Charles Abel • Summer Farm Walk
Cotswolds showcase for farm science Intensive arable, dairy and renewable energy production were the focus of The Club’s summer farm visit
Winchcombe Priory by Henry VIII and passed through a number of owners before being sold to his family in 1922, for just £6/acre. Over the past 20 years Velcourt farm manager Mike Dewar has expanded the farmed area to include a further 540ha of arable contract farming. First wheat drives the rotation on 1172ha of very free draining silty clay loam over limestone, with rape, beans and oats as the main breaks and some spring and winter barley, plus rye. Long-term grass on parkland and steep hillsides accounts for a further 420ha, supporting a low input, out-wintered flock of 1850 pure Romney ewes, a fine shoot and membership of the Cotswold Hills ESA. The under-lying drive to push inputs and agronomy for top yields was evident across the farm, not least in trial plots managed by Velcourt’s technical director Keith Norman and his six-man research and development team. Over 7800 plots across 14 counties, reflecting 123 individual research projects, highlight Velcourt’s commitment to the appliance of science. But it doesn’t mean blueprint agronomy, he stressed. “We have an agronomy plan, but nothing beats in-season fine-tuning to push on-farm profitability.”
Plough is best
Lord Vestey – family paid £6/acre for much of the estate (Below) Magnificent Stowell Estate provided the backdrop to Velcourt’s tour-de-force of all that’s new in arable farming
LORD Vestey’s 2200ha Stowell Park Estate in the heart of the Cotswolds was the starting point for a fascinating day’s insight into the way science is being harnessed to boost productivity in modern farming. The estate, draped across a magnificent Cotswolds valley, has been run by Velcourt since 1990, highlighting the farm management firm’s role in the appliance of science, optimisation of input use and strategic business planning. After a splendid luncheon at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, hosted by Principal Chris Gaskell, it was a short drive to Kemble Farms, where Club members gained an intriguing insight into carbonfriendly electricity production using an on-site biogas unit to process all the farm’s waste. The whole day was expertly co-ordinated by Club member Martin Taylor. Introducing Stowell Park Estate, Lord Vestey noted that much of the land had been seized from
12 • The Farmers Club Harvest Journal 2011
Min-til cultivations with a Vaderstad Top-Down were tried, but any savings in labour and fuel were offset by herbicide costs chasing blackgrass and brome, plus admix problems in wheat, barley and rye, prompting the acquisition of a second-hand 8+6 furrow Kverneland plough last autumn to run behind the new articulated, tracked Case 485 Quad-Trac. Biosolids are applied at 20t/ha to boost autumn phosphate and nitrogen supply to oilseed rape and the following wheat, and improve soil condition. Like many modern tractors, including the estate’s Case 155 and 125s, the Quad-Trac carries GPS positioning equipment, which Velcourt has linked to mobile phone masts to achieve 2cm accuracy. Sounds excessive? Not to Midlands farms director Brian Redrup. “The economics speak for themselves, in terms of saved seed, fertiliser and spray inputs from reduced overlaps and a 5% saving on fuel thanks to better bout matching. It should make sense on most arable farms.”