39 minute read
Look forward to LAMMA
from CPM December 2022
by KELSEY Media
Starting January boldly
LAMMA preview
LAMMA will kick-start the new year as the first show of 2023,returning to its January timeslot at the NEC in Birmingham. CPM previews some of the show’s features and the machinery, technology and innovation that will be on display. By Melanie Jenkins
LAMMA will once again open the doors of the NEC to to farmers and industry professionals on 10-11 January 2023, to showcase some of the best-known names in the world of agricultural machinery,equipment and technology.
“We look forward to welcoming the farming community back to LAMMA once again,” says Nichola Bell, of Agriconnect, which organises the event. “With sustainability, production efficiency and food security at the top of the industry’s priority list, LAMMA is the perfect place for farmers and business owners to find the right tools and strategies help them achieve their goals.”
Show features
It’s anticipated that more than 700 manufacturers, dealers and distributors will fill 11 halls at the NEC, to display some of the latest products, knowledge and services available to farmers and producers across the arable, horticulture and livestock sectors.
Alongside exhibitors, visitors can expect a number of other features at the show which will offer a chance to learn, network and explore new ideas.
Visitors will see a return of familiar features like the Farm Safety Zone, the ability to earn CPD points and a wide range of seminars on contemporary topics in agriculture.
They can also anticipate another Future Farming Trail –– formerly known as the Farming 4.0 Trail –– which will highlight exhibitors and products at the show with the potential to revolutionise the industry. The trail aims to explore the role of data, robotics, autonomous machines and advanced devices, and how these are becoming more important on-farm, particularly as the UK works towards the net zero goal. By taking part in the trail, visitors will get a first look at the machines and technology that could help to redefine farming and help re-imagine what’s possible. ▲
The show will also be hosting LAMMA Torques, which will include speaker sessions and debates on the latest industry developments and issues.
It’s anticipated that more than 700 manufacturers, dealers and distributors will fill 11 halls at the NEC.
Syngenta will be presenting its new EvoPac product packaging in the UK for the first time.
▲ In other news, LAMMA’s Innovation Awards are back for 2023. According to show organisers, the awards are returning due to popular demand. For years the Innovation Awards recognised and rewarded innovation and advances inside the agricultural industry and now they are back to help celebrate new advances.
Award aims
As before, the entries will be judged by an independent panel of industry experts according to a range of criteria including design innovation, practical impact, the sustainability of the product and its impact on the environment. The awards aim to provide a quality platform for exhibitors to introduce ground-breaking innovation in agricultural machinery, technology, equipment and services to the market.
There are six categories in total: arable innovation, livestock innovation, digital innovation, future farming innovation, the IagRE Ivel Award best environmental award and the LAMMA founders trophy for best innovation 2023.
Another award returning for 2023 is the Young Engineer Award. Like last year, the award will be aiming to champion an individual or collective of young engineers who have created or worked on a piece of agricultural machinery, equipment or technology which significantly improves efficiency, profitability or sustainability on-farm.
The show will also be hosting LAMMA Torques, which will include speaker sessions and debates on the latest industry developments and issues, plus visitors will have the chance to put questions to experts.
Topics being discussed at the show include silage management, regen agriculture and carbon, future farming and alternative fuels, getting in and out of farming, the future of agricultural policy and cost-saving sessions.
And aside from all the wealth of information and innovation promised to be available at the show, a number of exhibitors plan to present some of their latest developments and launches.
Syngenta is one of these and the company will be presenting its new EvoPac product packaging in the UK for the first time. Designed in collaboration with growers, the aim is that the packaging should significantly reduce operator exposure while filling.
The EvoPac features a central high flow opening to provide a stable coupling onto the easyconnect closed transfer unit. EvoPac is made from a rigid recyclable polymer, with integral moulded grips for
quick and safe handling. The translucent packaging has been designed to be easy clean and should also enable operators to see precisely how much has been transferred during sprayer filling, and when the packs are fully clean with the system’s auto rinse.
The new packaging will be available for a range of Syngenta products this year, with a transition to replace all liquid packaging over the coming seasons.
And this isn’t all. Syngenta will also be introducing the GranuPac, developed specifically for Nemathorin granules to enable faster and cleaner operation during potato planting. The 20kg packs include moulded grips for safer handling and a new fast ring-pull opening. The system fits all existing hopper connectors. The new GranuPac will start to appear on farms during the 2023 season.
New developments
Syngenta will also use LAMMA to launch developments in the company’s digital agronomy toolbox to advance precision crop management and that further help operators work more effectively and efficiently, it claims. This season will see major advances in the BlightCast disease forecasting system for potato growers, as well as the Quantis Heat Stress Forecast to optimise timing of applications.
The show will see Fendt return to the halls of the NEC and the company brings with it the new 700 Vario Gen 7 which features a 7.5-litre AGCO Power engine with outputs of 203hp for the 720 model and more than 300hp for the top 728 model.
