in this issue - cpm magazine€¦ · in this issue... cereals specialpage ... 861122 e-mail:...

In this issue...Cereals special page 75Guidance on machinery lines

Nitrate knowledge page 52

Pick of the plantings page 1630 pages of variety insight

Managing field data page 64

New considerations for cropping choiceWill the paper promises of new varieties prove stronger than the consistency of existing ones?

Yield’s just part of the picturePicking the right variety could make the biggest difference to driveup yields, but yield is far from the only consideration.

Hybrid OSRs have plenty to offerMargins are under pressure, but strong market premiums and theintroduction of novel traits show oilseed rape still has plenty to offer.

Fertiliser fix to reduce riskWheat growers can reduce their risk for the harvest 2015 crop bylocking into a margin over fertiliser, says a leading merchant.

Find a few facts on feedOver half of UK grain becomes animal feed either directly, or as co-products.

Turning field data into usable informationWith the advent of new management systems, the information generated by precision farming systems is about to take on a whole new value.

No room for complacency in battle with blightWith blight pressure set be higher this year, growers are warned to bevigilant and be ready to start spraying early.

Talking TilthA word from the editor.

Smith’s SoapboxViews and opinions from an Essex peasant…..

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3crop production magazine may 2014

INSIDERS VIEWBayer debuts with strong phoma scoreThe first UK plant variety from a company better known for its crop protection products is bound to attract attention.

Promise of potential from professional approachThe UK’s highest-yielding winter wheat is likely to build a strong following but how do growers unlock that potential?

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TECHTALKThe benefit of choiceWith more nitrogen fertiliser options available, many growers are reassessing which is best.

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Ears face a pastingHigh levels of disease inoculumhave put pressure on the back end of the cereal spray season.

8 DISEASE CONTROL

INNOVATION INSIGHTSeal of approvalTo reduce oilseed rape harvest losses, creating a pod sealant that would do the job was only half the struggle.

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75 to 107

Cereals Event & Machinery SpecialA 33-page special of previews, user views and on-farm opinions, delivering unrivalled insight and analysis, as CPM goes behind the machinery lines at Cereals 2014.

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Volume 16 Number 4May 2014

*the claim ‘best read specialist arable journal’ is based on independent reader research, conducted by the

National Farm Research Unit 2012

Editorial & advertising salesWhite House Barn, Hanwood, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY5 8LP

Tel: (01743) 861122 E-mail: [email protected]

Reader registration hotline 01728 622521Advertising copy

Brooks Design, 24 Claremont Hill, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY1 1RDTel: (01743) 244403 E-mail: [email protected]

CPM Volume 16 No 4. Editorial, advertising and sales offices are at White House Barn, Hanwood, Shrewsbury SY5 8LP.

Tel: (01743) 861122. CPM is published ten times a year by CPM Ltd and is available free of charge to qualifying farmers

and farm managers in the United Kingdom.

In no way does CPM Ltd endorse, notarise or concur with any of the advice,recommendations or prescriptions reported in the magazine.

If you are unsure about which recommendations to follow, please consult a professional agronomist. Always read the label. Use pesticides safely.

CPM Ltd is not responsible for loss or damage to any unsolicited material,including photographs.

EditorTom Allen-Stevens

Sub editorCharlotte Lord

Writers

Design and ProductionBrooks Design

Advertisement co-ordinatorPeter Walker

PublisherAngus McKirdy

To claim two crop protection BASIS points, send an email [email protected], quoting reference CP/31332/1314/g.

Tom Allen-StevensAndrew BlakeTed Fleetwood

Nick FoneRobert Harris

Louise ImpeyMartin Rickatson

Mick RobertsAndrew Watts

and Screwfix, into the deeperabyss of TLC-Direct and several

unfathomable US sites filledwith circuit diagrams and talk

of reducers and resistiveloads.

I knew I was way out ofmy depth, and dangerouslyopen to persuasion. But it

was then I stumbled upon theElectricians Forum. This is aweb-based sanctuary for peoplewho like to discuss vibrationdrives and power-binding posts.I joined, posted my request, andit wasn’t long before Jason121and Gavin A replied, advisingme to seek the wisdom ofSibertSolar. When I asked how I contact this worthy guru, I wastold he would contact me, andsure enough he did.

SibertSolar has graduatedto ‘elite member’ status on

Electricians Forum and hasbeen thanked 102 times. Hegave me chapter and verse on what I was after and whereI could find it. I followed hisinstructions, parted with mycash and am now the proudowner of an Immersun 2 PVcontroller.

The point is that it’s workedout quite well, but the oddswere stacked against me findinga solution at all, let alone gettingvalue for money –– I didn’t havea clue what I was doing andthese people were talking in a language I simply didn’tunderstand. Imagine having togo through that process everytime you wanted to choose aherbicide or piece of kit.

It really makes you appreciatethe people who do that job foryou, who filter their way throughthe host of muck-and-mysteryproducts that must be thrown atthem, applying a fair helping ofscepticism. But through their trials and their expert appliedknowledge, they ensure the true

gems shine through.We’ve brought the story of

one such gem to you thismonth in Innovation Insight(p46). Pod-Stik is one of thoseproducts that does what it sayson the tin –– it sticks oilseedrape pods together until thecrop’s ready for the combine.It’s such a no-brainer, youinstantly wonder whether theremust be a catch. And that’swhere the industry gatekeeperscome in –– those who do thetrials and the research andwhose authority growers trust.

The Cereals event is theopportunity to plumb into thatauthority –– it’s not just abouthunting out new products,ideas or machinery solutions.It’s about getting advice, viewsand suggestions on what touse and how to implementthem –– the inside view youwon’t get from the product literature. You cannot replacethat face-to-face discussion,and Cereals give you access to the most qualified people inthe business.

And this issue of CPM aimsto give you a taste of whatyou’ll find at Chrishall Grange,near Duxford, Cambs on 11-12 June. Top of mind will be variety choice, andwe’ve devoted 30 pages tohighlighting the key issues forthose looking to step up theirgenetic potential, starting witha crop round-up (p16). We lookat hybrid OSRs (p32), and joina group of growers as they mullover their OSR choices (p22).Insiders View has the low-downon Harper (p36) –– Bayer’s first entry on the HGCARecommended List –– and the wheat list-leader KWSKielder (p40).

Cereals is also the bestopportunity to talk to most of themain machinery manufacturers.

Need some guidance?

I’ve bought another gadget formy solar PV, and this one’sreally clever.

It’ll not only monitor the electricity I’m generating, butwhat I’m using too. But here’sthe smart bit –– if there’s somesurplus electricity, it’ll feed it offthrough a couple of terminalsthat I can connect to an immersion heater or some other load. It’s all infinitely programmable, so I can override, time-delay, boost and perform a host of othergubbins.

But it’s not actually all its features that make me sopleased with this gadget –– I’llprobably never use half ofthem. It’s the fact that this wasthe product of painstakingresearch. I had a need –– Iwanted something that wouldonly click on if there was surplus electricity –– and aninkling that there was a gadgetout there that would answerthat need. Armed with thosetwo paradigms alone, I set offon my quest into the murky and alien world of the tradeelectrician.

Google was my gateway tothis mysterious world. It wasn’tlong before I’d passed the relatively tame realms of Maplin

Tom Allen-Stevens has a 170haarable farm in Oxon, and hasn’tgot a clue what a power-bindingpost [email protected]

We’ve summarised some of thefeatures they’ll have on theirstands (p78), while we’ve gone to Scotland to glean on-farmexperiences of a JCB Fastrac(p98) and an all-in-one subsoilerseeder for OSR (p102). We’vetravelled to Eastern Europe toglean the latest thinking on tyres vs tracks (p86), and we’vetravelled to a Hants estate to findout how they’re bringing somebrutal soils into check (p92).

It’s the time of year for fertiliserplanning, and that’s the subjectof this month’s Tech Talk (p52),while we’ve also looked at howyou can reduce your exposure toboth fertiliser and grain-priceshifts (p56). We’ve gleaned thelatest in-field advice for cereals(p8) and potatoes (p70), whilewe’ve also probed into the interesting new developmentstaking place in precision farmingand managing all the on-farmdata that’s generated (p64).

Hopefully this issue will serve as food for thought, andstimulate topics for discussionwith those you trust at Cerealsnext month. I’m certainly lookingforward to a very enlighteningand thought-provoking event,and I can tell you it’s a much better way of gleaning information on the way aheadthan a random delve into theworldwide web.

4 crop production magazine april 2014

Late May is usually a stressfultime for farmers like me whohave fields alongside busyroads because it’s in this season when you can see theweeds and rusts from the carseat. It’s at times like thesethat I’m glad Dad didn’t takeout our road-side hedges. As is often the case, a good bit ofthick bush is an effective wayof drawing a discrete veil overtoo much detail.

But to prove I’m not abovebaring all, no matter how greatthe embarrassment, I’ve takena few snaps from one of ouroilseed rape crops. The tallfleshy plants on the right handside are wild mustard. I knowthat botanically the term ‘wild’mustard is not strictly correct,but I’m never quite sure if thisplant is actually black mustard,treacle mustard or hedge mustard, or some sort of hybridthereof unique to my farm.

What I do know is that weare in danger of it stopping us growing OSR –– especiallyfollowing a winter like the lastone with no significant frost. A few night-time frosts under -5°C will knock most of it out,but in mild winters it runs riot. In terms of chemical control,once we lost Fortrol (cyanazine)

to the anti-pesticide prejudicein Brussels, we were left with Fox (bifenox) which,

again, needs frost to back up its efficacy.

But the good news isClearfield technologyhas come over the hill

like the arrival of the FifthCavalry turning up at Custer’slast stand. For the first time last autumn, we drilled theClearfield variety Imagine. Forthose of you who don’t knowClearfield varieties, they’re bredto give resistance to certainherbicides, namely Cleranda(imazamox) which will normallykill OSR and the rest of thebrassica family.

As we finished the 20ha field, we ran out of seed, so wefinished off the last headlandwith a conventional variety. Thisgave us a useful control areawhere we couldn’t sprayCleranda. As you can see theresult is striking. The Clerandadid an excellent job, whereaswith no frosts the bifenox hadlittle effect. The Imagine is onthe left. You can barely see theother variety on the right as it’sswamped with the mustard. I doubt this part of the crop willeven be worth combining and I will probably spray it out withglyphosate before it flowersand sets seed. What’s more,interestingly the Clerandaimproved the efficacy of theKerb (propyzamide) that got ontop of a forest of blackgrass.

This little lesson in practicalweed control comes as a timelyreminder of a few home truths.We’re dependant on herbicideswith the way we farm here, and no doubt the usual suspects might say we’re overdependant. But the simple factis, on our marsh clays wherespuds or beet aren’t an option,the only cultural technique left

open to us is fallow. But that’san expensive option on a farm with fixed costs that need spreading over enoughcropped acres.

Effective herbicides are keyparts of our means of crop production. We not only need to hang onto the ones we’vegot, we also need new chemistry. With regard to existing technology, there’s achance that propyzamide couldbe banned in the next fewyears –– we’ll need to show ourlobbying mettle to make surethis doesn’t happen. The keymessage for the regulators andpoliticians is there are noreplacements for materials likeKerb, and banning them willhave one quick effect –– it’llexport crop production to those parts of the world where the regulatory regime is less draconian.

Secondly, effective Clearfieldtechnology reminds me of theefficacy of breeding herbicideresistance into varieties. As tothe idea that doing this throughnon-GM means is acceptablebut using GM technology isn’t,

The perpetualchallenge

just goes to show the GMdebate actually has nothing to do with science and everything to do with politics.

Finally, just a quick note tosay a reader wrote to me lastmonth praising me for neverendorsing things as if I hadsomething to sell in mycolumns. Quite so. Anyway,I’m just looking at someClearfield varieties for nextyear, just in case BASF happens to be reading this.

Email your comments and ideas to [email protected]

Guy Smith grows 500ha ofcombinable crops on thenorth east Essex coast,namely St. Osyth Marsh ––officially the driest spot inthe British Isles. Despitespurious claims from othersthat their farms are actuallydrier, he points out that hisfarm is in the Guinness Bookof Records, whereas othersaren’t. End of.

6 crop production magazine may 2014

Wild mustard runs riot on the right, while the results from the Clerandacavalry are striking.

We’re seeing levels of septoria wehaven’t witnessed for

many years.”“

Ears face apasting

High levels of disease inoculum and crops earlierthan normal have put pressure on the back end of the cereal spray season.CPM considers the threats.

By Tom Allen-Stevens

D I S E A S E C O N T RO L

As fulsome wheats continue to gallopthrough the growth stages, there arefears that fungicide shortages couldleave crops exposed to late season disease. The flag leaf arrived up to twoweeks early for some growers, and mayhave unfurled itself into unprecedentedlevels of inoculum, according to ChristineLilly of Frontier.

“It’s a fantastic year for trials, but it’sgoing to put growers’ spray programmesto the test,” she comments. “In Frontier trials, yellow rust has taken hold in overhalf the varieties in untreated plots.”

In crops generally, disease has beenkept in check where good fungicide programmes have been maintained, she reports. “But we’re seeing levels ofseptoria we haven’t witnessed for manyyears –– even more than at this time in2012. This will really bring end-of-seasonmanagement into focus.”

Flag leaves started to emerge at the

end of April in Kent, with ears emerging inearlier varieties before the middle of May,according to Zantra technical directorChris Bean. “Wheat’s about 10-14 daysahead of normal in the south and east ofEngland. We’ve seen the same early pattern throughout the season, so doesthat mean we’ll be harvesting wheat inJuly? More likely, it’s going to put more emphasis on late season disease control,and we could see T4 and possibly evensome T5 sprays applied this year.”

There’s plenty of disease inoculumaround, he notes, with septoria showing onleaves five and six as well as leaf four insome crops. “Wet and windy weather willencourage it. Brown rust is evident –– lessso in the true hot spot of Kent, but it’sbeen significant in the East, aided andabetted by a mild autumn and winter.What’s more, yellow rust has been anissue since the early winter with more varieties succumbing and the likelihood of


Wheat in some parts of the UK had already comeinto ear by the middle of May.

s

more new races developing,” he notes. Many growers will have applied flag-leaf

sprays by the middle of May and mostshould have completed T2 by the end ofMay, he says. “Where good programmeshave been maintained, this should keepcrops clean until flowering. The standardapproach at the T2 timing these days is toapply at least a three-quarter dose of triazole, together with an SDHI. If the intervalfrom the T1 was stretched beyond aboutthree and a half weeks, you’ll have neededcloser to a full dose of a decent azole.

But product demand has been such thatsome growers have struggled to get thechemistry they wanted.”

Prothioconazole is in short supply, hereports. This stems from a blip in productionearlier this year, according to Gareth Bubb ofBayer CropScience. “Availability is underpressure this year with the high diseaselevels increasing demand, but we believea lot of growers reserved the stock theyneeded for the season to be certain.

Prothioconazole shortage“Judging by the amount of early season disease we saw, quite a lot of prothioconazole may have been appliedearly on. So we may see a shortage insome areas, and those growers planningto use it who haven’t reserved productmay struggle to obtain it.”

This may affect what growers apply onthe ear. “Prothioconazole is the only activethat offers good control of microdochiumas well as the true fusarium species (F. graminearum and F. culmorum),” points out Gareth Bubb.

“But you must apply at least a three-quarter rate dose, and correct timingis critical for the T3 spray. It should beapplied at early to mid flowering, which

could only be two weeks after the T2spray. The temptation is to linger, assumingthe T2 will cover it. But the T3 is doing adifferent job, and a late application willhave little effect on fusarium.”

Christine Lilly echoes his advice on rateand timing. “Go at early flowering, and it’sbest if this is before any wet weather.While fusarium is the main target, with ayear like this, the T3 will also be serving tocontinue septoria protection. For thosewho applied a T0 and have kept good timings since, it won’t be such a concern.


Chris Bean reckons the advanced stage of mostcrops will put more emphasis on late seasondisease control.

Zantra has established trials at five UK locations.

s

s

But if there was a longish gap betweenthe T1 and T2 sprays, for example, disease may have started to get back in, and must be kept in check.”

While a three-quarter rate Prosaro (prothioconazole+ tebuconazole) is herchemistry of choice, straight tebuconazole,that has activity on fusarium, is the next bestoption. “Orius P (prochloraz+ tebuconazole)is a good alternative,” she suggests.

“If it turns warm, any grower south ofYorks should also watch for brown rust,

Those who source agrochemicals through abuying group may well already be trading withZantra, but few growers will have come acrossa Zantra agronomist.

The company was set up in 2003 –– amanagement buy-out when ADAS looked toshed its distribution arm. Dealing primarilythrough buying groups, and with small or

independent agronomists, Zantra has put on 20%year-on-year growth since then, according to itsmanaging director Murray Mackay, and nowclaims to be the sixth largest agrochemical distributor in the UK.

“We don’t fit the model of the average distributor,” he says. “Most businesses start with the agronomist, while we started with supplying chemicals. But we’ve built relationships and looked after them, and havegrown by word of mouth.”

From its headquarters near Cambridge, Zantrahas depots in Hants, Kent and Yorks and with itsnew Shrops depot, now claims delivery coverageof 95% of England and Wales.

Last year, the company sought to increase itstechnical offering, building a team of in-houseagronomists, and initiating a trials programme.“There’s a wider picture to get involved in onfarm,” says technical director Chris Bean. “We’relooking to provide a more holistic, integratedagronomy offer.”

Zantra opened its new depot in Shrops thismonth and claims to be the sixth largestagrochemical distributor in the UK.

Who are Zantra?


Richard Beaumont may be advising atebuconazole-based T4 if a cool damp summerextends the grain-fill period and bearing in mindthe late maturity of many feed wheats.

If there was a longish gap between the T1 and T2sprays, disease may have started to get back intothe crop, warns Christine Lilly.

half to three-quarter rate tebuconazole,depending on disease pressure, is a useful alternative.

“Looking ahead, a T4 may be needed,especially if a cool damp summer extendsthe grain-fill period and bearing in mindthe late maturity of many feed wheats. I’dbase on this on tebuconazole, with otheractives dependant on disease –– so a strobfor brown rust, for example.”

And don’t forget orange wheat blossommidge, notes Christine Lilly. “Now’s thetime to go into the crop to see if it’s there.This is best done on a still, warm evening,or put out pheromone traps. If thresholdsare exceeded and you have to spray using chlorpyrifos, make sure to use low-driftnozzles and adopt a 20m no-spray bufferzone beside watercourses.” n

particularly on varieties such as Beluga, JBDiego, Solstice and Cordiale. Where it’s aconcern, it’s worth adding a strobilurin,such as pyraclostrobin, to the T3 spray.”

Chris Bean agrees that prothioconazoleis best, but product choice may boil down to what’s available. “Tebuconazole or metconazole may be used. Prothioconazolegives you more leeway –– you get about a 4-7 day window to apply it for fusariumcontrol, while it’s just two or three dayswith tebuconazole. But be wary ofmicrodochium –– in 2012, even where T3shad been applied, the fungus took holdand devastated green leaf area.”

However, the second-tier triazoles mayhelp against some strains of septoria thatare less sensitive to prothioconazole andepoxiconazole, he notes. “A tebuconazoleplus chlorothalonil co-formulation may helpsustain the flag leaf, especially where theSDHI is running out of steam. Formicrodochium, carbendazim can have abenefit, and Taurus (thiophanate-methyl)has some activity.”

Second SDHIThose growers who’ve only used one SDHI could consider applying a second at T3 if septoria pressure remains high,suggests Zantra agronomist RichardBeaumont. “For the ear disease complex,where prothioconazole isn’t an option, aone-third dose of epoxiconazole with a


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Availability of prothioconazole is under pressurethis year with the high disease levels increasingdemand, says Gareth Bubb.

The greening effect of SDHIs really does existand could help build the yield in a wheat crop,according to a recent study undertaken byADAS. The three-year project, funded by BASF,found that Xemium (fluxapyroxad) adds up to1t/ha to yield over and above any yieldresponse derived through disease control.

“Quite a bit of scepticism exists aboutwhether the apparent greening effect of SDHIsexist,” says Julie Smith of ADAS. “We’vededuced that there are beneficial effects ofXemium that you can’t see, as well as the control of visible disease symptoms, and we’vebeen able to quantify these.”

The project revolved around three years offield trials, as well as a couple of controlledenvironment studies, to examine the growth ofwheat in some detail, how it utilises resourcesand turns these into yield.

“A wheat crop’s potential is its sink capacity, defined as the number and capacity of grains to store assimilate (plant food),” sheexplains. “Conversely, its source capacity is the dry matter available for grain filling frompost-flowering photosynthesis and remobilisationof pre-flowering storage reserves.”

“The situation with wheat is that threedecades of breeding has successfullyincreased yield, largely through increases insink capacity, but without the same increasesin source capacity. So modern varieties produce many more grains/m2 than older varieties but flag leaves are now significantlysmaller than they were 25 years ago.

“This is partly why disease has such a damaging effect on yield. The source:sink balance is very closely aligned so losses ingreen leaf area, such as those caused by

septoria leaf blotch lesions, result in less sunlightbeing intercepted by the crop during the criticalgrain-fill period. This in turn impacts directly onyield,” she continues.

“In order to differentiate between the diseaseand non-disease effects of a fungicide on yield,we first need to account for losses in healthycanopy area which have arisen through disease.”

The key to this is Healthy Area Duration (HAD),which is an integrated measure of the green areaindex of a crop through time, from ear emergenceto canopy senescence. “A robust fungicide treatment will result in optimum HAD, and there’sa strong positive relationship between yield and HAD.

“Any fungicide programme will increase theHAD value of a crop and thus increase the yield,and in our experiments, we found each unit ofHAD produced approximately 41kg of yield. Whatwe discovered, however, is that Xemium-treatedcrops produced approximately 47kg yield per unitof HAD –– an increase of 6kg when comparedwith untreated plots or those treated with anazole fungicide. Over a typical season for an aver-age wheat crop, that transfers to a total extrayield of up to 1t/ha.”

So where does this extra yield come from?“First of all, we measured the canopy greenness,to determine whether Xemium does actually makea difference. We used a SPAD meter, and foundthat treated leaves are measurably greener.”

They also studied the leaf surface with amicroscope and found a remarkable difference incell damage between an untreated leaf and onethat had been treated with Imtrex (fluxapyroxad).“But both leaves were free from disease, andappeared green and healthy to the naked eye atthe time of examination.”

Julie Smith discovered that Xemium-treatedcrops produced up to an extra 1t/ha thatcouldn’t be attributed to disease control.

SDHI greening yield boost confirmed

The net effect of these influences is toincrease the photosynthetic rate, which was confirmed by independent measurements, andthis could partly explain the yield advantage from Xemium, she concludes.

“We also looked at stomatal conductance –– the stomata on the leaf surface regulate thepassage of water so this indicates how muchwater is being lost from the leaf surface. We discovered a very consistent response fromXemium in that the stomata tended to open less.This resulted in a large beneficial increase inWater Use Efficiency (WUE). You don’t get thiswith Filan (boscalid), and Comet (pyraclostrobin)has less influence, so not all SDHIs have thiseffect,” notes Julie Smith.

“This suggests the chemistry also has aninfluence on WUE. There’s now evidence thatwater, rather than light, is the limiting factor forcrops in certain parts of the UK, notably EastAnglia. So we studied WUE both in the controlledenvironment and in the field plots.”

They found an untreated crop requires anaverage of 380t of water per tonne of grain yield,but a Xemium-treated crop needs just 300t. “TheXemium improves efficiency and enables the cropto produce more yield without using any morewater –– that’s a staggering finding,” enthusesJulie Smith.

No other next-generation SDHIs were included inthe studies, she notes, and pyraclostrobin exhibitedsimilar effects, although not as great. “But the goodnews is that these yield and efficiency effectsshould persist, even if diseases such as septoriabecome resistant to the chemistry.”


HAD can calculated by measuring the area under the line, and represents the green area index of acrop through time, from ear emergence to canopy senescence.Source: ADAS

Healthy area duration (HAD)

New considerations forcropping choice

JB Diego will still be important fornext year, but lookingfurther ahead there

are some strong candidates coming

through.”

“

The various cereal and oilseed rape plotsat Cereals arguably provide the discussionpoints where many variety decisions aremade. As ever, newcomers to the HGCARecommended List will be set againstfarm favourites, but should these bejudged on the same criteria used in previous years?

The loss of neonicotinoid seed dressings for oilseed rape is likely to influence decisions, according to some in the seed trade, while there’s now a choice of hybrid winter barleys alongsideconventional types. Meanwhile in winterwheat, there’s a new milling variety that’s the focus of attention.

Winter WheatAn exciting year and an exciting future.That’s what most commentators predict forRAGT’s new Group 1 milling wheat variety,

Skyfall, despite its recent knock-back innabim’s new commercial tests.

But will it be the turning point for millingwheat varieties, whose market share hasbeen declining and is now at its lowest pointfor a decade? That’s down to the millers,believe the experts, who stress they mustshow their support with worthwhile premiums and terms.

“There’s a great deal of miller


Will the paper promises ofnew varieties prove stronger

than the consistency of existing ones, or is there

insufficient advance in thelatest offerings to temptgrowers? CPM takes a

closer look.

By Louise Impey

interest in Skyfall,” comments Colin Button of Hutchinsons. “Warburtons and ADM have already committed to the variety, which is good news. Growers would be wise to take a closer look.” (see table on p20).

Skyfall joined the HGCA Recommended

A dazzling selection of new varieties on show atCereals are set to tempt growers away fromestablished performers.

List as a provisional (P) Group 1 bread-making variety, following assessment ofmilling and baking performance in threeyears of testing.

In Dec last year, nabim announced the variety would be included in new commercial-scale tests, with the aim ofincreasing farmer and miller confidence in new bread-making wheat varieties.Heygates and Rank Hovis duly took in 120tof Skyfall, sending the flour to 11 nabimmembers for baking assessments.

But the results proved inconclusive, saysnabim –– “the grain available did not meetthe full testing requirements.” So the varietyretains its provisional status for another year.

Any disappointment in nabim’s indecisionhasn’t been reflected in the attention Skyfall’sreceiving, however, notes Colin Button. “It’sbusiness as usual, plus a bit more.”

Certainly, everyone’s talking about Skyfall,agrees Lee Bennett of Openfield. “For

growers, it offers high yields, a good diseasepackage and orange wheat blossom midgeresistance. It also performs well on lighterland and as a second wheat.”

A slightly low grain protein doesn’t concern him at all and shouldn’t be a s

Results from new commercial milling trialsproved inconclusive for Skyfall, but there’sinterest from both growers and millersnonetheless.

Export drives the Group 3 wheat market, withnewcomers, such as Monterey, Delphi, Icon andZulu offering attributes over existing mainstays.

Colin Button believes Revelation is promising,with good seed availability, but notes it has a +4for maturity.

12%

57.30%

6%

6.50%

18.20%

Group 1Group 2Group 3Group 4 softGroup 4 hard

Predicted 2014/15 wheatplantings by quality group

Source: Gleadell

stumbling block. “It may look a bit belowthe others on the RL but when it’s been testedin quality strips there’s been no issue at all.”

The commercial comfort supposed to have been provided by nabim’s new testing system for milling wheats didn’t materialise, he accepts, but this is unlikely to dent the variety’s progress. “It remains aGroup 1 variety which the end user wants,whether it has provisional or full approval.”

As such, it’ll make inroads into bothSolstice and Gallant sales, he predicts. “And it could take a bit of the Cordiale market, too.”

Russell Frost of Nidera sees versatility inSkyfall, with its suitability for all soil types andits higher yields. “There’ll be growers who’veabandoned the milling wheat sector whomight be tempted back by this variety.

“But unless they move quickly, they won’thave the opportunity to try it. It’ll sell out.”

The Group 2 varieties don’t excite LeeBennett in the same way, and he points outthey also need millers to get behind them.“The market is full enough already, so don’tgrow them without a contract.”

But Paul Taylor of Pearce Seeds can seea place for newly recommended Cubanitafrom Syngenta, which has yielded very wellin the south west of England and also has agood specific weight. “It’s equalled the bestfeed varieties for yield in our trials and itgives us a quality wheat for the export market,” he says.

“It’s only downside is that it doesn’t haveorange wheat blossom midge resistance.”

Proximity to the south coast means thatthe export market also drives the sales ofsoft wheat varieties for Dorset-based PearceSeeds, he adds. “We have to be able to ship them.”

For this reason, his choice of the Group3s is Monterey, which joined the RL last year.“It has the grain quality which that marketrequires, it takes yield on from the Claire and Scout level and it has shown very littlevariation over the past three years, unlikesome of the others.”

