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There’s no getting away from the fact that it looks like 2015 is going to be a diffi cult year. Alongside continuing issues around market volatility and ever-fl uctuating prices, are new pressures
from Europe. Restrictions on the use of endocrine-disruptors in plant protection products will come into force at a time when resistance to the existing actives that we have available is increasing, with no viable replacements in the pipeline. Then there’s CAP Reform, and all of the concurrent paperwork that must be understood and acted upon, and all of the complexities of greening. Add into the mix unpredictable, and at times, extreme, weather conditions, and the need to identify risk and build in resilience to the farm business becomes even more important.
But what does this mean for Agrii, and for you? In 2015 our research and development effort and investment must continue to be focused on how we can help you to increase yields, while reducing costs. With all of these external pressures, the role of the agronomist becomes even more important. The advice and recommendations that Agrii agronomists make are backed up and infl uenced by the results
of the work that we carry out at our 4 technology centres and 28 iFarms across the UK, with 640 replicated trials, 60,000 trial plots and data from our network of over 170 weather stations. The value that can be added by the wealth of research and development behind your agronomist, at a time when every little bit will make a difference, is key. It is what can, and will, bring us through this diffi cult situation together.
‘Increasing yields’
So increasing yields sustainably, reducing costs, and maintaining resilient farming systems is where we are currently focusing, and will continue to focus our research effort in 2015. And communicating the results of our national research and what it means to your particular, local situation, and to your bottom line, is where we’re going to be focusing our marketing effort. With that in mind we’ve decided that instead of having a hospitality stand at Cereals this year, it’s more important that we focus our effort on developing and extending our internal events programme. This is where we really feel that we can make a difference to the results that you see on your farm; by providing local and responsive information, based upon and backed up by our extensive and committed national research, translated locally. It’s also where you can meet face to face our agronomy and technical teams, and receive the targeted information, relevant to your area, which will arm you with the knowledge required to meet these challenges head on.
We hope therefore that we’ll see you at some of our events in 2015, where, by demonstrating and interpreting the results of our national research on a local level, you’ll see the benefi ts that it can have for your farm, and your business. And that even in the face of all of the challenges we face, maybe the future is bright after all. Here’s to a successful and prosperous new year.
Our events programme in your region is listed on page 2 of this edition of the journal. You can also fi nd out more atwww.agrii.co.uk or by contacting [email protected] for more information.
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Facing 2015’s challenges together
JournalAgrii East Spring 2015
ContentsFacing 2015’s challenges togetherPage 01
Spring Event Previews Page 02
EFA Master-classPage 03
Out with the old and in with the newPage 03
Balanced nutrition boosts wheat performancePage 04
Do you know a local hero? Page 04
Fresh start for strawberries in coirPage 05
Your local Agrii points of contactPage 06
www.agrii.co.uk
@agriiUK
Sarah Wilkinson – Events Marketing Offi cer
02
Agrii EastSpring 2015
Journal Spring Event Previews
Dates for your Diary5th February 2015 – Grower Conference 2015 (Lincolnshire)24th February 2015 – Throws Farm Technology
Centre iFarm Event 5th March 2015 – Fincham iFarm Event6th March 2015 – Lenham iFarm Event19th March 2015 – Stow Longa Technology Centre iFarm Event25th March 2015 – Thoresway iFarm Event8th April 2015 – Leadenham iFarm Event Our iFarms offer farmers the opportunity to experience the very latest R&D and allows us to join up agri-science with practical agronomy, enabling our customers to constantly improve yields, grow profi table crops and respond to ‘The Food Challenge’.
For more information on any of these events please speak to your Agrii Agronomist, alternatively you can contact Charlie Lewis on 01371 855503 or email [email protected]
Coping with the challenges of Britishagriculture – Grower Conference 2015
The forthcoming year could prove to be a challenge for British farmers and in response to this Agrii has introduced its fi rst Grower Conference to take place on 5th February at the Lincolnshire Showground. With a collection of industry leading guest speakers, a wide
range of topics will be covered including Greening, Global Grain impacts on agriculture and a detailed look at soil. We will also take a look at the lighter side of farming life with Country File’s Adam Henson and provide an update on some of Agrii’s work including the Blackgrass Technology Centre at Stow Longa.
Guest speakers on the day will include:
Adam HensonTV presenter for BBC’s Country File and jointly runs his 650 hectare family farm in Gloucestershire.