According to Richard Miller of Fendt, LAMMA is the ideal place in the UK to launch the tractor. “The NEC is a fitting location for the show. It helps to raise the overall profile of the agricultural industry in the UK and enables Fendt to show the best that we have to offer the farming public.”
Larger machines including the new Katana 850 forage harvester and latest Ideal combine will also be on show, as well as the Tigo VR forage wagon and the Rotana round baler.
Technology will again be a hot topic at LAMMA and the FendtONE onboard/offboard concept will be available for visitors to experience. Data-driven farming is being more widely adopted as a precision-led method to improve agricultural efficiencies and FendtONE demonstrates how data collected by machines in the field can help make operational decisions in the farm office, says Richard.
“Data and machine automation can reduce fuel costs and save valuable time. FendtONE has been designed to offer the data needed to make important decisions that will drive the efficiencies needed in today’s market,” he adds.
Valtra will be fillings its stand with members of its fifth generation models, the latest of which is the Q Series, a 230-305hp range of tractors. These have redesigned cabs, the latest transmission and engine features, remodelled smart display and a new look. The firm will also be demonstrating a number of its SmartFarming tools live for visitors.
Claydon is another manufacturer which is planning to highlight new models, in the form of its Evolution range of mounted drills. Each of the drills in the collection is designed for direct drilling but can also be used after consolidation in both ploughing and min-till situations.
There are a total of nine models in the Evolution range, with working widths of 3m, 4m, 4.5m, 4.8m, 5m and 6m, which incorporate nine, 13, 15 or 19 tines. Most models feature a 1910-litre hopper, but the 3m Evolution 3MF and 4m 4MRF versions
Fendt returns to the halls of the NEC bringing with it the new 700 Vario Gen 7.
Claydon is planning to highlight new models at LAMMA,in the form of its Evolution range of mounted drills.
Hi-Spec Engineering plans to bring its new high-capacity compact tanker, the TS-R, to the show.
▲ include a 2700-litre tank with a 50:50 split between seed and fertiliser. The larger hopper is designed to help increase productivity, while second and third hopper options are for applying multiple types, varieties and sizes of seed.
All Claydon Evolution models feature a hydraulic fan, Artemis metering control, tramlining facility, front tine/17.8cm A-share configuration, double rear toolbar and road lights. Typical daily outputs range from 20ha for the 3m Evolution, which requires a minimum of 150hp, up to 40ha for the 6m version, which needs a minimum of 300hp.
The new range incorporates additional features which aim to improve operational functionality. Seed depth adjustment is controlled hydraulically, improved access to the metering unit allows easier calibration, while front-mounted discs which are operated hydraulically from the tractor seat can be specified as an optional extra.
Other features include quick-fit knock-on/knock-off coulter options for the standard leading tine and A-Share to low disturbance twin disc and tine options. Multiple seed tool options allow a wide range of crops to be drilled across different soil types and situations, while the quick-change facility allows fast, easy modification when required. A large, easily accessible toolbox incorporated into the step frame is also standard.
The firm will be showcasing its 3m seed and fertiliser version alongside a 4m hydrid T4 trailed drill. Claydon will also present a 7.5m straw harrow and a 4m TerraBlade inter-row hoe.
Additionally, visitors can expect to see machines from Dale Drills’ range at the show. Specifically, the firm will be taking its 6m Eco M Seed Drill, Mounted Tine Drill and its Meir Soil Conditioner.
Specialist sprayer manufacturer Micron will also be exhibiting at the event, and visitors to its stand can expect to see a range of products from the firm, including the Varidome –– a band sprayer for cost-effective inter-row weed control in vegetables, sugar beet, oilseed rape and other row crops.
In addition, the firm will be bringing its Micron Envrio shielded sprayers, which are tractor mounted and designed for eliminating persistent weeds such as blackgrass in field margins and general weed control in vineyards, orchards, as well as along fence lines and pathways.
The firm’s WeedWiper will also be on display. This non-drip tractor/vehiclemounted weedwiper is for treating bolters in sugar beet and tall weed control in grassland, arable and environmentally sensitive areas.
Moving to tankers, Hi-Spec Engineering plans to bring its new high-capacity compact tanker, the TS-R, to the show. This is available in a range of capacities from over 9000 litres, up to just shy of 18,200 litres.
Spreading options
Spreading options for the TS-R include the Hi-Spec Trailing Shoe applicator, which is offered in working widths of 7.5m, 9.0m and 10.5m. Alternatively, there is the 7.5m wide Hi-Spec Dribble Bar, which folds down to just 2.55m for transport.
With a narrower width and fitted with a commercial tandem-axle on 710/50-R26.5 tyres and semi-recessed mudguards, this means that overall width and height are reduced allowing the tanker to be manoeuvrable in restricted operating spaces.