Lee Bennett agrees that the Group 3 market is mostly export, which is why Claireand Scout still feature strongly. “There aretwo new varieties this year, Zulu and Icon,which are difficult to differentiate on yieldand disease, although only Zulu has midge resistance. Hopefully the millers will like them.”

Russell Frost picks out Zulu, but alsomentions Monterey and Delphi, as all ofthem can be exported and will suit theSpanish market. “They all have orangewheat blossom midge resistance and agood agronomic package. Delphi will suitthe early drillers, while Monterey has a superior specific weight.”

Of the Group 4 feed wheats, just two softvarieties are mentioned by everyone. BothLeeds and Revelation are seen as havingsomething to offer, although they accept that Revelation might be considered too late by some.

Lee Bennett describes Revelation asalmost the complete package, with goodgrain quality and a solid disease profile. “It sold out for us last year and I can see that happening again.”

Colin Button also believes Revelation ispromising and points out there’ll be goodseed availability. “You just have to be aware that it has a +4 for maturity, which up in north Yorks can mean it matures 10-14 days later.”

They both agree Leeds is also likely to sellwell, having shown consistency in differentseasons and good fusarium resistance.

Among the hard Groups 4s, there’s interest in the newcomer Evolution, for itsrole in helping to spread disease risk andcomplement other popular feed wheats. “It brings good rust resistance to this sector,which is very positive,” says Lee Bennett.

He points out that it’s vying for the topyielding spot with KWS Kielder, but has similarities with it in terms of late maturityand a low specific weight. “And that helpsthe cause of varieties such as Dickens andJB Diego.”

JB Diego’s continued success is down tothe fact that you can do anything with it, headds. “It’s a very strong variety. It can be a

first or a second wheat, on any soil type, withfantastic grain quality as well. And that oftenbrings the grower a £3-5/t premium.”

So he believes the hard feed market will still be dominated by the current top two –– JB Diego and KWS Santiago –– with Dickens, Evolution and KWS Kielder also selling well. “Relay should hold its place too.”

Colin Button is of a similar view, but addsthat Conqueror has a place as a secondwheat. “JB Diego will still be important fornext year, but looking further ahead there aresome strong candidates coming through,with orange wheat blossom midge resistance too.”

Winter BarleyThe choice is between the Hyvido hybridbarleys or the new high yielding two-rowfeed types, agree the seed trade.

“Remember you need an extra 0.3t/hafrom a hybrid barley just to cover the extracost of the seed,” points out Lee Bennett.

While the hybrid barley market share isincreasing, he acknowledges, there’s strongcompetition from the likes of two-rows KWS Glacier and KWS Tower, neither of which have a screenings issue.

Of those, he picks out KWS Tower forlighter land, but predicts many growers willstick with KWS Glacier, especially where netblotch is a concern.

Paul Taylor has seen a big rise in theamount of hybrid barley being grown in the


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The feed winter barley choice is between theHyvido hybrid barleys or the new high yieldingtwo-row feed types.

Paul Taylor notes that hybrids are proving to bemore flexible and more forgiving, suiting growersin the south and south west of England.

Both Talisman and SY Venture are strong choicesfor winter malting barleys.

Skyfall Other Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Feed

Premium (£/t) 20 20 18 8 0

Projected Price (£/t) 180 180 178 168 160

Projected Yield (t/ha) 10.1 9.5 9.8 10.1 10.4

Crop Output (£/ha) 1818 1710 1744 1697 1664

Variable Costs (£/ha) 516 505 505 446 445

Gross Margin (£/ha) 1302 1205 1239 1251 1219

Fixed Costs (£/ha) 630 630 630 630 630

Net Income (£/ha) 672 575 609 621 589

Source: Gleadell. Figures exclude area aid and are based on Jan 2015 predictions

Skyfall – what could it mean for growers?

south and south west of England, even onmixed farms.

“The hybrids are proving to be more flexible and more forgiving,” he adds. “They can be drilled a bit later into poorerseedbeds, they produce the yields and theytend to get going quicker.”

Hybrids are also suited to some of thethinner soils in the region, such as on theMendips, he points out. “In our own trials,Volume has out-yielded everything else forthe past three years, so we’ve seen goodresults over a period of time.

“The question we’re asked the most iswhether the vigour they display pays for theextra seed cost, and that’s best answered bytrying them and doing a comparison.”

Colin Button sees equal yield performance from the hybrids and the besttwo-rows, but stresses that the hybrids havea spring vigour advantage. “Growers in theNorth should consider Fletcher (not to beconfused with Bayer’s OSR variety), which is an alternative hybrid to Volume, with theadded bonus of slightly better straw strengthand specific weight.”

Of the winter malting barleys, bothTalisman and SY Venture are selected.Talisman only has provisional Institute ofBrewing and Distilling (IBD) approval, with

a decision on full approval expected beforeCereals, while SY Venture moved to fullapproval in 2013.

Oilseed RapeThe days when an oilseed rape variety couldtake 50% of the market appear to be over.

The amount of plant-breeding work that has been going on is reflected in thefragmented state of the current market, withsix varieties having 5% market share orabove, according to the 2013 HGCAPlanting Survey.

Currently, the two market leaders are DKCabernet with 16% and PR46W21 with 10%,regarded as being consistent with goodyields, making the case for both hybrids andconventionals. Behind them come Compassand Excalibur, followed by DK Camelot andDK Expower.

But the four newcomers to the East andWest region Recommended List all deservetheir place, believes Simon Kightley of NIABTAG, who adds that the latest additions havemoved things on.

“The hybrid Incentive is marginally top forgross output, only just ahead of Charger,and has the distinction of coming top of bothlists,” he says. “That’s a special feature.”

Incentive is relatively tall and has the highbiomass that’s expected from hybrids, hecontinues. “It has good scores for lodgingand stem stiffness but its disease resistanceis nothing special.”

Right up there with the best hybrid is the conventional variety, Charger, whichstands out because it’s a low biomass type that growers have previously shown a preference for, he says.

“At 145cm, Charger is short and very stiff, with very early flowering and mediummaturity. A strong trials performance in 2012 shows that it won’t lodge, even in the most difficult of seasons,” points outSimon Kightley.

“The downside is its disease resistance,so growers shouldn’t cut back on fungicides,” he stresses.

But Lee Bennett of Openfield points

out that both Incentive and Charger havebeen inconsistent in the three years of trials, so there may be some settling down of their performance still to come.

“And both stem canker and light leaf spotresistance are becoming more important onfarm,” he notes.

The other two newcomers to consider areconventional Trinity and hybrid Harper.Trinity’s excellent performance in 2013bought it to attention; while Harper’s 9 forstem canker resistance may give it anadvantage in a wet year.

Lee Bennett highlights Trinity of these two. “It’s never had a bad year –– it hasrespectable disease resistance and a better oil content than some. It also has animpressive early growth habit, which gets itaway in the autumn.”

Colin Button of Hutchinsons agrees thatthe new varieties for this year are a strongbunch, with many of them displaying thegood early vigour that helps with the crucial establishment stage.

“This early growth pattern is becomingmore important to growers,” he explains.“Without the neonicotinoids, varieties whichhave the ability to get up and go will offer abit more flexibility at a time of the year whenthey really need it.”

He’s impressed by the new hybrids


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With respectable disease resistanceand a better oil content than some,Trinity’s never had a bad year, saysLee Bennett.

The OSR hybrid Incentive has the distinction of coming top of both East/Westand North RLs.

Limagrain’s conventional typeAmalie is the first OSR variety to offer Turnip Yellows Virusresistance.

This makes it an interestingproposition, believes Colin Button,who points out that around 70%of the aphid population is believedto be carrying the virus.

“Without the neonicotinoidseed dressings, there are going to be some difficult decisions tomake,” he says. “Amalie hasexcellent disease resistance and good standing ability, as well as this virus resistance.”

A gross output figure of 100puts it behind others, he admits.“But its performance is likely to

Amalie is the first OSR variety to offerTurnip Yellows Virus resistance.

Amalie armour against aphids

Incentive and Harper for this reason, but adds that existinghybrid choices PR46W21 andPT211 are still in the running.“Looking further ahead, there’s

a promising candidate hybridvariety called SY Harnas, whichhas UK suitability.”

Of the conventionals, he alsopicks out Trinity. “It’s just one of a whole host of conventional varieties which are keeping up with the hybrids on performance.”

Three candidate conventionalvarieties are also of interest, henotes. “Growers are well servedwith good OSRs.” Otherwise, hepredicts that semi-dwarf typeTroy will hold its position.

Russell Frost welcomes thenew varieties and the extrachoice they bring, adding thatgrowers will still be able to growhigh performing conventional varieties if they prefer.

“But the older varieties won’tdisappear. There’ll be good salesof PR46W21 and DK Cabernet,as well as varieties like Compassand Vision.” n

be comparable when the seedtreatments are no longer available–– the virus can reduce yields byas much as a quarter.”


Picking the right varietycould make the biggest

difference to drive up yields,but yield is far from the only

consideration. CPM joins agroup of growers as they

mull over choices forautumn 2014 plantings.


Yield’s just part of the picture Growers tend

to make a sub-optimalvariety choice, and thiscould be why they’renot achieving their

land’s true yield potential.”

“

Variety choice is top of the agenda for thegrowers who’ve gathered for the DrivingUp Oilseed Rape Yields meeting at thestart of May, as thoughts turn to nextyear’s crop. But yield doesn’t appear tobe the biggest driver as the discussionquickly shifts to establishment, and thechallenge of achieving a good start without neonicotinoid seed dressings.

“Establishment is the key to everything,and seed-to-soil contact is the most crucial factor,” states Lincs growerAndrew Ward. “I grow hybrid varietiesbecause I believe they perform better andgrow better, but they still depend a lot ongood seedbed conditions. One aspectworth considering this year is drilling date,however –– if you sow later, the crop maynot face such a high pest pressure.”

Seedbed conditionsDerby grower James Chamberlain, onwhose farm they’ve gathered, is planningto stick with hybrids PT211 and Harper.“Hybrids give you the best possiblechance for early vigour. I’d say the sowingdate isn’t crucial –– it’s seedbed conditionson the day that are more important.”

Berks-based Innes McEwen is stickingwith the same –– NK Molten grown for thecold-pressed rapeseed oil market and DK Camelot. “Changing a variety is thelast thing I’d do this autumn. Without neonics, so much about establishment

will be unknown, so I’ll be sticking withvarieties I’m used to. The way to insureagainst the unknown is to give them thebest possible seedbed conditions.”

Cotswold grower Hamish Campbell didn’t give his Molten seed a neonicdressing last autumn, wary that the controversy over bee health could affectsales of his R-Oil rapeseed oil. “The endmarket is my biggest driver for varietychoice. We find Kick Off seed treatmentreally helps get the seed going and didn’thave any pest problems, but we did havedowny mildew. The drilling date’s moreimportant for us, being so high above sea level –– any date after 2 Sept compromises crop potential.”

The group has gathered to considerhow new and different agronomy


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“We’ve tried shorter varieties and they didn’twork. On our brash, you can only get thecanopy from the larger crops.”

For Innes McEwen, plant height is oftenthe least obvious factor, but the one thatcan put him off an otherwise attractivevariety. “Everything can look right for avariety, then plant height kills it –– it’s notthe most exciting aspect to consider, butit’s often the detractor that persuades youagainst a variety in the end.”

Disease resistance ranks high forJames Chamberlain. “It would rarely

James Chamberlain’s PT211 received just onesclerotinia spray, but he’s keeping a watchfuleye on reports, the weather and his crop.

It’s beginning to pour with rain as JamesChamberlain’s PT211 comes under scrutiny.But he’s actually enjoying the weather. “It’s beentoo dry lately. What we need are trickles of rainfrom now right until the end of June, but a hot,dry May will sink us.”

With Grade 3 mostly sandy or sandy gravelloams in the Trent Valley, the soils of Glebe Farm don’t retain moisture and don’t naturallyself-structure, says James Chamberlain. “Theland came out of the previous winter in a very

poor state, after the River Derwent flooded itthree times during the previous winter, so wehad to plough last autumn to get some structure back in.”

This was power-harrowed and then the 80haof PT211 and Harper were drilled on 2-3 Septwith the farm’s Accord 6m drill. “As soon as thetramlines were visible, we gave the crop28kgN/ha. After the poor results from last year’sOSR crop, we wanted a strong establishmentand a quick, clean start. We felt this was particularly important, given there were predictions of a cold Nov.”

This never materialised and the crop wasbarely affected by pigeons, nor did it receive asingle slug pellet. “In Nov, we applied 0.7 l/ha ofKestrel (prothioconazole+ tebuconazole) withmolybdenum and boron, plus Nutriphite PGA.In March we applied another 0.5 l/ha of Kestrel for light leaf spot with some Zoom for micronutrients, and 0.6 l/ha of Juventus(metconazole). But the crop has looked veryclean throughout the season.”

It’s also had plenty of strong growth. “It started the spring with a GAI of more than 2,

so didn’t receive any N until the beginning ofMarch –– 28kgN/ha was applied as ammoniumsulphate. Another 70kgN/ha went on in midMarch, with a further 105kgN/ha going on at theend of the month.”

Just one sclerotinia spray –– 1 l/ha of PrioriXtra (azoxystrobin+ cyproconazole) – wasapplied in mid April, and by the start of May,James Chamberlain was keeping a watchful eye on reports, the weather and his crop. “Theapplication was timed at early petal fall, and it’sa product that should give us good protectionthroughout flowering. So I’m not anticipatinghaving to make a second application, which is my preferred policy, but I’m keeping thatunder review.”

The result is a crop he was only too pleasedto show the rest of the group. “We’ve doneeverything right by this crop and it shows –– itcame to flowering at the right GAI, has put onstrong growth since and now looks as if itshould hit our target of 5t/ha. But we’ve beenhere before and know that it’s weather fromflowering onwards that dictates how the podswill fill, so we’ll see if the crop delivers.”

Praying for late spring showers


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Establishment is the key to growing a good crop,reckons Andrew Ward (left). Is it wise to change variety for a crop that won’t

be protected with neonicotinoid seed dressings?

techniques can enhance a crop’s performance, with a view to achieving an OSR crop that has the potential to yield more, and yield more consistently.

And variety choice is a key consideration,according to Gary Jobling of Syngenta.“Seed represents the biggest single input cost for OSR, but it’s yield that drives variety choice for most growers,” he claims.

“Since their introduction in 1997, theproportion of the UK crop grown to hybridshas climbed and declined, mirroring how

they’ve fared against conventional lines in HGCA Recommended List trials.”

Currently, more than half of the OSRarea is planted to hybrid varieties, according to market-panel data, withopen-pollinated seed sales accounting for31%, and farm-saved seed the remaining18% –– very similar to 2012 plantings.

“But will pest concerns provide the driver for variety choice in 2014?” he asks.“2008, for example, was a big turningpoint for hybrids as growers looked for a quick establishment after experiencing a late cereals harvest and cold, wet conditions at sowing time. And how muchof a consideration is plant height?”

Tall varietiesIt’s certainly an important factor forAndrew Ward. “My main concern for ourHOLL varieties is that they’re still too tall.We plant them at a low seed rate, whichmeans they branch out well and the podsare lower down, so we have to keep thecombine header low. But some seed isthen knocked out at the top, and it pushesup our combining cost –– OSR costs us£59/ha to harvest, compared with wheat at £43/ha, mainly due to the slower forward speed.”

But Hamish Campbell isn’t so concerned.

s

influence how many times I’d spray acrop, but it gives us flexibility on product choice and rate. Our soils don’tretain much moisture, so the crop needsall the help it can get from a good disease-resistance score and appropriatechoice of fungicide –– together with anability to build yield and hang on to it.”

Variety choice is central to determiningyield, according to Simon Kightley ofNIAB, who’s joined the group. He’sbrought with him an analysis of the recent six-month HGCA-funded study into the apparent stagnation of OSR

yields (see chart, left).“It’s a yield plateau, but a very variable

one,” he points out. “There was a dip inthe national farm average yields after theintroduction of double-low varieties, butthis has more recently reversed, and thereare a number of contributory factors.

Increase in yield“What’s more interesting, however, is thatover the same period, there’s been asteady, straight-line increase in yield of the leading varieties, according to the RL.Farm yields don’t reflect that improvement,but why?”

One explanation could be the weather,he suggests –– arguably on-farm yieldsare more exposed to weather variations.“An analysis of yield and raw climate datafrom 1984-2011 throws up an interestingcorrelation,” he reveals.

“There are three months in the yearwhere statistically significant yield variationsresult from unusual weather patterns. Awarm Oct results in an increased yield,and similarly a cold Dec will do likewise. A dry, warm and sunny April will also resultin a yield boost. This year, there’s been awarm winter, but two out of three of those

weather variations look to have gonefavourably for the national crop.”

One of the factors contributing to theyield dip was the introduction of ArableArea Payments. “This disincentivisedinputs and yields reduced as a result,”notes Simon Kightley. “Growers cut costs,moving to spring cropping, reduced tillageand often used farm-saved seed. Ananalysis of this period also shows growershad more willingness to grow second-ratevarieties, rather than pay for the best ones.”

There was also a big drop in the use

Consider plant height and stiffness, along withgross output, advises Simon Kightley.

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3.5

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Yie

ld (t

/ha)

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

Harvest year

Source: NIAB

National average oilseedrape yields

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Charger stands well and is early flowering, butlow disease scores will need managing.

Current RL leadersIncentive – It’s top of both East/West RL and the highest yielder in northern trials.But aside from this, there’s nothing special that jumps out. It’s tall and has a poor score for stem canker.Charger – The highest-yielding conventionalvariety in the E/W region, it stands well – niceand short – and it’s early flowering, too. But lowdisease scores will need managing.Trinity – A bit taller than Charger and slightlyweaker. However, it came top in trials last year,so is definitely one to consider.PT211 –Yields well in both North and E/Wregions, but no other stand-out.Harper – A hybrid with excellent stem cankerresistance, but this hasn’t translated into a list-leading yield.

PR46W21 – Still a very strong and consistentvariety, although one of the taller ones with apoor score for stem canker.Marathon – Consistency is its strong point andit’s early flowering, but poor for stem canker.Quartz – Conventional variety with good stemcanker resistance, but watch the stem stiffness.Avatar – Early flowering and maturity, but poorstem canker resistance.DK Cabernet – Consistent performer and still afavourite, but alarmingly late in some seasons.

Leading CandidatesSY Harnas – Top hybrid candidate in E/Wregion and top overall in the north, thislooks like becoming a landmark variety,based on performance to date.Picto – Highest conventional candidate in

E/W region, this is one to watch.Advance – Conventional candidate withhigh gross output and low plant height.

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of nitrogen on the crop. A 2010 survey of NIAB TAG members reveals the largest proportion of growers apply 180-209kgN/ha, with yields averaging3.9t/ha, but steady yield increases wereobserved from higher N rates. “Optimum Nfor OSR was established in the 1980s, butvariety potential has moved on since thenand growers applying more N typicallyachieve a higher yield.”

All growers in the group use Green AreaIndex (GAI) and yield potential to assessN requirements. Andrew Ward applies280kgN/ha, aiming for a 6t/ha crop insome fields. James Chamberlain puts on205kgN/ha, with an additional 20kgN/ha in the autumn. Hamish Campbell applies220kgN/ha, including up to 30kgN/haapplied to the seedbed, and InnesMcEwen puts on between 170-230kgN/ha

pitched at a yield of 4.6t/ha, after assessingsoil reserves.

Fungicide inputs have increased –– something of a “success story” forOSR, Simon Kightley suggests –– and sulphur applications have also kept pacewith increased recommendations.Phosphate and potash applications havedropped, while there wasn’t enough dataon cultivation policy to assess whether

Kightley’s contenders: OSR varieties worthy of attention

Driving up oilseed rape yields

Oilseed rape is one of the most profitablecrops on farm and is no longer just a breakcrop. Striving for better yields, however incremental, can deliver big returns. It’s for this reason that Syngenta has brought

together eleven of the country’s leading OSR growers as part of the ‘Driving Up Yields’ initiative,with the aim of challenging current conventions,promoting best practice and stimulating uptake ofinnovations. Meeting throughout the season withindustry experts, the group is voicing its concernsand sharing its thoughts in an online forum –– you can follow the discussion and debate at www.syngenta.co.uk/drivingyields.

Belinda Bailey (left) advises establishing 1ha ofpollen-and-nectar margin for every 100ha ofcrop to ensure there’s plenty of flowers tosustain pollinators.

Although only a one-year mix, JamesChamberlain’s Operation Pollinator pollen-and-nectar margin has been left to flower for another season, and looks as though it will provide plenty for foraging bees,according to Belinda Bailey of Syngenta.

“The phacelia came through the mild autumnwell and has already started to flower [by thebeginning of May]. It can be rather vigorousafter a mild winter, while the aim is for a mixture, but the cornflower, red clover and other flowers are there in good numbers.There’s currently not much evidence of the cornmarigold, but that’ll hopefully come throughlater,” she reports.

The aim overall is to provide a rich source of pollen and nectar, especially for solitary andbumble bees, from March through to the end ofSept. “Hedgerows provide early food sources

and somewhere to live, and then pollinators willmove out into the crop as spring progresses. Asa rule of thumb, just 1ha of pollen-and-nectarmargin for every 100ha of crop ensures there’splenty of flowers to sustain them into theautumn. These are best established next to an OSR crop.”

James Chamberlain’s margin was also deliberately established next to a maturehedgerow to attract the pollinators from theirearly spring habitat, he notes. It was left for the seed to mature and then topped at the endof Sept.

“The margin was grazed by pigeons andhares over the winter, and we spot-treated for docks and thistles, but the mix is now looking very vigorous. We’re establishing apollen-and-nectar mix next to the OSR crop asit’s rotated around the farm, placing it between

Flower power

the crop and a mature hedgerow or wood. Eachmargin is about 0.3ha and will last for twoyears, then we’ll spray them off once flowering’sover and the plan is to re-establish them.”


Disease resistance gives James Chamberlainflexibility on fungicide product choice and rate.

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1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Variety sets▲ Best variety

Source: NIAB

The effect of variety choice

The difference between thebest variety and the basketof varieties actually grownhas diverged.

tillage tactics had contributed to theyield plateau.

Sub-optimal choice“But growers tend to make a sub-optimalvariety choice, and this could be partlywhy they’re not achieving their land’s trueyield potential,” he claims. This can beshown by plotting the trials yield averageachieved by the best variety available inany given year against the average yieldpotential of variety sets going through certification –– a loose guide to what wasactually planted (see chart above).

“The difference between the best varietyand the basket of varieties actually grownhas diverged since the 1990s,” points outSimon Kightley. “We need diversity to aiddisease resistance and agronomic typesto guard against the vagaries of different

seasons, so it wouldn’t help if everyoneplanted the same variety. But at themoment, there’s nothing to suggest the yield improvement breeders areachieving from a whole range of types will slow down.”

Although his analysis doesn’t account

for most of the hybrids, which are mainlyimported, he feels a similar pattern wouldapply here, too. “There’s an embarrassmentof riches on the RL, and several verypromising candidates coming through. It’s worth taking a long, hard look at thewide choice on offer.” n

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Hybrid OSRshave plenty to offer

Oilseed rape margins are underpressure, but strong marketpremiums and the introductionof novel traits that ease themanagement burden show thecrop still has plenty to offer.CPM finds out.

By Andrew Watts

As the positive outlook for oilseed cropsacross the northern hemisphere weighson prices, the place of oilseed rape in therotation is coming under scrutiny.

According to Bidwells farm managementconsultant Ian Ashbridge, the incomederived from OSR across the business’ contract-farmed units fell 20% on the pastyear due in part to low prices, but also poor yields.

“The results largely mirror what manygrowers will see within their own businesses.We all have to live with the impact of lowerprices, but the poor yields can be attributedto the lingering aftermath of the 2012 season when the wet weather meant lastingdamage was inflicted on soil structures,”says Ian Ashbridge.

Long process“Correcting this is proving a long processand has involved some managementchanges, including extending the rotation toincorporate a more diverse range of crops,but also to reduce reliance on OSR whichoften struggles when conditions are difficult,”he adds.

The recent fall in prices however, hasmade the decision to review OSR’s placeon the farm far easier than it might haveotherwise been, he says.

“OSR remains one of the two most profitable combinable crops available, but its performance over the past threeyears has been highly variable. Admittedly,this is a result of the contrasting seasons,but it has served to highlight the higherrisk nature of the crop and the importanceof good establishment.

“With the economic argument forgrowing it no longer as strong as it

once was, we feel it’s unlikely thatgrowers will resent having asmaller area to manage. For the past couple of years,high prices have cushioned theimpact of variable performance

and for some growers, made itthe most profitable crop they’ve

grown. Now, it has returned to being

For most,though not all,

hybrids are the clearwinner.”

“


The income derived from OSRacross the Bidwells’ contract-farmedunits fell 20% on the past year,notes Ian Ashbridge.

the subordinate of wheat,” he says.

Bidwells has produced a setof basic gross margins to allowfor easy comparison of winterwheat and the principal breakcrops (see table on page 34).

“At 4t/ha, OSR looks arespectable break crop and itjust about holds its place at3.5t/ha, but below this othercrops start to look morefavourable. As ever, yield is king,” he says.

His forecast includes anallowance for additional insecticides to counter theimpact of losing neonicotinoidseed treatments. “Inevitablywe’ll need to be wary of theimpact cabbage stem flea beetle can have so allowing an extra £40/ha in spraysseems prudent. More difficult to factor in is the growing threat of verticillium wilt on crop yield, but it’s an issue we continue to watch closely,”says Ian Ashbridge.

The impact of yield on gross margins is evident in the sensitivity analysis he hasproduced (see table 2). Theprice includes an oil bonus premium of £20/tonne.

“OSR is a resilient crop, but its performance is easilyimpacted. At current prices thedownside risks outweigh theupside gains,” he says.

“This isn’t to say that OSRwill no longer appear on ourmanaged farms –– it will. But to

what extent will largely bedetermined by its ability tospread the seasonal workloadand how well it performs without neonicotinoid seedtreatments,” he adds.

Variety selectionFor many growers OSR still offersa convenient and attractive breakcrop, but ensuring it continues toperform well on farm highlightsthe importance of variety selection, according to David Leaper of Openfield.

“For most, though not all,hybrids are the clear winner,”he says. “Growers have cometo appreciate the importance ofautumn vigour in ensuring goodestablishment. Select the rightvariety and hybrids typicallyperform well across a range of situations. As a result,Openfield seed sales suggestthey account for 40-45% of theplanted area this crop year.”

For all the benefits of hybridshowever, he acknowledges thatconventional varieties are likelyto remain in the short termdespite many breeders movingover to hybrids exclusively.

“Elsoms is bringing someinteresting varieties to market,as is KWS, and for the first timein several years we’ve two new conventionals that show an increase in yield over DK Cabernet. These might just shake the variety from itslong-held position as the UK’snumber one conventional variety,” says David Leaper.

These new conventionals ––Trinity from Elsoms and Chargerfrom KWS UK –– are placedsecond and third respectively


Clearfield varieties represent ameans to control volunteer brassicaplants within OSR crops.

s

Source: DSV UK

Feed wheat Winter barley Spring barley Winter OSR

Yield (t/ha) 8.5 7.5 5.5 4

Price (£/t) 150 120 120 280

Premium (£/t) 25 20

Straw (£/ha) 100 120

Gross output (£/ha) 1375 1020 797.5 1200

Variable costs

Seed (£/ha) 60 62 67 65

Fertiliser (£/ha) 223 220 160 205

Sprays (£/ha) 210 140 125 200

Total variable costs (£/ha) 493 422 352 470

Gross margin (£/ha) 882 598 445.5 730

Source: Bidwells

Yield (t/ha)

2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5

Price inc. premium (£/t) 270 205 340 475 610 745

280 230 370 510 650 790

290 255 400 545 690 835

300 280 430 580 730 880

310 305 460 615 770 925

320 330 490 650 810 970

Source: Bidwells

It also offers good disease resistance, evidence of good verticillium wilt resistance and has been found to have avigorous autumn growth habit,” he adds.

But it’s the progression of the first higholeic low linolenic (HOLL) variety throughthe RL trials that truly excites him.

Credible data“For the first time we look set to have aHOLL that has come through HGCA trials.Previously, these varieties came throughthe Danish system and were registeredthrough the EU Common Catalogue. As aresult they haven’t been particularly visibleto growers and some have been wary ofgrowing them. We now have verifiable,credible and freely available data on theperformance of these varieties under UKconditions,” he says.

With the pressure on crops to produce astrong financial performance or risk beingcut back in favour of something else, hesees HOLL types as a route for growers to secure a healthy premium.

