of CIPC, alternative sprout suppressant treatments such as Biox-M (spearmint oil) and DMN are being used. But to ensure the quality of potatoes kept in storage for six to eight months, careful management and attention to detail is required.

Jon Kemp explains: “Store

managers are now required to frequently inspect and record the condition of potatoes in store, then, where needed, apply the sprout suppressants quickly using a hot fog.

“Applying the fog – fogging – requires new skills, better timings and an understanding of how and when to apply.

So, every person looking after stored potatoes has had to learn fast.”

Condition To support the industry, LiveTrace has developed a new app – ‘LiveTrace Fogging’. This is an online store diary which records crop temperature, fan hours and crop condition (sprouting, breakdown etc) with photographs and a comments section.

“Our Cloud SAAS software allows sharing of information.

The photographs are timed and dated to enable store managers to look back at previous store visits and compare. Each store has its own record page to show target temperature, variety and photo gallery, for example.”

The software is designed

Agriculture lagging behind in carbon JNet zero commitments, consumer preference and the pricing of carbon and sustainability risk more generally in global capital markets are driving the sustainability agenda.

However, carbon credit schemes in agriculture are a small niche compared with other pricing initiatives around the world.

Matthew Guinness, head of sustainability at Hummingbird Technologies, explains why.

“The key reason is most carbon credit schemes cover renewable energy projects or change of fuel use. It is easier to count solar panels or windmills than to count carbon emitted or sequestered by an acre of farmland or any other land type.

“We can’t rely on self-reporting for reasons of veracity and

with sharing in mind, with seven layers of access depending on the user’s permission status.

Mr Kemp firmly believes knowledge sharing is the future.

“We made the decision to share our new Fogging app with

Data sharing is helping the potato sector adapt to new storage approaches post-CIPC.

38

reliability. And we can’t rely on large-scale ground truth testing because of cost and scalability.

“Our view is that remote sensing monitoring and verification of land use and ultimately of carbon is going to be a crucial component in scaling up these incentive schemes for farmers.”

Principles To avoid unintended consequences, it is important to measure agricultural practices and management principles, as well as outcomes, says Mr Guinness.

While sustainable agriculture has not been consistently defined, regenerative agriculture practices, such as minimum soil disturbance, using cover crops and crop diversity/rotation, are attracting attention, he says.

companies in the processing potato supply chain so all the major players have access to the database. Each fogging application is recorded using the app. This creates an invoice for the grower alongside sprout suppressant quantity, crop condition, date, fan speeds and a photograph.

Confidence “Live reporting on the dashboard is graphed by variety which is very useful to gain confidence to change the fogging process to make improvements to the application techniques.”

Sharing data reduces administration and improves traceability, he says.

“For example, we are working with a haulage firm to allow paperless passports, load ticket weight and GPS tracking. Everything is in one place,” says Mr Kemp.

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credit schemes “There is a huge groundswell of activity and investment in regenerative agriculture supply chains around the world. Big food and beverage companies are starting to bang the drum about this. Companies which have millions of hectares of supply chains will need to know what is going on in these.

“Large-scale monitoring and detection is going to be or is already required and organisations are in the process of scoping out how they’re going to do that.”

Many key practices and outcomes can be measured using remote sensing, which offers substantial benefits in terms of scalability, he says.

“It’s not a silver bullet and you can’t measure everything but by complementing existing models and ground truth samples it is

Using satellite imagery it is possible to infer the level of crop residue left on the surface and from that to model the tillage type employed.

a very useful tool in terms of offering that low cost solution.”

For example, by detecting reflectance level at different points in the wavelength of NIR spectra, it is possible to infer the level of crop residue on the surface and from that model the tillage type employed. Satellite imagery makes this scalable.

Research efforts are also going into detecting and monitoring soil organic carbon itself, says Mr Guinness.

More information

“Theoretically it should be possible to measure soil carbon using satellite data but no-one has cracked a scalable solution yet. If we can establish a way that is scientifically robust and scalable for verifying soil organic carbon sequestration, where one tonne of carbon at US$25/t is sequestered on 1ha of farmland, with verification costing US$2-3/t, the potential for accretion to farmers is very substantial.”

JJon Kemp, Antony Yousefian and Matthew Guinness were speaking at the Data Management – More than a Numbers Game seminar, organised by Agri-TechE in which speakers gave an insight into how data can be used to improve operations in areas such as storage of produce and measuring environmental outcomes.

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TECHNICAL PRECISION FARMING

Harnessing the power o While crop pest and disease modelling has been with us for a while, better data analysis techniques and bringing data together more effectively offer new ways to improve them. Marianne Curtis reports.

C

ombining farm data with other data sources via a digital farming solutions product which includes pest and disease models is helping an increasing number of farmers make decisions about the optimal time to spray.

Digital crop production optimisation platform xarvio, developed by BASF Digital Farming, was launched in January 2020 and is in its second season of use in the UK with 2,500 users.

Bjoern Kiepe, global agronomy lead at xarvio, explains the

All our models are based on data collected from trials and farmer observations BJOERN KIEPE principles behind the system.

He says: “When we think about offerings in digital farming we always start with data.

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Better data analysis techniques and bringing data together offer new ways to improve models for septoria.

“We want to provide growers with agronomic insights. To do so we need to understand what is happening locally in fields and on their farms. To do this we use a lot of data sources, such as satellites, weather information and farmer information from our Scouting app.

Relationship “We bring this together into an agronomic decision engine which can help with decisionmaking. These can be translated into field-specific actions.”

Establishing a data relationship with growers is key to making these strategies successful, he says.

“When we work with farmers a lot is to do with trust – if we have a trustworthy relationship we will get information from farmers and can build on it.

Whenever a grower decides not to continue working with our tools all grower-specific data will be deleted,” says Mr Kiepe.

Digital farming requires strong data competencies, he adds.

“We are cloud-only, which allows us to bring new features

to farmers faster. Artificial intelligence is deeply embedded in what we are doing and helps us develop scalable solutions for various geographies and crops in these markets.

“In the digital world it is important that information runs not only in one direction, but that you also get feedback. One application triggers the next and you need to know what has happened throughout the crop cycle.”

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40 AF May p40 41 BigData MC TR KH.indd 2

JThe xarvio team is developing a buffer zone feature which it is looking at piloting in the UK this season, says Louis Wells, commercial technical manager, xarvio UK. “The buffer zone feature is designed to make crop protection applications of products with aquatic buffer zones as easy as possible.

“The user enters the product, dose rate and nozzle type. Then, xarvio checks the aquatic buffer zone regulation and watercourse locations around the field to create an application map for the user’s sprayer terminal. The sprayer turns off when going over a buffer zone.”

MAY 2021 22/04/2021 11:39

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Although models to help understand septoria and yellow rust have existed for a decade or more, better data analysis techniques and bringing data together offer new ways to improve models, says Mr Kiepe.

Performance “All the models we are running are based on data collected from trials and farmer observations.

We also have key performance indicators to evaluate the performance of models. We put a lot of effort in to ensure superior model performance.”

Growers also have the opportunity to do their own analysis, says Mr Kiepe.

“There are strong features to help farmers grow their understanding of data and the opportunity to do this in a lean and simple way.

“There is no need to create dozens of folders and copy and paste information – uploading features are intuitive to use.”

JUsing modelling techniques, the xarvio Spray Timer tool gives alerts to support application timing of crop protection, nutrition and PGR products.

Some user data is required up front, including field location, weather, crop, variety, seeding date, previous crop and type of tillage, says Louis Wells.

• Inter-row seeding • Seed flow monitoring • GPS tramlining Available on Espro, Venta and Aurock drills.

Alert system “With all those bits and pieces we bring in our data layers and modelling expertise to build a fieldspecific alert system to let growers know what disease and pest risks they may be seeing in their field.

“Growth stage models allow growers to see the current stage and when the crop is likely to reach the next one for planning activities. Growers can add their observations – models will interact and work with these.”

MAY 2021 AF May p40 41 BigData MC TR KH.indd 3

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FARMING SYSTEMS REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE In the first of a series across five issues of Arable Farming looking at the pillars and farming principles and backing them with technology has seen Cotswold farm manager

Blurring the lines between organic and conventional farming

S

ince returning to his family farm, agronomist and farm manager, Ed Horton has adopted many of the same practices that his grandfather and great grandfather once used, but justifies the benefits with data, technology and precision farming techniques.

Although only 20% of S.S. Horton and Sons’ 3,000-hectare enterprise is organic, the principles applied across the farm, remain the same and reaching for a chemical only happens when or where it is absolutely needed.

This means in high pressure years when Mr Horton’s winter cereals and oilseed rape disease management technique of grazing crops to take out diseased leaves is not enough, he can fall back on a late fungicide.

He describes this as ‘halfway house’ or hybrid farming.

He says: “The leaf growth there all winter acts like a nursery for diseases such as phoma, septoria or rust, and those old leaves don’t

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Livestock integration has removed half our need for chemical inputs from a fungicide point of view ED HORTON

do anything for yield so if we remove them with sheep, we’re removing the first port of infection that’s there for any leaf that starts emerging in March and it’s growing from a clean point.

Fungicide “Most farmers would do that by applying a fungicide because that’s how we’ve been trained.

“My sheep are a bit vaguer and might not be so uniform in their

approach, but livestock integration has removed half our need for chemical inputs from a fungicide point of view and it helps the plant tiller and increases root mass and we’ve managed to remove all need for PGRs in grazed crops.”

Variety choice has also taken a front seat after Mr Horton noticed that no matter what the management or soil health status, some varieties still struggled with certain diseases.

“Modern varieties perform very well but rely on a high level of inputs to achieve that. Now we’ve gone back in time to slightly older varieties with more inbuilt resistance and we’re growing slightly stranger things as well, like organic spelt which is fairly resistant to most things because it hasn’t been overbred.”

Drought stress On the farm’s drought-prone Cotswold brash, the early-toharvest, high-protein Hungarian milling wheat variety MV Fredericia is well-suited because it tends to get ahead before drought stress kicks in, meaning there is less of a yield penalty during dry summers.

“For feed wheat we grow Costello, which isn’t the highest yielding but it is short and stiff, never falls over and has very good disease resistance. It does very well being grazed and comes back incredibly well and far quicker than other varieties,” Mr Horton says.

KWS Extase also performs well because it is an early variety and very competitive against weeds, which are generally controlled with an inter-row hoe rather than herbicides.

MAY 2021 22/04/2021 16:42

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REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE FARMING SYSTEMS practicalities of regenerative agriculture, Alice Dyer finds out how adopting traditional Ed Horton cut input costs substantially and improve the resilience of the business.

With the farm’s Cotswold brash soils limiting yields, the focus is on reducing costs.