Also on display will be a Hi-Spec SA-R (single axle recessed) tanker, which has capacities from 6100 litres up to 13,600 litres, and the XCEL 1250 rear discharge spreader. This spreader uses a combination of a shredding rotor fitted with 22 heavy duty chains and 12mm Hardox flail heads. The machine is designed to achieve an even spread pattern up to 24m, with a 12t capacity and typical discharge time of three to five minutes. It’s also able to spread all material types, such as farmyard manure, sludge cake, muck lime, wood mulch and chicken compost.
Centre stage on the BvL stand at LAMMA will be a 33m3 V-Mix Plus 3S. According to the firm it’s seen a considerable increase in UK sales of its Plus triple auger mixers in recent years. “It’s not uncommon to see a 17m3 or 20m3 diet feeder being replaced by a 30m3 plus triple auger machine,” says BvL’s John Molton. “Not only does it save a lot of time, but because users are perhaps only doing three mixes instead of six, overall ration consistency is improved considerably.”
At the other end of the size scale the firm will also be displaying a 12m3 single auger machine and information on the Dairy Feeder Go app. This is a new entry-level version of the cloud-based BvL V-Connect Dairy Feeder system. ■
Centre stage on the BvL stand at LAMMA will be a 33m3 V-Mix Plus 3S triple auger mixer.
Target: outstanding emergence
Väderstad launches
Väderstad has bold ambitions when it comes to seed emergence and celebrated its 60th birthday with the launch of a raft of new machines. CPM went to Germany to take a look firsthand. By Melanie Jenkins
It wouldn’t be unreasonable to wonder whether there’ll come a point where cultivators are as good as they can get, where any changes are simply a case of ‘new and improved’ marketing spiel. But Väderstad claims it has a tradition of advancing groundworks started by its founders,Rune and Siw Stark,60 years ago,through marrying both mechanical and technological breakthroughs.
At an international event in Magdeburg, Germany, in early October, Väderstad set out to celebrate its 60th anniversary with the launch a number of new products aimed at taking cultivations and establishment to “new levels”.
“We believe that we have a very important job –– one of the most important jobs in the world: to make sure all farmers can provide a growing population with food in an efficient and sustainable way. Our aim is to be a world-leading partner in outstanding emergence,” announces the firm’s CEO, Henrik Gilstring.
Ambition and vision
“In these challenging times, this matters. It’s more critical than ever before and we have an ambition and vision for Väderstad. Buying a machine from Väderstad should mean entering into a partnership with us, so we want our machines to be reliable and with accessible service wherever they are sold.”
As Henrik points out, being able to use machines to their full potential is down to the concept combined with effective agronomy. “We will challenge what is today and make it better tomorrow.”
The company’s chief agronomist, Nina Pettersson, outlines future developments based on autonomy and digitalisation, keeping productivity for farmers firmly in mind. “Precision is the key factor in this equation: minimising inputs and the impact of farming and maximising outputs.”
This vision of the proverbial ‘tomorrow’ is echoed by colleague Johan von Mecklenburg: “Tomorrow our machines need to be autonomy ready –– performing whether there’s a human in the tractor cab or not.”
One action the firm is taking to try to make continual, useful improvements to its catalogue is its on-farm project, which involves trialling and testing its concept and new machines on a 52ha working unit in Lower Saxony.
“The original idea for this project was to just run it in Germany but now there’s a lot of interest from other countries and companies,” explains Väderstad’s Karl-Hubertus Reher. “The site is used for serious farming, for training and networking. A lot of different crops are grown each year, in different ways and
Väderstad aims to be a world-leading partner in outstanding crop emergence,says Henrik Gilstring.
with different machine settings.
“Field trials are conducted with external partners –– including Syngenta and Strübe –– and these have involved moving from a continuous wheat rotation to a multi-crop one, permanently integrating cover crops and having a machine demo plot throughout the year.”
But what about Väderstad’s new machine offerings?
Proceed
Väderstad’s prototype drill, the Proceed, was presented live to an audience for the first time in Magdeburg, sparking much interest. The Proceed is part of the company’s ambition to create “outstanding emergence for plants” and according to the firm’s Maria Cornelius, it does this through better seed placement.
“This means even seed placement between the rows, a good distribution of seeds within the row –– avoiding too many seeds in one spot –– and then there’s depth placement. Getting this right is a big part of the challenge to get a uniform emergence,” she says.
The Proceed has a two-point linkage and pivot packer to allow for redistribution of machine weight, meaning tyre pressure can be adjusted and contours can be followed more closely.
The prototype has a 2200-litre capacity seed hopper with two integrated fans. One transports seeds from the hopper to the row units and the other is for singulation within the row units. “Users might think the hopper is a bit small but Väderstad field trials of the Proceed suggest they could lower seed rates and get better results,” explains the company’s Lars Thylén.