“They can be grown and stored in the same way as Double O varieties andyet they command premiums of up to£35/t. The addition of a HOLL to the RL will help give more growers the

confidence to plant these types,” he says. HOLL varieties aren’t new –– Splendor,

the first HOLL variety, was being grown inGreat Britain 10 years ago, but stringentgrowing requirements slowed their adoption. These rules have since beenrelaxed says David Leaper.

“It’s no longer the case that HOLL varieties must be grown on virgin land or very open rotations. With yield parity of hybrids, if they fail to meet the specification, there’s no penalty other than the loss of premium.”

Growers still need to make some efforthowever, to keep crops clean, he says.“Ideally you want to minimise volunteers,but in reality 90% of samples from cropsgrown in a normal rotation pass the test.”

Another innovation that could help maintain interest in OSR is the introduction of varieties with a specific trait. Clearfield varieties are tolerant to specific imidazolinoneherbicides, which represents a means tocontrol volunteer brassica plants withinOSR crops. That’s a benefit that’s likely toappeal to many growers, says David Leaper.

“These varieties offer a good opportunityto those growers constrained by brassicaweeds. There are several semi-dwarf varieties in trials that perform at a level equalto the control varieties. But because theydon’t yield ahead of the control varieties theywon’t progress on to the RL,” he says.

He worries that this means growers willoverlook what to many might be a usefulmanagement trait and warns against relying solely on the official trials systemfor new varieties.

“DK Extrovert is a good example of avariety that proved to be very successfulon farm despite never being listed on theRL. This year there’s an estimated55,000ha in production, accounting for more than 8% of the planted area,” he says.

The benefits associated with hybrids,

Hybrid vs conventional atWardington, Oxon

Forecast crop gross margins for year ending 30 Sept 2015

OSR gross margin (£/ha) sensitivity analysis


on the current HGCA RecommendedList for the East & West regions, ahead of Quartz, the next best-performing conventional, ranked ninth.

“Both Trinity and Charger are strongperformers, but Trinity has proved moreconsistent in trials and with its higher oilcontent, we see it as the safer option.

David Leaper reckons hybrids typically performwell across a range of situations as long as theright variety is selected.

s

Sarah Lockhart is hoping the study will offergrowers more detailed information on how avariety is likely to perform.

The more biomass produced by the plant above ground, the more root there is below the soil surface.

such as greater autumn vigour and earliergrowth coming out of the winter, are widelyaccepted. But one breeder is investigatingwhether these characteristics will help theplant cope with increased pest attackbrought on by the loss of neonicotinoidseed treatments. If the results demonstratea positive effect, it could be another tick in the box that underlines the case forhybrid OSRs.

Breeder DSV is midway through a three-year project to see if there’s a relationship between biomass expansionand a plant’s ability to withstand cabbagestem flea beetle attack –– one of the possible consequences from the withdrawalof neonicotinoid seed treatments.

“We know that hybrids grow slightly differently. For every leaf they producethey also produce an auxiliary bud thatthen produces a branch which goes on to produce flowers and then pods. So themore leaves they have, the quicker they’reable to produce extra branches,” saysSarah Lockhart of DSV UK.

“But while we know what to expect, thistells us very little about the development of a specific variety, so last season webegan by mapping the vigour habits of our varieties to see how they performed on a range of soil types and over severalseasons,” she adds.

DSV began by collecting plants fromvariety plots at its trials site in Wardingon,Oxon and weighing both the leaf and rootmass before logging the data.

“While not a linear relationship, weobserved that the more biomass aboveground, the more root there was below thesoil surface. As hybrids produce bigger


canopies, it follows that there’s also moreroot mass. Similarly, we were also able tochart the rate at which hybrids put on leafand root mass,” says Sarah Lockhart.

Crops were lifted for analysis in Novand Dec 2012 and in spring 2013. In allcases, DSV found conventional types hada smaller root system than hybrids (seechart on p34). The trial continues in a bidto fulfil its initial objective and the plan is to make the data being generated available to growers to help further cropmanagement decisions.

“We’re accumulating lots of valuabledata. When overlaid with weather data andtemperature records, we hope to be ableto offer growers more detailed informationon how a variety is likely to perform in agiven situation or when to treat for certaindiseases following a period of mild weather.It’ll also help inform on when to apply fertiliser or whether a growth regulator would be advisable,” she concludes. n

Bayer debutswith strongphoma score

The key drivers of yield, oil content, disease

resistance, standingpower, earliness andvigour are all present

in Harper.”

“

Easier to manage than plenty of othervarieties and particularly well suited to the country’s often fickle growing conditions. That’s how Adrian Cottey,Bayer CropScience’s UK seeds marketingmanager sums up Harper, one of four newcomers to the HGCA’s 2014/15 Recommended List for the East/West Region.

Harper is a fully restored hybrid fromBayer’s breeding programme, based inLundsgaard, North Germany, and led byJutta Kaiser, he explains.

“Key traits sought have been consistently high yield and especially high oil percentage, plus robust stem canker resistance and good standing power. All have been achieved in Harper.

Easier management“Many of the current tranche of hybrids arequite disease susceptible, and suffer either a risk of lodging or from quite late maturity.Harper is a much better fit for growers withoverall easier management characters, andhas shown itself to be very adaptable to oursomewhat chaotic climate.”

Those characters include leading stemcanker resistance –– rated 9 by the HGCAon limited data. Only the conventional varietyQuartz (again on limited data) and therestored hybrid DK Expower –– both rated 8 –– come near that, most varieties scoring 6 or below.

Harper is winter tolerant, has early springvigour, good standing power, and high oilcontent driving high gross output, addsAdrian Cottey. Its fungicide-treated figure of 103 is only two points behind that of top-rated restored hybrid Incentive and conventional Charger –– two of the other RL newcomers.

The variety should appeal to experiencedgrowers and those new to the crop in equalmeasure, believes Agrovista’s Nigel Walley.

“Its good disease scores for both stemcanker and light leaf spot enable a widerwindow of opportunity for fungicide application which is always useful if theweather is unfavourable or the spray contractor is delayed.


The first UK plant variety from a company better known for its crop protection products is bound to attract attention.CPM examines what Harperwinter oilseed rape has to offer.

By Andrew Blake

I N S I D E R S V I E W

“The reason I was attracted to Harper wasthe fact that it possesses a good all-roundagronomic profile and in particular its excellent stem canker score of 9.

“The key drivers of yield, oil content, disease resistance, standing power, earliness and vigour are all present inHarper, and although it’s early days, we’vehad very positive feedback from growers.

“While its light leaf spot score is only 5, ifyou dig down into the data it’s a very good

Adrian Cottey says key traits achieved in Harperare high yield, high oil content, robust stemcanker resistance and good standing power.

A good agronomic package includes standingability, early flowering and medium early maturity.

5. There are eleven varieties that score 5 onthe East/West RL, and Harper is in the topfour scoring varieties within that sector. Whilenot as strong as some of the Northern-listedvarieties on light leaf spot, it’s certainly avery good average.”

Sales last year for a variety from a breeder new to the UK were impressive, henotes. “Early sales this season have beenencouraging, and positive comments fromgrowers should ensure Harper finds a loyalfollowing this autumn and make some of themore established breeders in the UK sit upand take note.”

For Agrii’s Philip Marr, Harper’s outstanding qualities include excellent resistance to stem canker, rapid leaf development in both autumn and spring andexceptionally high levels of leaf cuticle wax.

“In my view, it’s very like DK Expower in speed of development, but differs in its later maturity and isn’t as tall.

“Sales went very well last year. It opens a new window for the possibility of drillinglater –– after late maturing wheat varieties ––without jeopardising yield potential,” he says.“It’s not a late maturing or tall variety. And thethick wax cuticle is useful for the applicationof bifenox herbicide (for example in Fox).”

Harper is one of four new recommended

varieties that should be considered asoptions for drilling later this year, says NIAB’s Simon Kightley.

“For me the ‘gold standard’ over the past few seasons has been set by the conventional variety DK Cabernet and the hybrid PR46W21. Both have yielded consistently.

“The current figures indicate that the newcomers all have higher yield potential;

s

For Wilts grower Martin Smart, Harper’s mainattractions are its autumn vigour and ability to getaway in the spring.

As arable manager for Ashton Farms,Trowbridge, he grew the variety as one of 14 infield trials last season. “It’s early maturing withgood yield and oil content,” he says.

In his trial it came second overall with an oil content of 44.1%, and he’s growing 60ha this season.

“We need new varieties like this to keep upwith the ever growing demands on growers to produce crops with fewer inputs, higher yields and better able to cope to pests and diseases.”

Harper is particularly suited to growers withblocks of land some distance from the mainfarms, he says. “They won’t have to chase after it with the sprayer in the autumn.”

He reckons the variety’s similar in vigour toMarathon from DSV. “But Harper has a more open

canopy –– at the moment.“Its particular strength is its high rating for

phoma, and up to now I can’t see any weakness.”One mistake growers might make with the

variety is planting it too thickly, he says. “It’s verygood at getting away when drilled later, and it has a nice dark green colour which stands outlooking healthy.”

Another potential error, driven by that appearance, might be not feeding it quicklyenough in the spring, he suggests.

“This variety will need a good growth regulatoras it’ll bend over from half way up when pushedon fertile land,” he adds. “It didn’t go flat from thebottom, but it did bend over which could be usefulon an exposed windy site.”

Bayer’s requirement for details of Harper’sgrowers did deter some from trying it last season, he believes. “I think a few people wereput off from growing it last autumn for this

Martin Smart finds Harper very good at gettingaway when drilled later.

New variety is welcome in Wilts

reason. Its market share this autumn depends onhow good the firm’s field staff are at showing ithas potential.”


Being a very vigorous variety, Harper overwinteredwell and its spring growth has been impressive,notes Nigel Walley.

Harper is a fully restored hybrid and the first ontothe RL from Bayer’s North German breedingprogramme.

but they’ve all been fairly variable over their three years in trials, so observing theirperformance in the coming harvest seasonwill be critical.”

“The clear attraction of Harper is its verygood resistance to stem canker, and this is underpinned by good agronomic characteristics: good standing ability, early flowering and medium early maturity.

“What we don’t really have a handle on atthe moment is the significance of that 9 rating for stem canker. The RL system nolonger runs untreated trials, so we can’t sayhow rankings might change under high disease pressure. All we know for sure isthat disease-susceptible varieties canperform very well indeed, given a comprehensive fungicide programme.

“At the moment Harper sits equal fourthfor gross output, along with three otherhybrids. Above it is the new hybrid,Incentive, and two new conventionals:

Charger –– outstanding for earliness of flowering and standing ability –– and Trinity,which came top in trials last year.

“It’ll be fascinating to see where all four of the new varieties bed in as new yield data begins to emerge.”

Harper’s attraction for Hutchinsons’ seedsmanager Colin Button is the diversity itbrings to the market. “It’s a solid variety withgood establishment-period growth, good oilsand mid-range height from a new breederfor the future.

“There are a number of varieties which, on the basis of RL descriptions and measurement, are “similar”, but they all have their individualities.

“Harper has robust growth and somewhatdifferent foliage –– it has a compact habitwithout a leggy stem. That’s an architecturewhich many growers like.”

Spring vigourComparing Harper with more establishedvarieties Adrian Cottey says it has provenearly spring vigour and is relatively earlyflowering like Excalibur. “But it exceeds itsyield significantly and brings a much betterdisease package.

“It’s quite similar to DK Expower in itsphoma stem canker resistance, but againbeats it easily on yield and standing power;and it has improved yield and vigour characteristics compared to the most popularphoma-resistant conventional variety Quartz.

“In summary, it’s the leading variety on theRL with its disease resistance package and

all round characteristics, and only trails thehighest gross output varieties, Incentive andCharger, by 2%.”

He suggests it should suit growers who want a new high performing varietyinvolving less risk than some commonlygrown varieties.

“It’s more consistent in its establishmentand recovery from winter damage, and it allows much easier management of fungicide inputs, usually needing only a single autumn spray against light leaf spot, the timing of which fits well with herbicide applications.

“It’s a vigorous hybrid, so in common with other similar hybrid varieties, we don’tadvise very early sowing. It fits a mid to lateAug and early Sept slot, and would riskbecoming too large in the autumn if sownbefore mid Aug.”

Philip Marr agrees: “With its fast leafdevelopment, I’d try to avoid drilling too early (early/mid Aug) without the use of

s

Gross output (% control) 103.1Treated seed yield 102.5Oil content (%) 45.1Resistance to lodging 7.8Stem stiffness 7.5Height (cm) 153Earliness of flowering 7.2Earliness of maturity 5.8Light leaf spot 5.2Stem canker [9][ ] – limited data.

Source: 2014/15 HGCA Recommended List East/West region

Harper at a glance

Harper growers must submit their details to Bayerto ensure traceability and stewardship of geneticsfor the future.

Philip Marr points out its thick wax cuticle isuseful when applying bifenox.

autumn PGRs.”It offers mid to later season drilling

options, adds Colin Button.Being a very vigorous variety Harper

overwintered well and its spring growth has been impressive, notes Nigel Walley.

“Its good root development has helped itscavenge nitrogen efficiently, and crops areforward. Many have had an application ofCaryx fungicide and growth regulator and apartner fungicide at stem extension. Laterapplications of Caryx have focussed moreon canopy management.”

According to Adrian Cottey, in its first season of sales before RecommendedListing, Harper accounted for close to9000ha sown through five agents, and thecompany does request that growers submittheir details to a database when they agreeto purchase from them.

“The grower simply has to use an on-line system to accept Bayer terms and conditions, which are related to thestandard AICC terms and conditions, andthey only need to accept these once for thecurrent range of varieties,” he says.

The reason is to ensure traceability and stewardship of genetics for the future,he explains.

“Our long term aims are to firstly use ourlong experience of hybrid breeding in othergeographies (e.g. canola in Canada) to

develop much higher performing hybrids.“We think hybrid breeding technology

is still quite immature in Europe and the UK, and hybrids can deliver more heterosis in future.

“Secondly we’re working on traits of agronomic value to the grower to add tothese high performing hybrids.”

If there’s an issue with any seed lot it can be instantly identified as to where thatseed has been sent, notes Nigel Walley.“Also the introduction of traits such asClearfield requires good traceability andhousekeeping. Bayer are merely futureproofing their seed business as others will surely have to at some point in the coming years.”

So might there be product tie-ups, synergies with breeders or with crop protection companies? “We’ve nothing

INSIDERS VIEW

planned in this area,” responds AdrianCottey. “As a crop protection company inoilseed rape we’ve good cover regardingfungicides, seed treatments and insecticides, but are always on the look-out for herbicide opportunities.” n


The UK’s highest-yielding winter wheat is likely to build a strong following, but howdo growers unlock that potential? CPM puts the focus on KWS Kielder.


I N S I D E R S V I E W

Promise ofpotential fromprofessionalapproach If you have some good, fertile soil and

you’re prepared to look after your wheat,KWS Kielder will reward you. It’s thehighest-yielding wheat on the HGCARecommended List, it took the UK recordfor the highest wheat yield last harvest,and you’d be hard-pushed to find someone who doesn’t think it can deliver its potential.

“Kielder’s an out-and-out high-yieldingvariety that needs looking after, but it alsohas a number of agronomic advantagesover some of its competitors,” notes Peter Riley of Prime Agriculture.

Peter Busfield of Dunns agrees. “It’s anexcellent Group 4 hard feed type with thehighest yield potential of any variety on the RL –– growers just need to get thatpotential out of it.”

Wheat cropping backbonePaul Brown of Frontier can see Kielder andKWS Santiago forming the backbone ofthe wheat cropping across much of EastAnglia. “It was also the highest yielder inFrontier trials on our Lincs site by a longway. It has great potential on good soils –– that’s all growers want.”

Kielder has been recognised for sometime as the heir apparent of the RL topslot. As a candidate variety, it steamedahead of the pack, delivering yields a full10% ahead of control varieties. Like anumber of other high performance wheats,it stumbled in 2012, allowing stable mateSantiago to retain pole position in its firstyear as a fully recommended variety. But asolid performance in 2013 saw it regain itstop position.

For Peter Busfield, there’s little doubtKielder will have a strong following –– it’s more a question of just how strongand how it’ll sit next to Santiago. “Itsrelease year gave Kielder a 6% marketshare, while Santiago took 10% when itwas launched. It’s a solid first wheat andwill return its best potential when drilledrelatively early after a spring pulse crop.But what may hold it back is that growersare happy with Santiago and I don’t thinkmany will want to grow both side by side.”

It has greatpotential on goodsoils – that’s allgrowers want.”

“


s

Paul Brown reckons it’ll be one of the top threebest-selling varieties nationally this autumn.

Like Santiago, there’s a poor score foryellow rust, putting the variety in the samehigh risk group. Best practice, accordingto the Variety Diversification Scheme, is tochoose types that aren’t all susceptible tothe same race of yellow rust.

“There’s no question that Kielder is anexcellent variety –– it has a good overalldisease package, the advantage oforange wheat blossom midge (OWBM)resistance, and it’s also one of the shortest

and stiffest on the RL. But so many goodvarieties have come along at the sametime, and it doesn’t offer a massive benefitover Santiago. The crux of the matter isthat growers are happy with Santiago and may not see a reason to drop it.”

Fungicide programmeHowever, Kielder’s potential to perform isclear, he says, and growers will alwayslook towards the highest-yielding varietyon the RL. “So for those that can give itthe correct fungicide programme, the variety should do well.”

It certainly did in Frontier trials in Lincs,achieving 113% of control last year,reports Paul Brown. He feels Kielder’s susceptibility to yellow rust shouldn’t overshadow this performance. “For thosegrowers who get on top of the disease,this is a variety with a long grain-fill period,so it has the potential for very high yields.I think it’ll be one of the top three best-sellingvarieties nationally this autumn, and it’sparticularly suited to East Anglia.”

This’ll bring it alongside Santiago andJB Diego, he reckons. “JB Diego still has a very strong following, and that won’t goaway, but in yield terms the variety is now surpassed. I think a lot of Santiago

As the highest yielding wheat on the HGCARecommended List, Kielder is set to attract a lotof grower interest.

growers will split their acreage and bringin some Kielder. It’s stiffer and you can drillit a bit earlier.”

For growers who struggle with yellowrust, mixed farms and those with littlesprayer capacity, there are “safer” optionsthan Kielder, he notes, with better diseasescores. “This is a key variety for good,high-yielding wheat land, and would sit onthe early side for drilling –– after the likesof Grafton, but before Santiago. I wouldn’tgrow it as a second wheat or on light land.It matures late, and this may be a concern

INSIDERS VIEW

s

Give Kielder plenty of nitrogen and keep it green,says Mark Dodds, and that’s when you’ll see it perform.

for some, but that’s where the yield potential comes from, so if you want high yields, you have to head for a later-maturing type.”

This lateness is a key characteristic ofKielder, notes KWS wheat breeder MarkDodds. “It flowers late and matures laterthan most. Kielder is a high-input, high-output variety –– give it plenty ofnitrogen and keep it green, and that’swhen you’ll see it perform.”

Kielder’s parents are Oakley andBrompton, with the latter brought in mainlyfor its shortness, he says. In Oakley,Kielder shares a parent with Santiago, but that’s where the similarities cease.

“Kielder is shorter and stiffer and hashigher yield potential, particularly on medium or heavy land. But it isn’t suited tolate sowing or lighter land –– Santiago hasmore consistency over a range of sites.”

He’s seen the variety come throughbreeding yield trials since 2007, and it’sconsistently come out in front. “Yield hasalways been Kielder’s stand-out trait –– iteffectively selected itself.”

The variety’s growth habit in winter isprostrate – a sign that it’s suited to earlydrilling, and again a notable differencefrom Santiago, he says. “Don’t drill too

early as it doesn’t have the specific weightto carry it through –– any time after 10 Sept in Cambs. In spring, it’s a latedeveloper –– one of the latest –– and that’sworth bearing in mind when timing inputs.”

Later in springThis is a key aspect of the variety, notesKWS colleague John Miles. “It gets goinglater in spring, but how late will depend ondrilling date. Drilled on the early side ofthe main wheat pack, Kielder should comethrough the spring at about the same timeas others. But it’s crucial to study itsgrowth stage and time inputs accordingly.”

With significant yellow rust pressure thisyear, varieties with low scores are evidentin untreated trials, he continues. “Earlydrilling, no winter to speak of and moreaggressive races of the disease havehelped keep inoculum at high levels.Where growers have left long gapsbetween fungicide applications, this may have allowed infection in.”

While septoria-focused fungicide programmes normally deal with yellowrust, he advises that adding rust-active triazoles and strobs or beefing-up doserates will also help when there’s high pressure from the disease.

“Kielder has the potential to outyieldSantiago and has the advantage of shorter, stiffer straw. It’s particularly suitedto fertile sites while its ability will be limitedon light land. It’s not a textbook secondwheat but does perform in this slot,according to RL data.”

Similarly, RL trials show Kielder s

Fungicide-treated grain yield 106.5

Specific weight (kg/hl) 74.0

Hagberg Falling Number 185

Resistance to lodging with PGR 7.8

Height without PGR (cm) 81.6

Ripening (days +/- Solstice) +2.9

Disease resistance

Mildew 4.4

Yellow rust 3.8

Brown rust 8.1

Septoria tritici 5.2

Eyespot [6]

Fusarium ear blight 6.3

Orange wheat blossom midge R

Source: 2014/15 HGCA Recommended List; [ ] limited data

KWS Kielder at a glance

The variety’s growth habit in winter is prostrate – a sign that it’s suited to early drilling.

It wasn’t until May last year that Tim Lamymanrealised he could be heading for a record-breaking crop. “It just filled in so well, and I knew we were on for something good,”he recalls.

“There was a big greening effect, and when it came hot in mid summer, the crop didn’t suffer. That’s when we knew we’d get the yieldadvantage –– it didn’t fold up like other cropsbut stayed green right through until the end ofAug. Then finally it turned, and within a weekwe’d harvested it.”

And what a harvest it was –– two independentofficials witnessed the 9ha field of Kielder passthrough the farm’s Claas Lexion 750 and on to theweighbridge, settling out at a staggering 14.31t/haand beating the previous UK record by just 40kg.

It had always been Tim Lamyman’s intentionto break the UK wheat yield record. Farming onthe Lincs Wolds, with 80% Grade 2 chalky/sandyloam running into heavier red Wold clay,Lamyman Worlaby Farms grows 600ha of combinable crop and potatoes.

“I picked Kielder because I saw its potential–– it had some fantastic results in trials in2011,” he says.

It was the combination of this and “smart”fertiliser that lay the foundations for a high yield,he reckons. Regular applications throughout theautumn and spring of NHCa Delta and 1-4-Allwere applied to supplement the standard nitrogen applications.

“It’s a system I’ve been perfecting for a few

years now,” he explains. “Normal nitrogen givesthe crop leggy growth with stunted roots, andyou have to apply PGR to stop it. Delta N is a slow-release fertiliser that encouragescytokinin growth to boost roots and leaves.The 1-4-All is a micronutrient mix to ensurenothing is limiting.”

The crop was drilled on 16 Sept into a “perfect” seedbed, created with a home-made3.5m tine-and-disc unit with an Andrew Guestpacker roller, working to 150mm depth. Thiswas followed by a 6m Lemken Terradisc workingthe top 80mm, while a 4m Väderstad Rapid putin the seed at 105kg/ha.

“We made just one application of Delta fertiliser in autumn 2012, at GS12. The cropwas very slow to wake up in that cold spring,and by mid March I’d condemned it as one that would never break any records. But I wassurprised how it then went on to fill out, and bymid May it’d changed beyond all recognition.”

This growth was fed with regular doses of thesmart fertiliser, making six applications in total.“We applied 216kg/ha of bagged N in fourequal, monthly doses from Feb through to May.With these newer varieties, you have to feedthem through the season. With the Delta N, thatwas 220kgN/ha in total.”

A full four-spray fungicide programme sawAmistar Opti (azoxystrobin+ chlorothalonil) andOpus (epoxiconazole) applied at the T0 timing,Seguris (epoxiconazole+ isopyrazam) at both T1and T2, and Proline (prothioconazole) and

Tim Lamyman used smart fertilisers to achieve a record-breaking crop of Kielder.

Amistar (azoxystrobin) applied to the ear.“Kielder’s quite a dirty variety,” comments

Tim Lamyman. “The programme was builtaround rust, which is why we used the Seguris,but it also kept on top of septoria.”

This kept the crop healthy, while the smart fertiliser kept it greener and allowed the grain tofill for longer, he believes. “This year, we’vechanged it slightly, and put three doses on in theautumn. The crop has looked fantastic throughoutthe season, and who knows –– the world recordis 15.67t/ha –– there’s a target to aim for.”

Regular, smart feeding builds into a record-breaking crop

performs well in the North. “Here it’llcompete with Leeds, but they have verydifferent growth habits. Leeds is vigorous,moves fast and tillers well, so isn’t suitedto early drilling.”

Northern growers shouldn’t seeKielder’s late maturity as a handicap, hefeels. “Provided it’s in the right place in the

rotation, you have to go quite far northbefore this becomes a particular issue. Inany case, the new average on the RL is+2 days after Solstice and Kielder is onlya day later at +3.”

Peter Riley is equally sanguine aboutKielder’s late maturity. “You need to beaware of it and ask whether it fits your


s

It’s crucial to study its growth stage and timeinputs accordingly, stresses John Miles.

Kielder is susceptible to yellow rust, notes PeterRiley, and growers should take steps to preventthe disease from getting into the crop.

situation. So the variety should only begrown on a site that’ll sustain a wheat rightto the end of the season. But if you canproduce a reasonable specific weight, are prepared to drill relatively early thenwilling to push a variety hard, Kielder’s a good choice.”

He also feels it can be grown in combination with Santiago. “It’s best ongood wheat land with plenty of potential as a first wheat and could be followed bySantiago. It looks very different in autumn,with a prostrate growth habit. It then gets

going late in spring, and a lot of growerscould get caught out by that.”

When it comes to yellow rust, Kielderisn’t as susceptible as Torch or Oakley, but the disease should be prevented fromgetting into the crop, advises Peter Riley.“This may mean a small dose of triazoleapplied before a chlorothalonil-based T0spray, or a rust-specific seed dressing.”

Worthwhile investmentThe timing of the T1 spray should bejudged carefully. “As a late developer,Kielder will reach leaf three later than otherwheats, but if the cropwas drilled early, theymay all come together. I’d recommend anSDHI/azole mix at this timing, addingchlorothalonil – the erosion of azole efficacy against septoria and responseyou’ll get from Kielder will make the investment worthwhile.”

He also advises an SDHI/azole mix at T2,with the same cautionary note on timing, and an azole-based T3. “Kielder’s short and stiff, but if you’re pushing it, you’ll need a good PGR programme, allthe same.”His preference is a split application ofchlormequat or Moddus (trinexapac-ethyl) at T0 and T1, followed by Terpal (mepiquatchloride+ 2-chloroethylphosphonic acid) at

T2 or slightly earlier.“Fertiliser applications should be based

around achieving that high yield, and arebest put on in three splits, with the lastapplication at the end of April or earlyMay. In all, there’ll be quite a reasonablelevel of inputs applied. But a grower usedto looking after a wheat in a professionalmanner should get a decent return.” n

Seal of approval

You could see to a line what

had been treated – itwas blindingly

obvious and very dramatic”

“

It seems curiously obvious –– if you havea crop that’s very brittle near harvest andcan easily shed its seed, apply somethingto it that’ll hold it together until the combine goes through. But the first product that successfully achieved thisdidn’t reach the market until 2007.

The story of Pod-Stik is a classic tale of a product introduction with an offer thatsounded at first almost too good to be true. According to Dr David Ellerton ofHutchinsons, the distribution trade was wary,following experiences of a sticker-extenderclaiming anti-shatter properties that firstcame to the UK almost 30 years ago. “It wasa product you could apply close to harvestthat effectively glued the pod together.

The trouble was, it could also gum up thecombine, and cause harvest to come to ahalt,” he recalls.

As a result, it received a poor receptionfrom growers, and all but disappeared fromthe UK market within two years of its introduction. Over the next 25 years, the UK arable area cropped with OSR grew,along with the crop’s value within the rotation. But no credible alternative podsealant appeared on the market.

Catchy weather“There’s no doubt it was needed,” notesDavid Ellerton. “If you get catchy weather orhigh winds close to harvest, this can knock a lot of seed on to the ground, denting theperformance of a high-potential crop. Wherethis has happened, you also get a carpet ofvolunteers afterwards, which not only showsup the losses, but can cause knock-on problems with slugs. A pod sealant is aninsurance policy that protects your crop ifthe weather turns against you.”