“We can be incredibly selective about where we put the hoe, rather than drilling 500 acres of wheat and covering it

with a pre-em, not knowing if you needed it or not.

“Once you’ve been through Extase once with the hoe it

tends to get on with it and shade out weeds or keep them at the bottom of the canopy. It’s also great from a disease point of

view – it’s a very clean variety and we grow it organically for that exact reason.”

Letting go of the ‘tidy factor’ X

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Sophie said: “A collection such as this is invaluable in providing a source of preserved microorganisms relevant to all stages of crop production, and is especially important for UK agriculture and our ability to develop new product innovations for the future.

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43 23/04/2021 13:53

FARMING SYSTEMS REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE has also seen farm biodiversity thrive and broad-leaved weeds such as groundsel, pansies and chickweed are left alone.

“It might look a little untidy, but it’s saving me money and provides a beneficial habitat. You’re expanding biodiversity back into crops instead of pushing nature to the edge,” Mr Horton says.

In the seven years these management changes have been implemented, substantial savings in input costs have been made – the initial aim of the farm’s hybrid approach.

Mr Horton adds: “We don’t historically get high yields here, so we had to keep a close eye on input costs. With costs going up, we looked at ways of trying to keep a lid on them and removing the ones that wouldn’t have a big impact on yield. A lot of that was based on soil health and quality, so removing the need to drag a cultivator up and down a field.”

The starting point was

44 AF May p42 43 44 46 AD KH TR.indd 4

Most winter cereals are grazed by the farm’s flock of Cotswold sheep to take care of any disease going into spring.

growing cover crops to aid direct drilling and commercially benefit the farm’s sheep flock with more available grazing. But it has been a natural progression to removing seed dressings, fungicides and herbicides, and moving to inter-row hoeing. Mr Horton thinks variable costs have been cut by 50-60% as a result, depending on the season.

“In high disease pressure

years, grazing cereals with sheep works in the early spring but we still have to try and fight septoria come May. “Seed is cheaper without fungicidal seed dressings, removing pre-ems saves £70-£80/ ha and it can easily be £120/ha for a post-em. If you spend half of that with a hoe going down the field twice, you’re still better off and your soils are still healthier without a chemical being applied.”

It might look a little untidy, but it’s saving me money and provides a beneficial habitat

Variability Although these methods can potentially rob some yield, with careful management the farm has managed to maintain its long-term average yields, but has removed some of the variability experienced between seasons.

Mr Horton says: “Our ground doesn’t yield well at the best of times, but now we don’t get the penalty of the fact we spent for an eight-tonne/ha crop but only got a 5t/ha crop, because we haven’t applied anything.

“On the flip side, in a good year we do miss the peak of how good it could possibly be, so have removed some of the top end potential, but we’ve also removed some of the risk from the bottom end. If you averaged it out, over 10 years we’d probably be [yielding] the same.

It just makes it less risky.”

The biggest lesson learned was to be more flexible and pay more attention to detail, he says. The farm currently grows a wide range of crops including spring and

winter wheat, barley and oats, rye, triticale, beans, linseed, maize oilseed rape, phacelia, buckwheat and turnips, which allows decisions to be made based on conditions rather than pre-conceived ideas.

“My cropping plan changes on a biweekly basis and I have the flexibility to say soil conditions aren’t perfect, but we can look at something else. We can look at stubbles in autumn and see black-grass and decide to cover crop, graze it and put a spring crop in. Having such a large choice of crops gives me the option to play with things because I’m not fixed on a three-crop system.

“I crop walk now far more than I used to because we haven’t applied a fungicide at T0, which would give me two weeks of breathing space. I have to be more aware of what’s going on so it doesn’t come back to bite me. With grazing the OSR, we learned you need to check twice, if not three times a day.”

This year, some OSR was X

ED HORTON

MAY 2021 22/04/2021 16:44

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22/04/2021 10:26

FARMING SYSTEMS REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE slightly overgrazed in an attempt to remove the need for PGRs and fungicides, but trial and error is the way to success, Mr Horton says.

“We overgrazed one area but the rest is very happy and now we have an OSR crop that’s just had one dose of herbicide as its only input.

“Grazing cereal crops was a very traditional way of managing them before the invention of PGRs. The Cotswold sheep is called the golden hoof because it’s the only way we could grow cereals here before people invented artificial N. Everyone had sheep to manage their crops.

“However, the sheep work for us on our soils but my farming system couldn’t be rolled out to everyone because everyone’s system is so different.”

Soil health underpins the success of the whole system, with Mr Horton’s ethos being that having a healthy soil will produce a healthier crop. Soil health information is captured

across the farms and compared through earthworm counts, organic matter (OM) readings and active carbon measurements using the Omnia precision farming platform.

“This can throw up interesting comparisons and sometimes we have better active carbon on our conventional side than our organic because the organic side takes more cultivation to take care of weed problems.

Treated “In one of the first trials I did [to explore active carbon] we split a field and drilled half with undressed seed and the other half was treated over four years.

“In the side that had untreated seed we had a 34% increase in active carbon in the soil because we weren’t coating seeds in a seed dressing. This then had a positive impact on carbon function in the soil and its symbiotic relationship between

A camera-guided interrow hoe has replaced the need for pre-em herbicides in cereals.

fungi. The active carbon test is good for looking at quick, small changes and OM tests are good at looking at the broader picture of soil health.

“On some very thin Cotswold brash we jumped straight into direct drilling from conventional min-till and it turned out to be a

complete disaster for the first two years because the soil wasn’t ready for it and we didn’t have the soil OM to hold the structure open, biology to break down and release nutrients, or earthworm numbers to help cycle the cover crops we were planting on the surface.”

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MAY 2021 22/04/2021 16:44

PRODUCT news Biscuit wheat delivers cross-season security

W

ith the seasons seemingly becoming more challenging, growers want resilient varieties that can produce a consistent yield year-on-year.

Limagrain has four new biscuit wheats on the latest AHDB Recommended List (RL), but the standout variety for arable technical manager Ron Granger is Astronomer, thanks to the security it offers growers in both agronomics and grain quality.

With Cougar x Leeds and Britannia parentage, although it is not the highest yielding on the RL at 101%, it takes away a good untreated yield of 86% and ticks a lot of boxes

LG Astronomer offers a robust 9 for both yellow and brown rust.

for on-farm security around agronomic decision-making, he says.

“Varieties need to be consistent because our seasons are getting very difficult. In 2019 trials in the South East, when there were high rates of yellow

rust, Astronomer really stood out in what was a very testing season.”

Yellow rust LG Astronomer offers a robust 9 for both yellow and brown rust and a 7.4 for septoria.

Mr Granger adds: “It is a taller variety but is very stiff at 8.2.”

Astronomer also features orange wheat blossom midge resistance and is early maturing at +1 with a 6 for resistance to sprouting.

“LG Astronomer is equally as good as a second wheat or a first wheat and at the moment I’d say it’s suited to the medium-heavy soil types because it doesn’t seem to like the drought seen in light soils. It also has the agronomic package for early drilling situations,” Mr Granger says.

In sowing date trials, it performed well when drilled before September 25, yielding 105% based on limited data and 101% when drilled later after November 1.

“Mid-February is the cut-off X

EFFECTIVE n Rainfast from 1 hour n Proven reliability in plant uptake and translocation n Excellent performance in challenging spring and summer conditions

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AF May p47 48 ProdNews TR KH AD.indd 2

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23/04/2021 13:21

PRODUCT NEWS date for late sowing and it has a 6.5 for plant development when considering drilling in spring.”

However, quality is the standout trait for this variety, he says.

“It’s got a good Hagberg Falling Number of 238 and excellent grain quality with the best specific weight in Group 3 of 77.8kg/hl and protein content of 11.9%. It’s probably the strongest biscuit variety of the four we’ve had coming through and is medium-rated for distilling.”

With new disease strains putting pressure on resistance ratings, Agrii has introduced a sustainability

ranking to its Advisory List, which complements the RL with extra analyses and data from the company’s national and regional variety testing programme.

Topping the list in 2021 for sustainability is LG Astronomer.

Consistency Colin Lloyd, Agrii head of agronomy, says: “The whole objective of the list is to use real-time data to acknowledge that things can change in terms of variety resistance or susceptibility. We wanted to use the previous season’s data rather than averaging

it to give appropriate advice.

“LG Astronomer comes top of the list for its consistency and risk mitigation. It had high yields in Agrii trials in 2020 at 100% treated and 92% untreated and had the highest specific weight of any of the biscuit wheats tested.

“Its best performance was in East and West regions, in both official and Agrii trials, as its performance drops off further north in a limited number of Agrii trials.”

There are good markets for Group 3 wheats, including baked products, cereal, distilling, biofuel and export, says Tom Barker,

Limagrain cereals and pulses product manager.

“LG Astronomer’s consistent quality is all part of the variety’s security package.

Specification “Group 3s are also considerably easier for farmers to hit the right spec. If you look at a full specification Group 1, it’s a pretty tall order a lot of the time. It’s well documented that the higher the yields get, you have to feed more nitrogen towards it and unless you’re in the right part of the country it can be harder to hit that 13% protein.”

Long-awaited septoria active gets UK approval JTHE UK’s pesticide regulatory authority has approved the sale and use of the first product with Corteva’s long-awaited new fungicide, Inatreq active (fenpicoxamid) in time for wheat T2 applications.

48

Univoq (fenpicoxamid + prothioconazole) offers curative and protectant control on all septoria strains and is the first new target site for septoria control registered in the UK for 15 years.

Corteva says its iQ-4 formulation

enables Univoq to stick to and spread across the leaf.

The approval for use of Univoq gives farmers a new tool to help manage septoria as it shows no cross-resistance to existing cereal fungicide chemistries.

It is claimed Univoq delivers excellent duration of protection, maintaining green leaf area and allowing the crop to build yield long after application. UK trials have also shown control of yellow and brown rust in line with existing market standards. It is expected that Univoq will be widely applied as a flag leaf spray at the T2 fungicide timing.

ADAS’ Jonathan Blake, who works on AHDB-funded fungicide performance trials, says Univoq has performed well in trials and its novel mode of action adds value both in terms of efficacy and its ability to protect other chemistry.

Fenpicoxamid is a quinone inside inhibitor (QiI) – a new mode of action for cereal disease management. This means it targets pathogens in a different way to azoles, SDHIs and strobilurins. It could help improve the effective life of SDHIs and azoles, through its use in mixtures and in alternation in wheat fungicide programmes. At present, only one QiI treatment is permitted across the programme.

AHDB fungicide performance trials from 2018-2020 tested the product’s activity against septoria, yellow rust and brown rust.

On septoria, Univoq delivered a similar level of disease control to the leading SDHI/azole mixture.