The trailed seed drill offers row spacings for cereals of 225mm or 250mm, but a quick change of the seed discs alters this to 450mm or 500mm for crops such as sugar beet or oilseed rape. Additionally, a further switch means maize or sunflowers can be planted with 750mm row spacings.
The row units are at the heart of the machine, according to Lars. “Prior to seed placement, individual pre-seeding wheels consolidate the field to ensure the same conditions for each seed. These are individually mounted, using hydraulic down-force to ensure high performance.”
Once seeds reach the row units, an adapted version of Väderstad’s PowerShoot singulation system takes control. Once a seed has left the seed tube, it’s received by a stop wheel to optimise seed-to-soil contact, he adds.
“Each row unit is electrically driven and controlled via the iPad-based control system, Väderstad E-Control. Functions include ▲
The Proceed is a prototype drill from Väderstad, aimed at fine-tuning seed placement.
Väderstad’s new Inspire seed drill is the first 12m model the firm has produced.
The latest disc cultivator from Väderstad comes in the form of its Carrier XL 725 – a 7.25m machine that bridges a gap in the current models.
▲ row-by-row shut-off and variable rate, dynamic tramlining, individual calibration, as well as real-time precision monitoring and control.”
Inspire 1200S/C
The Inspire 1200 is a new seed drill from Väderstad and it’s the firm’s first 12m model. The Inspire S is a seed-only version and is equipped with a 5000-litre hopper. The Inspire C is a combi version which has a 7200-litre hopper and can hold both seed and fertiliser in separate chambers. After leaving the hopper, seed and fertiliser are mixed in the same airstream and will have the same placement in the coulter.
“You might have to be careful about how much fertiliser you put with the seed but this is a normal challenge for contact fertiliser units,” advises Väderstad’s Björn Jeansson.
The drill has eight distribution towers and the ability to control the seeding output in eight separate sections, with 1.5m per section, explains Björn. “To ensure a constant and even product flow from the large hopper to the seed coulters, the seeds and fertiliser are metered out from the hopper via eight Fenix III metering units.”
Row spacings are set at 12.5cm, with 96 coulters on the machine. Seeding is controlled via E-Control from an iPad in the cab, and this can be connected with an ISOBUS task control system. The machine requires 250-300hp, according to Björn, has a low draft requirement and can fold up to a 3m transport width. The Inspire will be available from the end of 2022.
CrossCutter Disc Aggressive
Back in 2017, Väderstad first introduced its CrossCutter Disc to the market for ultra-shallow tillage at high working speeds, and for 2022 it has launched the CrossCutter Disc Aggressive. This new addition has sharpened TrueCut, cut outs that provide higher penetrative capabilities in challenging field conditions. “These cut outs reduce the surface that the disc has on the ground, and so increases the penetration ability,” explains the company’s Magnus Samuelsson. “This is needed when conditions might prohibit penetration of the soil.”
Working at a depth of 2-5cm,
it should move a lot less soil than a conventional disc, according to Magnus. The CrossCutter Disc Aggressive comes in two sizes: 450mm intended for a working depth of 2-3cm with the Carrier range of disc cultivators, as well as 510mm for a working depth of 3-5cm with Carrier XL. Both can be operated at working speeds of up to 20km/h. “The pressure on tillage is here to stay and we see this as a crucial advancement,” adds Magnus.
Carrier XL 725
Väderstad’s latest disc cultivator comes in the form of its Carrier XL 725 –– a 7.25m machine that bridges a gap in the current models, which range from 4.25m to 12.25m. “The machine actually has a working width of 7.1m,” says Magnus. “We chose to add this to improve the current range of Carrier XLs and because it should help reduce passes and cut machine-use costs.”
Carrier XL 725 is available with 510mm TrueCut discs, CrossCutter Disc or the new CrossCutter Disc Aggressive. To suit different farming needs, it can be equipped with a full range of front tools and packer options, as well as the small seeder BioDrill 360.
According to Magnus, it’s important on machines like this to counteract the forces going into it so there isn’t movement in the wings at all. “We’ve made the machine stiffer to improve working depth and have made frame improvements with a strengthened packer parallel linkage.”
Carrier XT
The new Carrier XT is Väderstad’s next generation of compact disc cultivators, says the firm’s Wolfrom Hastolz. “There are three different types and three different working widths. It’s available in a mounted, mounted galvanised and in a trailed version, and has working widths of 4.25m, 5.25m and 6.25m.
“The Carrier XT is based on the former mounted Carrier X, but we have increased the strength of the mainframe and also of the rings, so it can hold both different front tool options and different runner options at the back,” explains Wolfrom.