The prompt for a new pod sealant didn’tcome from the UK, however, notes KimChristo of De Sangosse. “Chemtura contacted us in 2005 enquiring after a product that could be used on OSR crops inEastern Europe. The climate in that part ofthe world makes the crop more vulnerable–– you get very hot days during the summer,

and then rainfall at night close to harvest.This sequence of wet and dry conditionscauses the pod to go very brittle and susceptible to damage. Losses of up to0.6t/ha aren’t uncommon.”

The task for the company was to find acompound that would do the job withoutcausing harvesting difficulties, and this fell to David Foster and Dr David Cameron, who both had over 30 years’ experiencedeveloping wetters and stickers for use in agriculture.

“The trouble with the previous productwas its pinolene chemistry,” explains DavidFoster. “It sticks, but it never fully dries, sothe pods will become sticky if the croprewets close to harvest.”

Instead, the two scientists focused on a family of compounds called styrene-butadienes (see panel on p49). “The styrene element gives the strength, and the butadiene the flexibility. The performanceof these compounds is phenomenal –– theystretch by up to a thousand times their original length,” he enthuses.

“But the main advantage of these products is that when they dry, they dry for good, so there isn’t any stickiness at harvest time. We just had to find the right


To reduce oilseed rape harvest losses, creating apod sealant that would do

the job was only half thestruggle. Getting over the

perception that it wouldn’tproved to be the real

challenge, as CPM discovers.

By Ted Fleetwood

I N N OVAT I O NI N S I G H T

s

Kim Christo believes around 75-80% of applications are made at the glyphosate timing, about 14-21 days before harvest.

“Applied at 1 l/ha, we know it has no negative impact on glyphosate performance and typical water rates of 200 l/ha are fine forPod-Stik. In fact, the trend to lower water ratessuits the product better as it makes it more concentrated.” A water volume of just 100 l/hahas been found to add an extra 0.1t/ha to yield,he adds.

It can also be applied with diquat just sevendays before harvest, although there’s greaterpod-shatter damage through travelling throughthe crop at that timing, he cautions.

“An increasing number of growers are now

making the separate early Pod-Stik application,and around 15% is sprayed at this ideal timing6-8 weeks before harvest, which generally coincides with the Cereals event in the southernhalf of the UK.”

At this point, the pod is fully formed but canbe bent in two without snapping. “The otheradvantage of making a separate application isthat the entire acreage can be treated at once,while desiccant treatments tend to be staggeredso the crop doesn’t all ripen at the same time.That means less washing out of the sprayer.”

The nature of the product means the wash-out procedure is very important with Pod-Stik, he stresses. “Once it dries, you’ll havedifficulty shifting it, so you don’t want that to

How do you get the best from Pod-Stik?

happen in your sprayer nozzles.” De Sangosserecommends rinsing out the sprayer pump,spray lines and nozzles thoroughly with cleanwater and a cleaning agent as soon as theapplication is complete.

The ideal timing for Pod-Stik is 6-8 weeks before harvest at which point the pod is fullyformed but can be bent in two without snapping.

balance of strength and flexibility and theright rate to use.”

A total of 35 different compounds were screened and various chemical manufacturers were grilled on the physicalproperties of their molecules. “We actuallyarrived pretty quickly at the product that we sell today as Pod-Stik. There’ve beensome minor tweaks, but we were 99% confident when we first developed it that


it would do what it was supposed to.”It was up to Kim Christo to bring the

product to market. “OSR pods tend to split along the top seam that’s exposed tothe elements and this tends to be in theupper part of the canopy” he explains. “The aim with Pod-Stik is to apply dropletson this suture line which form staple-liketacks to hold the pod together once the solution dries.”

That was the theory, but would it work in practice? “In a normal year, the pods are fully formed around mid-June about

When Nigel Durdy first came across Pod-Stik, hedecided to do his own trials to see if it worked.

“There was trials work going on, but at thetime it was all done with Reglone (diquat), butthat makes oilseed rape more brittle. I spray offthe crop with Roundup (glyphosate), mainlybecause it provides a slower kill, so was keen to see how much of a difference it made.”

Farming 800ha of stubble-to-stubble contracts near Doncaster, OSR makes up around 30% of the cropped area. Swathing was dropped several years ago in favour of desiccating the crop with a Bateman RB35 on30m tramlines.

“I applied straight Roundup to the headlandof a field, and then covered half of the centrewith the recommended rate of Pod-Stik and theother half at double the recommended rate. Youcouldn’t really tell the difference when you werecombining. It’s in the stubble afterwards that thereal benefit shows up and this confirmed to methat the product does the job.”

Using a water volume of 150 l/ha and travelling at 12km/h, he uses Defy nozzles alternated forwards and back. “These do a fantastic job, getting a good penetration into a tall crop with very little drift.”

Timing it right is a question of striking ahappy medium, he says. “I prefer to go quitelate with Roundup, but there’s the danger ofknocking out pods if the crop is already brittle.I tend to find you get less pod shatter if youspray in the early morning.”

The most awkward aspect is judging howmuch to spray in a day, he says. “We can cover40ha/day with the combine, so we stagger thedesiccating to suit the progress of the combine.But as soon as you’ve finished applying Pod-Stik, you have to flush the sprayer outstraight away or you get blockages.”

In years when the OSR crop has a good yieldpotential, he believes the cost of the treatmentis well worth it. “The crop’s very vulnerable to ahigh wind at harvest, and Pod-Stik’s a good

Nigel Durdy carried out his own trials usingglyphosate.

product. I’ve tried a couple of alternatives, butyou can tell when tipping them into the sprayerthat they’re thinner and that doesn’t give youthe same confidence. I think they’ve got therecipe right and you don’t have to save muchseed to make the economics stack up,”concludes Nigel Durdy.

Pods were tested in a rotating drum, with ballbearings designed to smash them open.

On-farm trials confirm pod-shatter difference

s

Initially David Ellerton was wary, following experiences of a sticker-extender that could gum up the combine, and cause harvest to come to a halt.

How Pod-Stik works

5.8

5.55.4

5.6

Control Pod-Stik Control Pod-Stik

6

5.8

5.6

5.4

5.2

5

Yie

ld t

/ha

Harvest 11 August Harvest 18 August

on field6.3%

on field4.0%

on field9.5%

on field4.8%

Effect of Pod-Stik on winter oilseed rape

4

Glyphos 3 l/ha

4.7

4.6

4.5

4.4

4.3

4.2

4.1

4

3.9

Yie

ld t

/ha

on field6.3%

on field4.0%

4.5

4.2 4.24.1

+ Pod-Stik + Iskay + Gold Seal + Companion Gold

2011 pod-sealant performance trials

INNOVATION INSIGHT


6-8 weeks before harvest, which is the idealtiming for Pod-Stik, so we had to show it haspersistence, as well as flexibility to remain onthe pod surface as the crop senesces.”

There were also the questions of timingand compatibility. “We knew there would beresistance to this product if it had to beapplied as a stand-alone application, so it’stypically applied with glyphosate. But wehad to be sure it was effective at that timing,while glyphosate and other desiccant manufacturers also had to be happy there’dbe no impact or effect on their products.”

Series of trialsA series of trials were undertaken, includingsome conducted by the John Innes Centreand TAG, designed to test the physicalnature of Pod-Stik. Pods were taken from

s

replicated treated and untreated plots closeto harvest and subjected to a randomimpact test –– effectively a rotating drum, likea tumble dryer, with ball bearings designed

found Pod-Stik made the pod onaverage 24% stronger across arange of OSR varieties.

Cereals event“The next step was to showgrowers that it worked effectively,”recalls Kim Christo. “That’s whyevents like Cereals work so well–– it gives us the opportunity totalk to growers and show themwe had a product that could really offer a tangible benefit.After all, we’re not talking aboutan invisible loss here –– anyonewho’s grown OSR is aware of theproblem of pod shatter.”

Distributors, such asHutchinsons, were also includingit in their own trials, confirmsDavid Ellerton. “Kim asked us totry Pod-Stik, and we did, and itwas fantastic. We treated parts offields and headlands, and lookedat the difference in volunteernumbers. You could see to a line what had been treated –– it was blindingly obvious and very dramatic.”

The product has also proved ahit in small-scale variety trials,where excessive pod shattercould skew results. MarkNightingale of Elsoms Seeds hasused Pod-Stik in HGCARecommended List trials, as wellas BSPB year one and two offi-cial winter OSR trials. “It means Ican protect the earlier lines anddesiccate a couple of days later,which allows more time for thelater maturing varieties,” henotes.

“It’s also made a massive dif-ference under glass and in poly-thene tunnels, where we alwaysget some shedding due to thehigh temperatures inducing more

to smash open the pods.“The tests found a 10%

average increase in pod integrityfor the treated pods,” notes KimChristo. “The research team also compared pods taken from theupper raceme of the plant withthose taken from lower down inthe canopy and found Pod-Stikincreased the upper-pod integrityby 18.5%, compared with just1.8% for lower pods. This isimportant as seed loss comesprimarily from the top of thecanopy, and that’s where you need a good coverage of Pod-Stik.”

Field trials showed a 0.3t/hayield benefit from using the product (see chart on p49). “Thisbacked up work we’d done thatinvolved laying plastic gutterbetween rows before harvest –– almost four times as muchseed ended up in the gutter inthe untreated control,” he adds.

Pods were also tested for theforce needed to open them.Work undertaken by the PlantBreeding Institute in Poland

When Pod-Stik dries, it dries forgood, so there isn’t any stickiness at harvest time, points out David Foster.


While the sprayer leaves a trail of shattered pods, high winds or catchyweather close to harvest can cause losses up to 0.6t/ha.

s

The tests showed Pod-Stikincreased the upper-pod integrity by18.5%, notes Kim Christo.

InnovationInsightCPM would like to thank De Sangosse for kindlysponsoring this article, and for providing privileged access to staff and material used in its compilation.


brittle pods. Our seed yieldshave increased, and while it’s difficult to tell how much of this is down to Pod-Stik, we certainly appear to have a lotless shed seed behind the plot combine”

As the weight of evidence hasfallen in favour of the product,use of Pod-Stik has taken off,and it’s currently estimated thatover 60% of the national OSRcrop is treated with a podsealant.

Since its launch, a number of trials have been conductedover the years to establish theimportance of formulation, continues Kim Christo. “There’s alack of official efficacy data withpod sealants, so the trials wereinstrumental in learning how to use them and improve on their performance.”

The John Innes Centre shatter-resistance tests also bore thisout, he points out, with 1 l/ha ofPod-Stik performing 23% betterthan the next best product,

while it led the field on the pod-strength tests.

Field trials carried out bySuffolk and Cambridge CropStation (SACCS) in 2009, Morleyin 2010 and NDSM in 2010 and2011 also put Pod-Stik ahead ofother pod sealants. “It performed7% better than the next best inNDSM trials in 2011,” he says(see chart on p49).

While trials work has continued,the product itself has changedvery little from the one that wasfirst launched on the market. One slight variation is Zip-Pod,however –– this followed evaluation work carried out by Hutchinsons to see if performance could be enhanced further.

“Zip-Pod has improved components to add more flexibility, which allows the pod tocontinue growing,” explains KimChristo. “This is best suited toapplying at the ideal early timing,rather than with a desiccantspray, and reflects a move bygrowers to make it a stand-aloneapplication.”

Work carried out by PGROhas found Pod-Stik also reducespod shatter in peas and beans,with as much as a 31% reduction, compared withuntreated, he notes. “Losses canbe extremely high in pulses, andin beans there’s a big differencein pod maturity. The optimumapplication timing is once thefoliage has started to die back,so the product can reach themore mature pods in the lowercanopy.”

It’s also been used in cerealsand herbage crops. “It’s likely thereduction in yield loss is less thanfor a podded seed, but any cropwith an apical dominance that’slikely to shed its seed will benefit.

David Foster feels these experiments into other uses arean endorsement of the productitself. “We always knew we hadsomething pretty revolutionarywith Pod-Stik, but the reallyunusual aspect was the amount of phone calls we got from farmerssaying how good the productwas. You don’t get that with manychemical innovations.” n

from these industries. In placessuch as the Middle East, there’slittle local market for natural gas,and a urea plant is a cheaper andeasier way to produce a readyexport than building an AN facility. This has led to a greateravailability of urea than AN formost growers in most countriesthan for AN.

How does AN differ from urea?In terms of the product thatarrives on farm, AN contains34.5% nitrogen and has thechemical formula NH4NO3. Thenitrate ion (NO3

-) is most readilytaken up by the plant, while theammonium fraction (NH4

+), if not absorbed by the plant, isgenerally converted by soil bacteria into nitrate N.

Urea is an amide, containing46% N and has the chemicalformula CO(NH2)2. Before it canbe taken up by a plant, it has tobe converted to ammoniumthrough hydrolysis –– a processgoverned by a naturally occurringsoil enzyme called urease. Thishydrolysis of urea producesammonium carbonate which thenbreaks down to carbon dioxideand ammonia gas (NH3), some of which can be lost to theatmosphere. It’s this process ofammonia volatilisation that canlead to urea’s lower efficiency.

The hydrolysis process can be delayed through the use of aurease inhibitor, which is addedto urea either during or after itsproduction, and arrives on farmas enhanced urea.

What recent research is there?With any fertiliser trials, it’s verydifficult to establish whetherthere’s a yield advantagebetween different fertiliser

Back in the day, why was it that GB companiesdecided to invest in ammonium nitrate fertilisermanufacturing? After all, it costs more to makeAN. Quite simply it was the agronomy. AN production may not be the lowest cost option but AN fertiliser is simply the best value for UK climatic conditions.

Ammonium nitrate fertiliser

The conclusion was that AN is the

more agronomically efficient fertiliser.”

“

For many decades, ammoniumnitrate (AN) and calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) havedominated the market forapplied nitrogen in the UK, andcurrently have more than an 80%market share. But on a globalbasis, most nitrogen is appliedas urea, and its share is steadilygrowing. So why are UK farmersso disproportionally dependenton AN, while growers in othercountries tend to use urea?

There are historical reasons,but these are based on soundagronomy, according to independent fertiliser consultantChris Dawson. Meanwhile, morerecent research has brought ourunderstanding of different nitrogensources up to date, explains ProfBrian Chambers of ADAS. A goodgrasp of some of this research will help with the decision whenbuying nitrogen fertiliser over thecoming months.

Why do UK farmers use AN?As nitrogen fertiliser use began totake off during the post-war driveto increase food production, thedecision had to be made as towhat type of fertiliser plants tobuild to supply this growing market. The choice was either ANor urea, both of which start withammonia production, and the cost of building either plant was considerable. So the twoblue-chip companies supplyingfarmers at the time –– ICI andFisons –– undertook extensivefield trials during the 1950s and1960s to assess the best source.

The conclusion both companiescame to was that AN is the moreagronomically efficient fertiliser.This led to a UK manufacturingbase producing exclusively ANfertiliser. Their findings werebacked up in a 1987 review of allthe UK field experiments carriedout between 1957 and 1986. This showed urea to be 91.5% asefficient as AN on winter cereals,and its use resulted in a 2.5% yieldloss in winter wheat or a 5.2%drop in winter barley.

Since those manufacturingplants were constructed, the oiland gas industries around theworld have become established,and fertiliser plants have beenset up to convert by-products

The benefit of choiceWith more nitrogen fertiliser options available, many growers are reassessingwhich is best. CPM seeks expert advice on where the market leader now stands.



Accuracy matters to Stuart Batchelor.As manager of Cirencester ParkFarms in Glos, he uses the CourtyardPartnership’s soil-zoning approach toprecision farming to ensure fertiliserapplications are tailored to crop need across the 1620ha of Cotswoldbrash soils.

Every fertiliser product is also tray-tested every year to ensure applications are accurate. “Fertiliser isthe most valuable product we buy, sothe cost of a thorough tray test ispretty insignificant when you considerthe potential cost implications of getting it wrong,” he points out.

This became even more importanttwo years ago when the farmswitched from 24m to 32m tramlines,applied through a 4t KvernelandExacta TL GeoSpread. He’d

considered a move to liquid for itsimproved accuracy. “But we simplywouldn’t manage all the liquid fertilising as well as the spraying with a single machine.”

Two years ago, a urea-based sulphur blend was used to apply theearly dose at the start of the spring.But now the farm has switched backto AN and an N:S product. “I’m notconfident urea would spread to 32m.As a blend, the sulphur element of theurea-based product especially wouldbe less likely to spread the full width,in my view.”

He’s considered enhanced ureaproducts, but again isn’t confident theless dense material would spread aswell as AN to 32m. “The trials reportsfor these products seem pretty inconclusive, so I’m not sure it’s

worth taking the risk, especially as the price gap between urea and ANhas narrowed.”

Growing mostly feed wheats, the Napplications were made in three equalhits, with the first going on as SulphurGold, putting on 70kgN/ha and 50kgSO3/ha in early March. Two furtherdoses of 70kgN/ha went on as Nitram at the end of March and just before Easter.

“Because the fields were so wetcoming out of the winter, the firstdose didn’t go on as early as I’d haveliked,” notes Stuart Batchelor. “N Mintests revealed soil reserves of just 20-45kgN/ha –– half what they arenormally. On our thin brash, the cropcan soon go hungry, and there were afew fields that looked a bit stressed,especially when it turned dry.”

That said, the later two timingsworked well, he reports, and there’sbeen enough rainfall to push the cropon. “I’m budgeting for a yield of 8.25t/haand confident we’ll achieve that –– thecrop is growing well and looks good.”

Glos grower gains confidence at wider bout widths

types because relatively largedifferences in N supply are needed to achieve a statisticallysignificant yield variance. So anydifferences can only be picked out if a very large dataset of similar trials are compared. TheDefra-funded NT26 programmewas one such study –– costingover £2 million, it was a three-yearproject, started in 2002 and carried out on 16 field experimental sites across the UK.

Part of the study looked atcrop N offtake –– the product ofgrain nitrogen and yield. A fairlyconsistent finding from the trialswas that using urea resulted in alower grain N than where AN wasapplied, with the efficiency ofcrop N recovery from urea 11%lower than from AN.

The studies also measuredammonia emissions. For urea,these averaged 24%, but therewas a huge range from 2-58%.By contrast, emissions where ANwas applied were just 3%. Thetrials concluded that on average20% higher N rates would beneeded as urea to achieve thesame cereal crop yield and grainN as AN applications.

While there were large variations in ammonia emissions,these weren’t related to soil type,region or time of season the ureawas applied, the trials concluded– the amount of volatilisation isprimarily dependent on weatherat and shortly after application.

Recent research has sincebeen pulled together by ADAS,bringing in other studies thathave been carried out since the1980s. This concluded urea wason average 10% less efficientthan AN.

What about enhancedurea?Urea treated with the ureaseinhibitor nBTPT (trade nameAgrotain) was also included aspart of the NT26 trials. Whereused, it was found to work veryeffectively, reducing ammoniaemissions from solid urea by on average 70%, which meantaverage emissions fell to just 6%. The effect on liquid

urea-ammonium nitrate (UAN) was lower, but still significant, with losses dropping from 14% to8% where enhanced liquid UANwas used.

What are the non-agronomic considerations?As a product with 34.5% N, AN is less concentrated than 46% Nurea products. This means lessweight of urea is needed overallto apply the same nutrient N.However, urea has a lower density,so a greater volume must be

It’s the process of ammoniavolatilisation that can lead to urea’slower efficiency, points out ChrisDawson.

Stuart Batchelor switched back tousing AN and N:S products because he wanted to sure his fertiliser wouldspread to 32m.

applied to deliver the sameamount of N per ha. The result isthat, whether it’s urea or AN, theamount of product put in a hopperor store is pretty similar.

Depending on the specificproduct, there may also be restrictions on how many bags you can stack on top of each other, which may be a consideration if storage floorspace is limited. Also bear in mindthat there are legal restrictions onhow AN is stored that should bechecked before taking delivery. If buying enhanced urea, checkthe shelf-life of the product withyour supplier.

One notable limitation onproduct choice is spreading


The UK fertiliser manufacturing plantswere built following trials thatconcluded that AN was agronomicallythe more efficient type.

The NT26 trials concluded that onaverage 20% higher N rates would beneeded as urea to achieve the samecereal crop yield and grain N as ANapplications, notes Brian Chambers.

s

(bout) width –– the trend toincrease tramlines to 30m and beyond can compromisespreading accuracy for someproducts. A lower density may have implications forspreadability, although generallythis comes down to the quality of

In a market where most of the AN is imported, GrowHow UK isproud to be Britain’s only fertilisermanufacturer. We continue a longtradition of British manufacturingexcellence; making iconic brandssuch as Nitram and DoubleTop.These are ideally suited to thenotoriously fickle British climate.

As GrowHow’s David Beckadmits, 2014 will see him passthe 35-year milestone in the fertiliser industry: “For all of thattime one debate has run and run.It is the relative merits of ureaand ammonium nitrate. For me the answer is pretty straightforward. Back in the1950’s and 60’s when ICI andFisons were installing new technology ammonia plant, they

Sponsors messagechose AN because trials showed thatwas the best product agronomically.”

“There have been a number ofresearch projects since, not just here but worldwide, including the GB NT26trials. All have reinforced earlier findings that AN is the most reliable and efficient choice.”

the product. It’s worth checkingany fertiliser has achieved goodresults at the bout width you’replanning to use, and your ownspreader should be calibratedeach year with the productyou’re planning to put through it.

How green is AN?The use of mineral fertiliser nitrogen accounts for the greatest greenhouse gas (GHG)emissions from arable farms, butthe two main types of nitrogenfertiliser differ when it comes tothe source of these emissions.

AN manufacture results ingreater emissions at the plantitself, although all Europeanplants now use abatement technology that minimises nitrousoxide emissions. A portion of the carbon dioxide (CO2) produced is captured for use asa by-product and is commonlyrecycled for use in fizzy drinks,for example, although this is stillincluded in the fertiliser GHGemissions figures.

With urea, emissions in thefield are more relevant. Ammoniais an emission of particular concern –– apart from the efficiency aspect, it’s an indirectsource of GHG emissions andhigh ammonia levels can havehuman health consequences. In Dec 2013, in the context of theGothenburg protocol, that aimsto reduce emissions acrossEurope, proposes that memberstates should switch out of

untreated urea into AN orenhanced urea fertilisers toreduce ammonia emissions.Notably, 16% of ammonia emissions from UK agriculture in 2012 were estimated to befrom fertiliser N use.

The de-nitrification of nitrateunder warm and wet soil conditions from both AN andurea use, can result in low-levelnitrous oxide losses. This is aGHG with a global warmingpotential around 300 timesgreater than CO2. Urea alsoreleases CO2 in the field, which can’t be recycled.

Taking both production anduse into account, European ANhas CO2 equivalence emissionsof 9.14kg per kg of nitrogen,compared with urea’s 11.19kg,according to figures fromFertilisers Europe.

How do these findingsaffect purchasing decisions?The weight of evidence clearlydemonstrates that AN is a moreefficient and reliable nitrogen fertiliser on average than urea,as urea performance is unpredictable. There’s now alsoevidence to show that usingenhanced urea can reduceammonia emissions that arelargely responsible for the efficiency gap.

The purchasing decision willtherefore largely be dictated byattitude to risk. The risk element has to be weighedagainst the price offered, oncenon-agronomic concerns havebeen taken into account, toreach the right choice. The significant advantage UK growers have over many othersin the world is that they havethat choice. n


The purchasing decision will largely bedictated by attitude to risk.

Take account of storage considerationsalong with N content and productdensity.

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0Ammonium nitrate (AN) Urea Urea ammoniaum nitrate (UAN)

Fertiliser production + transport Fertiliser use

Assumes 8t/ha yield for AN and 7.61t/ha for urea and UANSource: Fertilisers Europe

It’s worth tray-testing fertiliserproducts to ensure they spreadaccurately.

Greenhouse gas emissions per tonne of winter wheat (kg CO2 eq/t)

s

Ammonium nitrate fertiliser: top tips

l Assess the agronomy – AN fertiliser is more reliable than urea. Urea losses can be reduced by choosing enhanced urea.

l Look at logistics – Consider spreadability, product density and storage along with N content.

l Rationalise the risk – Assess whether the price on offer fully takes account of the reliability of the product.

Fertiliser fix to reduce risk

The numbers should work very

well for many farmers.”

“

Wheat growers can reducetheir risk for the harvest2015 crop by locking into amargin over fertiliser, says a leading merchant. CPMtakes a closer look

By Robert Harris


Much has been written about the varioustools growers can use to reduce their riskwhen it comes to selling grain. Managingvolatility is the name of the game –– it’snot unusual to see price swings of up to£100/t in a season and of several poundsin a day.

Sensible advice has long been to sell atleast a portion of your grain forward whenyou can see a profit, perhaps using variousdevices to help take out the extremes, suchas pools and trackers, or even deliver (at a price) any upside in the market byusing options.

These devices offer varying degrees of price protection, but still leave farmingbusiness exposed to rising input costs,which can be a sizeable risk.

Biggest inputWhile most costs such as seed, agchemsand overheads can be estimated with a reasonable degree of accuracy, the price offertiliser, the biggest input of all, is muchmore difficult to call. Prices can –– and have–– yo-yoed more even than grain, with ureaseeing swings of up to £150/t in a season inrecent years, says Calum Findlay, Gleadell’sUK fertiliser manager.

Like grain, there’s an assortment of toolsavailable to help manage that volatility, notleast Gleadell’s Blue Bag Tracker, whichdelivers a true average market price over theterm ofthe scheme.

However, once in a while an opportunityarises to fix the value of both of these highlyvolatile commodities, which means growers can remove the risk of adverseswings in both markets, securing a significant percentage of their gross margin at better than expected levels.

For this to work, growers need a competitive nitrogen price and a goodforward wheat price, and the smaller the

gap between the two, the more attractive the prospect becomes. Currently, for nextseason’s crop, the difference between feedwheat and urea stands at just £110-120/t,compared with £150/t last season, £200/t in 2011 and £220/t the year before that.

It’s not an exact science, says CalumFindlay. “Each farm will use differentassumptions when it comes to calculating

190kg/ha of N, which, at the current price of 57p/kg, costs£110/ha.

The relatively cheap cost ofboth phosphate and potash helpfurther. Both TSP (47%) and muriate of potash (60%) can bebought for about £280/t, theequivalent of 60p/kg and 46p/kgof nutrient. That means a growerwould typically spend about£39/ha and £22/ha respectivelyfor phosphate and potash on acrop of wheat.

Gross marginOverall, that adds up to a total of about £170/ha for fertiliser.Basing other variable costs onNix figures, this laves a gross margin in excess of £990/ha.Assuming fixed costs of £630/ha using Nix figures (+2% inflation) for a 300ha+ farm, thatproduces a net income, beforerent and single farm payment, of about £360/ha.

However, if fertiliser costs goup and grain prices start to fallthe whole process could bethrown out of kilter, Calum Findlaynotes. Farmers can more usuallyexpect to pay around 87p/kg fornitrogen, adding over £56/ha tocosts compared with the currentprice. Phosphorous and potashtypically cost in the region of 83pand 56p/kg, putting a further£20/ha onto the fertiliser bill. “If at the same time the wheat priceslipped to £140/t net incomewould almost halve, leavinggrowers with just £170/ha.”

At current levels the principleworks to a lesser or greaterextent across other combinablecrops too. Oilseed rape priceshave staged a partial recoverysince crashing a year ago, andassuming a Jan 2016 price of£315/ha growers could secure a net income of over £200/ha,Gleadell figures suggest.

Which way both markets nowhead is difficult to call. CalumFindlay believes forward ureatrades have neared the bottom ofthe market as speculators who’vebeen driving values downwardsseem more hesitant to continuethe trend. “The market is certainly towards the lower end of where it has been for a while –– we’re definitely in a trough at the moment.


their margins, depending onyield, other variable costs andtheir fixed costs, which can varygreatly between enterprises.

“Today, though, with a wheatprice of over £150/t available forJan 2016, and 46% urea forautumn 2014 delivery availableat about £265/t, there’s a clearlyidentifiable opportunity. Thenumbers should work very wellfor many farmers. Fertiliser typically accounts for over half the variable costs of awheat crop, so they’ll be able to achieve a useful uplift in their margins by enacting both trades.”

While £150/t or thereaboutsmay not appear to meet somegrowers’ expectations, it’s historically a good price for feedwheat, says Gleadell’s DavidSheppard. “That’s not a matterof dispute. It’s surely sensible tosell something at this sort ofprice, especially when matchedwith these low fertiliser prices.”