Both these products appeared more effective than other leading mixture combinations when compared at the same percentage of label dose, according to AHDB. As with other products, higher application rates were needed when applied in curative, instead of protectant, situations.

Activity On yellow rust, Univoq was more active than prothioconazole alone, indicating that the fenpicoxamid component adds activity. It also provided a similar level of control to the azole epoxiconazole which will be withdrawn by the end of the year and the SDHI/azole mixture Solatenol + prothioconazole.

On brown rust, Univoq also showed a higher level of activity than prothioconazole alone.

Comparisons with other mixture products indicated that Univoq performed similarly on brown rust to bixafen + fluopyram + prothioconazole, providing very good levels of control when used at 50% label rate and higher, the trials found.

MAY 2021

AF May p47 48 ProdNews TR KH AD.indd 3

23/04/2021 13:21

YieldON switches “ON” crop profitability. This revolutionary biostimulant contains a unique blend of natural plant extracts – which stimulate the flow of nutrients into seeds for higher yields. In UK trials over the last 3 years, YieldON increased wheat* yields by 0.47 t/ha on average. Oilseed rape** and barley* trials showed yield increases of 0.33 and 0.37 t/ha respectively.

YieldON is available from Hutchinsons (www.hlhltd.co.uk) and Agrii (www.agrii.co.uk).

For further information, email technical.uk@valagro.com

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*single application of 2 litres/ha at flag leaf growth stage; **single application of 2 litres/ha between early to mid-flowering.

AF_05_P49.indd 1

22/04/2021 10:25

MACHINERY MATERIALS HANDLING The task of loading lorries with feedstock for an anaerobic digestion plant falls squarely at the feet of two industrial highreach handlers for one Hampshire grower.

Geoff Ashcroft went to find out more.

Lessons in loading logistics

F

or Apsley Farms, the challenges of growing enough maize and rye to keep its 6.5MW anaerobic digestion (AD) plant producing energy is one that sees the farm growing crops within a 30-mile radius of its base at the 404-hectare Faulkners Down House farm, Andover, Hampshire.

The plant consumes about 110,000 tonnes of feedstock each year for power generation, which is extracted from some 1,820ha of maize and 1,820ha of rye. Most of the feedstock is clamped using temporary

storage that can be sited on field headlands close to where the crops are harvested.

This gives the flexibility to haul feedstock back to Apsley Farms as required, as operations manager Edward du Val explains.

“We use AgBags to clamp forage where we harvest, to simplify logistics and storage,” he says.

“This lets us put about 3,500t into bags in a 12-hour shift, using two foragers and just six tractors and trailers.”

This short-haul approach keeps tractors and trailers off local roads, reducing the impact on the local community and

Also in this section 54 56 60 64 68 71

Siding with safety New interface sets foundation for future developments Two-in-one beats weeds One drill seeds all Strip-till approach cultivates conditions for expansion Precision in kit form

As one lorry is being loaded with forage, the next one tips solid digestate ready for spreading.

affords the flexibility to haul crop back to base using walking-floor articulated lorries, only when it is needed.

“When we started to look into ways of bringing crop back to the plant, lorries quickly became the only viable solution,” says Mr du Val. Payloads “With 27t payloads, we can move a lot of material quickly and economically – you just would not entertain doing this with tractors and trailers.”

At peak times, the farm’s four walking-floor articulated lorries move 16-20 loads/day. And to make the most of transport efficiency, these lorries rarely run empty – each trip to collect forage sees a load of solid digestate taken out ready for spreading.

“All we had to do was work out an efficient process for loading the lorries,” he says.

The farm started to load its lorries using a telehandler and with a 21t excavator already on the farm, it too was put to use, sitting on top of an AgBag to see how suitable it could be for loading lorries.

“Everything we tried was slow, cumbersome and unnecessarily complicated.

“We would have needed at least a JCB 435S with a toe-tip bucket to fill trailers quickly,” he adds.

“But there was too much

Edward du Val

The loader has been fitted with a 5cu.m capacity clamshell bucket (left) and ag-spec flotation tyres (below).

50 AF May p50 51 52 EdDu JR TR KH.indd 2

MAY 2021 23/04/2021 13:23

MATERIALS HANDLING MACHINERY Loader specifications rModel: Liebherr LH30M Industry rOperating weight: 26-32 tonnes rEngine: Seven-litre, four-cylinder Liebherr D934 rPower: 190hp at 1,700rpm rFront end: 7.8m boom, 6m dipper arm rMaximum lift height: 13m rMaximum reach: 14m

driving about to load a lorry and that created ruts and mess.

So I took to the internet and sought inspiration from how other markets approached materials handling.

“I really liked the German market’s approach to using wheeled excavators. They tow trailers to and from job sites and it got me thinking about how we could work smarter.”

The LH30M’s high reach simplifies tidying up on-site.

It was a process that eventually led him to construction machinery firm Liebherr, which had a pair of LH30M materials handlers in its yard that had recently come back off hire.

These high-reach machines are more often seen in scrap yards, waste transfer sites and recycling centres than they are

on-farm, but the productivity potential appealed to Mr du Val. “These are like wheeled excavators on steroids,” he says.

View “They use a long-reach boom for lifting, rather than digging and with an elevating cab to create a better view of the work X

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MAY 2021 AF May p50 51 52 EdDu JR TR KH.indd 3

51 23/04/2021 13:59

MACHINERY MATERIALS HANDLING About 27t of forage can be loaded in seven minutes.

area, I could see how beneficial these could be for loading lorries.”

A deal was done and the then two-year-old, low-houred machines arrived at Apsley Farms three years ago. The standard industrial twin-wheels were replaced by ag-spec flotation tyres and the end of the lifting arm was equipped with a 5cu.m capacity clamshell bucket.

Now with more than 4,000 hours on the machines’ clocks, Mr du Val is struggling to see a

better way of rehandling forage into bulk transport.

“The performance is superb.

We can load 27t of maize in just seven minutes,” he says.

Drawback “That is faster than most farms can load a grain lorry. Perhaps the only drawback is having to move them using a low-loader.”

The LH30M boasts a 14m reach and its hydraulically elevating cab is able to put the operator’s line of

sight anywhere up to a working height of 5.4m, which simplifies loading of high-sided vehicles.

“We have so much operating flexibility. When we open up an AgBag, the machine can move onto the plastic sheet that is the base of the bag; as the feedstock is moved, the operator can use the clamshell to pull the sheet up from behind, cleaning up as it moves forward,” he says.

“What it has done is made us think about AgBag locations.

There is enough reach to rehandle silage from two bags sat side-by-side. We can also reach over a hedge too, as long as there’s a track or road on the other side for lorry access – you could not do that with a telehandler or wheeled loader.

“And these Liebherr machines have an auto engine stop-start, like most modern cars. After three minutes of idling, the engine will stop – and that also saves us a lot of fuel,” he adds.

View from the cab JOperator Andy Spreadbury has plenty of praise for the LH30M materials handler.

“It was a little scary at first, but you soon get used to the high seating position, which makes loading lorries easy,” he says.

“There is plenty of power and the hydraulics are smooth and powerful too. The engine only runs at 1,700rpm, so it is quite a calm environment.”

Having spent time on excavators in the past, Mr Spreadbury says the

52 AF May p50 51 52 EdDu JR TR KH.indd 4

joystick controls were easy enough to grasp.

“Using a clamshell bucket mounted on a 360-degree rotating headstock, it is just so different to using a bucket.

Though you can be quite precise with the controls,” he says.

Clamshell “I can also use the clamshell like a finger and thumb, to pick up the top sheets for folding and make it easy to clean up behind me.”

He says the handler also

has a built-in dynamic weighing system which lets him total the payload as the clamshell swings over the walking floor trailers.

“The lorries have on-board weighing too, but it gives me an idea when handling wetter or dense forage crops. I need about 25-26 buckets of rye to fill a lorry, but only 16-17 of maize.”

He prefers to load facing downhill as it helps to spot the edge of the clamshell bucket on the ground, without danger of nipping the sheet.

“You soon work out the best ways to position and work the machine and use the elevating cab to your advantage,” he says.

“I only move forward after every lorry load, which minimises any driving around. I simply lift the outriggers, drive forward, then put the outriggers down. There are times when we sit the outriggers on plastic grids to help spread the weight on softer ground, but when you do not run around loading, you do not make any mess.”

MAY 2021 23/04/2021 11:52

THE LAMMA365 PODCAST

WITH JAMES RICKARD Introducing your new monthly machinery podcast from LAMMA365...

Machinery Torque Podcast host James Rickard delves deep into the machinery industry, chatting to industry insiders, discussing everything from machinery and technology developments through to top tips and much more.

In the first episode, James gets a view from the top, as he interviews New Holland’s European Vice President and the firm’s UK Business Director.

Register for LAMMA365 for free to listen to the podcast, plus gain unlimited access to: 3 The hottest machinery news Independent machinery reviews 3 Compare machinery side by side 3 Videos and user guides 3 Manufacturer directory and dealer locator

Listen at LAMMA365.com now!

REGISTER FREE FOR LAMMA365.COM TO LISTEN AF_05_P53.indd 1 Podcast full page FG April.indd 1

22/04/2021 10:27 07/04/2021 10:28:07

MACHINERY MATERIALS HANDLING With safety increasingly under the spotlight and more distance covered on the road, one Warwickshire farm has opted for a trio of bale trailers with hydraulicallyoperated sides, reducing the time taken securing loads. Jane Carley finds out more.

Siding with safety

T

ransporting large quantities of bales any distance can be a headache, particularly when it comes to working out the safest method that also cuts loading and unloading times.

Bale chasers can be complex and costly and the traditional flatbed requires time-consuming strapping, as found by Bedworthbased A.W. and J. Brandreth.

Running an organic dairy farm from its Warwickshire base, an additional 830 hectares of straw in the swath is bought each year as part of its hay and straw business.

The business’ Joe Brandreth says: “We can be transporting straw from up to 15 miles away and over that sort of distance a bale chaser is not ideal, because you cannot transport enough bales at once.

“We also wanted to improve safety, but not have to strap the loads, to give a quick turnaround.

Having seen the Staines trailers with hydraulic sides, it is such a simple system and we liked the trailers so much that we bought three.”

The trailers use a pair of hydraulically raised and lowered ‘doors’ along the side of the trail-

The trailer uses a pair of hydraulically raised and lowered ‘doors’ along the side of the trailer bed to secure the bales.

er bed, each of which is capable of operating separately.

Mr Brandreth makes square bales with dimensions of 1.2 x 0.9 x 2.4 metres and 32 can be loaded four high onto the farm’s 9.7m long Staines trailers, carrying 15-16 tonnes of straw.