A main feature of Carrier XT is its hydraulically rotating disc axles, he says. “There are two different disc set-ups; a W shape or an X shape. If the machine is equipped with CrossCutter discs or the new CrossCutter Aggressive disc, it always comes in a W-shape to improve the ultrashallow work result. But if equipped with a 450mm or 470mm TrueCut disc, then it always comes in an X-shape.”
Those machines with the CrossCutter disc also come with cylinder protection, for incorporation of slurry.
When it comes to roller options, there’s modularity to the frame design, meaning that if a user wanted to change from a single runner to a double runner, it’s easily possible, says Wolfram. “A cage runner, single soil runner, a double soil runner, a single steel runner and a double steel runner are available. But the mounted versions come with a double soil runner.
“The machine is easy to fold and easy to set, folding vertically with a hydraulic wing lock,” he adds.
Mounted machines come with a Category 3 three-point linkage and trailed machines have two drawbar options; a stiff or a hydraulic drawbar, while users can choose between Category 2 or Category 3 three-point linkage.
Väderstad’s farm project in Lower Saxony, Germany,hosts trials and testing of the company’s concept and new machines. The Cultus HD 525 is part of a new family of foldable cultivators from Väderstad.
Cultus HD 425 and 525
The Cultus HD 425 and 525 represent an entirely new family of foldable cultivators for Väderstad, says the company’s Daniel Feilhaber. “Mounted cultivators have a long tradition all over our European markets, and the tractors and demands for mid-sized farms and contractors have grown over the years. But with the Cultus HD we have the answer to this and to working heavy soils.”
Available in working widths of 4.25m or 5.25m, the Cultus HD can work to depths of 30cm and is equipped with three tine axles, resulting in a tine spacing of 27cm.
The heart of the machine is made up of the new heavy-duty tines which have a release force of up to 680kg, allowing the machine to work in a full range of conditions, explains Wolfram. “If a tine meets a heavy obstacle in the soil, it is fully released from the soil to pass the obstacle. When the tine re-enters the soil, it keeps its full power to quickly return to its working position.”
The depth is set from the cab and is equipped with a hydraulic wing lock and new leveller adjustment system –– called Dynamic Control –– to enhance the performance, he explains. “Dynamic Control ensures the levellers are always in the optimal working position and removes the requirement for manual adjustment, so they don’t have to be changed when switching working depths. The distance between the discs and tines moves as the depth changes, so working depth alters but the discs only need setting once.”
According to Väderstad’s Erik Vagbrant, it’s the strongest cultivator on the market. “We needed this machine to be as low weight, but as strong as possible. To do this we have tubes in the machine with a bigger outer dimension than most of our competitors,” he explains. “This makes the tubes 30% stronger.”
The Cultus HD is available with number of roller options: a Single SteelRunner, a CageRunner, a Single Soil Runner or a Double SoilRunner.
Väderstad expects to start delivering the machine from October 2023 and has a limited number of demo models available before then. ■
Foresight means minimising Potatoes surprises
Potato agronomy is complex and requires a lot of planning,monitoring and evaluation throughout the production process. CPM finds out how digital agronomy tool Crop4Sight can help in all three areas as preparation for the 2023 season gathers pace. By Lucy de la Pasture
‘If you fail to prepare,you prepare to fail’ –– an adage that is very relevant when thinking about potato crop establishment, with half the agronomy done and dusted before a seed piece even drops into a ridge.
There are now tools that assist in this crucial planning process, including the dynamic seed module of Crop4Sight’s precision potato agronomy system, which takes the guesswork out of seed rate calculations for any given variety.
Getting seed rates right is one of the most important decisions a grower can make, and the nifty software can sort out all the details –– tailoring seed rates to customer requirement, planting date and proposed burndown and harvest date. On top of that, it allows growers to model several scenarios to see how altering seed rate or planting date will affect yield and size distribution of the tubers in their ware crops.
Marketable yield
Produce Solutions potato specialist Jamie Lee says it helps growers lay a solid foundation on which to build maximum marketable yield, whether for a pre-pack or processing crop.
“If you don’t get things right on the day you plant, in almost all cases it won’t matter what you do for the rest of the season, you won’t achieve what you should set out to achieve,” he explains.
Planting density –– dictated by seed rate, or within row spacing –– is key to hitting target yield and tuber size. It also reduces waste and ensures costly seed is used efficiently. Lower rates give established plants more space and generally result in fewer, larger tubers suitable for baking. Conversely, tighter spacing results in more, smaller tubers ideal for salad and seed crops.
It’s also possible to influence harvest date with seed rate, adds Jamie. “Lowering plant density can help tubers bulk faster for earlier lifting where it’s desired, either by the customer or sometimes the landlord.”
He advises that several factors have to be considered when calculating seed rates, including variety –– as some produce more stems per plant and tubers per stem than others –– planting date and seed size, determined by tuber count per 50kg of seed.