Grain and fertiliser priceshaven’t been as close for atleast five years, he adds. “Itoffers a real and quite unusualopportunity for people who wantto take risk off the table to do so.It makes even more sense giventhe impact of the poor weatheron the past two harvests and the resulting effect on arableincomes.”

Assuming a yield of 9t/ha, afirst crop of winter feed wheatwould produce a gross output of£1377/ha if sold at £153/t. Thecrop would typically receive s

The gap between current fertiliserand grain prices make locking thatmargin an attractive option, notesCalum Findlay.

Overall the supply side into the grain marketlooks a bit top heavy, reckons David Sheppard.

“Prices will trend back upwards at somestage. It could be due to the situation in the Black Sea –– Ukraine producers haveongoing problems with both the supply and cost of their gas supply from Russia

Gleadell staff will be on hand at Cereals2014 (stand number L-1204-12) to discussthe outlook for all combinable crop marketsas well as a range of risk managementoptions.

This includes details of Gleadell’s newBlue Bag Tracker scheme. This follows themarket through a given period, producing atrue market average price and helpingreduce exposure when buying fertiliser.

They’ll also be advising on the best \varieties for 2014/15 drilling and offering buy-back contracts where available or appropriate.

Gleadell at Cereals 2014

following recent events. Or it could be due to problems in Egypt –– we could see arepeat of last year, when urea exports were interrupted in the six to eight week period right when people needed them.”

Upward price pressureThe unsettled political situation across North Africa could add to delays in expanding urea production, increasing theupward price pressure, he says. “It’ll comeon at some point, but currently this newcapacity keeps going backwards.”

However, there are no signs yet of a market upturn, and, if urea prices remain low for a few weeks, new seasonammonium nitrate prices could be affected, he notes.

“AN manufacturers are watching the market with interest and, although they’llnever compete on a cost per unit basis,they’ll have to take into account internationalfertiliser prices as well as production costs


when the new season starts.” That wouldopen up an opportunity, albeit perhapsshort-lived, for farmers who prefer this formof N to also lock into a margin, he notes.

The outlook for wheat is equally hard to predict. There are some bullish notes,namely dry weather in parts of the USMidwest that could affect the hard red winterwheat crop as well as political unease inUkraine, says David Sheppard. “These factors may well underpin the market in theshort term, and if the Ukrainian situationescalates and trade flow is disrupted, wecould see a very different scenario.

“However, overall the supply side looks a bit top heavy. Crops look to be in goodcondition, there are generally good growingconditions around the world, and a largeharvest is expected in most of the northernhemisphere countries. On top of that, thereare plentiful stocks.

“While none of this has a direct impact onthe 2015 crop, there’s usually some sort ofprice correlation from one harvest to thenext. So if the fundamentals rather than thepolitics win out and prices do fall by £10-20/tby the time we get to this coming harvest,we could expect to see a similar fall in2015/16 values.”

David Sheppard says that increasingnumbers of farmers are looking to minimisetheir risk in back-to-back grain and fertilisertrades to avoid this sort of uncertainty.

“Some of the larger farming companiesare already doing it in some style, locking in 20-30% of their estimated production.None of us can predict the top or bottom of either market today, so I can’t think of agood reason why any farming businesswouldn’t look at the figures and see that they make sense, put together a deal and feel comfortable about making that decision.” n

s


Growers hoping for a rally in oilseed prices are likelyto be disappointed in the short to medium term,according to Peter Thomsen from global traderToepfer. Speaking at the Gleadell/HutchinsonsOilseed rape conference in Shifnal, Shrops, in March,he said prospects for a good global oilseed crop andother factors would conspire to restrict returns overthe coming months.

High soybean prices, fuelled by rising demandmainly from China, have supported the rapeseedmarket for the past few years, he explained. “On the supply side, soybean production has been growing as a result, and it will grow further. SouthAmerica, for example, has been ramping up soybeanexports every year, and we expect 2014 to be arecord harvest.”

Meanwhile, US farmers are facing relatively poorcorn prices compared with soya. “The soybean vscorn ratio is at a high level. It’s been higher, but it willdrive decisions at planting time, so expect the UScorn area to fall back and its soybean area to rise.”

However, prices in spring 2014 were supportedby logistical issues in Canada, he said. An unusuallycold snap in the US early in 2014 led much ofCanada’s rail freight to be switched into transportingoil, leaving huge canola (OSR) stocks on farm.

“Prices have remained high because that seedhasn’t come to market yet. Once it does, expect themarket to fall,” he told delegates at the conference.

Closer to home in Europe, the signs were equally

bearish, he continued. “Two thirds of EU rapeseed production goes into biodiesel nowadays, and recentanti-dumping measures should have restricted importsinto the EU for biodiesel. But these have been replacedby an increase in palm oil imports. So the net effect hasbeen no impact on demand for home-grown rapeseed.”

Another factor was the potential for winter kill of theOSR crop in Ukraine and the Baltic states. “This can beas high as 40-50% which can have a profound impacton production in some seasons. But the crop has comethrough the winter largely unaffected, and we’re expecting EU rapeseed production for 2014 to rise by 0.5M tonnes to 21.3M tonnes.

Since the March conference, the South Americansoybean harvest has been confirmed as high as predicted, and US farmers have planted a record soybean crop. This has prompted the US Department ofAgriculture to raise its prediction of the global soybeancrop to 354M tonnes. Meanwhile, rail freight of agricul-tural commodities in Canada has resumed, andincreased the supply of rapeseed on the global market.As a result, Aug 2014 prices have dropped by around£15/t between March and May.

Speaking at the conference, Jonathan Lane ofGleadell pointed out that exposure to the volatility of thisglobal market had meant growers have suffered everincreasing fluctuations in prices.

“When I started as a trader, a shift in price of 50p ina day was unusual. Nowadays £5/day is the norm,” hesaid. Since 2006, the difference between contract highs

and lows within one season has been as high as €235/t(£192/t) and has averaged €134/t (£110/t), he added.

“Growers should make the most of the tools available to manage that risk.” One example is Gleadell’sMinimum Price Oilseed Rape contract, he said, whichallows you to lock into a minimum base price, to protectagainst any falls in the market, but capture any upsidemove over the period of the contract.

“It uses the MATIF futures as a reference point, whichis clearly visible and transparent. If the price you fix onyour MATIF contract price is higher than the set price,you receive the difference, but if the price goes down,you’ll still receive the sale price.”

The contract works in the same way as an option –– rapeseed is sold at harvest at £265/t, for example,and at the same time an option is purchased for £10/tagainst a Nov MATIF price of €375/t. “If the MATIF priceimproves to €400/t, you get an extra €25/t, netting you£275/t. If it falls, your sale price is secure. The price ofthe contract is good value when you compare it to theaverage seasonal variation,” he concluded.

Jonathan Lane advises growers to make the most

of the tools available to manage risk.

Global pressure builds on oilseed market

Find a few facts on feed

We found DDGS really are a valuable source of protein and energy

for pigs and poultry.”

“A milling wheat grower refines the agronomy of the crop to deliver the right balance of grain yield and protein. A malting barley grower focuses on delivering a grain of the correct grainnitrogen for the end user. But what aboutthe feed wheat and rapeseed grower?

Over half of UK grainbecomes animal feed eitherdirectly, or as co-products.CPM explores the research

aimed at understanding the needs of this important

sector.


The UK animal feed sector is the greatestuser of UK cereals and oilseeds by a longway, but growers know little about the sector’s quality requirements. That’s not tosay there aren’t opportunities to be explored,notes Harley Stoddart of HGCA. “NorthernEurope is highly dependent on non-GM protein, but the world is running out ofsources of non-GM soymeal. So home-grown sources of protein for animal feed are becoming ever more important.”

Significant researchThat’s why there’s a significant body ofresearch currently underway looking at thevalue of oilseed rape meal and cereal co-products (see panel on p63). Amongthese is the £2.6 million ENBBIO project –– the last of the Defra and industry-fundedLINK programme –– that’s due to concludein Sept this year.

The project investigates the potentialvalue of distillers dried grains with solubles(DDGS) produced as a co-product of theVivergo and Ensus bioethanol plants,explains Harley Stoddart. “We’ve a reasonable amount of information on barleyand maize DDGS, but less is known aboutwheat. But these plants depend as much onthe sale of DDGS to the feed industry asthey do on bioethanol sales, and UK growers are providing the primary product.”

A tonne of wheat will produce about350kg (400 litres) of ethanol and around thesame weight of DDGS, while the 300kg of

carbon dioxide produced can be used infizzy drinks or other food products, heexplains. Currently, just 250,000t of DDGS, a co-product mainly of the brewing and distilling industry, is used in animal feed, butthis is set to jump at least fourfold once thebioethanol plants are up to full production.

“That’s a sizeable market. The project hasfocused on ensuring the feed industry canuse wheat DDGS with confidence. There’sbeen very strong industry involvementthroughout, which is a key plus point, andHGCA are working with cross-sector AHDBcolleagues to co-ordinate and disseminatethe findings.”

The project’s research team was startingfrom a point of little understanding of DDGSfor monogastrics or of wheat DDGS from abioethanol plant, recalls Liz Hudson ofADAS. “DDGS had a reputation of being of variable quality because of variations in the manufacturing process at different distilleries. In the past, they’d mainly been


Wheat DDGS from bioethanol are set to representa sizeable market for UK growers, notes Harley Stoddart.

About a third of the wheat taken in by abioethanol plant is sold on as DDGS.

fed to ruminants, so we needed to establishnot only the digestibility for non-ruminants,but also the inclusion levels.”

In poultry, initially small-scale academictrials were carried out, mainly throughUniversity of Nottingham, to establish howbroilers and layers performed at different levels of inclusion.

“What we established early on was thatDDGS can be included at quite high levelsin diets for monogastric animals with no negative effect on performance. We foundthey really are a valuable source of proteinand energy for pigs and poultry,” notes LizHudson.

The protein content of DDGS is around34% –– significantly higher than the 9-10%protein of the wheat feedstock –– and theyare also high in fibre. The project diets werebalanced for standardised digestible aminoacids for different species and then includedat different levels with performance moni-tored closely. “We found the wheat DDGSwas consistent in quality from day to day.”

No differencesIn the broiler trials, both starters (0-14 days)and growers (14-28 days) were studied, with inclusion levels up to 5% and 18%,respectively. “No differences were detectedbetween treatments, and there were nostarter to grower interactions in broilers,showing that feeding wheat DDGS duringthe start phase doesn’t lead to any adaptation during the grower phase,”reports Liz Hudson. A broiler study at SRUC found there were no negative effectsof DDGS inclusion on overall growth

performance, provided diets were formulated correctly.

Layers fed wheat DDGS were examinedover four weeks, and likewise, this had nonegative effect on performance. “A key concern was whether the diet would lead todirty shells, but there was no effect on this oregg-shell quality, either,” she adds.

The academic studies led to trials withcommercial flocks at Hook2Sisters andNoble Foods. “It’s important to ensure these s

Pig pluses from ENBBIO project

For Lorraine Salmon, feeding wheat DDGS to pigswithout establishing its energy and amino acidcontent first would be like an arable farmerspreading an unknown fertiliser through anunmetered spreader.

“As with any new feed ingredient, you need to know what’s in it, and the requirements ofevery animal and stage of growth is different,”she explains. “Often there’s an existing analysisyou can refer to. But with co-products, it’s very dependent on the impact of the manufacturing process.”

As a pig nutritionist with Premier Nutrition, sheadvises on what levels of vitamins and mineralsare needed to supplement a feed. She’s alsobeen involved with the ENBBIO project, helping to establish the parameters needed, the best wayto measure them and how wheat DDGS can beincorporated into mongastric diets.

“You first need to establish a feed’s energycontent, which is dominated by either starch oroil for a product of cereal or oilseed originrespectively. Then you look at protein, and thebalance of the amino acids lysine, methionine,threonine and tryptophan. Fibre content is alsoimportant –– the right amount for a ruminant canbe too much for a pig.”

As co-products, wheat DDGS has much of itsstarch removed, while OSR meal has relatively little oil content. “There’s also the quality of theprotein to consider –– it can be heat damagedand become less available to the animal. Thelevel of damage and resulting nature of the protein is very dependent on the manufactureprocess and the specific plant. There are anti-nutritional aspects to consider, such as glucosinolates, and processing can hydrolysethese into more toxic products.”

The valuable part of the ENBBIO project is that it’s established all the parameters needed for wheat DDGS, she points out, and also determined that the product from the bioethanolmanufacture process is consistent.

“Wheat DDGS have a reasonable energy levelbut the digestibility of amino acids are relativelylow. Today, they’d feature in pig feeds at around£200/t –– considerably more than the originalcost of the wheat, although this depends verymuch on the cost of other ingredients theyreplace in the formulation, such as OSR and sunflower meal.”

The relative value of wheat DDGS is higher incattle feed, as the crude protein has a highervalue, she notes. But with the bioethanol plants

in the east of England and majority of beef farms in the West, there’s a transport penalty,particularly where the DDGS aren’t pelleted.

These are all aspects over which growershave little influence, she accepts. “The best wayto improve the quality of any cereal or oilseeddestined for animal feed is to manage the cropwell, especially as harvest nears. Mycotoxin levels are very important, and how grain isstored has a significant impact on its value inanimal feed. The 2012 harvest really showed up the importance of these aspects and put thefeed industry to the test in terms of how wecould include cereals when formulating diets.”

A feed’s energy content, balance of the amino acids,and fibre content must be assessed before it can beincluded in a diet formulation.

A special exhibit focusing on the importance of animal feed will feature on the HGCA standat next month’s Cereals event. As well as information on the research projects, HGCAstaff and experts will be on hand to provideinsight on growing for the sector.

“The feed industry is quite diverse as it provides products for a whole range of animals,” explains Dr Martin Grantley-Smith

of HGCA. “Firstly, you have ruminant and non-ruminant livestock, which have quite different nutritional requirements. On top ofthat there are pet food, horse feed and feed for fish farms. Growers can target specific feed types by using the right varieties andagronomy, helping boost profitability across the supply chain.”

Feed focus at Cereals

Broiler studies at SRUC found there were nonegative effects of DDGS inclusion on growthperformance, which led to commercial-scale trials.

findings carry through into commercialuse. There are also handling and other practical aspects to consider. One of thenotable features of this project has beeninvolvement with a large number of industrypartners. While that’s sometimes been achallenge to coordinate, the two-way link hasbeen really valuable to ensure the researchfindings have been taken on in practice.”

In pigs, work has been undertaken at the University of Illinois, as well as atNottingham, to assess the apparent ileal

digestibility (AID) and the standardised ilealdigestibility (SID) of amino acids –– two keymeasurements needed to assess the valueof wheat DDGS –– and commercial trials areon-going. Meanwhile, sheep-feeding trialswere carried out to determine metabolisableenergy (ME) and nitrogen digestibility forruminants.

With just a few months of the project left,initial results from all the commercial trialslook promising, she concludes. “We’ll alsobe assessing the land-use impact of switching protein sources for animal feedsinto wheat DDGS and including these findings in the final report.”

But cereal co-products are not the only


Liz Hudson works with a large number of industrypartners on the project, and this has beenvaluable to ensure the research findings havebeen taken on in practice.

s

HGCA project 3638, Environmental and nutritional benefits of bioethanol co-products(ENBBIO), runs from April 2010 to Sept 2014. Itaims to investigate variability and opportunitiesfor distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS)and quantify their contribution to the overallgreenhouse gas balance. Led by ADAS, with scientific partners University of Nottingham,University of Manchester and SRUC, its totalcost is £2,629,000, with £120,000 funded by HGCA. Part-funded by Defra, through theSustainable Livestock Production LINK programme, the project’s industry partners areAB Agri, AB Vista Feed Ingredients, Aunir, BPEX,DairyCo, Noble Foods, EBLEX, Ensus, Evonik,Glencore, Hook2Sisters, Marks & Spencer,NEPIC, Premier Nutrition Products, SciantecAnalytical Services, Syngenta Seeds, The ScotchWhisky Research Institute and Tulip.

HGCA project 3813, Expanding the knowledge base to increase the use of

home-grown rapeseed meal and DDGS in dietsfor pigs and poultry in the UK, runs from April2013 to April 2016. It aims to develop adigestibility coefficient database and nearinfrared (NIR) prediction equations for thedigestibility of OSR meal in pigs and broilerchickens and assess the safety of wheat DDGSwith particular reference to mycotoxins andheavy metals. Led by the Agri-Food andBiosciences Institute (AFBI), with scientific partners Queen’s University Belfast and theJames Hutton Institute, its total cost is£852,790 of which HGCA is contributing£204,574. Part-funded by DARD, the project’sindustry partners are Aunir, Cargill, AB Agri,QMS, Pig ReGen, Moy Park and Senova.

HGCA project 3812, Home-grown oilseedrape meal and OSR products as protein sourcesfor pigs and poultry, runs from April 2013 toMarch 2016. It aims to assess the nutritionalvalue and contamination levels of current OSR

meal varieties and products. Led by SRUC,with scientific partners NIAB and University ofNottingham, its cost is £324,312, funded by HGCA.

HGCA project 3805, Development of anaccurate means to predict the nutritive value ofwheat for broilers and an investigation of theeffect of harvest moisture content of wheat onbroiler performance, runs from April 2013 toMarch 2015. It aims to develop a validated NIRStool to predict the nutritive value and mycotoxinand microdochium levels of wheat, investigatethe effects of moisture content at harvest and drying conditions of wheat on broiler performance, and investigate the effect of fusarium mycotoxin and microdochium level on broiler performance. Led by AFBI, with partner Harper Adams University, its cost is

£353,000, with £123,000 funded by HGCA.Industry partners are Moy Park, Aunir and AB Vista.

Research round-up

Protein content of DDGS is around 34% –significantly higher than the 9-10% protein of thewheat feedstock – and they are also high in fibre.

Anti-nutritional properties, currently associated with OSR meal, could limit the amount that’sincluded in diet formulations, says Dhan Bhandari.

source of protein that could replace soya,according to HGCA’s Dr Dhan Bhandari.“Oilseed rape is a high protein crop, but thefeed industry has its concerns. Firstly, thenutritional value of OSR meal is not clearlydefined. It also contains an anti-nutritionalfraction –– metabolites such as sinapinesand glucosinolates –– that could be seen as less attractive properties and currentlylimit the amount that’s included in diet formulations.”

So following a research call put out inSept 2012, a further £1.5 million of new workis underway into animal feed, including twoprojects looking in more detail at the feedvalue of OSR meal. A third, separate projectassesses how moisture, fusarium andmicrodochium levels in wheat affect broiler

performance (see panel below).“So far in the first OSR meal project

(3812), samples have been prepared from22 conventional and hybrid varieties, andthese have been analysed for nutritional andanti-nutritional factors, while pig and poultryfeeding trials are underway. Initial screeninghas indicated glucosinolate levels do vary,and that the way in which the rapeseed iscrushed also has an influence on this”reports Dhan Bhandari.

This project overlaps with another (3813)led by AFBI, that aims to establish adigestibility coefficient database for OSRmeal. “The research team is analysing alarge number of samples from more thanone growing season and assessing them fordigestibility, protein and amino acids. Nearinfrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) isbeing used, and the plan is to develop a setof protocols that can be used to assesssamples quickly and easily using machinesthat most feed manufacturers have in theirlabs,” he continues.

A second aspect of this study is to determine the levels of various contaminants, including heavy metals andmycotoxins, and also to develop a similarrapid test for key mycotoxins in DDGS. “Thefeed industry is keen to know to what extentDDGS may contain these contaminants.”

The final project (3805) studies the nutritional value of wheat, using NIRS againto predict how broilers will perform when feda diet based on particular wheats. “It buildson previous HGCA-funded work and looks

to validate the academic findings using commercially raised birds,” explains Dhan Bhandari.

“In particular, the project will investigatehow post-harvest grain-drying history, fusarium and microdochium levels in wheat affect broiler performance. Growingconditions in 2012 provided excellent samples for work in this area, and these havebeen analysed and formulated into diets. Itshould build into a better understanding ofhow wheat of marginal quality can be used in animal feed,” he concludes. n


Turning field data intousable information

We need to be able to bring

it all together so we cansee through all the

layers to identify thetrends in yield performance.”

“


With the advent of new management systems, theinformation generated by precision farming systemsis about to take on a wholenew value. CPM looks at what lies beyond auto-steer and field maps.

By Andrew Watts

Ian Beecher-Jones reckons pulling the datatogether to give the complete picture representsthe next stage for precision-farming systems.

Axis is a cloud-based portal that’ll serve as asingle platform for everything from field maps to weather reports.

Making more of the available resourcesto improve crop management and raiseperformance may be the ambition ofevery farmer, but achieving it is the challenge that has confronted growersand their advisers since the time of thegreen revolution.

Delivering this ambition will inevitablyinvolve smarter use of technology –– newand old –– and more investment in precision farming systems, but first growers need to know how to turn the dataheld in field maps into usable information.

This data is highly valued, but how it’sbest utilised is less well understood, saysindependent precision farming adviser IanBeecher-Jones. “Sometimes the solutionisn’t agronomic, it can be that better pestcontrol is what’s really needed to reducevariation within a field. What’s important ishow we interpret the data from sourcessuch as a yield map,” he says.

Pulling the data together like the piecesof a jigsaw to give the complete picturerepresents the next stage in using precision farming systems to managecrops. It’s here he sees value in the nextgeneration of services being developed bythe big agronomy companies.

“When it comes to data management,we need to be able to bring it all togetherso we can see through all the layers to

identify the trends in yield performanceagainst what we know about soil texture,nutrient levels, pests, weeds and disease.Only then can we expect to see whetherwhat we do as managers is having a positive effect,” he says.

Usable informationOnce the data has been turned intousable information, growers can thenexplore other systems that may be of benefit to their farming situation. “Takeblackgrass control as an issue –– it mightbe that the solution involves rotation, seedrates, and science, but taking the sciencefrom the laboratory to the field requiresmore precision in its application.

“This may mean using optical sensorsto enable nozzle specific targeting of herbicides. Eventually all inputs will beapplied based on some form of scanning,but this’ll need to be backed up with

s

Omnia allows analysis and interpretation ofmultiple layers of data, says Matt Ward.

Data from crop management software and a mapping system will come together withweather forecasts and soil moisture data,says Lewis McKerrow.

advanced application techniques andthat needs to be supported by sophisticated data analysing and management.All three aspects will have to develop inunison,” he says.

It’s the analysing and interpretation partof the jigsaw that’s regarded by the bigfour agronomy firms as the means bywhich to differentiate themselves from thecompetition. As such all are investinglarge sums in systems that enable growers

to better manage and interpret the databeing produced on farm.

Precision servicesMost recently Agrovista unveiled Axis, its cloud-based platform that’ll centraliseand store the information it provides togrowers through PlantSystems, its precision services division. The system –– to be officially launched at Cereals –– will serve as a single platform for everything from field maps to weatherreports and, it’s claimed, will ease theadministrative burden by wirelessly

synchronising field records betweendevices as operations are carried out.

“Axis provides a single location for storing field records with precision mapping and farm business informationwhile seamlessly updating field recordsfrom the machine as operations are carriedout. By combining historical information,such as soil maps, with live data from weather stations and soil-moisture probeswe can also make more targeted use ofinputs,” says Agrovista’s head of precisionservices, Lewis McKerrow.

“At its heart is the next generation of crop management software fromMuddyBoots called Greenlight GrowerManagement –– the successor toCropWalker –– a sophisticated mappingsystem from Precision Decisions and

accurate weather forecasts from ForecastXtra. Alongside this will be soil moisturedata from our own in-field probes and thatwill allow more targeted use of water andother inputs,” he adds.

Agrovista’s not alone. Hutchinsonsplans to unveil Omnia at Cereals beforelaunching it properly this autumn. “Omniais a system that allows you to analyse and interpret multiple layers of data, toensure that agronomic decisions aren’tcompromised in the pursuit of precisiontechnology, as is the case with many of

s

Identifying weeds to build into a weed map couldensure plant populations are optimised tocompete with difficult weeds.

the current systems available,” saysHutchinsons’ Matt Ward.

Similarly, Soyl recently introducedMySoyl, its web-based platform that it says helps growers make more use of thedata they have to promote productivityand efficiency. As growers have developed the precision-farming servicesthey’ve brought onto their farms, they’veneeded a way to manage the data generated, according to the company’sSimon Parrington.

“In the first instance, the platform actsas a portal to manage P and K maps, leafarea index (LAI) maps generated throughremote-sensing technology, and soil conductivity surveys. These are used to generate the resulting input mapsdownloaded every year,” he explains.

“But as growers progress through eachstep in the precision-farming journey, thedata itself becomes a valuable resource.That’s where MySoyl comes in –– using thedata from a whole farm point of view. Youcan view everything in one place and drilldown to identify what’s influencing and limiting yields.”

Axis uses a subscription-based modelsplit three ways and it’s for the grower todecide which level of service best meetstheir needs.

“The basic level holds the customer’sagronomy information and is free while

Axis Field Pro (level 2) offers crop recording and Axis MapIT Pro (level 3)incorporates mapping to keep all farmmaps and precision data together,” says Lewis McKerrow.

Crop recordingFor its part, Agrii has the AgriiPlus. Thiswas released last Cereals and accordingto decision-support commercial managerStuart Alexander, “is designed to make the user experience as slick as possibleturning many areas of data into usableinformation”.

But while these systems are clearlyintended to fulfil a need, they’re also partof a longer term plan to deliver agronomysolutions in a market with fewer plant protection products and, potentially, fewer agronomists.

“It’s not difficult to imagine an environmentwith fewer agronomists,” says Dr TonyJohn of Agrovista.

“But the job is changing too –– we haveto identify ways that help us make themost of a declining armoury of productsand a tighter regulatory framework tomaintain productivity,” he says.

“In agriculture, we mark progress in incremental gains, but making them is difficult. We exist in an information vacuum,and how we analyse and interpret the data growers generate will drive progress

on farm and help fill this vacuum,” he adds. Stuart Alexander maintains that variations

in yield arise as a consequence of s

fundamental variations in soiltype and structure. “It stands toreason that for years wholefields have received the sameseed, fertiliser, cultivation, rainfall and sunlight, yet cropyields have varied significantly across the field.”

Natural capacityAgrii’s SoilQuest approach to optimising yield and gross margin is by mapping soil management zones within fieldsand then managing inputs inaccordance with the soil’s natural capacity to retain nutrients and moisture. “Usingthis technique we’re seeingsubstantial benefits in targetinginputs by management zones,”he says.

Think of yield maps as thefirst step towards making betterdecisions on farm, says TonyJohn. “On their own, they didn’ttell us much. Overlay them withpH maps, and they tell us a bitmore, introduce soil conductivitymaps and they begin to tell usa whole lot more. Getting themost from the data involvesseeing it in the round.

“We can write algorithms thatanalyse the data, but it takes anexperienced individual to interpretit and this person has to workwith the grower to deliver a programme that addresses theissues while raising averageperformance. This’ll be the roleof the agronomist in the futureand Axis is the portal thatallows us to do that,” he says.

Soyl has now mapped over 1 million ha, and has beendeveloping algorithms toanalyse what that data saysabout field potential, claimsSimon Parrington. “MySoyl has

some clever software workingin the background that looksthrough low-yielding areas, forexample, and identifies factors,such as nutrient deficiencies orsoil type that could be behindit. It’s easy to use, but theanalysing bit is the really important part.”

Matt Ward is keen to highlight the importance of thegrower in making the most ofsuch systems.

“Omnia is designed to be adecision-support system thatenables the grower to identify the most appropriatecourse of action for any givenfield in any given year and for aparticular input. Viewed on itsown the data tells you very little, but if collated it canbecome an invaluable management tool. It needs tobe farmer and agronomist-ledhowever, as they’ll know thefarm, the fields, the soils and the yield potential betterthan anyone.”

Variable seed rates are aprime example he says. “In onefield it may be that the soil texturemap is the most appropriatetool to decide seed rate, but in a neighbouring field it mightbe that a weed map is moreimportant, to ensure that plantpopulations are optimised tocompete with difficult weeds. Inother cases, the seed rate maybe best based on last year’syield map, or in the case ofoilseed rape, this is an easy wayto identify the most productiveplant populations on the differentsoil types within a field.

“You might be using differentlayers of information for thesame input depending on the circumstances. Omnia allows us


MySoyl is a web-based platform that helps growers make more use of thedata they have to promote productivity and efficiency.

s

Agrii’s SoilQuest maps soil management zones within fields which then helpsmanage inputs according to soil’s nutrient capacity says Stuart Alexander.

to overlay this data and thenanalyse it based on a single setof properties or a combination of properties depending on thesituation,” says Matt Ward.