“We are in and out quickly and it is much safer when unloading the straw; we only drop the side we are unloading from rather than having to remove all the straps as you would with a traditional bale trailer, so there is no risk of pushing a bale off the other side.”

When loading, the far side remains closed, but is dropped back 300mm to allow space to load the bales four at a time vertically, giving eight stacks of four. The sides are then pulled up and squeezed to compress the load ready for transport.

Maintenance Once loaded, the sides support the load and anti-check valves keep them in place in the event of a hose failure. Little maintenance is required and Mr Brandreth says the two-pack paint has stood up

From the manufacturer JDevon-based Staines Trailers has developed a bale trailer designed to tackle the problem of transporting large quantities of bales any distance.

Project manager Des Thorpe says: “The Hydraulic Bale Door trailer came about when a customer came to us asking

54

for a bale trailer with hydraulic sides which would clamp the bales and prevent movement.

“He was looking to move large loads short distances and the time taken to strap and unstrap the load was not economical.”

Models are available from

7.3 metres to 11m, capable of transporting from 18 Hesston bales stacked three high to 52 mini-Hesstons stacked four high, depending on model.

Prices range from £13,721 for a 7.3m basic spec with steel floor and 10 stud commercial axles.

It is a nice way to move more bales and we feel it is important to give a good impression to the public when we are on the road JOE BRANDRETH to the workload well over the last four years, especially considering that the trailers are stored outside for much of the year.

“We can move more than 500 bales in a day, which is useful in catchy weather or at busy periods,” he adds.

“It is a nice way to move more bales and we feel it is important to give a good impression to the public when we are travelling on the road. Not only is it safe, it also looks safe. Staines were one of the first to develop this type of trailer but there are now a few more on the market.”

Mr Brandreth says the trailers represent a substantial investment compared to a standard bale trailer, so buyers do need the workload to justify them.

Expansion of the business into high sugar ryegrass and lucerne for drying, will extend the carting season in 2021 and make even more use of the trailers for the farm.

MAY 2021

AF May p54 55 MatHandle JR TR KH.indd 2

22/04/2021 11:44

MATERIALS HANDLING MACHINERY Staines Trailers’ hydraulic bale door trailer offers a safer, more time-efficient alternative to flatbed trailers, says Joe Brandreth.

Hydraulic bale door trailer specifications rMaximum carrying capacity: 22 tonnes rBody length: 7.3-11m rSuspension: Commercial parabolic monoleaf

rAxles: Commercial 10 stud axles (refurbished) c/w 420mm by 180mm brakes rStandard tyres: 285/65/ R22.5 super singles

rBrakes: Hydraulic as standard; ratchet commercial parking brake rStandard equipment: Headboard, strap box

storage, rear wheel mudflaps, rigid drawbar, 3mm steel checkerplate floor rLighting: Full road legal lighting kit

MAKE LIFE EASIER THINK Grain cooling fans Pedestals Temperature control And much more

CONTACT YOUR LOCAL RESELLER TODAY

01621 868 138

gibbonsgroup.co.uk/products-services/agricultural/resellers/

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MAY 2021 AF May p54 55 MatHandle JR TR KH.indd 3

55 23/04/2021 14:33

MACHINERY TRACTORS

New interface sets foun d for future tractor developm Aiming to find out more about Fendt’s new tractor control interface, we try it out on the firm’s latest Gen 6 700 Series tractors. James Rickard reports.

R

evealed to the UK public at LAMMA 2020, it was fair to say the new FendtOne control interface and off-board management tool got quite a few tongues wagging.

But, as many Fendt fans will tell you, it is going to have to go a long way to improve upon the current layout, which has found favour with many operators over the last decade.

In addition, it is not only the Fendt boys and girls it will have to please. With strong competition from other manufacturers all sporting their latest control layouts, it also has the tough job of convincing other users to jump ship.

Interface So is all this change for the better? This is what we aimed to find out. Initially, FendtOne

700 Series, Gen 6 overview Model 714 Vario 716 Vario 718 Vario 720 Vario 722 Vario 724 Vario

Power (hp) 144 163 181 201 222 237

will be available on the manufacturer’s 200, 300 and 700 Series tractors, with the aim to eventually roll out the interface to the rest of its line-up of tractors and self-propelled machines.

To get an in-depth insight into the new interface, we tried it on the firm’s latest sixthgeneration 724 model.

Control layout JUpon first sight of the FendtOne control layout, you could be forgiven for thinking it is a massive departure from what we have been used to from Fendt.

However, after a short appraisal, things do start to quickly make sense. No longer are there buttons scattered under the steering wheel and down the side of the right-hand armrest. Similarly, there are no controls in the roof lining for radio and air conditioning.

Instead, everything has been relocated into one central location on the armrest.

Buttons JAdditions to the main joystick include proportional control over two spool valves, along with a scroll wheel to adjust cruise speeds. This now means you do not have to go through the screen every time you want to make a cruise adjustment. And it is about time too.

Dotted around the armrest and joystick are white buttons which can be assigned any function. Some come with pre-set functions, such as the guidance activation button on the joystick. This is a particularly welcome addition, as previously you either had to find the button on the armrest or work guidance activation into a headland management sequence.

When a function is assigned to these white buttons an

56

LED changes to the colour associated with that function.

Similarly, spool valves can be swapped between spool buttons and linkage can be controlled by a spool button.

One of the biggest changes is to the linkage control, which

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FendtOne brings with it a new control layout to the 700 Series (pictured below).

n dation opments In addition, many buttons have gone altogether, with their control migrating to the screen, such as pto speed selection and work light selection. But while there are no longer physical controls for the work lights, the on-screen selection process does mean you can set up two work light profiles. These can be quickly accessed by a switch on the steering column-mounted stalk, meaning you do not have to constantly go into the screen.

The manufacturer has tried to make the buttons that do remain on the armrest as

familiar as possible, keeping the same icons, grouping and colour coding. This means existing operators, will be quickly able to recognise what each button does.

Physically, the main control lever has come in for a big shape change, but again, not too massive a departure from the old one as operationally it is exactly the same as before.

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is no longer a system of stacked rotary dials and rocker switches. Instead, it uses rollers to adjust the position of front and rear linkage, along with paddle switches which give

proportional control. Another big improvement in our opinion.

Further linkage and spool settings can then be accessed through the screen via a single tap.

www.gtbunning.co.uk

bunning spreaders

Continues on page 58.

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57 22/04/2021 11:48

MACHINERY TRACTORS Secondary joystick JAs an option, the armrest can be fitted with Fendt’s 3L joystick.

Comprising a joystick with a little joystick on top of that, it replaces what was the blue ‘golf ball’ and offers a greater range of functionality. With it comes control of a number of things including spool valves, linkage and loader.

Like the rest of the controls, various functions can be assigned to the 3L’s actions.

It also features an integrated button which looks after

shuttling – this button can also be set to do other tasks.

Towards the end of this year, functionality of this stick will increase further, with the ability to select one of three layers of joystick operation, hence the name 3L.

Functions These can be selected via a little switch on the back of the joystick and, with nine functions in each layer, this opens up the possibility to control up to 27 functions with this little ’stick.

In addition, the joystick will eventually become IsoBus compatible, giving control

over an implement and all its functions. Similar to the tractor’s screen flexibility,

Main screen JThe main armrest screen has grown from the old 10-inch unit to a 12in unit.

With it comes a user experience much more like that of a tablet or smartphone, with ‘tiles’ representing all the tractor’s various functions.

Navigation can be via touch or a large dial can be used.

A page can be made up of six tiles, each of which can be completely customisable and, depending on function, can also be made any size.

In addition, up to 15 pages can be created, though it is

more likely you will only use about four.

Obviously all operators are different and will have different preferences. For this, user profiles can be set up and saved.

Profile Similarly, work profiles can also be set up and saved per job, enabling things such as linkage position, hydraulic flow and timing and implement dimensions to be saved. In addition, an A and a B mode can also be set up, one of

which could be a field profile and the other a road profile in which hydraulic functions could be locked out, for instance.

At the moment, profiles cannot be swapped from one tractor to another, but USB transfer could be one possibility in the near future.

Though it sounds as if you could make yourself dizzy with this screen, it is a lot simpler and clearer to use than before, with fewer layers to mess with.

This should make things a lot easier for current and new operators.

Dash and roof screen JReplacing the traditional dash is a new 10-inch screen.

However, this is not touchscreen, with navigation taken care of via a dial on the armrest.

58

At present, you are limited to what you can see on the dash screen, but future developments are looking at the ability to view guidance,

which would make a lot of sense on the screen in front of you. A view of an IsoBus implement is also on the cards.

With the secondary 12in

terminal, mounted in the roof lining (pictured below), this can do exactly the same things as the armrestmounted terminal, but with

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TRACTORS MACHINERY Verdict JAs good as the old armrest and screen were, they had reached their limits, both in terms of functions and usability.

But despite appearing very different to the previous control layout, FendtOne is not as much of a radical departure as you might think.

The main control lever is definitely more comfortable to use.

Plenty of work

For more on the new FendtOne MORE ONLINE interface, go to LAMMA365.com

btsadv.com

this 3L joystick should mean you will not need any third-party joystick to control implements.

However, there still seems plenty of work for your thumb to do and it does not make the most of your other fingers,

compared to the likes of John Deere’s Command Pro or Claas’ Cmotion levers.

This said, it is still very good.

With fewer layers to plough through, screen navigation and layout is a lot simpler and clearer.

Their customisation, coupled with the tractor’s massively increased processing power, makes them very flexible. This, along with the off-board technology, should leave plenty of headroom for whatever gets developed in the future.

HANDLING YOUR REQUIREMENTS.

the added ability to create a whole set of new pages to view, on top of what you can see on the armrest terminal.

Section control Effectively, this ‘independent’ screen is an ideal place to view an IsoBus implement, section control or a variable rate map. In theory, it should mean you need fewer third-party screens, or even none in some cases.

The second 12in screen can also slide into the roof. This puts it out the way for when it is not needed or when driving on the road.

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59 22/04/2021 11:50

MACHINERY DRILLS

Is it a drill or is it a hoe?

The System Cameleon combines both functions.

Mechanical weeding can be effective but accuracy is key, so matching the working width of the hoe and drill by combining the two could be the way forward. Jane Carley reports.

Two-in-one beats weeds

W

ithout chemical weed controls at hand, organic cereal growers must look to mechanical weeding to protect crops from competition for light and nutrients. And it is this challenge that faced Leigh Nobes, farm manager at MacGregor Farming Partnership, Great Witchingham, Norfolk.

The business has a 400-hectare mixed enterprise comprising cereals, Poll Dorset sheep, commercial sucklers and pedigree Beef Shorthorns.