Historically, growers and agronomists would have worked out seed rates using experience and variety-specific seed rate tables based on data from breeders and AHDB-funded trials. The Crop4Sight seed module combines all these factors with data from independent variety trials and historic
John Weir explains he can now manage crops much better in the first instance, as well as use in-season data to evaluate crop management and fine tune it for the future.
commercial data collected by the potato agronomy platform.
But it also takes things on a stage. Critically, it factors in the seed lot’s chronological age, which is the amount of time between emergence of the seed crop and planting of the ware crop.
Chronologically older seed produces more stems/plant, whereas chronologically younger seed tends to throw fewer stems/plant. This response is consistent across varieties, but some are more sensitive than others, he says.
The system also outputs a stem and tuber count prediction for the early part of the growing season to benchmark establishment success.
It’s a feature Jamie says has been particularly useful where cultivars are sensitive to chronological aging –– like main crop variety Jelly – to help achieve the correct stem and tuber populations and to maximise marketable yield.
“The optimum tuber population for the contracted size specification and yield of a crop of Jelly is 350,000 tubers/ha and we know how many stems are needed to hit that target. Knowing the seed age means you have a better idea how many stems are likely to be produced from each seed tuber, which leads to a more accurate seed rate calculation.
“It avoids planting and then just hoping we get what we want at the end of the season, because quite often, with a lot of varieties, it won’t happen,” he explains.
One grower who has used the seed module to his advantage is John Weir, who grows 70ha of pre-pack potatoes at Gateside in Fife.
He’s been growing Cygnet PB’s variety Saxon on his light sandy soils for more than 20 years, so the business is well-versed in how to establish the second early to reach its full potential.
However, John recently started to grow two new varieties –– early-maturing baker Tyson from STET and exclusive Greenvale Seed low input variety Soraya –– so had little knowledge of how they might behave in the field.
As the platform draws on data from independent variety trials, which investigate stem numbers and tubers per stem across a variety of planting dates and seed sizes, it can make an informed seed rate recommendations for new varieties.
For John, access to the module meant he was able to hit the ground running. As the crop modelling functionality of the main Crop4Sight programme collects data on field performance, he’ll also build up a databank to inform management of future crops.
“In the past, you might have an indication on what to do with new varieties from the seed house, but you didn’t really know if you’d got things right until the end of the season.
“We can now manage crops much better in the first instance, then with plant counts, stem counts and tuber counts, and by monitoring canopy development through the season, we can evaluate what we’ve done and fine tune our management in the future,” explains John.
His Produce Solutions agronomist, Nathan Edgar, adds that in a tricky spring, like the season before last when planting was delayed, a simple change to planting date in the “live” system will automatically adjust seed rate accordingly.
The system’s output has given the pair confidence to reduce the farm’s seed rates more than they would have done in the past, which has cut seed costs in some varieties and ensured that target harvest dates have been met.
Nathan adds that Crop4Sight data is consistently challenging their decision making and driving discussion during the season and while planning for the next.
“First and foremost, it’s a tool for the grower to better manage their crops and increase marketable yield. But its full potential is extracted when the grower, agronomist and Crop4Sight all work together,” he says. ■
Processing grower benefits from in-season data insights
Crop4Sight’s seed module and in-season crop development insights are helping John Bubb hit his target of getting all of his 200ha of processing potatoes out of the ground by 20 October.
Near Newport in Shropshire,he grows for McCain,supplying Shepody and Morene off the field early, with the remainder –– Royal, Maris Piper and King Russet –– out of bulk storage from February to June.
Pre-season planning is critical for the business and alongside his agronomist Jamie Lee,he has used the seed module to calculate the appropriate seed rates to hit his contract specifications.
This commences when seed arrives on the farm in January,with the seed supplier often providing information on seed age.Then Jamie gathers tuber counts and uses the digital tool to make seed rate recommendations for each lot.
The information in the seed module, including seed age and predictions on plant and stem counts,will give an early indication of which crops will be further forward later in the season.This is critical for both grower and McCain,as they can plan when the crop will be harvested and moved, he says.
For John,one of the most interesting parts of using Crop4Sight is at emergence, when it’s time to ground truth the plant and stem count predictions.He notes that prediction versus reality has been close in most instances.
Once the data has been gathered and entered into Crop4Sight,the tool produces a yield forecast, predicts tuber population,and forecasts final marketable yield and size distribution.
John is also using satellite imagery uploaded to the platform to monitor canopy development, enabling him to pick up any issues early if the actual canopy starts to fall behind the prediction.
The forecasts quickly show which crops have smaller tuber numbers, so will develop faster,and might be harvested earlier,he adds.Other crops may have more tubers and yield potential,so will need growing on and require more nitrogen to get there, so nutrition programmes can be adjusted.