Tony John says these systemswill also come to be relied on to help make day-to-day decisions as well as the more comprehensive crop management plans.

“Imagine in 5, 10 or 15 years’ time, we operate in an environment where none of theavailable chemistry has curativeactivity against Septoria tritici –– this isn’t hard to imagine.

“In such a scenario growerswill need to prioritise workloadbased on which crops in whichfields are most vulnerable.Through Axis we’ll be able toanalyse the data built up over the years and then consider itagainst what we know about avariety’s susceptibility, its growthrate and the disease pressurefacing each field. We can thenproduce a work plan that can beused to determine the order inwhich the farm’s wheat areashould be treated,” he says.

Data management systems,such as Axis, Omnia or MySoylaren’t replacing what, in someinstances, growers already do.Instead, the intention is to give growers the information neededto make better decisions, orwhere the way forward is still notclear, to at least identify areas inneed of more analysis.

“Unfortunately, there’s no easy-to-follow process to solving

the agronomy challenge,” saysIan Beecher-Jones. “What precision farming lets us do iswork through various aspects ofcrop production to identify thelimiting factors and considerways in which they can be overcome or mitigated. But it alsorelies on the farmer trusting hisinstincts when identifying thesefactors and discussing them with his agronomist to decide thecourse of action needed.

“It doesn’t always provide theanswer the grower is searchingfor, but instead leads to moreinformed questions that opendoors to yet more questions,” he adds.

One area that’s likely to beheavily scrutinised is who ownsthe data and can it be sold or leased.

“It belongs to whoever is buying it and it’s a tradable asset in much the same way asentitlements to the Single FarmPayment. Already we’re seeingsome land owners having fieldsanalysed for their nutrient status before renting it out in much the same way as a landlord renting out a house has an inventory made before a new tenant moves in,” says Ian Beecher-Jones.

“This analysis can then beused to ensure the land isreturned in the same nutrientstate it was in when it was taken on, but it could equally be transferred to a new owner in the event of a sale,” he adds. n

No room for complacencyin battle with blight

There’s the potential for

many more infectedsites from which

inoculum can spreadshould the weather

turn in favour of blight. ”

“

Memories of an easy time in 2013 and a desire to save on inputs due to poormarket prices have prompted fears thatgrowers might become complacent intheir efforts to control late blight this season.

Eric Anderson of Scottish Agronomy is keen to remind growers that what happened last year shouldn’t be considered indicative of what might happen this year, so there’s a need to remain vigilant.

“It’s the weather and nothing else thatdetermines the level of pressure facingcrops,” he says.

His concerns are supported by DarrylShailes of Hutchinsons who notes the high number of volunteer potatoes inneighbouring crops planted this year.

“There’s the potential for many moreinfected sites from which inoculum canspread should the weather turn in favour ofblight so it could easily be a challengingseason,” he says. Another indicator of

potential pressure is the amount of downymildew already present in other crops,which in some cases is up to six weeksearlier than he would expect.

“Potato blight is fundamentally a downymildew and with favourable weather conditions in recent weeks we can expectsome significant blight pressure early in the season. That, combined with theexceptionally high number of volunteerpotatoes that have emerged, could be theperfect storm for blight in the early part of


y With blight pressure set to be higher thisyear, growers arewarned to be vigilantand be ready to startspraying early. CPMgleans some advice.

By Andrew Watts

Favourable weather conditions and ahigh number of volunteers point tosome significant blight pressureearly in the season, warns Daryl Shailes.

the season,” he adds. One response to this early

pressure would be to bring forward use of some of the better anti-sporulant products,such as Infinito (propamocarb+fluopicolide), Invader (dimethomorph+ mancozeb) or Valbon (benthiavalicarb-

isopropyl+ mancozeb). Ranman Top (cyazofamid) or

Revus (mandipropamid), canalso be used but Eric Andersonalways advises mixing RanmanTop and Revus with cymoxanil+ propamocarb (as in Proxanil)where anti-sporulant activity is required.

Eradicate blight“It’s always worth partneringpropamocarb with cymoxanil as I’ve reservations about thelatter’s ability to eradicate foliarblight more than 18 hours afterinfection,” he says.

Whatever the productchoice, the important point is totake a prophylactic approachwhen pressure begins to build.“The lesson of 2012 is that it’sfar harder to control early infection than it is later in theseason when the crop is moremature and not growing soquickly, so we need to be prepared to get any protectionin early,” says Darryl Shailes.

With the weekly free-buyaverage price at roughly one-third of what it was at thistime last season, Eric Andersonunderstands the pressures facing growers, but says thattrying to save costs by cuttingfungicide use is often a falseeconomy.

“Fungicide costs typicallyamount to about £230/ha for s

For Martin Hammond, potato production manager at G S Shropshire & Sons nearDownham Market, Norfolk, Infinito is the ‘go-to’product when crops are under most pressure.

He manages 100ha of Maris Piper grown ona pre-pack contract for Marks & Spencer andthe farm is unique in that it’s able to use a system of sub-irrigation to accurately control the water table. Such a system is reckoned touse about 50% less water than if crops wereirrigated using an overhead system, says Martin Hammond.

“We try to mitigate blight risk with a comprehensive programme. This typically beginswith 1kg/ha Curzate M (cymoxanil+ mancozeb)which normally goes on just before the cropcanopy meets across the rows. We then move

to a seven-day programme with Invader(dimethomorph+ mancozeb) as the next sprayand before moving to the Infinito schedule whichis then followed by Ranman Top and Revus.

“We typically apply Infinito at full rate (1.6l/ha) regardless of the situation so we reckon touse up our allocation in four applications. Wedon’t tend to take risks with blight as there area lot of potatoes grown in the surrounding areaand volunteers are a major source of potentialinfection. We also farm about half a metre belowsea level which brings added pressure.

“Fortunately, we’ve no outlying land with allcrops inside a ‘ring fence’. This means we cancheck crops for signs of blight on a daily basiswith some ease. Sticking to a seven-day programme, however, requires careful

Martin Hammond typically begins with Curzate Mjust before the crop canopy meets across therows, moving to a seven-day interval programmewith Invader and then to Infinito followed byRanman Top and Revus.

coordination with the irrigation schedule andwe aim to irrigate directly after spraying,”he adds.

Once crops reach rapid canopy expansion, EricAnderson believes spray intervals may need tobe reduced to as little as four days to ensurenew growth is protected.

Both Pink 6 and Blue 13 have reduced latentperiods and can sporulate at 6°C so blightprogrammes need to be begin earlier.

Comprehensive programme keeps blight in check

most growers. This is less than 3% ofthe total per ha cost of growing potatoesso represents little, if any, opportunity todeliver real savings,” he says.

Instead, he says it’s always better topreserve quality and maximise marketableyield by matching active substance togrowth stage and blight pressure.

“Crops are most able to tolerate diseaseduring the mid-canopy stage so if there’sany opportunity for savings, it’s to be hadhere. But with growers increasing theirplanted areas, managing crops on thisbasis can be extremely difficult, not tomention risky, if conditions prevent scheduled applications.”

Both Eric Anderson and Darryl Shailesagree that growers need to be vigilant and

monitor the obvious sources of inoculumwhen devising a strategy.

“In a high pressure year, such as 2007and 2012, growers need to protect cropsfrom the outset, in some cases as soon asthey emerge, but standard spray intervalsof seven days should suffice. Once cropsreach rapid canopy expansion however,intervals may need to be reduced to as little as four days to ensure new growth isprotected. During this time the canopy willdouble in size every seven to 10 days soexposing new growth to infection,” saysEric Anderson.

Volunteer control“Our message to growers this year will be clear,” states Darryl Shailes. “Keep ontop of volunteers, including those in anydumps or piles of tubers, and be preparedto spray early, soon after emergence ifnecessary and also to bring the strongerproducts forward in the programme, againif necessary.”

From midway through the season orwhen tubers begin to be formed inearnest, Eric Anderson believes the strategyshould be expanded to consider tuberblight control, an issue he feels manygrowers tend to overlook until the onset of burn down, but by which time infectionmay have already taken hold.

“Tuber blight is often overlooked duringmid-canopy because fungicides tend tokeep the upper part of the canopy in good health. But this often hides what’shappening below the upper leaves. It’sfrom these leaves that the spores areleached onto the soil and washed down to infect tubers,” he says.

“Admittedly the past few seasons havebeen relatively mild for tuber blight, but it’s

far from banished. Just 0.5% of tubersneed to be infected to give serious problems in store,” he adds.

Once crops reach 70 days after emergence, the older leaves tend tobecome highly susceptible to infection and it’s at this stage that forward speed andboom height take on added importance inefforts to achieve effective control. Too fastor too high, says Eric Anderson, andcanopy penetration is compromised bymore off-target application.

Another factor that Eric Anderson feelshas largely gone under reported is thegreater aggressiveness of the dominantstrains, Pink 6 (6_A1) and Blue 13 (13_A2)and the implications this has for control.

“Both Pink 6 and Blue 13 have reducedlatent periods compared with the strainsthat preceded them. Both have the abilityto sporulate at 6°C, which is substantiallyless than the 10°C required to constitute aSmith Period. Hence the need to be beginprogrammes earlier.”


s

s

Applications of calcium nitrate can bring manybenefits to a potato crop, but there’s a shortwindow of application, says Tom de Camp of Yara.

“Calcium helps to build strong, stable cellwalls that are more resistant to bacterial andfungal diseases such as internal rust spot (IRS),internal brown spot (IBS), and also storage softrots, including Erwinia,” he notes.

Very small amounts of calcium in the peelwill bring a better skin finish and a good diseasetolerance. “It also helps potatoes to cope withheat stress: it regulates the transport of potassiumfor stomatal opening, minimizing wilting and leafdamage, and in doing so has been shown toimprove potato yields by as much as 30%.”

But timing for all nutrients is critical, heinsists. “The ideal time to apply calcium to potatoes is at tuber initiation otherwise weak cell walls will lead to poor skin finish and the possibility of internal disorders.

“The stolon hook will be just starting todevelop, whilst some potatoes will be furtherdeveloped, like small marbles. If bad weatherthreatens, apply calcium earlier rather than later.”

Soil testing will tell how much calcium is in thesoil, and what kind it is –– calcium carbonate isn’treadily soluble or available to plants. Even ifthere is calcium present in the soil, it won’t beadequate for growing crops throughout theirpeak growth period, warns Tom de Camp.

Applying calcium nitrate at tuber initiationimproves both yield and quality.

Calcium helps to build strong, stable cell wallsthat are more resistant to bacterial and fungaldiseases, says Tom de Camp.

“Fast-developing varieties such as MarisPiper in particular, and varieties that are susceptible to IRS, should receive calciumnitrate at tuber initiation as a matter of course as an insurance.”

Calcium only moves upwards in the plantand nutrition for the tubers is taken in throughthe stolon and tuber roots. So, applied in asoluble, granular form it quickly becomes available to the crop, whereas foliar applicationstend to remain in the leaf, he advises.

Careful calcium brings benefits

For him this raises the significance ofproducts with strong anti-sporulant activityand explains why he believes it’s importantthat growers understand the properties of

each product and what they contribute tothe programme.

“Infinito, Revus and Ranman Top arewidely accepted to be the top three

protectant fungicides available to growers for use during periods of highpressure, but Infinito is alone in offeringstrong anti-sporulant activity,” he says. n

s

Brutal soils broughtinto checkOne of England’s finestcountry estates has some ofthe country’s toughest soils,but a change in cultivationpolicy is taming them.

Tractor-tankercombi means noneed for SP sprayerMoving to a true high-speedtractor able to tow a trailedbowser while carrying a front/rear sprayer combination, is speeding up spraying operations for a Scottish combinable and root crop grower.

The powerful drawof innovationThe machinery lines atCereals 2014 will bebristlingwith new technology,improved specification,advanced features andclever design.

Hybrid hints as soilimpact drivestracked-tractorresearchMore than 25 years after the advent of rubber tracksystems, manufacturers oftracklayers, tractors and tyresare seeking new ways to takethe technology further.

Features

Clubroot benefitsfrom one-passsystemThe switch to a subsoilerseeder with disc coultersnot only ensures a timelyestablishment for anAberdeenshire grower’soilseed rape, but allows an innovative approach toseedbed nutrition.

Agrifac B-216-2

Amazone A-102-1

AS Communications D-428-4

Berthoud A-140-1

Bomford Turner H-935-9

Case IH H-800-8

Claydon K-1140-11

Cousins of Emneth J-1117-11

Dale Drills K-1128-8-11

Great Plains J-1125-11

Grimme B-343-3

Horsch K-1120-11

Where do I find...?Finding what you need at Cereals can be a bit of a bind. So we’ve saved you some time and listed the Cereals standnumbers of all the manufacturers and companies featured in this special section. Don’t forget to take your copy ofCPM with you when you go to the stand so you can show the representative what you’re after.

Company Cereals Stand No. Company Cereals Stand No. Company Cereals Stand No.

Hypro B-204-2

JCB Landpower D-501-5

John Deere B-214-2

Kellands Agricultural 2-B-220

Knight Farm Machinery A-120-1

KRM B-236-2

Kuhn J-1063-10

Knight Farm Machinery A-120-1

Kverneland D-567-5

Lechler A-136-1

Lynx Engineering F-604-6

McConnel J-1127-11

Micron Group B-226-2

Mitas H-933-9

New Holland H-814-8

Opico J-1052-10

Rolland Trailers I-1053-10

Ryetec I-938-9

Sumo I-900-9

Techneat K-1134-11

Teejet B-208-2

Tillso K-1102-11

Ursula Agricultural D-418-4

Väderstad G-801-8

78

88

92

98

102

crop production magazine may 201476

The powerful draw of innovation

The machinery linesat Cereals 2014 will

be bristling with new technology, improved

specification, advanced features and clever design.

CPM picks out the highlights.

By Mick Roberts

The system will operate complex

ISObus-compatiblemachines with several

control circuits.”

“

If it’s not the new-look cab on the outside that draws you in, it’ll be theingenious gadgetry that sits on the control panel or a clever new designfeature that just makes sense. Cereals hasalways been one of the best places tocompare various advances and upgradeswhen deciding on new kit, and this yearthere’s a host of new technology set to improve work rates and make an operator’s life a little easier.

Sprayer advancesAgrifac’s new MountainMasterPlus system adds self-levelling to its Condorsprayer, which can already continually adjustground clearance from between 140cm to

200cm with its StabiloPlus chassis. Now,however, the system can also keep themachine level –– both laterally and longitudinally –– on slopes up to 11° (20%).The chassis can also be lowered for stabilityduring road transport.

The speed on Condor sprayers is nowmonitored by GPS as well as the existingwheel sensors. These combine to counterany inaccuracy caused by wheelslip andhelp to maintain the correct and even application rate.

Berthoud’s CANbus EC Tronic controls,initially designed for the self-propelledRaptor and trailed Tenor sprayers, are nowavailable on the trailed 3200-litre capacityTracker and mounted Elyte ranges.

The EC Tronic control panel clearly displays key information on a large,

Agrifac’s self-levelling option keeps the machine level on slopes, both side to side and up and down.


Berthoud now offers further electronic control forthe trailed Tracker and mounted Elyte sprayers.

Kellands equips the Agribuggy with a curvaceousnew cab.

back-lit colour screen, including l/ha, litres applied, pressure, area treated, mixremaining in the tank and work speeds.

Integrated with the sprayer’s standardfunctions, EC Tronic also includes boomcontrol and sprayer set-up, while storing keydata for total traceability. An optional E-Techpackage adds auto guidance and GPSauto-section control. Variable-rate application is a further option along with a weather-station facility and cameras.

The same models can now also use the remote-control E-Pilot ergonomicallydesigned joystick to control a number of

sprayer’s features wirelessly within a 10m-plus range of the EC Tronic controller.These include the hydraulic functions, andboth general and sequential boom andspray opening and closing.

The latest cab on the Kellands Agribuggy2700 offers operators more space and comfort as well as new floor-level heatingand roof-mounted air-conditioning, with acarbon filter that cleans the air to the strictestCategory 4 standard.

Accessed through a large glass door, the

new cab has a tinted and curved frontscreen, designed to reduce glare and reflections. Inside, there’s a new adjustablesteering column and instrument panel withan updated sprayer console and controllerto the right.

For spraying, the Agribuggy is fitted with a 2500-litre capacity GRP tank, with gel-coated interior and internal baffles. The12/24m aluminium boom has multi-stagesuspension with tilt control and seven sections with pneumatic shut-off for the Triplet nozzle bodies and full-flow spray line recirculation for purging and spray-line rinsing.


The Kuhn Metris extends the firm’s range oftrailed machines, offering a 4100-litre tank andboom widths from 18-36m.

s

The TeeJet DynaJet Flex 7120 PWM Sprayercontrol can maintain a consistent droplet sizefrom a single nozzle, over a wide range ofoperating speeds.

App & Go from Müller offers a total of ninedifferent ‘Apps’ options that users can specifyand pay to activate.

Category 4 filtration is now an option on Knight self-propelled sprayers. The pressurised cabs are equipped with multi-stage filtration and are sealed to prevent the ingress of unfiltered air.

Knight is also offering the HyproDuoReact twin-outlet nozzles as well asISObus controls. All sprayers with enginepowers of more than 175hp are nowequipped with the latest exhaust emission-control systems employing AdBlue after-treatment.

The latest Kuhn Metris, which has a 4100-litre tank and boom widths from 18-36m, extends the firm’s range of trailedmachines and sits between the existingGrand Large and Oceanis models, withwhich it shares some common features.

The sprayer’s polyester tank has smooth,easily cleanable inner surfaces, while its450-litre rinse tank is positioned centrallyand at the rear for good load distribution and stability.

The 100% aluminium boom is designed tobe relatively lightweight and available withKuhn’s Equilibra boom suspension system.The boom folds within the machine’s dimensions, which is said to make it easier

in transport. Options include auto-sectioncontrol, automated rinsing, a steering axle as well as headland boom-height control.

Micron is introducing a wide range of newproducts at Cereals, including the latestVaridome for treating narrow bands, shieldedEnviro sprayers with ground following, and arange of new tanks.

For larger spraying operations, Micron isintroducing a 1200-litre tank to join its 100-litre Tank System, which comes with aninduction hopper, hand wash and rinse tanksand a hydraulic pump as well as beingequipped with easy-access controls, roadlights and a watertight locker. The largestnew tank –– the 1800-litre Dual Tank System–– has two compartments holding 1050 and750 litres with independent spray systems,hydraulic centrifugal self-priming pumps and induction hoppers with agitation andrinse facilities.

The Varidome S3 band sprayer on display will be fitted with a dual-spray system as well as a new heavy-duty stainless steel carriage and larger wheels. A new controller includes an intuitive touch-screen user interface.

The spray-shield design for the Varidome100 HiFlo is also new and has been createdspecifically for closely planted crops. Itcomes fitted with a hydraulic nozzle and can spray between rows spaced 100-450mm apart.

Team Sprayers is introducing a range of new features on its Leader 3 trailedsprayers, including a 7m radius steeringdrawbar and improved coil-spring suspension. There’s also a redesignedsuspended axle, offering 1m ground clearance, while the optional steering/tracking drawbar works in manual and automatic field modes, plus road transportmode with a ram-locking device.

The new, rounded tank is available in2500, 3000, 3500 and 4000-litre capacities.Boom widths range from 18-32m, with triplefolding for the 28m, 30m and 32m versionsdesigned to improve stability and fold compactly for transport. All booms have electro-hydraulic folding and are equippedwith self-levelling tilt and anti-yaw systems.

Martin Lishman has developed a 350-litre Demount Sprayer for utility vehicles (UTV). Powered by the vehicle’s 12 volt power supply, the sprayer includes a 3-section balanced valve block with pressure regulation, isolator for each section and an agitation system that can be run during filling to ensure the solutionsprayed is entirely consistent. There’s a 4mor 6m three-section folding boom, a 35-litrecircuit rinse and 15-litre hygiene tank.

The company will also be demonstratingdevelopments to its Barn Owl Wireless grain-monitoring system.

Controller progressionThe latest Müller Touch1200 ISObus-compatible terminal, from David KingElectronics, controls not only a range of different machines, but can also regulateseveral different products at the same time. It also comes with a GSM modem as standard.

The novel 12.1-inch colour display, whichcan be used in both portrait and landscape(up or down) formats, is said to be one ofthe first on the market with a ‘capacitivetouch screen’. This means a special film protects the glass, which makes it suitablefor work in harsh conditions.

The ME Multi-Control system will operate complex ISObus-compatiblemachines with several control circuits –– for example, two sprayer functions or a seedand fertiliser combination drill. At the sametime, it can also control different application


Amazone’s CCI 100 terminal is the result of ajoint development from a range of leadingmachinery manufacturers and the CCI(Competence Centre ISObus).

Micron’s new Dual Tank System has twocompartments holding 1050 and 750 litres with independent spray systems.

s

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The Bomford Dyna-Drive is ground-driven andcapable of carrying out both primary andsecondary cultivations at low cost.

rates as well as other ISObus functions,such as auto-section control. The systemuses the same position data and sensors forall machines.

Müller is also introducing an ISObus-UTApp which, when activated, allows itsTRAC-Guide II GPS-guidance terminal toalso run ISObus-compatible implements.The company also offers a novel licensingapproach to upgrading the functionally ofits ME terminals. A total of nine ‘Apps’ areinstalled, and with App & Go users canspecify and pay for the ones they require, such as headland management,auto-section control or variable rate as well as auto-steer.

A new spraying forecast joins the list of other useful features on the updatedFieldwise Pro App from Hutchinsons. Usingcurrent Met Office data it provides a guide to the next five days’ weather, displaying simple ‘traffic light’ indications of whether the conditions are likely to besuitable for spraying.

Available for both Apple and Android platforms, it’s free to download from theusual places – search for ‘Hutchinsons’.Another really useful feature is ‘Tank MixSequence’, which as it name suggests, provides guidance on the order in which to add various pesticides and products.

The latest Amazone CCI 100 terminal is the result of a joint development from arange of leading machinery manufacturersand the CCI (Competence Centre ISObus).

Equipped with an 8.4-inch touch screenwith additional soft keys, the CCI 100 has itsown speed-data source, which means itdoesn’t need to be connected to a fullyISObus-compatible tractor. This allows it to operate a trailed sprayer that providesspeed via a land-wheel sensor through theCANbus, which otherwise can’t be used by ISObus.

Operators switching between, for

fertiliser applications and spraying, nozzlesof different types and sizes or characteristics–– standard or low drift, for example. Boththe front and back nozzle can also be usedat the same time, which could help achievehigh liquid-fertiliser outputs.

The nozzles are operated pneumatically,with the air supply on the sprayer operatingtwo fast-reacting valves. Operators canswitch between the turret and the single outlet at any time or use both at the sametime. The turret can be rotated manually toselect different nozzle combinations.

The Hypro system is also now availableas an option on John Deere M900i andR900i Series trailed sprayers. Called‘TwinSelect’ it’s operated via the sprayers’existing GreenStar touch-screen terminals.

A new pre-emergence nozzle, developed by Lechler together withSyngenta, is said to be the first to achieve95% drift reduction in the German JKI classification, which is similar to the UK LERAPS scheme.

The Lechler 130-05 achieves this ratingby minimising the production of finedroplets at pressures from 1.5 bar to 5 bar,and 90% reduction up to 6 bar. This wideoperating pressure range, says the firm,allows operators to use a single nozzle to

Claimed to be the widest cultivator/disc drill onthe market, the 12m-wide Pronto DC drill has anovel folding arrangement so it wraps up to just3m for transport.

example, an Amazone sprayer, a Kronebaler or Grimme harvester will find the menulayout is identical for all machines, whichsimplifies operation. Additional functions,such as guidance or auto-section control are also options from the manufacturers.

TeeJet’s new ISObus compatible, Aeros 9040 Field Computer provides a widerange of functions controlled via its 8.4-inchcolour screen. These include guidance,auto-steering, application-rate control and variable-rate applications, as well as auto-section control.

It can be used with various GPS differential signals –– including RTK anddata –– which can be transferred by WiFi or via two USB ports.

Real-time videoUp to eight cameras can be connected intothe system and operators can view up tofour video images at the same time. It also displays guidance information over a‘real-time’ video picture of the field. What’smore, the screen will display the standardISObus rate-control interface simultaneouslywith guidance information on the samescreen.

A new monitoring function that providesreal-time information of droplet size duringspraying is also standard.

Also new from TeeJet is the novel DynaJetFlex 7120 PWM Sprayer control, which can maintain a consistent droplet size from a single nozzle, over a wider range of operating speeds.

PWM stands for ‘Pulse Width Modulation’,which is essentially an electronic control system for solenoid-operated nozzle controlvalves. Mounted on each nozzle body thesecontrol the liquid flow by ‘modulation’ –– turning them on or off up to ten times a second.

This allows flowrates to be varied, withoutchanging the pressure, which maintains aconsistent droplet size across differentspeeds and application rates. Conversely,operators are able to change the dropletsize, from the cab, while maintaining a setapplication rate.

The system can be fitted to any make ofsprayer and works in conjunction with theexisting rate controller.

The Hypro Duo React twin-outlet nozzlealso offers greater application flexibility byproviding a normal quad turret at the frontand a single body behind. This allows operators to switch between different nozzles at the flick of a switch.

It effectively provides the benefits of twin-line installation, but through a singleline, making it possible to switch between

The Trimble UX5 takes aerial images to help monitor crop health.


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treat sensitive areas –– such as near watercourses and adjacent crops –– as well asthe rest of the field.

Trials by Syngenta using Colzor Trio (clomazone) show they produce the samebiological performance as a standard IDair-induction nozzle.

Drift reductionLechler has also extended the pressurerange on its latest new ID3 air-induction nozzles, for all sizes from 2 bar to 8 bar, providing a claimed 90% drift reduction.This, adds the company, allows output pernozzle to be doubled with very little changein droplet sizes.

Trimble believes using Unmanned AerialSystems (UAS) for monitoring crop healthlooks set to become a key element of precision farming technology for both agronomists and growers.

At Cereals, AS Communications will beshowing the new Trimble UX5, which it saysprovides a fast and safe way to capture aerial data. The recently developed UAS canbe used to take aerial images for monitoringcrop health as well as for other applicationssuch as measuring crop height and locating cattle and forage over large areas.

With a built-in 16.1 MP camera, modified

to capture the near infrared (NIR) spectrum,the UX5 can also be used to help deducevegetation indexes for both crop-healthassessment and variable-rate applications.The UX5 design, which has been patentedby Trimble, can fly at 70km/h and cover a1km2 area at a 5cm image resolution in a45min flight. However, its use in the UK issubject to restrictions defined by the UK CivilAviation Authority, points out Trimble.

The tines on the Väderstad Spirit can be set to loosen soil in between two seed coulters or in front ofevery second one.


Meanwhile Ursula Agriculture has been using its UAS to map blackgrass populations in growing crops. The research-driven company is expected towiden its commercial Scout service to mapping blackgrass in the autumn and winter periods when 80% of emergenceoccurs.

Detecting blackgrass at this time willreveal the effectiveness of pre-emergence s

control measures and inform post-emergence herbicide application in the early spring, says Ursula. Considerable savings can be made through identifyingresidual pockets of blackgrass and patch spraying, rather than spraying the entire field.

Cultivations evolveA familiar machine from the 1980s, theBomford Dyna-Drive, will be making a return to the Cereals Event after its successful relaunch. The machine, which is ground-driven and capable of carrying out both primary and secondarycultivations, is aimed at those looking tomake quick cultivation passes at low cost.

Tines on the front rotor initially penetrateand lift the soil. The backwards facing tineson the rotor behind, which are driven at threetimes. the speed of the front ones, create afiner tilth and leave a firm, level seedbed.This, says the company, makes it ideal forcreating stale seedbeds.

The Dyna-Drive will be available in fourworking widths from 2m to 5m. It’s said towork best at speeds of about 11-16km/h,which provides a 4m version with a work rate of about 4ha/h.

Horsch is introducing machines at theevent aimed at fulfilling demand for greaterworking widths and able to carry out moreoperations in as few passes as possible.

The 12m-wide Pronto DC drill, for example, is said to be the widest cultivator/disc drill on the market, althoughit’s still able to fold to a 3m transport width,thanks to its novel folding arrangement. The range starts at 3m wide and its TurboDisc coulters are said to be able to workafter the plough or for mulch sowing anddirect drilling.

For those looking for strip seeding or conventional drilling from one machinethere’s the Focus TD. The tine-cultivationframe can be quickly released from the

chassis at four mounting points. Once takenfrom under the machine, it can easily bereplaced with the DiscSystem to create a compact rotary disc harrow, whichincreases its versatility.