The System Cameleon uses the same spacing and the same coulter, so can be more precise LEIGH NOBES Soils vary across the farm and cropping includes wheat, barley, oats and cover crops. Clover leys

Oilseed rape that has been drilled between the rows of stubble.

for fertility building are also grown in rotation on a third of the acreage.

“We previously used a contractor to establish crops with a Vaderstad drill, but the spacing meant we could not use an inter-row hoe. With soils that cap over winter, a tine harrow was not enough to break through that cap and take out weeds effectively,” says Mr Nobes.

A Twitter follower of fellow organic farmer John Pawsey, he

began to investigate the Swedish-made System Cameleon, a combined drill and hoe for which Mr Pawsey is the UK importer, as well as using it on his own Suffolk farm.

“Choosing a drill that could work at wider spacings and a separate hoe was discounted as the two implements cannot ever work together with 100% accuracy,” says Mr Nobes.

“The System Cameleon uses the same spacing and the same coulter, so can be more precise.”

Coulter Designed as a straight tine coulter drill which can place seed either in a single line or a band, swapping to the System Cameleon to hoeing sees quick-change A-hoe blades attached to the coulters using a roll pin.

The blades are then side shifted hydraulically to work in the centre between the rows, with camera guidance to help row following. The drill coulter’s Continues on page 62.

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DRILLS MACHINERY

Drill specifications

Press wheels follow the coulters to firm the seeded rows and a following harrow is useful to level the surface when on conventional seedbeds.

rModel: System Cameleon rTine coulters: 24 (6m), with removable A-share for hoeing rWorking widths: Mounted comes in 4m and 6m models, while the trailed version is 8m

rHopper capacity: 2,000kg rOptions: Liquid fertiliser tank, small seed unit rPosition control for hoeing: Camera, optional GPS rPower requirement: 160hp rPrice: £90,000-£100,500

Place your seed Flexibility is the new normal with the Cirrus seeding combination With a choice of a single 3,600 litre or split pressurised 4,000 litre tank, the Cirrus seeding combination can provide both grain and/or fertiliser to the coulter. That flexibility can be further enhanced by adding the new GreenDrill 501 catch crop seeder for small seeds and micro-granules.

Upfront, the new low disturbance Minimum TillDisc system cuts through crop residues ahead of the sowing coulter bringing up moist soil to speed up germination. For more cultivation, then the double row of cultivator discs crumble and level the seedbed with the Matrix tyre packer presenting a firmed profile ahead of the TwinTeC+ double disc coulter for maximum seed/soil contact.

Feed your seed, visit: triple-shoot.com/en or call Amazone Sales on: 01302 755 725 or contact your local dealer.

Reduced soil disturbance means better water conservation and so optimum field emergence behind the Minimum TillDisc. www.triple-shoot.com/en

AF May p60 61 62 63 Cameleon JR TR KH.indd 3

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MACHINERY DRILLS press wheel remains in place to offer depth control, which is adjusted centrally.

Delivery of the System Cameleon to MacGregor Farming Partnership was on a low loader in five pallet boxes.

This included the coulter/depth control units which were to be bolted onto the main frame before connection to the seed hoses and other final assembly to be completed, allowing Mr Nobes to set it at his preferred row spacing of 250mm.

“John Pawsey helped us set it up and we also have a users’ WhatsApp group to ask questions and discuss techniques,” he adds.

The drill/harrow has been used to direct drill oilseed rape with good results, as well as winter and spring barley on some neighbouring conventional land. It can also work on ploughed, min-till or prepared seedbeds, says Mr Nobes.

“It is not strictly a direct drill and trash can be an issue.

However, we find it works well between the rows; we established our cover crops this year after harvest by using the Cameleon to direct drill the fodder rape directly into the stubble.”

And he says the wide spacing and ability to multitask on sowing and hoeing has expanded the range of opportunities.

Cameras are used to help follow the drilled rows precisely when hoeing.

“We have used it to undersow our clover leys while we are doing our last pass with the hoe.

I am also planning to establish a fodder rape cover crop that way this year, as I think the cereal crop will protect the fodder rape from flea beetle.”

Hoeing Tine coulters mean easier pulling than disc drills, with a 160hp Claas Arion 630 offering ample power for the six-metre version.

Working at 10-12kph, 40ha/day is achievable when drilling, although hoeing is slower.

It is quite a heavy outfit at 5.5

tonnes, says Mr Nobes, so he tends not to completely fill its 2t capacity hopper in wet conditions, while dual wheels are fitted to the tractor to help spread the weight.

“We managed without GPS for hoeing while we were getting used to the outfit in the first season as the camera keeps the shares in the row, but it is certainly easier with it,” he says.

The accuracy of the operation means there is a wide operational window for hoeing, starting as soon as the crop is visible to enable the camera to follow the row, until it is in ear.

“It is important not to go too early with a pass that also undersows following seeds into the crop, as those seeds can grow into the canopy, making harvest more difficult,” he adds.

Calibration Using a range of metering rollers for large and small seeds, Mr Nobes says calibration is very accurate and seeds are placed evenly in the soil. Control is via a dedicated electro-hydraulic box, but it can work with the Greenstar RTK signal used elsewhere on-farm.

A stock of parts is held by Mr

In hoeing mode, the coulters are fitted with A-shares and side shifted to work between the rows.

The tine coulters will work into most conditions – here they are drilling barley into no-till rape stubble.

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DRILLS MACHINERY

Cover crops have been successfully drilled between the rows in cereal stubbles.

Pawsey, while major items need to come from manufacturer Gothia Redskap.

Since the drill arrived on-farm in 2019, its unusual appearance has attracted plenty of attention

and interest and Mr Nobes is keen to share its benefits with other farmers.

“Mechanical weed control is certainly gaining traction, even for conventional systems where

spraying is not always practical or effective, so its attraction may not be restricted to organic farms in the future.

“It was quite an investment to purchase our own drill, but it is

two implements in one and with the wide range of crops from cereals to grass and clover leys that we can use it for, the System Cameleon is kept busy throughout the year,” he adds.

Feed your seed Introducing the Amazone Triple -shoot system Hopper 1 Seed

Hopper 2 Fertiliser Hopper 3 Other

Providing targeted nutrition when drilling is key to giving your crops the best possible start in life.

Take the NEW Amazone Triple-shoot system it gives you the flexibility to sow your cash crop along with a companion plant and fertiliser all at three di erent placement depths and all in a single pass.

The beauty of the irrus Triple shoot, multi-hopper concept, is that it can place fertiliser in the row and/or between the rows when sowing, can drill three di erent seed varieties - either in one row or up to three di erent rows and even broadcast on the surface. et the full story, visit: triple shoot.com/en or call ma one Sales on: 01302 755 725 or contact your local dealer.

Shot 1: fertilising at 7 cm with the FerTeC coulter or a second seed type Shot 2: seeding at 2 cm with the TwinTeC+ double disc coulter – with or without fertiliser in the row

Shot 3: surface broadcasting of companion plants or micro-granules

Triple shoot gives you the ability to sow two seed types along with fertiliser at three different placement depths.

AF May p60 61 62 63 Cameleon JR TR KH.indd 5

www.triple-shoot.com/en

22/04/2021 11:56

MACHINERY DRILLS As precision drills become more adaptable, one Cambridgeshire farm is taking technology and a bespoke adaption of its seeder into new territory. Jane Carley reports.

One drill seeds all

W

ith a wide range of crops requiring precision planting, Freshfields Farm near Ramsey Forty Foot, Cambridgeshire, was looking for a more modern replacement for a 37-year-old Accord Optima seeder.

Robert Stacey, business partner, says: “There are a number of seeders which can work at different row widths for our varied cropping using a telescoping frame, but not with the option to fit 12 seeding units for sugar beet.

“As such, I was faced with buying one seeder for pumpkins, squashes and sweetcorn and a separate drill for sugar beet. I was also interested in updating fertiliser application to improve on our existing system, which used a front-mounted hopper on the tractor to blow back to the seeder.”

A conversation with Kverneland’s

Drill specifications rModel: Kverneland Optima RS rWorking width: 6.1m rNumber of rows (standard format): Eight to 12 rRow widths: 450-800mm rSeeding units: SX or HD-II

drill specialist Graham Owen at local dealer Thurlow Nunn Standen’s open day in autumn 2019 brought up the possibility of a machine that was an evolution from the existing seeder, as the Kverneland group now owns Accord.

Configurations “He explained that Kverneland had 12-row Optima RS seeders working in Russia which can be adjusted to suit different row widths in various configurations and be fitted with a choice of sowing units,” says Mr Stacey.

Jordan Abblitt fills the seed hoppers; microgranule hoppers sit behind and are used for placement nitrogen fertiliser.

64

rRow drive: Mechanical or e-drive II (for Geoseed) rFertiliser hopper capacity: 2,000 litres rPrice: From £75,856 (hydraulic row lift adds £13,000)

Pumpkins are grown in a three-bed system so, in time for the 2020 season, Kverneland designed a bespoke version of the Optima RS that uses a hydraulic lift system to ease removal of units when they are not required, previously a time-consuming task.

Time is at a premium in spring, as Freshfields Farm grows 38 hectares of sugar beet, 45ha of sweetcorn, 25ha of pumpkins and 10ha of squashes, marketed through wholesalers and to Lidl’s buying group, as well as 120ha of wheat, 40ha of spring barley and 25ha of peas, mainly on skirt fen.

In conventional 12-row guise, the Optima RS, the first of its kind in this country, is used for sugar beet at 450mm row spacings; but for pumpkins, sweetcorn and squashes, six of the HD-II seeding units are removed, allowing it to sow pairs of rows within the 1,570mm centre bed system.

“We prepare the land in January and February before planting in April and the ability

to easily change row widths is invaluable.

“Sweetcorn is planted to give harvest dates so we can send it to market from July right through to October, for example. We can now start the day drilling sugar beet and within two to three hours swap the Optima around to plant another crop later on.”

Fertiliser is carried in a 2,000-litre hopper on the Optima RS frame, further increasing operational flexibility, and placed below and to the side of the seed using a double disc fertiliser coulter.

Nutrients “It was a difficult job to remove the pipework from the fertiliser hopper on the previous drill but more significantly, by placing the base fertiliser precisely the seed can make better use of the nutrients, so we are using a third of the previous rate on sugar beet,” Mr Stacey says.

Nitrogen is applied through microgranule hoppers fitted as a ‘backpack’ for each electricallydriven, IsoBus-controlled sowing unit.

“With the increased precision of nitrogen application we have been able to cut rates to a ninth of the usual rate, so we are saving considerably on fertiliser costs,” he adds.

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DRILLS MACHINERY

The Kverneland Optima RS is capable of sowing three pairs of rows in a bed system.