John says that data from mid-season yield digs to check crop progress informs scheduling of key tasks, such as maleic hydrazide applications and timing burndown when the crop is at optimum yield.
“Crop4Sight’s prediction of tuber initiation has also been useful,as we get an idea of when we need to start irrigating. John Bubb says inputting field data into Crop4Sight informs scheduling of key tasks, such as maleic hydrazide applications and timing burndown when the crop is at optimum yield.
“We’ve also invested in the system’s irrigation module, which is a live cloud-based scheduling tool that’s easy to use and can be accessed by anybody at any time of day or night.
“We enter our local weather and irrigation data throughout the season and it will tell us the soil moisture deficit and when irrigation is required. The previous system relied on another data source and was far less flexible,” says John.
When the chips are down
You know how Mother Nature always pays her dues? Up until the end of September,this year’s rainfall totalled 375mm. As I write this in the third week of November,we have received nearly 50% of that figure again since the start of October ––168mm in seven weeks is more than double the weekly average for the year to date. It looks like we’re on track to hit our 10-year average of 760mm (omitting 2012) after all.
Fortunately, we finished what was an uninspiring potato harvest on 18 October in decent conditions. Machinery mostly behaved, we only had a few wet days, and the apprentice earned his stripes for mistake of the season when he didn’t apply the handbrake sufficiently to hold his load of potatoes and finished up with humiliation and a lot of shovelling to cope with! It’s character building, he who never ailed owt, never did owt. Nobody or no machinery was damaged, just pride and a valuable lesson learned (we’ve all done it).
Yields, as predicted last month, were nothing exciting, and wholly dependent on the rainfall received. The worst was on unirrigated light land and just got into double figures per acre. The best had over £800/ha spent on its irrigation and just scraped past the 50t/ha mark. Variety heat tolerance was also a contributing factor, as was growth stage at the point the +300C temperatures hit. Interestingly, our last planted field (13 May) was the best yielding. It was north facing, had two varieties, both chitted, a small amount of muck and no irrigation.
A fault with the DAP applicator facilitated an untreated plot with no applied phosphate. Normally this could be spotted in the crop as if it had a luminous stripe down it, but not this year. The muck had clearly done its thing. The cover crop material mixed into the ridge with the muck visibly contributed to the soil’s water holding capacity, which undoubtedly also helped. A comparable field hamstrung from cover cropping via over winter stubble stewardship didn’t fare so well, and was also harder to harvest, with a lot of hard clod to separate early on.
Storage is a challenge, as expected. Dormancy hasn’t been as bad so far as feared, but is showing in some varieties, particularly those from fields that were under too much stress to apply MH. High temperatures up until very recently haven’t helped in this regard either, pulldown is impossible with double figure temperatures overnight.
We have stuck with ethylene as a sprout suppressant on our chipping crops, and DMN on our crispers. So far, so good with the new kid on the block, but it’s early days yet.
Movement of November contract material is imminent from short-term storage which has kept okay. Our overdraft could certainly do with the relief –– it’s a long time since we had two-week payment for our year of outlay, some customers like to keep us waiting for another two months after delivery.
It’s often noted in business seminars that it’s lack of cashflow that kills businesses. This is evident right now, in many sectors. Huge input price rises, and long payment terms squeeze every last penny and that does damage, exacerbated by lack of profit. Pigs and poultry have had a kicking recently, alongside potatoes, and it doesn’t look rosy for the dairy farmers. This invariably has a knock-on effect on demand for our combinable crops, and when put alongside a certain tyrant to the east controlling to a large extent world wheat and fertilizer prices, it takes a certain grit to cling on tight for the bumpy road ahead.
The processing and retail sectors need to wake up to the plight of its raw material suppliers while we still exist, or the consequences to the nation’s food supply will get serious with more empty shelves. In much the same way as we farmers can’t reach for a can of chemical to solve every problem, the retailers can’t simply expect to import produce to replace the gap created by driving British producers out of business.
We all need to make money to survive, adapt and thrive into the future. A sustainable business is a profitable one, and that includes farmers. I fear the ride will get worse before it gets better
One of the hardest things to deal with is the unknown, particularly weather and prices. When to buy and when to sell is much harder than even two years ago. Everyone seems to want more money for less goods, paying quicker, and with much longer lead times. It’s easy to think as a farmer that you’re alone in this, and somehow everyone else is okay. This isn’t the case at all. It was said to me a while back that a bigger farmer often has a bigger overdraft than a small one, and no doubt in some cases that is true. What is also true is that when the chips are down, there is nowhere better than the farming community to find people that will step up and help. Don’t be alone. It will get better. Change sometimes has to happen.
For me, after my potato area increasing almost every year for 20 years since coming home in 1997, I now find myself with less than half the area we grew at the peak in 2017. The reduction has happened in stages, and for sound financial reasons. No regrets yet.