Available in 4m and 6m working widths,the new Focus TD has a 5000-litre grainand fertiliser hopper with a 60:40 split.

Väderstad will be showing its SpiritStripDrill – a tillage and drill front-toolarrangement – which is designed to minimise soil disturbance at drilling andreduce compaction.

The drill uses 25mm hardened tinesmounted at 16.7cm or 33.4cm centres.

These narrow tines are designed to createminimum soil disturbance and cut powerconsumption, while maintaining drillingspeeds of up to 15km/h. The tines can beset to loosen soil in between two seedcoulters or in front of every second one. At the same time, fertiliser can be placedat two different depths.

In trials this has been shown to contribute to higher yields by helping theplant quickly produce a deep root systemafter drilling, which the firm says can deliver yield increases in oilseed rape of 5-10% over time.

A new 4m version of the Centurion drill,joining the Great Plains range, will be displayed in concept form at Cereals, with field testing planned for autumn 2014and spring 2015.

Available as both grain-only and grain-and-fertiliser versions, it’ll feature tworows of 460mm cultivation discs runningahead of a tyre packer that’s said to provide consistent consolidation in front ofthe proven 00 Series openers. There’s theoption of 125mm or 167mm row spacings,while control is via a Müller ISObus-compatible terminal.

Hydraulic down pressure ensures thecoulters operate at a consistent depth in all soil types, while accurate delivery ofboth seed and fertiliser is ensured by apneumatic delivery system.

The new drill folds to 3m for transport,with the transport weight being carried on the packer, which is fitted with 420/5517 tyres.

The new Eco3 range from Dale Drillsuses the company’s independent drillingassemblies, as found on its larger trailedEco-Drill range, but fitted to a mountedmachine and in narrower working widths.

The new range is planned to offer 3m,4m and 5m working widths and includesthe same developments found on the larger machines such as the ability to offer variable row-spacing from

125-250mm, as well as seed and fertiliser placement and independentcontour-following of each assembly. Italso uses the firm’s variable hydraulicdrilling-pressure and the Dale presswheel, which has been proven to continue to run in challenging wet conditions.

The Eco3 will have an optional deeper-drilling tine on each assembly,which can be positioned 75mm deeperthan the seed tine and used to place fertiliser below the seed or simply to create a channel for drainage in the rooting zone.

Available with six to eleven furrows,the Bugnot Rapidlab from Ryetec is ahigh speed ‘skim plough’. It’s designedto offer the complete soil inversion and trash burial you’d expect from a traditional mouldboard plough, but withfaster operation, lower fuel consumptionand ease of use.

Capable of working at depths of 100-150mm, it can provide total soil inversion and trash burial at thesedepths.

Unlike min-till this, says the firm, canhelp provide cultural weed control andcut disease carry over from old to new crops.

Staggered spacingsTillso’s Advantage subsoiler is designedfor soil-restructuring work, using its Sabretines at staggered spacings to cut tineinter-action. Depth is controlled via theDiamond roller and tine angle andpitch are also adjustable.

There’s now a new option to combinethe Advantage with Tillso’s new OSR drill opener, to allow crops such as OSR to be established directly into wellstructured soil, in one pass, without moisture loss.

Cousins of Emneth is introducing the

The Bugnot Rapidlab is a high speed ‘skimplough’ designed to offer complete soil inversionand trash burial but faster and with less cost.

The new Eco3 range uses the Dale’s independentdrilling assemblies fitted to a mounted machineand in narrower working widths.


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There’s a new engine and transmission in John Deere’s new range-topping 7310R.

12.4m wide, HD Contour HZ, seven-bankCambridge roll with horizontal folding and a novel weight distribution system.

The rolls weigh 10t which, says Cousins,combine with the width to allow operatorsto achieve uniform results with good consolidation and set a steady pace.

Seven separate roll banks provide goodground-following characteristics, with weightevenly distributed across the full workingwidth, while horizontal folding provides goodstability for transport. Folding and unfoldingis operated from the tractor cab.

Tractors and harvestersJohn Deere’s new 7310R tractor will be seen for the first time in the UK at Cereals.Featuring a Stage 4 compliant engine, thetop model in the 7R Series muscles up310hp and heads five other new, more powerful tractors from 210-290hp. For transport and pto applications, the engine’sintelligent power management (IPM) systemprovides an extra 30hp and is expected to deliver 2% better fuel efficiency than previous units.

AutoPowr transmission will be availableacross the range, allowing a change inground speed while keeping a constant

engine rpm for the pto. Or there’ll be the newfully automatic e23 transmission, whichoffers 23 equally spaced power-shiftable forward gears and 11 reverse.

Cereals will be the UK debut of NewHolland’s new Varifeed 12.5m grain header for its CR combine. The header fits with 36m tramlines, and is especially suited to those following the controlled trafficfarming (CTF) route.

The cutter knife of the header can beadjusted longitudinally by up to 575mm from

the cab and four Autofloat sensing padsautomatically adjust its height and lateralinclination.

Grimme will have its new higher outputclod and stone CS separator on its stand at Cereals this year boasting an extra 15%output over previous models. This has beenachieved by extending the sieving area onthe main web and clod mat up to 7.2m2.A greater axle adjustment increases theangle of the machine which also improvessieving performance. n


Hybrid hints assoil impact drives

tracked-tractorresearch

More than 25 years after the advent of rubber tracksystems, manufacturers of tracklayers, tractors andtyres are seeking new waysto take the technology further. CPM visited Austriaand the Czech Republic to find out more.

By Martin Rickatson

The concept shows that we’rethinking outside

the box of current tyre-producing

practices.”

“

The attraction of rubber-tracked tractorsfor tillage and drilling among large-scalearable farms is pretty well established.They provide a combination of a bigground contact area, narrow road transport width and high power transfer capability.

But aside from the mid-1990s introduction of an articulated alternative tothe original differentially-steered twin-trackmachines, in the form of Case IH’sQuadtrac, design formats have changedlittle over the quarter-century sincecrawlers with rubber tracks were first introduced. Meanwhile, as higher-outputconventional tractors have become available and tyre technology hasimproved, some farms have moved awayfrom tracks back to potentially more versatile wheeled tractors to provide their primary source of power.

But tracks remain particularly well suited to certain soils, systems and farmset-ups, and both methods of translatingengine power into traction unarguablyhave their place. And while wheeled tractors have snatched back some of the 300-400hp market as engine grunt has crept higher and tyre technology has advanced, forthcoming track developments may again shift the parameters of the sector. Over the longer

term, advances in overall machine efficiency may be as much about engineand transmission technology as aboutsheer size, power and traction, though.

That’s the belief of Christian Huber, senior director of tractor marketing basedat the European headquarters of Case IHin St Valentin, Austria. He’s been involvedin tracked tractor production for almosttwo decades, introducing the first four-tracked 360hp Quadtrac in 1997.Since then, the manufacturer has almostdoubled the maximum power output of itslargest model to 692hp.

But ongoing research into track design and development, and an acknowledgement that more power doesn’t necessarily solve every output andsoil management issue, means the makeris now looking lower down the power orderfor ways to extend the usefulness of itstrack technology experience.

“Greater tractor output won’t always beabout the biggest machinery,” believesChristian Huber.

“There’s a trend towards makingmachines capable of more work, but also making them more efficient and that maybe more about technology than brutepower. We’re looking at the wide range of uses that our Magnum tractors of 235-370hp are put to, and investigatingoptions for the best way to put this sort of power to work without compromise,” he explains.

“In terms of traction and fuel efficiency,one of the most significant areas of thishas involved carrying out design studiesand analysis into all possible track configurations that would be compatiblewith this size and style of tractor. Thisincludes ‘traditional’ full-length twin tracks,like those used on competitive makes, a four-track arrangement with steerablefront tracks, and an articulated designwhich pivots between cab and engine.”

But while other crawler manufacturingfirms’ preferred method of power transferis fixed tracks and differential steering,Case IH remains firmly convinced that‘true’ steering of some form is more desirable from a soil protection point of view.


Internal studies suggest that a rear track/frontwheel combination may be the best format for a300-400hp tracked tractor, says Christian Huber.

The secret to getting more work out of machines,but also making them more efficient may be moreabout technology than brute power.

Mitas unveiled its PneuTrac track/tyre hybrid atlast year’s Agritechnica show in Germany.

“Soil preservation is at the heart of what a tracked machine is about, and theheadland soil damage that can be causedwhen turning a twin-tracked machine withdifferential steering is something we’vealways sought to ensure our designsavoid. For that reason, our research focusin bringing a tracked design to this 200-350hp power bracket hasn’t beenon a twin-track arrangement.

“We’ve therefore looked into a four-trackdesign, on a similar basis to our Quadtrac.

But as with every farm equipment development, the necessary research,development and manufacturing costs arereflected in the final price. The cost ofincorporating an articulated steeringarrangement into an existing conventionaltractor design, between the engine andcab, would make the resulting machineparticularly expensive. And without anarticulation point, using conventional frontsteering puts the track units under a lot ofpressure, and again scuffs the soil surfaceconsiderably.”

Christian Huber says, therefore, thatCase IH’s plan to bring tracks to theMagnum power bracket is likely to centrearound a hybrid design, aiming to providethe best of both wheel and track systemsin a single machine. While retrofit trackunits have been on the market for sometime, this would represent the first time amanufacturer has produced an integrated,in-house design, with the running gearspecifically designed for the machine inquestion by its own manufacturer.

“By retaining a conventionally steeredfront-wheeled axle, we can have a tractorthat achieves optimum traction yet also is kind on the soil when turning, and hasbetter road characteristics,” he suggests.

“That could give us a more versatilemachine in this 200-350hp power sector,


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Initial PneuTrac trials have been carried out with280/70 R18s on a Lindner farm truck.

Andrew Mabin, pictured right with Jon Ward, saysa set of PneuTracs could offer farmers a credible,lower cost alternative to a crawler.

where tractors are used for a much wider variety of tasks than those in the category above.”

But it’s not just tractor manufacturersthemselves that are looking at the benefitsof longer track-type footprints, as opposedto either fully tracked tractors or long-footprint tyre designs. Czech tyre firmMitas, which markets its agricultural products both under its own brand andthat of Continental, has a product in thepipeline which is rather different to anything that has been tried before.

Its PneuTrac development was unveiledat last year’s Agritechnica show inGermany. Looking almost like a run-flattyre, its design comes courtesy of auniquely profiled, high-strength carcasethat helps produce a long, track-like footprint. Mountable on standard rims, thePneuTrac is a few years from production,but early trial results appear promising.

“Our aim was to develop a tyre with abigger footprint, designed to run at a lowinflation pressure, with an even weight

distribution leading to lower soil compaction levels,” explains AndrewMabin, sales and marketing director at Mitas.

“What we’re trying to do is provide better tractive efficiency and lower slippage, benefiting soil conditions andtherefore crop yields, and resulting inlower operational costs.

“The design is sufficiently robust toensure stable driving at low inflation pressures, providing comfort and safetywith no need to adjust inflation pressurefor the road, while at the same time ensuring excellent traction in the field.We’ve generally found the PneuTrac workswell at 0.8 bar pressure, but such is therigidity of the carcase that it has also been trialled at zero pressure in the field,although it would then have to be re-inflated for road travel.”

The footprint of the Mitas PneuTrac is 53% larger than a standard tyre of comparable size, while inflation pressureis almost half. It also provides a significantly higher tractive force, according to Jon Ward, of Mitas UK.

“This ensures gentle ground handlingand lower soil damage, with a much lowerand improved distribution of pressure tothe ground resulting in lower soil compaction. The lateral stability of thePneuTrac is much higher than that of astandard tyre, by as much as 167%.”

The PneuTrac concept was originallydeveloped by Israeli firm Galileo Wheel.While a 600/65 R38 tractor tyre was

shown at Agritechnica, this is still in thedevelopment stage, and current testingwork is focused on smaller 280/70 R18tyres fitted to a Lindner Unitrac farm truck,of the type commonly used for agriculturalwork in mountainous European farmingareas. If this trialling proves successful,further work will be done with the ‘true’tractor tyre.

Tractive force“Independent trials have shown the 280/70R18 tyre offers a tractive force coefficientof 0.43, when compared with an identicallysized conventional tyre, which produced afigure of 0.29. That’s an increase of 48%.At the same time, at 0.8 bar, pressures arehalf what they are with the tyre,” continuesJon Ward.

The PneuTrac is some way from beingcommercially available, concedes AndrewMabin, but trialling continues, and he hasfirm hopes of a full market presence in a


Case IH first showed a design study of one of itsoriginal 7100 Magnum series tractors equippedwith tracks instead of wheels at each corner overtwenty years ago, at various North American farmshows during the early 1990s. The machine wasdesigned with a conventional steering system.

At the Farm Progress Show in 1992, the firmalso showed an articulated 9250 Steiger tractorequipped with triangular rubber-tracked units

at each corner - the first step to the Quadtracit would officially launch a little over four years later.

The initial model was unnumbered, and simply called ‘Quadtrac’ but was based on the360hp 9370 articulated tractor. A 400hp 9380-based version was introduced soon afterwards,and both gained the same model numbers astheir wheeled cousins.

The next major revamp was in 2000, when

Case IH introduced the completely new STXseries. Since then, the largest model in theQuadtrac range has grown from 360hp to697hp.

Since those early 1990s showings, though,apart from a machine shown fitted with front andrear after-market tracks at a recent Agritechnicashow, there’s been no further news on a trackedvariant of the Magnum, Case IH’s highest-powered ‘conventional’ tractor line, which currently tops out at 419hp (max).

Cereals showingCase is exhibiting almost every model in itsrange at Cereals 2014, including the newQuadtrac 620, capable of 692hp and2941Nm of torque. This will sit alongsidethe company’s Magnum, Puma, Maxxumand Farmall U Pro tractors and Case’s new

Case IH’s tracked-tractor history

Since its introduction in 1997, the largest modelin the Quadtrac range has grown from 360hp to697hp.

range of Farmlift telescopic handlers.Also making its Cereals debut will be the

new 12.5m Case IH 3050 VariCut headeroption for Axial-Flow combines. Developedto match the requirements of 12mControlled Traffic Farming (CTF) systems,the header follows the trend towards ever-larger working widths and makes full use of the high threshing capacities of Axial-Flow combines.

s

Gradually becoming a more widely-known nameamong customers for big tractor tyres, Mitasnow sells around 10,000 agricultural radials inthe UK each year.

The firm was created when French tyremaker Michelin founded a new business andconstructed a tyre factory in Prague in 1933.The firm was privatised in 1991, and beganbroadening its overseas markets in 1997.

In 2004, Mitas acquired the agricultural tyredivision of German firm Continental, which haddecided to exit the sector. The deal included theright to use the Continental name for a given

period, an agreement which has recently beenextended until 2019, after which the Continentalbrand is likely to disappear from farm tyres, andMitas will be the only name used.

The firm says that in recent years there’sbeen a significant increase in demand for itshigh-hp tyre products, and from 2009 to 2012,it tripled production of its large Continental SVTmodels. The largest Continental SVT tyre sizesthe firm currently offers are the 2.15m diameter710/75 R42, and the 1050/50 R32, with adiameter of 1.9m.

More about Mitas

In 2004, Mitas acquired the agricultural tyredivision of German firm Continental, and can use the name until 2019.


number of sizes in the near future. Whenor if the PneuTrac comes to the market, it’slikely to be at a 15-20% price premiumover an equivalently sized conventionaltyre, he says.

“At the moment that’s just an estimate,though, based on the increase in our costsof production in terms of materials.

“We still have some way to go to turnthe concept into a commercial product,and the testing required means that couldbe five years away. Durability is the keyissue we need to ensure –– we want to be

certain that the product can handle therigours of tillage work and the power ofhigh-hp tractors. But the bigger arearequiring work is actually road travel, with the tractor running at speed. We’reworking hard on areas such as stabilitywhen turning and heat dissipation at high road speeds to ensure these aren’tan issue.

“But initial trial results look very promising, challenging both the design ofconventional tyres and the cost of tracks.We’ve all the technologies and know-how

to offer it to worldwide markets after weconclude our programme of development,testing and monitoring. It’s very likely tocome to the agricultural tractor market,where I think it could offer farmers whorun, or want to benefit from, a trackedmachine a credible, lower cost, lowermaintenance alternative.

“The concept shows that we’re thinkingoutside the box of current tyre-producingpractices, with a strong focus on what will benefit farmers,” concludes Andrew Mabin. n

Brutal soils brought into check

One of England’s finestcountry estates has some ofthe country’s toughest soils.

CPM visits to find how achange in cultivation policy

is taming them.


O N FA R M O P I N I O N

The Claydon buys us time on our

difficult ground.”“

Compton Manor Estate at King’sSomborne in Hants is the sort of placeyou’d dream about –– 970ha of rollingHants countryside, there’s 530ha ofarable, set in generous fields among wellmanaged mature woodland. Passingthrough is one of the best stretches ofthe River Test for trout fishing, and this,along with the woodland, has earned it a reputation as one of the top sportingestates in the country –– truly a jewel set in a scepter’d isle.

But just try and work its soils. “Evil” ishow drill operator Peter Jarvis describesthem. Although it neighbours easy-goingchalk downland, Compton itself sits onbrutal, heavy clay, laced with unforgivingflints. When Andrew Day took over asestate manager three years ago, it was atthe start of a radical change in the waythese soils were kept in check.

Deep cultivations culture“Previously, there’d been a culture of deep cultivations,” explains Andrew Day.“Ploughs and heavy tines made multiplepasses to beat the soils into shape. Theestate had more tractors than it neededand no earthworms at all, while the wearingmetal and fuel bills were spiralling out ofcontrol and proportion. This may havebeen sustainable in a good year, but itwasn’t one to rely on as costs rose.”

The quest had been underway to find a new cultivation system. “A number ofdemo machines had been tried and

frequently went back broken. We’ve anumber of small fields with tight corners,which made the previous drill –– a trailedHorsch Sprinter –– difficult to manoeuvre.A drill with too many press wheels isn’tsuitable because the flints just tear them to shreds.”

In the end, the decision was taken tobuy a 4m Claydon Hybrid drill, whicharrived shortly after Andrew Day startedon the estate in March 2011. “The Claydonsows the crop in bands, so you only moveas much soil as you need. The first cropwe tried was spring barley, and there’salways an issue over ensuring the crophas enough moisture. But it establishedwell –– because you’re not moving somuch soil, it doesn’t dry out and the plantsfind their own moisture. The crop ofPropino yielded 7t/ha, which for us is pretty good.”

That autumn was the drill’s first full season. “It did a remarkable job, and allthe crops looked fantastic. One thing we


A high flint content make the heavy clays on the Compton Estate achallenging prospect.

.Andrew Day, holding one of the more “girlie” flints, says there was a need tomove to a more sustainable cultivation system.

noticed straight off was the timesaving –– previously drilling hadtypically carried on into Nov oreven Dec, but the Claydonbuys us time on our difficultground.”

The wet conditions in Juneand July 2012 scupperedhopes of high yields, however,and proved a challenge for getting the crop establishedthat autumn. “We struggled, but then everyone did. We didwonder whether we shouldbring in the plough, but westood by the system and goteverything drilled up. Like manyothers in the UK, some of our2012 winter oilseed rape andwheat failed, and I think if thathad been the first year we’doperated the new system, wewould’ve questioned whether

we’d made the right move, butby then we’d had exposure tothe benefits.”

The Claydon system is a relatively simple one. Leadingtines, set at 300mm centres,create a deep-drainage tractdown to 150mm depth. Theselift just enough soil for the following A-share tines, which place the seed in a150mm-wide band. A choice ofbatter boards, harrows or presswheels (or an optional combina-tion of two of these) cover theseeds at the back. The Hybrid isa fixed-frame, mounted drill,available in 3-6m widths, with all sizes above 4m folding fortransport to 2.85m.

“The main advantage for usis the speed and efficiency ofthe system,” continues Andrew


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The Claydon Hybrid drill has been fitted with amicro-fert kit for applying Primary-P to the OSRand a slug pellet applicator.

Day. “We start sowing a little earlier, which suits direct-drilling –– that was 15 Sept for cereals last year –– but wealso finish a lot earlier. The main differenceis the work rate –– we can comfortably drill 32-40ha in a day. Given our steepbanks, stones and some fiddly fields that’s a decent rate, and far more than we could achieve with the plough. Last autumn, the final field was drilled on 10 Oct –– the day before the weather turned.”

And the rain didn’t stop, he recalls.“Between 14 Dec 2013 and 19 Feb 2014we had 655mm, while the UK average was486mm – I reckon we were about thewettest spot in the UK for that period. But

Cereals 2014 will see the launch of Claydon’snew Hybrid T drill – a trailed version of the company’s existing linkage-mounted Hybridseed/fertiliser unit.

The drill meets the needs of larger,1000ha-plus farms in the UK and Europe,according to sales director Spencer Claydon.“Existing and potential customers have beenasking us for a trailed version of our existinglinkage-mounted model. What’s more, over thepast two years, we’ve seen a big increase ininterest in fertiliser placement while drilling.The Hybrid T meets these requirements.”

Available initially in a 6m form, this has 19seeding tines and should cover 4ha/hr with a300-350hp tractor. There are plans for a 25-tine, 8m version, says Spencer Claydon,which should manage 5ha/hr and will need anextra 100hp of grunt at the front. Hydraulicallyfolding outer sections bring the travelling widthof both units down to less than 3m and an overall length of 8.75m.

Both versions incorporate a 5500-litre hopper–– equivalent to about 4t of seed and fertiliser –– with a 60:40 split between the two. In 6mform, the weight of the drilling chassis is carried

Claydon launches trailed drill

The Claydon Hybrid T meets the needs of larger,1000ha-plus farms in the UK and Europe.

on five centrally mounted depth wheels, fittedwith 10.0/75-15.3 cleated tyres. The seed hopper is carried separately on four transportwheels which run on 380/55–17 cleated tyres.

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The estate’s Massey Ferguson 6499 puts 245hpin front of the drill, which is just enough to

manage the slopes, while it now has a 1.5tweight in front to balance the heavy drill.

looking at our soils you wouldn’t believewe’ve had that much. Back in the old days ofploughing you’d expect to see rills andgulleys, but the fields have held the waterwell without ponding, and I’m convincedthat’s down to the Claydon system.”

While the soil’s been worked less, it’sneeded less work, he notes. “There’s notas much compaction –– we hung on to aCousins subsoiler which was used regularlywhen we ploughed, but we’ve not neededit at all. Take a spade out and dig a holeand you find earthworms –– you rarely finda compacted spot.”

Other equipment has been sold –– thefleet of four tractors has been reduced totwo, with a Massey Ferguson 6499 putting245hp in front of the drill. “It’s a brillianttractor for our slopes and fields, but itknows the drill is behind it. It’s also relatively light and we’ve had some issueswith lifting the heavy drill. But this wassoon resolved with a 1.5t weight we purchased to go on the front.”

Cultivation clutterThe 7f Gregoire Besson plough has longsince departed, along with several otheritems of cultivation clutter that are no longer needed. “There are just a fewpieces of tillage equipment we now use:we purchased a 7.5m Claydon Rake at thesame time as the drill. This goes in straightafter the combine and does a really goodjob of raking the straw –– we can whizzthrough a 40ha field in just four hours.

“However, I think we put too much faithin the extent to which it would prepare theseedbed ahead of the drill. We’ve nowinvested in a 5.6m Great Plains Xpress.The discs are angled quite sharp so itshallow mixes the soil, going no more than 50mm deep. We don’t use it everywhere –– just if time allows and anenhanced chit is required. It does a goodjob where you need a bit of tilth in the topsoil. I’d hope this is transitional, andover time as the soil improves further, we won’t need the Xpress.”

The new system has also brought thecombine into focus. “We chop all ourstraw, but when direct drilling, the qualityand spread of the chop becomes part ofthe purchasing decision of a new combine. So when we traded ours out, welooked at various models, and only Claas


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and MF combines did the job.“We settled for an MF Delta

9280, with a 9.1m header. Onpaper, the combine has a higher capacity than we need,but we’ve opted for over-capacityto ensure we can manage iffaced with smaller weather windows. We could have gonefor a 10.7m cut, but this wouldbe too wide for the straw tospread well enough.”

Following the drill is a 9m setof Cousins Cambridge rolls,with a sizeable 78cm diameter.“It’s the most useful tool there isfor direct drilling on hard, stonyground,” claims Andrew Day.“You need a heavy set of rollsto whack the stones in and seal the seedbed. However,we did find they were just tooheavy in 2012, so we also have a 12m set of 53cm

diameter rolls, for when theground’s just a little too sticky.”

So what about slugs? “Wehad a real problem in 2012. I think they took the seed outbefore they actually came tothe surface. So we now have aslug-pellet applicator mountedon the drill, which helps incorporate the pellets into the seedbed before the rollscome through.”

No more grassweedsWeeds are no more of a challenge than they were withthe previous conventional methods, he notes. “Becausewe’re only working the top 5-10cm, there’s less charlockand no more grassweeds.”There’s one field with part-resistant blackgrass, but headmits the weed hasn’t been as much of an issue as othergrowers have faced.

“The wide rows of theClaydon take a bit of gettingused to. They show up anydrilling imperfections, but thecrop tillers and branches outmore to compensate. By the time it grows in thespring, you don’t notice thewide rows and it does result ina good crop.”

The drill itself has receivedsome modifications. The widthhas been extended to 4.8m,and batter boards have beenadded to the harrows at the

back. “We added the Claydondouble toolbar in Jan 2013. In the early days and in wetterconditions, the leading tinetended to leave a bit of anopen channel as a result of ourpoor soils. But we didn’t seethat at all in autumn 2013,which may be down to the better structure we’ve nowachieved.

“We also added a micro-fert kit in time for autumn 2013, sowe could put Primary-P in withthe OSR. Half of the crop hadthis treatment, while the resthad the usual diammoniumphosphate (DAP) applied shortly after drilling. To be honest, all the OSR camethrough well, and it’s hard to tell the difference.”

The drill is strong and sturdy,notes Andrew Day, but eventhis was no match for the fearsome flinty clays. “The central frame broke in the firstyear. Claydon were very good,and replaced it straight away,but to be fair, I think it’s ourground that’s the problem.Once the frame had beenreplaced, we reinforced it and it’s held together since.”

Predictably, the tyres havefailed. “We had ten puncturesin one day, so replaced themwith foam-filled tyres. A set of leading tines will only cover600ha for us, while I believethey’ll usually be good for twice

Care was taken when trading out the combine to ensure straw was choppedwell and evenly across the full width of the cut.

The tyres are foam-filled, while a set of leading tines will only cover 600ha.


s

Compton Manor Estate, King’s Somborne, Hantsl Farm size: 970ha of which 520ha is arablel Soils: heavy clay with flintsl Staff: two full-time on arable plus an

experienced harvest operatorl Cropping: winter wheat (KWS Santiago,

KWS Kielder, KWS Gator, Invicta), winter oilseed rape (DK Cabernet, DK Camelot),spring barley (Propino), spring beans (Fuego)

l Tractors: 245hp Massey Ferguson 6499,210hp MF 6495, JCB Fastrac 2170 (for spraying)

l Drill: 4.8m Claydon Hybrid with double toolbar, Stocks Rotor-Meter granularapplicator and Stocks Fan Jet slug-pellet applicator

l Cultivation equipment: 7.5m Claydon Rake, 5.6m Great Plains Xpress, 9m Cousins Cambridge rolls (78cm diameter),12m Cousins Cambridge rolls (53cm diameter)

l Sprayer: Knight 3000 litre with 24m booml Spreader: KRM M2W 3000 litrel Loader: Merlo P40.7

Farm facts

Peter Jarvis notes the drill is doing some good forthe soils.

that on other farms. However, we keepthem quite deep –– they’re set to 150mmfor the OSR and we now leave them there for cereals. You don’t have to, but it eliminates the need to subsoil.

“The A-shares just kiss the surface, butwe still found they wore heavily in the firstyear, and had to replace them after only60ha. Now they’ll do about half the farm –– again, I think that’s a sign the soils are easing. We also changed the C tinesto some with double thickness to add further robustness.”

But Andrew Day finds he values the

rigidity of the fixed frame, and doesn’tyearn for independently mounted drillcoulters. “Generally drilling depth isn’t aproblem. We’ve the odd field that vergesinto the chalk, and getting the right depthin the softer soil can be an issue, as we’reset up for clay.”

For Peter Jarvis, the main advantagehas been having more time to do otherthings at a busy time of year. “Also, it usedto be awkward getting the Sprinter intocorners, but the Claydon’s much easier tohandle. There isn’t a line of press wheelsto get bunged up, either.”