When used in a six-row format for pumpkins, with every other unit lifted out of work, Kverneland’s Geoseed level 2 RTK GPS precision seeding control offers a diamond seed pattern at 900mm seed spacings down the row.

This allows an RTK-guided

The planter can also work in a 12-row format for sugar beet.

mechanical weeder to run through the crop, for which there are few herbicide options, both along and across the rows.

Saving “We can hoe in four different directions and there is minimal need to hand weed, which

makes a considerable saving on time and labour,” Mr Stacey says.

The diamond pattern can also be used for sugar beet, enhancing crop flow at harvest and improving light interception for the developing crop.

Freshfields Farm’s Optima

RS also did duty on a few sunflowers last year, grown alongside an increasingly popular ‘pick-your-own’ outlet for pumpkins.

Mr Stacey says he has found the Optima easy to adjust for different seeding depths, via a handle on the

X

Map your seed Amazone Triple-shoot: because less means more Targeting the right number of seeds/m2 and matching fertiliser rates to suit soil type and topography are key to maximising yield and minimising cost. The Multi in system from ma one enables three di erent variable application maps to be processed concurrently so that each hopper can work to its own map thus getting the crop o to the best start possible. nd the technology doesn t stop there as the Multi oom software ensures that the drive to each hopper metering system is automatically stopped and started in exactly the right place to ensure no misses, no overlaps, and more importantly protects the environment, with no seed left on the soil surface as a risk to wildlife.

Feed your seed, visit: triple shoot.com/en or call ma one Sales on: 01302 755 725 or contact your local dealer.

Triple-shoot can also place field beans in deep as the nitrogen fixer and then companion planting with the main rape crop can be used to deter pests and smother out weeds.

Cayena

Cirrus

AF May p64 65 66 Optima JR TR KH.indd 3

Citan

Condor

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www.triple-shoot.com/en

23/04/2021 11:36

MACHINERY DRILLS

The HD-II seeding units are designed to work in a range of soils and Mr Stacey says they have proven effective in hard, dry conditions.

Robert Stacey (left) with operator Jordan Abblitt, who has found the planter straightforward to use on a variety of crops.

toolbar, and accurate across his range of crops.

“We use specific singling discs and Kverneland’s Don Campbell has helped us fine-tune the drill for different seeds, although it was a definite advantage having the previous Optima. The disc that was intended for sweetcorn was actually designed for maize, but sweetcorn is a smaller seed, so we needed to find an alternative.”

Seeding units The RS is fitted with the HD-II seeding units which are heavier in weight and can have up to 100kg additional pressure applied onto each individual coulter via a spring-loaded weight transfer system for improved penetration in hard conditions.

“Lateral depth control using open gauge wheels offers contour following. A small coulter forms a clean furrow, before light re-compaction and seed covering is carried

out by the intermediate press wheel and an adjustable V-press wheel, to ensure maximum field emergence,” says Mr Stacey.

“The units handle trash well and when it dried up so quickly last spring, we found the disc particularly useful in dry conditions to get into the ground, compared to the coulters we used before.”

Operation is via Kverneland’s Tellus terminal, using the tractor’s GPS signal, and Mr Stacey says operator Jordan Abblitt has got on well with it from the start, although Kverneland has always been on-hand for any queries.

Outputs in 12-row sugar beet configuration are about 40ha/ day and with the capacity offering opportunities for contracting, Mr Stacey has already had enquiries to drill into cover crops.

“It is a heavier drill due to the discs, and although we had sufficient tractor

Base fertiliser is metered from an integrated 2,000-litre hopper and placed below and to the side of seed using a double disc coulter.

V-press wheels at the rear have angle and pressure adjustment to close the furrow.

power, you do notice the difference, so we have put wider tyres on the tractor. The previous drill was very reliable; apart from new coulters it just had three or four belts in all the time we were using it and is still in use on my daughter and

her partner’s farm, which gives us confidence in this model.

“There are certainly cheaper sugar beet drills on the market, but this allows us to establish our range of crops with one seeder. We are also making significant savings on fertiliser, which cuts our carbon footprint.”

The HD-II seeding units can have up to 100kg additional pressure applied onto each coulter.

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AF_05_P67.indd 1

22/04/2021 10:29

MACHINERY DRILLS A switch to strip seeding has meant much more than just a change of drilling system for one Norfolk farm business.

Arable Farming finds out more.

Strip-till approach cultivates the right conditions for expansion

T

he savings made on establishment costs as a result of a switch to strip tillage paved the way for the purchase of a neighbouring farm for Norfolk farmer David Cooper and ultimately a massive change in the scale of his farming business.

He says: “Had we not moved away from using the traditional plough, power harrow and drill approach to establishing crops in favour of direct strip seeding then we definitely would not be in the position that we are today.

“The Claydon Opti-Till System has reduced our costs by at least £40 per acre and without it the margins would not have been there to purchase a neighbouring farm which

came up for sale in 2016. That made a massive difference to the business.”

Mr Cooper’s strip-till journey started with a prototype three-metre SR drill, an evolution of the original V-Drill which Jeff Claydon designed in 2002, shown on the company’s stand at LAMMA in January 2006.

Establishment Two days later, after visiting the Claydon family’s arable farm and factory in Suffolk, Mr Cooper purchased the drill which had been on display and drilled his first crop with it a month later.

Ever since then the Opti-Till crop establishment system has been a cornerstone of the farming and agricultural

contracting business which D., B. and A. Cooper operate from Rickwood Farm, Hockering.

Since Mr Cooper began farming in 1977, initially with a small pig unit on a 0.8-hectare greenfield site, the business has expanded progressively.

By 1990 he was farming 53ha of his own land and the pig herd had grown to 70 sows, but that year Mr Cooper was asked to look after another 53ha on a neighbouring farm. What was initially to be a one-year contract has continued ever since.

Mr Cooper took on a further 81ha in 1990, so it was a time of massive change for the business.

Working alongside son Andrew, he now farms 242ha, including 121ha which is owned and

another 121ha which is contract farmed, together with an expanding contracting business.

“Grain prices were terrible at the time we bought the SR,” Mr Cooper recalls. “By then we had already moved away from a plough, power harrow and drill system that was once used to establish crops, switching to discing and drilling simply to cut costs. There was a lot of interest in direct drilling at that time for the same reason and while it can work in ideal conditions, we felt its performance would be too variable and pose too much of a risk over the longer term.

“We saw strip seeding as being the next step on from what we were doing and liked the concept behind the Claydon SR, which used a leading tine to remove compaction, create a drainage channel and shatter the soil.

Traditional “At the time, most farmers in this area were still ploughing, then using a power harrow-drill combination, which was the traditional approach in Norfolk.

“Many were preparing land way ahead of drilling, so if the weather turned wet then they were in trouble. The other drawback was that in dry conditions the system produced ‘cobbly’ seedbeds, providing ideal conditions for slugs, which could be a significant problem.”

After five-and-a-half years of operating the SR with success, the drill was changed in September

Spring oats being drilled into a cover crop using a 4m Claydon Hybrid.

David (left) and Andrew Cooper in a field of LG Spotlight winter wheat drilled on September 23 on some of the heaviest ground.

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David Cooper believes the Claydon Opti-Till System has reduced his establishment costs by at least £98 per hectare.

2011 to cope with an additional 162ha which the business had taken on, but Mr Cooper remained loyal to the Claydon system, buying one of the then-new 4m Claydon Hybrid models.

“Our land had improved

dramatically since we stopped ploughing in 2004, but despite the obvious benefits many people were still reluctant to change. I think part of the reason was that they were used to seeing brown soil and could

not quite get their heads around the idea of stubble showing through in fields which had been drilled with the next crop.

“With contracting work, we now drill more than 1,000 acres a year. The only area not drilled

directly with the Claydon is where, one year in seven, muck from Andrew’s 12,000-bird outdoor turkey unit is spread, ploughed and then we go in with the Hybrid,” says Mr Cooper.

The land which the X

Spirit 400 C/S

Introducing the new Spirit 400C/S

The new Spirit 400C/S brings a new level of seeding precision, user-friendly electronics and a high field performance to the 4-metre seed drill segment.

The Spirit family is known to provide impressive precision at high working speeds whilst maintaining an even emergence over the entire field.

Learn more about the new Spirit 400C/S at vaderstad.com Where farming starts

MAY 2021 AF May p68 69 70 Claydon TR JR KH.indd 3

69 23/04/2021 12:12

MACHINERY DRILLS

A 252hp Massey Ferguson 7625 tractor is used to pull the Hybrid drill.

Coopers farm is mostly medium loam but includes everything from sand to heavy clay.

Cropping currently includes six-row winter barley, winter wheat, oilseed rape, naked oats, beans and some spring barley.

“We use our Hybrid to drill all sorts of crops, from cereals to kale, directly into grass stubbles with the Claydon LD Low Disturbance points. It also establishes cover crops of phacelia, oil radish and berseem clover or vetch, which are drilled in August at 5kg/ha, left to grow over winter, then sprayed off in January or February ahead of drilling spring crops,” says Mr Cooper.

“As an experiment for one of our customers, we even drilled beans 150mm deep with the narrow three-inch points on the seeding tines, then drilled the field again with wheat using the standard 7in A-shares.

“The theory is the beans will fix nitrogen which can then be utilised by the wheat, so it will be interesting to see how that works out.”

Strip tillage has made heavy land much easier to work, says Mr Cooper, with soil structure and worm counts improving greatly over time.

“I would say the heavy land has become as easy to work as the light land. The benefits of using this approach are also noticeable

70

on the lighter soils, which dry out very quickly if inverted.

“It does an excellent job of retaining moisture and because much of the land is left uncultivated, the stubble and root structures are retained. This helps to prevent soil blows which are common in Norfolk where light soils are overworked.

“One of the key benefits is that it allows us to farm more land with less labour and machinery.

Recently, we cut costs even more by reducing the number of tractors from three to two.

Expense “The existing 135hp and 160hp models were replaced by a new 170hp Valtra, which is fitted with a front loader to avoid the additional expense of operating a telescopic handler.

“We bale the barley straw and some wheat, but the rest is chopped by our 7.7m Claas Tucano 570 combine. The stubble is normally 100-150mm high and immediately after harvest we go in with our 7.5m Straw Harrow to move a shallow layer of soil and encourage any weeds or volunteers to chit.

“The Hybrid will operate without any problems and we have even used it to drill directly into knee-high volunteer rape. It works well behind our 252hp MF 7626, which is much more powerful than Claydon suggests

We use our Hybrid to drill all sorts of crops, from cereals to kale, directly into grass stubbles DAVID COOPER but we are often called on to operate in difficult conditions where farms have been unable to establish crops with their own drill, so we would rather have power to spare than struggle.