Will @SpudSlingsby become @NoSpudSlingsby? He might if the Solanum tuberosum fortunes don’t improve sharpish! Watch this space.
Andrew Wilson is a fourth- generation tenant of the Castle Howard Estate in North Yorkshire.
He has a strategic approach to direct drilling on his varied soil types and grows a wide variety of crops.He’s passionate about the potato industry and having been utilising cover crops to reduce cultivation and chemical use since 2011,dipped his toe in the water of regenerative potatoes in 2021.
@SpudSlingsby
The world on your shoulders?
Having managed to avoid looking ‘Rona’ in the eyes since the start of the pandemic,she spiked me last month,well and truly kicking the legs out from underneath me. My thanks go to Tom Allen-Stevens,who briefly stepped back into his old role and took away the worry about how on earth the magazine was going to get put together this month. It’s only at times like that that you realise you’re carrying a weight on your shoulders…
Sometimes I think it’s good to question our motivations for doing something and that goes for farming too. While some fall into the role that’s expected of them, giving up on their personal ambitions, others relish the opportunity and do what they were born to do. Some feel a moral obligation to ‘feed the world’ and it strikes me that that must be a tremendous burden to carry and perhaps it’s time we questioned that premise, something Martin Lines touched on in Nature Natters (page 50) this month.
The ‘feeding the world’ argument pushes productivity as the key metric in crop production and has long been used to justify high input systems and the need to keep producing more per hectare. It’s become a conditioned way of thinking. On the face of it, with a world population that has just surpassed eight billion, it doesn’t seem an unreasonable assumption. Look a little closer, and the sums look different when you break down overall production into calories consumed by people.
On a world scale, which we have to consider when using the argument that we must maintain productivity to feed the world, the majority of global food is produced on smallholdings. And it’s these that provide the majority of calories to the world population and not large-scale farming businesses.
A paper by Samberg et al* (2016) looked at smallholder agriculture in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and South and East Asia, where on average there are less than five hectares of agricultural land per farming household. It’s important to consider these continents because it’s here that the population is still growing, where in more developed parts of the world population growth is slow or negative.
These smallholder farming systems are home to more than 380 million farming households, making up roughly 30% of the agricultural land and produce more than 70% of the food calories produced in these regions. Note the contribution to food calories here.
More importantly, these smallholders are responsible for more than half of the food calories produced globally, as well as more than half of global production of several major food crops. Smallholder systems in these three regions direct a greater percentage of calories produced toward direct human consumption, with 70% of calories produced in these units consumed as food compared with 55% globally.
In the UK, approximately 60% of the cereals we grow is for animal feed, which while still contributing to food security is a highly inefficient way of converting grain into calories for human consumption. According to GRAIN and IATP estimates, for every 100 calories fed to animals, only 17-30 ends up in the meat that humans consume.
We live in a market-based economy where we consider everything in terms of stocks and balances and perhaps it’s more accurate to think in terms of feeding the nation as a UK farmer rather than taking on the mantle of feeding the world. Or can we break that down further? Feeding the local community, feeding the family? Farms are a business so the number one priority should be profitability and not just productivity –– the relationship between the two isn’t the same on any one farm.
Is being productivity-led holding back change in farming practices? For instance, nitrogen fertiliser applications where the emphasis moves to form, function and efficiency of use and applying ‘just enough’ rather than routine applications to industry guidelines with a bit extra, just in case. Add in the hefty responsibility of feeling like the world could starve if you make the wrong decision then that’s a lot of pressure.
A government report into national food security released last year cites the major risks to UK food production as degradation of the soil, loss of biodiversity and climate change. We have ongoing debates at whether the sustainable approach to agriculture involves land sparing or land sharing, where each sit at either end of the continuum. A land sparing system involves large, separate areas ofsustainably intensified agriculture, whereas land sharing involves a patchwork of low-intensity agriculture incorporating natural features such as ponds and hedgerows, in other words more nature-friendly farming. We see these two options playing out today with land being bought up to be ‘rewilded’ and the move to more regenerative or agroecological systems. The reality is that it doesn’t have to be one or the other.
Of course, the elephant in the room when it comes to feeding the world is the amount of food that is wasted, the vast majority after leaving the farmgate (30%). According to government, food waste declined during the pandemic when lockdowns resulted in better food management but things are now sliding back to pre-pandemic levels.
It all adds up to the fact that farmers aren’t responsible for feeding the world, they facilitate the production of food but it’s ultimately society and governments that determine what happens to it. It’s an important and potentially liberating distinction. *Ref: Leah H Samberg et al 2016, Subnational distribution of average farm size and smallholder contributions to global food production, Environmental Research Letters 11 124010
Based in Ludlow, Shrops, Lucy de la Pasture has worked as an agronomist, while among the Twitterati, she’s @Lucy_delaP.