Lumps crumbleThe drill pushes the MF 6499 “to its limits” on the slopes, he says, but he comfortably manages a forward speed of12km/h on the flat. “You can tell the drill’sdoing some good for the soils –– before,you’d get hold of a lump and could barelybreak it open, now it just crumbles. Yousee far more worm casts, too.

“The calibration’s very easy and themicro-fert and slug-pellet applicators justseem to look after themselves –– they’revery low maintenance. You get a goodservice from Claydon, too –– we’ve neverhad to wait long for parts.”

It’s been something of a task to set upthe A-shares, he admits. “We started offwith 18cm-wide shares, but moved downto 13cm thinking we were probably moving too much soil. But they then didn’tgive enough soil coverage, especially atthe rear and when it’s a little sticky. Wetried various adjustments to the drill, but eventually went back to the wider shares.It means more fuel and wearing parts, butyou do a better job.”

The one slight gripe he has is the tramlining kit. “It wobbles around a little –– it could really do with a tie-bar. But otherwise it’s a good drill –– I’d go for one

again for its ease of use and service.”The plan is to move to variable-rate

seeding in the near future, reveals AndrewDay. “The farm’s been mapped bySoilQuest and the drill is set up for it. But we’re already getting considerablebenefits from the new system.”

Wheat yields have increased from 9t/hato 11t/ha, spring barley has risen from6.5t/ha to 7t/ha and, once there’s a ‘normal’ year for OSR, he expects to raisethose yields from the farm’s 3.5t/ha average. “We also take pride in what theestate looks like –– the Claydon doesn’tbring you the purest, perfect seedbed, but you can’t do that here. What it does isto buy us time and bring us speed to helpus achieve a good, profitable crop and an improving soil structure across very difficult soils.” n


Tractor-tanker combinegates need for SPsprayer

of the business’ cropping consists of 400ha of winter wheat and winter andspring barley. Swede drilling runs from mid-April to June, and the crop is harvested for ten months of the year,beginning in July through into the winter.

Wide radiusWith the ongoing need to find good cleanground for swede production and farmersprepared to accommodate the crop in theirrotations, land is rented in a wide radiusfrom the Stewart base at Glencarse, nearPerth, spanning some 65 miles from end to end. That means tractor road travel is considerable, and the advent of 50km/h(31mph) transmissions was a welcome development in conventional tractor design,says Liam Stewart, part of the family teamthat runs the business. The convenience, versatility and relative road capability of atractor means it’s long been favoured over a hydrostatic self-propelled machine forspraying duties, he explains.

“We were running a 24m 2800-litreBerthoud front and rear combination on a 50km/hr John Deere 6930 for


A front-and-rear mounted combinationhas been the preferred sprayer packagefor many years across the acreage ofcereals and swede farmed by Stewarts ofTayside. There are precious few sprayingwindows for the Perth-based businessthough, so switching to a JCB Fastrac forthe sprayer’s motive power has boosteddaily outputs. That’s not just due to itshigh road-speed capability, but alsobecause the tractor, as well as bearing itstwin-loaded tanks, can simultaneouslyhaul enough water for more than tworefills when heading to the field.

Stewarts of Tayside was established in1975, and is still owned and managed bythe Stewart family. Originally, the companygrew a range of crops including swede,potatoes, sprouts, calabrese and soft fruit. But in the early 1990s, These wererationalised to crops best suited to thebusiness’ geographical location, namelyswede, strawberries and raspberries.Stewarts now grows an annual 1400ha of soft fruit, cereals and swede, andprocesses and packs, stores and transports its own produce. The balance

spraying both cereals and turnips,” says Liam Stewart.

“But we were using contractors to do a lot of the cereals work, and we reacheda stage where we weren’t keen to rely onthem so much for such time-critical workas spraying.

“Last year we decided to move from24m to 36m tramlines to boost output inour cereal spraying, and at the same timewe also looked to add extra capacity tohelp get around all our crops at the besttimings. We chose to dedicate the existing24m sprayer combination to work onswede, and looked at the options foradding a second sprayer with 36m boomand more capacity for cereals.

“While a self-propelled sprayer wouldgive us the capacity we were seeking, thesteep ground we have in places and theamount of road work that’s required meansa hydrostatic-drive machine isn’t reallysuitable, and with a tractor/sprayer package we have the tractor available for other work. What’s more, mountedsprayers suit our fields, are less costly and require less maintenance.”

In 15-20 mins,we can drop the front

tank off the front linkage,demount the sprayer,

and be ready for a different task.”

“


Moving from 24m to 36mbooms, and to a true high-speed tractor able totow a trailed bowser whilecarrying a front/rear sprayercombination, is speeding upspraying operations for aScottish combinable and root crop grower.

By Martin Rickatson


Sticking with a front-and-rear combination fortheir latest sprayer, Stewarts of Tayside opted for a JCB Fastrac 3230, with the sprayer on its load platform.

Having considered a number of options,they decided the extra capacity would be best achieved by moving from a rear linkage-mounted sprayer to a loadplatform-based demountable one. Thatwould keep the tractor’s rear end clear forhitching up a bowser, and so allow oneman to take enough water and chemical to keep him in the field for a good while,without the need to tie up another tractorand operator.

They also wanted to have the vehicleavailable out of season for other work, so this ruled out specialist load-carryingvehicles. The Stewarts narrowed theirchoice of power unit down to JCB’sFastrac, and resolved that this was theonly tractor on the market compatible with a demount sprayer.

“We’d previously run two four-wheelsteer 2135 Fastracs and a 3185 a fewyears ago, as we were looking to speedup road travel, and at the time the Fastracwas one of the few tractors available witha 50km/h top speed. As conventional tractors on the market began to offer thesame, though, we moved back in thatdirection, as the 135hp rating of the 2135wasn’t enough for some of the jobs wewere asking of the tractors.

“But when we wanted to go to ademount combination with greater capacity,and the ability to tow a bowser, the larger3000 series Fastracs appeared to be theideal machine, particularly as they’recapable of 80km/h, which is significantlymore than any other tractor. Since we’dlast run one, JCB had also introduced a full powershift transmission, another

feature which made the machine moreappealing.”

The one concern was the lack of four-wheel steering on the 3000 Fastracs, s

The aluminium boom on the Landquip sprayermeans the move to 36m has come without a bigweight penalty.

The Vegcraft bowser with integral Profill fillingstation allows operator Gavin Johnstone to work unaided.

Liam Stewart and Stuart Robertson have beenpleased with the new outfit’s performance sinceits arrival in March.

and the larger turning circle of an equal-wheeled tractor with front-wheel-onlysteering. But after seeing a 3000 seriesmachine at work, any concerns abouttramline-following and crop damage wereput to rest, and an order was placed for a 230hp 3230 with P-Tronic powershifttransmission.

“Four-wheel steering would’ve beennice, but the lack of it was more thanmade up for by the higher hp and fasterroad speed than either the smallerFastracs or the tractor we had been using,and the bigger build that gives the abilityto carry a bigger sprayer combination.With JCB recently introducing a bigger4000 series 4WS Fastrac, we might lookagain at this configuration in future.”

Selecting a suitable tractor to carry ademount and tow a bowser may havebeen relatively straightforward, but therewere a number of possible sprayer makeand model alternatives. Moving to 36mtramlines, though, meant the weight andstrength benefits of aluminium booms wereparticularly appealing, especially as itwould also allow for the maximum sprayertank size to be placed on the platform. So discussions began with Suffolk sprayermaker and aluminium boom sprayer specialist Landquip about a front-and-reardemount combination to meet the farm’sneeds.

Load-carrying capacityThe company offers 4000-litre sprayers formounting on a ‘stretched’ Fastrac tractorchassis, but the Stewarts wanted to keeptheir tractor in its original format so it couldstill be used for non-spraying work.Landquip’s suggestion for achieving thesame capacity without modifying the 3230 was to pair a 1500-litre tank on thetractor’s front linkage with a 2500-litredemount sprayer on the load platform.This would maximise the tractor’s

load-carrying capacity while still leaving its rear-end to hitch up a bowser and so create a self-contained unit.

To enable this, Landquip designed thesprayer, which features its latest tri-foldAlu-light 36m boom, with a hydraulicallydriven pump rather than a pto-poweredunit. Further specification includes anArag Bravo 400S controller with autoswitching that controls 72 individual nozzles, each via a small electric motor.Where an air system would need 72 individual air valves, this is claimed to be a less complex method of achievingthe same result.

Up front is Landquip’s 1500-litre Visiontank, with sculpted sides, wired-in roadlights and convex mirrors to help the driver see out of gateways, as well asflashing lights to highlight its presence to other road users. Rather than working separately to the sprayer’s tank, it’s plumbed in to work or emptysimultaneously, for the best weight balance and maximum traction. A uniquetwo-position valve enables filling of thefront and then rear tanks from a rear fill port.

Tractor’s versatilityThe laden weight of the combination is around 2.5t heavier than some self-propelled sprayers of equivalentcapacity. But this is compensated by thetractor’s versatility, being able to tow a10,000-litre bowser while simultaneouslycarrying the laden front-and-rear sprayercombination, and being capable of arange of other tasks. In the field with ladentanks front and rear, weight distribution isalmost sprayer equal, with 48.13% on thefront axle and 51.87% on the rear.

Manufactured by Arbroath firmMcDonald Agri, the air-braked Vegcraftbowser was the final piece in the newspraying set-up, and is more than just a tanker. At the rear it has an integral Profill filling station, centred on a 50-litreinduction hopper and twin can-wash unit,which is connected up to the intake coupling at the rear of the sprayer, fillingthe front and then the rear tank. As aresult, the redundant induction hopper hasbeen removed from the sprayer, with bothwater and chemical transferred directlyfrom bowser to sprayer, the Profill unit taking a water feed from the clean waterintake in the same way a conventionalsprayer set-up would.

“Previously we’d been using a 5,000-litre bowser to back the Berthoudwhen it was our only sprayer,”

Liam Stewart explains“We chose not to go down the route of

hauling pre-mixed loads with a bowser, asin order to keep the sprayer on the go asmuch as possible, that would entail havinga second tractor driver mixing and transporting loads.

“With this system we’ve essentially cutby half the labour required for spraying,making it a one-man operation for about a quarter of the year, until we need to putthe second machine, which we retainedfor swede work, into action. When ourother sprayer was doing the whole job, it was a much slower operation.”

The sprayer, bowser and Fastrac weredelivered in March this year, in time for the beginning of the farm’s main sprayingseason, and sprayer operator StuartRobertson has been the man at the wheelsince then. Spray plans on Muddy Boots


s

Stewarts of Tayside, Glencarse, Perth, Scotlandl Area farmed: 1280hal Cropping: 800ha swede, 400ha cereals

(winter wheat, winter and spring barley),80ha soft fruit (strawberries, raspberries)

l Soils: Light loam, some sand, some clayl Farm staff: Assistant manager plus ten

tractor operators l Tractors: JCB Fastrac 3230 P-TRONIC,

John Deere 6170R x7, 7280 x 1, Case IH Puma 230 CVX x6, up to 25 further units hired in during peak season

l Combine: Claas Lexion 580TT with 9m header

l Spreader: Amazone ZG-TS 8t trailedl Sprayers: 36m Landquip 2500-litre

demount with 1500-litre front tank; 24m Berthoud 1800-litre mounted with 1000-litre front tank

l Drill: 4m Lemken Solitairl Handlers: JCB TM310S x2, Loadall

541-70 x3

Farm facts

A linkage-mounted, sculpted front tank is anintegral part of the sprayer, and has a number offeatures to maximise road safety.

software are transferred to and from the farm computer to the tractor via a memory stick.

“The ability to be able to travel at70km/h between sites makes a big difference to daily output,” he says.

“It’s cut half an hour off what was atwo-hour journey to some of our furthestland, and given me an hour’s more spraying time in a day.

“The bowser and Profill set-up has alsomade a big difference. It takes me around15 mins to re-fill the sprayer, and when Ineed to re-fill the bowser I’m able to hookup quickly and run back to the nearestfarm base. There’s a camera fitted abovethe tractor drawbar, which has been converted to a Rockinger quick-hitch, both making hitching up fairly easy.”

The extra sprayer capacity has alsobeen welcomed. Despite the move to 36m,when spraying at usual rates of 200 l/ha of water, the new rig is capable of 20haper fill, as opposed to 14ha under the old system.

Spraying takes place for a total ofroughly 90 days/year, beginning with pre-emergence herbicides on swedeground, before moving onto disease andweed control in cereals and then foliar feedfor the swede crop. The Fastrac runs on680mm-wide tyres for early season work,and once crops start pushing into thetramlines, switches to 420s. A Trimbleauto-steering system on the Fastrac wasspecified to aid early season work, beforethe tramlines are fully visible.

Significant savingsWhile it’s early days yet, Liam Stewart is expecting significant savings to beachieved by the investment in individualnozzle switching, controlled via a TrimbleRTK system which is also used for variable-rate fertiliser spreading.

“The initial cost was steep, but it shouldquickly save us a good deal more in chemical than a conventional section shut-off system,” he believes.

Away from its spraying duties, the plan

is for the Fastrac to earn its keep applyingNPK with the business’s Amazone ZG-TS8t trailed fertiliser spreader, as well asworking ground with a 6f reversibleKverneland plough and general cultivationwork. Given its speed capability, trailerhaulage is likely to also feature prominentlyon its task list through the winter.

“A self-propelled sprayer simply wouldn’t have been able to turn its hand to those sorts of jobs,” points outLiam Stewart.

“In 15-20 mins, we can drop the front tankoff the front linkage, demount the sprayer,and be ready for a different task.” n

The Landquip demount sprayer configuration hasa hydraulically-driven pump, while a cameraabove the tractor drawbar and a Rockinger quick-hitch both make hitching up fairly easy.

It’s claimed to be one of the most significantdevelopments in the JCB Fastrac tractor rangesince its creation 23 years ago, and is boundto turn a few heads. Cereals 2014 sees the UKdebut of the JCB Fastrac 4000.

The new series will replace the current2000 models with various improvements indesign, performance and driver comfort andconvenience. It’s been the culmination of twoyears’ worth of work by JCB engineers,according to the company’s agriculture managing director, Richard Fox-Marrs. “Thenew Fastrac 4000 Series is more powerful butmore economical, stronger but more nimble,and more versatile yet easier to operate.”

The new 4000 keeps the ‘compact Fastrac’concept but steps up the performance potentialwith a new 6.6-litre six-cylinder engine,offering peak outputs of 180hp, 210hp and240hp. A continuously variable transmission(CVT) comes for the first time with a Fastrac of this size and power.

The hydraulics have been beefed up, withvariable output rather than a fixed-output gearpump, providing up to 135-litre/min flow.

The new 4000 keeps the “compact Fastrac”concept but steps up the performancepotential.

A separate 30-litre/min unit is dedicated to the two-wheel and Quadtronic four-wheelsteering system, which now boast an eventighter turning circle.

What you won’t experience for the moment,until the commercial launch later this year, willbe the “major” advances in JCB’s patentedsuspension and control system. What you’ll see on the Cereals stand, however, is the new cab design –– this is more roomy,claims the manufacturer, while all-round visibility’s improved.

First outing new for new Fastrac 4000


Clubroot benefits fromone-pass system

We need a machine that’ll

loosen the subsoil,produce some sort of

tilth and place theseed in the soil accurately all in

one pass.”

“

Getting oilseed rape in the ground ingood time is one of the most importantfactors attributed to establishing a decentcrop, but so too is ensuring the seedgoes into a decent tilth at an accuratedepth with all the nutrition it requires.

That’s how Scottish grower Ernie Leefeels, and he believes he may have founda way of achieving all these things with asingle machine.

With nearly 300ha of arable croppingclose to Ellon in the rolling countryside ofAberdeenshire, he and his mother Maryknow all about the pressure of getting OSRestablished quickly behind the combine.

“Our window for getting brassicas in theground is particularly tight as quite oftenwe’re not cutting our winter barley untilmid Aug and wheat well into Sept. This farnorth, OSR needs to be sown in Aug if it’sto survive the winter,” explains Ernie Lee.

“Because of that, we need a machinethat’ll loosen the subsoil, produce somesort of tilth and place the seed in the soilaccurately all in one pass. What’s more,we need to be able to apply slug pelletsand a couple of different fertiliser productsat the same time.”

Driven by a need to control the numberof brassica volunteers in what is a fairly

The switch to a subsoilerseeder with disc coultersnot only ensures a timely

establishment for anAberdeenshire grower’s

oilseed rape, but allows an innovative approach toseedbed nutrition. CPMvisits to find out more.

By Nick Fone



Ernie Lee has found the reliability ofOSR establishment has improvedwith seed placed in the ground bydisc coulters behind the subsoiler.

tight rotation, five years agoErnie Lee joined forces with aneighbour to try broadcastingrapeseed off the back of a five-leg Opico subsoiler.

“We suffer a great deal fromclubroot and needed to limit theflush of volunteers we were getting behind the plough –– itwas just a wall-to-wall carpet.This meant we were getting a lotof disease carry-over and spindlylittle plants –– often up to 200/m2.By harvest they’d often go flatand certainly didn’t yield as they should.

“By pulling just a subsoilerthrough ground at 200-250mm,we were only disturbing a fraction of the surface andended up with nice, neat bands of plants.”

But the system wasn’t withoutits limitations. Seed wasn’tbeing accurately placed at a consistent depth and consequently establishmentwasn’t as reliable as it shouldhave been. That meant higherthan necessary seed rateswhich often ended up in over-populated plant standswhen conditions were good at sowing.

These over-populated cropsthen created problems of theirown through the growing season with increased diseasepressure and ultimately lodgingbefore harvest.

“We needed to find a way ofreliably establishing a cropwhere the seed rate reflected

the population we would endup with coming out of the winter,”he continues.

“To me the first step was in ensuring every seed we planted had the best chance of germinating and to do that itneeds to be placed at the optimum depth for it to get up and away quickly –– not scattered on top or lost down thecracks left by the subsoiler legs.”

“In truth it needs to bedrilled. But that seemed like a backwards step for us, especially given that we’re trying to disturb as little of the surface as possible.”

Potential solutionHaving heard about Opico’splan to fit disc coulters to itssubsoiler seeders, Ernie Leefelt this sounded like a potentialsolution to the problem andagreed to trial the company’sprototype machine for the 2013drilling season. With very fewmodifications to the standardHE-VA subsoiler design, a toolbar was mounted on therear of the machine behind thepacker roller. This carries fivedouble-disc coulters mountedon individual parallelogramlinkages, each with a rubberpress wheel to maintain anaccurate depth and providesome consolidation. (Althoughall OSR is rolled with the farm’s6.5m Vaderstad Rexius HD).

“We quickly saw that the newmachine was doing exactly thejob we required. We knew thelegs would leave the gapsbetween the rows undisturbedand seed was now being accurately placed in half an inch of soil.

“The press wheels were then helping to ensure goodseed-to-soil contact. The concept worked and so we decided we would buy the machine.”

Backed up by local Opicodealer, HRN tractors, ErnieLee’s AccuDisc-equipped subsoiler has several othernotable extras not usually seenon a standard model. As wellas Opico’s usual Hatzenbichler

crop production magazine may 2014 103

s

Stubble left undisturbed between the subsoilerlegs provides young seedlings with shelter andmeans volunteers are kept to a minimum,avoiding clubroot carry-over.

Fed by a split hopper on the front of the tractor,twin distribution heads supply two differentseedbed fertilisers in a band to the crop row.

(CaCN2). It’s an inorganic fertiliser made oflimestone, coal and atmospheric nitrogen and consequently has a strongliming effect which has been associatedwith reductions in various soil pathogens.Specifically, when placed in the rootingzone of young OSR seedlings, it raises thepH to over 7 inhibiting the development of

For Agrii’s Andy Laing, based at Inverurie, thetiming of establishment is critical for anybrassica crop in Aberdeenshire. “With a laterharvest and earlier arrival of poor weather,we’ve a much shorter window to get crops inthe ground,” he notes.

“I go by the rule that one day’s delay in getting OSR in the ground is equivalent to aweek’s delay for wheat. The key is to get theplant to the 5-6 leaf stage by Christmas. To dothat you need a sowing technique that’s quickand gives the seedlings the best possiblechance to get away quickly.”

By going to a subsoiler seeder with disc coulters placing seed in the ground, this helpsErnie Lee get a decent crop established, hesays. “More importantly, he doesn’t have toover-populate the plant stand to compensate for any seedling losses.”

In autumn 2013, Andy Laing believes idealwarm and moist conditions meant many cropscame up too thick where growers had over-compensated for expected plant failure. But2012 was the reverse –– wet soils meantsmeared slots were created by the subsoilerwhich hit germination, and when seedlings tried to get their roots down, they stalled.

“Placing seed at the optimum depth with15mm of soil cover generated by the discsmeans they grow on much quicker and more

Andy Laing demonstrates the difference betweenvolunteers suffering clubroot (left) and plants inthe row that have had Perlka applied in a band at drilling.

Agronomist’s angle

reliably. It also means they’re not hit by pre-emergence herbicides such as metazachloror clomazone and the stubble left undisturbedbetween the legs provides some shelter for the delicate young plants when they’re at thecotyledon stage.”

The result is a healthy flush of seedlings, hesays, which means growers can confidentlyadopt seed rates much closer to their targetplant populations. In Aberdeenshire, the typicalseed rate for a conventionally drilled crop is 40-50 seeds/m2, while this would drop as low as20 seeds/m2 using a standard subsoiler seeder.

“With the Opico AccuDisc I’m confident wecould reduce seed rates to 10-15 seeds/m2.”

At these low populations, growers need to payeven more attention to the threats of pests anddisease, in particular slugs, because of the extratrash left on top, he cautions. “By applying pellets in a band off the back of the subsoiler atdrilling, Ernie is able to concentrate the effects,and it’s a similar story for the fertiliser too.

“By drilling a 10cm band of product at100kg/ha with 60cm row spacings, you’re effectively supplying the equivalent of 600kg/haof fertiliser to the plants,” he explains. “And uphere in the far north of the UK, at those earlygrowth stages, nutrition makes the critical difference to a viable crop.”

The soils tend to have relatively high levels of

phosphate and suffer low potassium levels,but that P is only available when the groundis warm, he notes, which again makes thetiming of drilling important.

“Starter fertiliser can make all the difference. By applying two different productsat sowing, Ernie is catering for all the plant’sneeds. 100kg/ha of 12:25:20 with addedboron and other trace elements avoids anydeficiencies, while the Perlka –– applied at100kg/ha –– raises soil pH to keep clubrootunder control and provide extra slow-releasenitrogen.”

Air 8 seeder, a second unit is fitted toapply slug pellets accurately through fanoutlets ahead of the packer roller.

Between the two seeders is a pair of five-outlet distribution heads that send two different fertiliser products to drop inbands in front and behind the coulters.

A two-compartment Accord front-mountedhopper with twin-metering systems andpto-driven fan (usually used for combinedcereal and fertiliser drilling) supplies theset-up with two streams of accuratelymeasured material.

Control clubroot“Here in Scotland applying fertiliser whenwe’re drilling cereals or OSR has beenstandard practice for decades. But byusing two different products at sowing I’m aiming to meet all the young plants’nutrient requirements as well as helping to control our clubroot problems.

“A few years ago I heard about a high-pH fertiliser called Perlka that’s usedwidely in the veg-growing industry to manage clubroot in tight-rotation brassicacrops. Due to our weather and soil conditions, we’ve a relatively close rotationand I wondered if this seedbed fertilisercould help in overcoming those issues.”

Perlka is a 20% nitrogen product, chemically known as calcium cyanamide


s

Fertiliser is applied to the farm’s 330ha of arablecrops using a Kongskilde WingJet boomspreader.

Plants supplied with 100kg of calcium cyanamideat drilling (right) are able to develop deep taproots, unlike volunteers between the crop rowswhich are affected badly by clubroot.

the fungal pathogens that cause clubroot.In addition, the cyanamide nitrogen it

contains is a slow-release form said toremain available in the soil up to fivemonths after application. Because of this,a more instantly available source of nitrogenis often applied alongside it at drilling.

In his system, Ernie Lee applies Perlkaand a further dose of 12:25:20 to bring theN up to the NVZ limit, with added boronand trace elements to ensure there are no

deficiencies in any area. The split hoppermeans he can carry and apply both products separately.

“The Perlka goes on ahead of the coultersto avoid any seedling scorch, while thecompound fertiliser is dropped into theshadow of the discs to make sure it’s rightin the rooting zone,” he explains.

Marked effect on yield“The effects of moving to this new establishment approach and improvingour autumn nutrition have had a markedeffect on yields. When we were using theplough and conventional drill, we wereaveraging between 2.9t/ha and 3.14t/ha.Moving across to a subsoiler and seedbedPerlka saw that rocket to 4.5t/ha.

“That’s partly to do with better rootingbut mainly down to the reduced number of volunteers through less surface disturbance and the effect of the fertiliserin reducing clubroot.”

Last year’s harvest saw yields fall backto around 3.6t/ha, he admits, but givenhow wet and cold it was when the cropwas established in autumn 2012, he doesn’t feel that too bad a result.

This year things look altogether different. Seedbed conditions were near

crop production magazine may 2014 105

perfect at sowing and, with the disc-coulters placing the seed at the idealdepth, germination rates were close to100%. That means the crop now lookdecidedly thick, despite being drilled atjust 15 seeds/m2.

“If we have good conditions at harvestthis year, I think we’ll need to look hard atdropping seed rates further still –– it’s arisk, especially if the slugs get hold of it,

s

By late April, crops drilled with the AccuDisc system are in flower, although the rows are still visible.

“Although our seedbed fertiliser regimemay seem a bit over the top, it’s clearlyhelping to ensure the crop has exactly the

nutrients it requires as well as helping tokeep a lid on the clubroot.”

And Ernie Lee feels it has another positive effect. “By placing fertiliser in aband below the plant, I’m convinced itshydroscopic nature draws moisture intothe rooting zone at the critical time that the roots are putting their feet down.”

Healthy, reliably established crops havegiven him the confidence to try something

With a chassis and series of belts and pulleysknocked up in the farm workshop, this box-drillstyle applicator is used to spread pellets aroundfield margins to keep slugs from travelling in tothe crop from field margins.


but there’s the opportunity to makemuch more of the plant’s potential andreduce disease pressure in the crop.

s

EM Lee, Ellon, near Aberdeen, Scotland

l Farmed area: 330ha

l Cropping: 145ha winter barley (Retriever and Volume), 85ha winter OSR (Cracker),44ha winter wheat (Viscount), 16ha seed potatoes, 40ha grassland let out for grazing

l Soils: Free-draining iron podzols (Foundland Association) 100m above sea level

l Tractors: 2004 Fendt 818, 2001 John Deere 6910 and 1989 Fendt 312

l Combine: 2002 Case CT5080 with 6m header

l Loader: 1995 Sanderson 304

l Spreader: 2001 Kongskilde WingJet 4024 with 24m booms

l Plough: 5f Kverneland ED

l Drill: 2013 Lemken 3.5m Solitair power-harrow combination

l Subsoiler seeder: 2010 5-leg HE-VA with Opico Variocast slug pelleter and seeder with AccuDisc coulters

l Staff: Ernie Lee and Raymond Gordon full-time plus Heb Will part-time as required

Farm facts

On the Opico stand at Cereals this year will beMaschio’s widest and most robust flail mower:the Gemella. This heavy-duty hydraulic-foldingmodel is suited to a wide range of tasks fromcutting grass to shredding branches and twigs.It’s also expected to be used on maize stubblesto reduce the spread of fusarium into followingcrops.

The Gemella is available with workingwidths of 4.65m and 6.20m, needs 120-260hp of tractor power and folds down to a 2.4m width for transport. It comes withhammer flails as standard, and will cut materials up to 12cm in diameter, or for thicker branches, fish tail flails can be fitted.

There’s a floating head system to ensurecutting height remains even on undulatingground and a central deflector minimises the

the Gernella comes with hammer flails asstandard, and will cut materials up to12cm in diameter.

uncut area between the two flail units. For cutting maize stubbles, the rear rollers can bereplaced with pneumatic depth wheels. The4.65m-wide Gemella costs £22,517, with the6.20m version costing £24,352.

Cereals showing for heavy-duty flail mower

he’s been unable to previously. “On ourmineral soils there’s a great benefit inretaining organic matter, but becausestraw is so valuable in this area, for yearswe’ve been baling and selling it.

“I had considered chopping it behindthe combine but the mat it would leave

would be a slug haven –– with OSR seedbroadcast on top, they’d instantly destroythe whole crop. Now we’re placing theseed in the ground it’s much less vulnerableto damage and this year we can startchopping and spreading a bit.” n

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