“The normal operating speed is a comfortable 10kph and on our own land we use higher seed rates to encourage the crop to smother out any weeds.

“Four years ago, our winter wheats yielded 11.4 tonnes/ha, but the current five-year average is just under 10t/ha, lower than it would normally be because of the very dry spring weather during the last two years. Winter barley yields 8-9t/ha, and the naked oats we grow on contract to GB Seeds normally average 6t/ha, but can produce up to 7t/ha, equivalent to about 9t/ha of conventional oats.

“The same 24m tramlines are used all the time because we see no sense in ripping them up each year. The only reason for that would be to take out deep ruts, but our soils are now much more supportive. That also allows us to begin spraying and applying fertiliser with our Sands 2,000litre self-propelled well before other farms where conventional cultivations are used.”

While some farm businesses remain in a cycle of ploughing and pulling up land just because that is the way it has always been done, that mindset is beginning to change, suggests Mr Cooper, with interest growing in reduced tillage approaches.

“Many are considering it purely for the potential cost savings, others for the benefits in terms of improvements to soil structure and health. Reducing labour and machinery, improving timeliness, reducing weather-related risks and cutting down on the amount of diesel used are other priorities which I have heard mentioned.

“It is important to understand that the full benefits will not be apparent in the first year. You will see cost savings, certainly, but it is really in the second and third years they really start to become obvious. It takes a while for soils to change, but there is a continual improvement,” he adds.

MAY 2021

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23/04/2021 12:12

DRILLS MACHINERY Improving precision can often involve investing in costly new equipment, but a new retrofit drill kit could bring variable rate seeding within reach of more farms. Jane Carley reports.

Precision in kit form

I

nterest in variable rate drilling continues to grow, with benefits including improved yield, a more even plant stand and enhanced black-grass control by boosting plant populations to outcompete weeds in vulnerable areas.

Site specific control of seeding output requires electronic metering drive to alter seed rates on the move and activate the instructions of seeding maps devised to plant more or less seed, according to field conditions and/or yield map data.

Most new drills can be specified with electronic metering, but what if the desire for greater precision does not coincide with machinery replacement plans?

Through its precision farming arm Omnia, Hutchinsons has developed a retrofit kit to offer electronic metering on an existing land wheel driven drill to meet this need, says precision technology manager Oliver Wood.

Capability “It may not be the right time to replace a drill which fits well into your current production system, or you may already have a main drill which has electronic drive, but would like to add variable rate capability for a second machine.

“We have seen the latter more in recent years as farms need to utilise an older, more lightweight drill when conditions deteriorate in autumn.”

The Omnia E-Seed kit consists of a controller, electronic motor for the drive and wiring harness, plus sensors for tank The controller is mounted on the drill and communicates with the app to alter seeding rates.

Omnia’s E-Seed electric metering system can add variable rate capability to existing drills.

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1

Profit from our knowledge

71 23/04/2021 10:45

MACHINERY DRILLS level, fan speed and drill on/off, all of which can be fitted to any drill, regardless of age, says the company.

The land wheel is removed from the drill and the motor bolted on in its place. A choice of brackets offers adaption to a range of drills and conversion is said to take about half a day.

Data from seeding maps generated by Omnia’s precision farming software or third-party systems are sent via the Omnia Connect iPad app in the cab to

the controller on the drill, activating the site specific metering of seed to drill more or less seed per hectare. The iPad also supplies the GPS signal for positioning. As-applied maps can then be added to the Omnia field diary module for comparison with future harvest results to aid ongoing planning. At present, there are no immediate plans to offer an Android-compatible version.

“Variable rate drilling trials at Saltby Farms, Leicestershire,

Control is via the Omnia Connect iPad app.

with E-Seed produced yields of 8.11 tonnes/ha compared with the farm’s standard of 6.66t/ha, an increase of 1.4t/ha, which

is worth £231/ha,” says Mr Wood.

E-Seed is available this spring for about £4,800.

In the field Jonathan Roberts, Cambridgeshire JJonathan Roberts, of Morley Farm, Warboys, trialled the system on his Moore UniDrill.

He says: “The kit was simple to install – we just fitted the motor onto the back to replace the land wheel, the sensors went in virtually the same holes as the previous

ones, we set up the app and away we went.

“The iPad app is also really straightforward to use, you do not have to be technically minded to operate it. It has given us more flexibility with drilling as it is easier to calibrate by taking the iPad

out of the cab and using it alongside the drill.

Plan “We can also set our own rate and adapt it from the cab without a variable rate plan if required and it is also just as easy to turn off

variable rate functionality as it is to switch it on.

“Walking the fields, there has definitely been an improvement in the crops. We had a very wet winter and even in some areas of our wheat that traditionally would have struggled, the crops look really good.”

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72 AF May p71 72 73 Drills KH TR JR.indd 3

MAY 2021 23/04/2021 10:47

DRILLS MACHINERY

It has been a cost-effective way of converting our existing drill to give variable rate capacity HARRY HORELL

In the field Harry Horrell, Cambridgeshire JHarry Horrell, of Pode Farm, Thorney, Cambridgeshire, grows 485 hectares of crops, with oilseed rape, spring beans, maize for anaerobic digestion and spring linseed in the rotation, in a regime that has moved to direct drilling in recent years.

He fitted E-Seed to his Horsch C06 drill and says it has proved simple to set up and use.

Cost-effective Working with his agronomist, he uses Omnia Connect to upload variable rate maps,

incorporating several levels of information for each field encompassing factors such as soil type, weeds and slug pressure.

“It has been a cost-effective way of converting our existing drill to give variable rate capacity,” says Mr Horrell.

“We have definitely seen an improvement in crop establishment.

“The stand across the fields is more even as we have been able to battle black-grass spots and areas of high slug pressure by increasing the seed rate in those areas.”

Same drill, different options.

New Claydon LD Low Disturbance Options.

What’s the best way to establish your crops? Maybe you can rely on the right soil conditions, trash levels and weather for low disturbance, maybe you can’t. Either way your Claydon drill now gives you all the options, with a full range of swap-in, swap-out tines and discs to get the very best from your land.

To find out the right set-ups for you, call us on 01440 820327.

AF May p71 72 73 Drills KH TR JR.indd 4

www.claydondrill.com info@claydondrill.com

Establishing a better way

23/04/2021 10:47

RESEARCH IN ACTION Can the industry avoid brome grasses becoming as hard to control as black-grass?

The answer may lie in research nearing completion. Andrew Blake reports.

Black-grass resistance lessons in brome battle

T

he extent to which black-grass has become resistant to herbicides has raised concern that other grass-weeds, notably the brome species, could follow suit to create further problems for growers and agronomists. Brome grasses are highly competitive.

Just five plants/sq.m of sterile brome, the most common UK species, can cut cereal yields by 5%.

A four-year AHDB-funded project* led by Dr Sarah Cook, ADAS senior research consultant – weed biology, has been trying to find ways to avoid a repeat of the black-grass resistance story in bromes.

Herbicide-resistant populations of bromes already occur in France and Germany, says Dr Cook.

“We need to agree and communicate an integrated weed management system for bromes across the industry here to help prevent the evolution of herbicide resistance in brome species,” she says.

Dr Sarah Cook

Several areas have been researched to achieve this. They included determining the range and resistance status of UK brome species.

Influenced “We needed to find out whether the increasing presence of troublesome brome populations may have been influenced by the focus on black-grass control.

We’ve been assessing possibly resistant populations and investigating the processes that may lead to resistance in bromes.

“We wanted to find out whether the bromes are naturally more herbicide tolerant than other grass-weed species, or if certain populations are responding to herbicide exposure and selection pressure and so becoming less susceptible,” says Dr Cook.

“We also wanted to see if bromes can be pushed towards resistance and identify herbicide modes of action that pose the most risk of resistance developing,” she adds.

The final aspect of the work has been to find the best timing of herbicide treatments to maximise herbicide efficacy and potentially reduce or prevent resistance occurring. The research involved a UK-wide farmer survey plus laboratory work and pot trials. In the survey, 200 of the 206 respondents across 42 counties reported having brome on-farm.

“Interestingly, perhaps, of the 58 seed samples we received only 59% were correctly identified by the sender,” says Dr Cook.

Project details r*AHDB project: 211200059 Investigating the distribution and presence, and potential for herbicide resistance of UK brome species in arable farming rMarch 2017 – April 2021 rFunding: £218,000 from AHDB with in-kind contributions from BASF, Bayer CropScience and Corteva rAlso involved: BGRI project at Rothamsted Research, Stephen Moss and the Weed Resistance Action Group

Of those with brome, 60% felt that the weed had increased in the past three years. In screening work, an average of 33 brome samples from various sources were tested, in pots in a glasshouse applying full and half rate products each year, for herbicide resistance to ACCase herbicides, ALS inhibiting herbicides and glyphosate.

Identifying species is critical JThe brome research is timely and will help widen the focus on weed management in general, not just black-grass, says Bayer CropScience’s Roger Bradbury.

“The survey and container experiments are an important contribution to our knowledge of the sensitivity status and geographical spread of brome. The work has identified populations of

74 AF May p74 75 RIA TR KH MC.indd 2

several species which can resist specific herbicide classes. The good news is these are not widespread, so with proactive management it should be possible to limit the development of resistance on other farms,” he says.

However, part of that management involves correctly identifying brome species to drive appropriate post-harvest cultivation decisions.

Sarah Hurry, Corteva area manager for Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, urges the industry to work together to prevent herbicide resistance in bromes becoming the problem it is in black-grass.

“Different species respond to different strategies, so it’s really important to ensure you have correctly identified your species before embarking on your cultural control method.

Sterile and great brome germinate in the dark, so any cultivation should be carried out as soon as possible after harvest. Meadow, rye and soft brome ripen on the soil’s surface, so any cultivation should be delayed by a month to break seed dormancy. Cultivation will then encourage germination and allow successful use of a stale seedbed,” she says.

MAY 2021 23/04/2021 11:30

RESEARCH IN ACTION Testing the response of brome plants to different herbicide doses.

Brome resistance – summary

Resistance to ALS herbicides was confirmed in two barren brome samples collected in a survey of farm brome populations.

Results from part of this testing were published last year and confirmed resistance to ALS herbicides in two populations of sterile brome and one each of great brome and meadow brome.

“We’ve screened further populations in recent years and found more resistant populations. In 2019 we found one sterile brome, four rye brome and two meadow brome populations resistant to ALS herbicides,” says Dr Cook.

Other experiments have been trying to push sterile and rye brome populations towards resistance by applying low doses of three herbicides – cycloxydim

(ACCase), pyroxsulam (ALS) and glyphosate – to them over a three-year period. Even at extremely low doses, plants treated with cycloxydim showed no signs of resistance developing, Dr Cook reports.

Selection “For pyroxsulam, there was no resistance selection of any rye brome populations, but two sterile brome populations were less sensitive to the herbicide.

“No rye brome population showed any resistance to glyphosate and although one sterile brome population was less sensitive to the herbicide, the change was small.”

The conclusion is low herbicide doses have little impact in the development of resistance in bromes, but the research shows there is potential for this to occur.

“It may be that population size and plant size at the time of treatment may be more influential in resistance evolution than low doses,” says Dr Cook.

Experiments in outdoor containers in 2018 and 2019 on three populations of sterile brome and three of rye brome, each involving phenotypes with different herbicide sensitivities, were also conducted. The treatments included an untreated control, glyphosate,

Pyroxsulam rFull control of rye bromes rGrowth stage important for sterile bromes Cycloxydim rAlmost full control at all growth stages (GS25+ least) rGlyphosate – growth stage important for efficacy on sterile and rye populations

cycloxydim and pyroxsulam + cloquintocet-mexyl + florasulam at three growth stages (GS1213, 21-23 and 25). For all the herbicides tested, the best control came from treatment before GS21.

“Once the plants had tillered [GS25+] they were too large for effective control,” says Dr Cook.

Browse, list and apply for hundreds of the latest Arable roles at jobsinagriculture.com MAY 2021 AF May p74 75 RIA TR KH MC.indd 3

75 23/04/2021 11:31

TALKING POLICY

MATT Culley There are huge, underutilised opportunities for UK crops in the biofuels sector

I

t seems over recent months that good news policy announcements for our sector have been few and far between, so it was welcoming to hear the recent Government decision confirming the rollout of E10 petrol this year.

This is great news for the arable sector and British farming, following a decade-long NFU campaign and culminating in a detailed response to the final E10 consultation last year. A period of intense lobbying and work with Government bodies such as Defra, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Department for Transport (DfT) and the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Bioethanol, led by NFU crops adviser Chloe Lockhart and championed by North East crops board chair Brett Askew, has had a major

About the author rNFU crops board chairman Matt Culley is a fourth-generation farmer from Hampshire working in partnership with his parents and brother rThe 720-hectare enterprise produces wheat, barley, oilseed rape, forage maize and rye for anaerobic digestion across varying soil types, from chalk and chalk loam to clay cap. This includes 170ha of owned and rented land and 540ha of contract farming agreements rThe family also runs a pick-your-own soft fruit and summer vegetables business

76

influence on the end result. Outlining how the implementation of E10 could deliver significant economic and environmental impacts for the country while supporting Britain’s bioethanol processing infrastructure and helping to ensure a sustainable British biofuel industry was a significant strand of the NFU campaign, as was the ‘email your MP’ tool, which saw more than 100 MPs hear from farmers.

Emissions reduction The introduction of E10 – petrol containing 10% renewable ethanol – will result in a reduction in emissions equivalent to taking 450,000 cars off Britain’s roads and, with the Vivergo and Ensus plants in full operation, there will be a potential demand for about two million tonnes of wheat.

Half of this will be returned back to UK livestock farmers as a high protein feedstock in the form of distillers dried grains.

As the UK economy goes on its journey towards net zero and switches from diesel to petrol hybrid vehicles, it would be fair to say the demand for bioethanol can only increase, giving UK wheat growers an important secure domestic market. In its response to the consultation, the NFU noted the huge, underutilised opportunities for UK crops in the biofuels sector, not just wheat for ethanol but also the prospects for biomethane as a transport fuel, which could be driven by further investment in biomass infrastructure and anaerobic digestion. This is something that Government has recognised in its response to the

2020 climate change report and has committed to developing a new bioenergy strategy by 2022, which includes a key role acceptance for bioenergy and biomass. Following on from this we are working closely with Defra, DfT, Red Tractor and our partners in Europe to ensure rules around the Renewable Energy Directive remain compatible with our bioenergy ambitions.

In recognising that the success of UK biofuels is not just a boost for UK agriculture, but also a boost for jobs within the wider economy, we can use this particular example in terms of our lobbying work with Government regarding their ‘levelling up’ agenda, policy and ambitions. As the country and the economy emerges from the Covid-19 crisis, investment in jobs will be key for our politicians and tapping into those ambitions will be vital for agriculture. We understand direct support for our sector is decreasing, so we must ensure we do not get left behind in Government’s thinking when it comes to investment in infrastructure and policy objectives.

We will need these investments and policies to link into supporting existing markets and creating new markets for our sector, allowing the expansion of smaller niche crops. The increased investment in processing facilities needed to support them will be crucial for growers to help maintain and diversify their rotations. The UK biofuels and biomass sectors are a great example to put in front of our politicians of how investments and policy can work for all.

MAY 2021

AF May p76 Talking Policy RM TR AD.indd 2

23/04/2021 10:43

PODCAST CROPTEC

What’s new in crop nutrition?

W

More information

ith improvements in fertiliser efficiency an ambition for both economic and environmental reasons, the latest episode of Crop it Like it’s Hot – Let’s talk crop nutrition – covers the topic from all bases.

Frontier’s Edward Downing offers practical tips to consider for boosting nitrogen use efficiency, while Leicestershire farmer Michael Parker talks us through how he is tweaking his

approach to crop nutrition to reduce the need for pesticides and get better returns.

Yara’s Mark Tucker gives an update on the latest innovations

coming forward in the fertiliser sector, while AIC’s Jane Salter explains how regulations are likely to look as we move forward into a carbon zero future following the advent of the Clean Air Strategy, the consultation on urea and the new Sustainable Farming Incentive.

Edward Downing, Frontier crop nutrition technical manager.

Michael Parker, AHDB monitor farmer.

Mark Tucker, Yara agronomy manager.

Social media JFor the latest news and updates, follow us on social media: LinkedIn: rThe CropTec Show

JCrop it Like it’s Hot is produced by Arable Farming and CropTec Show. It aims to provide an alternative way of keeping up with agronomy and arable developments.

Twitter: r@ArableFarming r@CropTecShow r@AliceInWellies Facebook: rCropTec Show rArable Farming

Get CPD points JMembers of the BASIS register can now receive one CPD point for tuning into the podcast.

Visit croptecshow.com/ podcasts and listen in to find out how.

Jane Salter, AIC head of environment.

Listen in JThe podcast, sponsored

by Yara, can be downloaded via croptecshow.com/ podcast or you can listen through Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcatcher.

MAY 2021 AF May p77 Podcast TR KH AD.indd 2

77 22/04/2021 15:10

BASIS news

The latest news for BASIS and FACTS-qualified farmers and advisers.

Setting new standards for soil management

A

s awareness of the importance of managing soils, as well as crops increases, BASIS has launched a revised soil and water management certificate that takes account of new knowledge on managing soil structure and health.

First launched in 2004, the soil and water module set new standards for managing one of the most important aspects of crop production – the soil. Over the years more than 1,350 candidates have successfully gained this certificate, many using it as one of a number of modules required to gain the coveted BASIS diploma in agronomy.

Greg Hopkinson, BASIS head of business development, says: “In practical farming the past decade has seen significant changes in cultivation techniques and precision farming options.

“In addition, the research community has gained considerably more knowledge to aid more effective soil management and there is now a significant political drive to address the big issues of sustainability and climate change.”

Syllabus All of these factors have been taken into account in the revised syllabus for soil and water management. The revision has been completed over the past year with extensive input from a group of industry experts.

The key changes begin with an increased focus on how to assess

78 AF May p78 Basis News TR KH AD.indd 2

The revised syllabus considers the significant changes in cultivation techniques seen in recent years.

soils and create management plans to remedy issues or avoid creating problems, especially minimising and alleviating compaction. There is an increased focus on how to mitigate climate change through effective soil management. This is backed up

with a revised section dealing with the relevant legislation, especially now the UK has left the EU. The advances in cultivation techniques, technology and industry knowledge are all incorporated within the revised course.

Finally, the revision has taken

account of amendments made to the current FACTS course and overlaps have been reduced.

“We have restructured the modules to ensure candidates can work through the course in a more logical and intuitive way,” says Mr Hopkinson.

Examination Alongside a revised syllabus, is a new structure for the examination.

This will now be carried out over two days. On day one candidates complete a written examination with 20 multiple choice questions and undertake an exercise to create a farm management plan.

The second day comprises two oral examinations, or ‘vivas’. The first is an interview with a BASIS examination chairman which lasts about 20 minutes. The second is an interview with a soils expert in a soil pit which will assess the candidate’s practical understanding in depth.

Those who gain the soil and water management certificate are well equipped to advise on and manage both soil and water in practice on UK farms.

In addition to this course, BASIS also offers an advanced course called ‘quality of soils’ which focuses more on matters such as soil biology. Together the two courses provide an in-depth knowledge to help the increasingly important issue of soil health.

Full details of both MORE ONLINE courses along with

approved trainers are available on the BASIS Registration website at basis-reg.co.uk

MAY 2021 23/04/2021 10:41

November 24-25, 2021 East of England Showground

Over 63% of stand space booked in Halls 1 & 2 Stands are booking quickly for The CropTec Show 2021, with a host of returning names including Yara, Bayer, HORSCH, Agrifac, LG Seeds, NFU and many more. Get your brand in front of a quality audience of arable decision makers whilst making valuable business connections.

5,000 quality attendees, 74% are the decision-maker or influencer on farm Our audience has grown 67% over 5 years, with 21% of attendees being farm business owners and 18% agronomists Book with confidence. If CropTec doen’t go ahead due to COVID-19, exhibitors have the options for a full refund of stand fees or move to the new dates

We’re confident that CropTec is one of the best events for getting our farm management software in front of an audience of decision makers.

LANDMARK SYSTEMS 2021 RETURNING SPONSOR Book your stand from £1,251

07881 386 250 gareth.jones@agribriefing.com

www.croptec.com

AF_05_IBC.indd 1 March AF full page.indd 1

22/04/2021 10:17 06/04/2021 16:03:42

Shining a light on weed management through live events, discussion and debate, Arable Weed Week will identify the latest thinking and best practice against the current changing political and environmental agenda.

Join us from Monday, June 14, as Arable Weed Week helps provide the answers, covering key topics of arable weed management, including varieties, alternatives, livestock, machinery, technology, research and many more.

Brought together in a range of events, webinars, articles and podcasts, the week will offer a central hub to offer insight, opinion and advice and raise awareness of the upcoming issues, potential solutions, best practice and guidance.

Find out more and register your interest in the event at CropTecShow.com/AWW Event partners Technical supporter: Event supporter:

Event date: June 14-18 • croptecshow.com/AWW AF_05_OBC.indd 1 3 AF_weedweek_fp.indd

22/04/2021 10:15 21/04/2021 15:16:14