Guy SmithCurrent Vice President on the NFU and farms a mixed and diversifi ed family farm in north-east Essex.
Professor Dick GodwinInternationally recognised researcher and educator in the fi eld of agricultural soil mechanics, soil and waste management and precision agriculture.
Graham RedmanA key fi gure in Andersons Farm Consulting research team. His specialisms include global grain economics and agricultural competitiveness.
Ensure you are ready to cope with the challenges for British agriculture in 2015!
Booking is required for entry to the event. If you would like to book a place, or for more information, please contact Liz Whitehead on 01522 781204 or [email protected]
Other speakers include:David Downie(CEO, Agrii)Marek Nowakowski(Environmental Consultant, Agrii)Colin Lloyd (Head of Agronomy, Agrii)and Jeanette Dawson OBE (Principal,Bishop Burton College)
Throws Farm Technology Centre – iFarm Event Getting off to the best start in 2015
A big thank you to everyone that attended our Autumn iFarm event at Throws Farm Technology Centre in November. With such an overwhelming turnout, we are now focusing
on our spring event on 24th February to ensure that customers get the most out of their visit to Throws Farm.
With temperatures still going to be low at the end of February, our spring event will once again be held indoors but will include practical and relevant agronomy information that farmers can take home with them and use on farm. Subjects will include Beth Metson discussing CAP registrations and submissions, Tom Land giving his views on spring nutrition and nitrogen recommendations and David Leaper deliberating new OSR varieties for 2015. The meeting will also consist of discussions on grain marketing strategies, Agrii’s Precision Services and recommended lists for winter wheat and barley. With such a wide range of topics, this is one meeting not to miss this spring.
The day will of course be concluded with a buffet lunch and a chance to discuss topics one-on-one with Agrii’s specialists, we very much hope you can join us. For more information and to book your place, please contact Hannah Townsend on01371 855 506 or email [email protected]
03
EFA Master-class
If you have 15 hectares of claimable arable area you will need to fi nd your Ecological Focus Areas as part of your Basic Payment Scheme, there are 5 options for this:
1. Hedges 2. Buffer Strips 3. Fallow 4. Legumes 5. Cover/Catch crops
Some things to remember:
Buffer Strips These are not your stewardship margins; these would qualify as fallow ground which is another EFA option. EFA Buffer strips are your Cross Compliance Protection Zones which have to be in place next to watercourses – 2m from the centre of the watercourse or 1m from the top of the bank whichever is more. What is a watercourse? ‘Watercourses’ are defi ned as all surface waters, including coastal water, estuaries, lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, canals and fi eld ditches. Temporarily dry watercourses are included. For every linear metre these are worth 9m2 so these are worth more on paper than on the ground BUT make sure they are wide enough to ensure in an inspection you escape a fi ne. These will require mapping as part of you BPS claim in May
Hedges When can I claim both my hedge and a buffer strip:
o Feature order on the ground must be: hedge, eligible ditch (<2m), arable fi eld – nothing in between. Remember where the hedge is part owned its worth 5m2, if fully owned it is worth 10m2 per linear metre.
At what point can I not claim hedge EFA? o Where there is a Permanently Ineligible Feature (PIF) between the hedge
and the hedge side next to the arable fi eld. NB. If the hedge is between two owned arable fi elds and only one side has a PIF (e.g. hard track) adjacent to it – the full hedge 10m2 can still be claimed because the hedge is still compliant on one of its sides. Similarly the full 10m2 can be claimed if a hedge is in between an arable fi eld and permanent pasture as long as the side next to the arable fi eld has no PIF in between the hedge and arable fi eld. Where a hedge is between an arable fi eld (no PIF) and a highway – this can be claimed as a whole hedge so the full 10m2 What is a hedge? According to the regulations it is a ‘line of bushes forming a hedge’ These will require mapping as part of you BPS claim in May
Fallow Relevant stewardship options i.e. fi eld corners, margins, wild bird seed and nectar plots count as fallow land. You can sow conservation mixes for wild birds and pollinators within the fallow period You can sow temporary grass within the fallow period There are two fallow periods:
o If you require fallow as a crop only and not as part of your EFA area the period is: 1st May – 30th June
o If you require fallow as an EFA the fallow period is: 1st January – 30th June
Legumes Can be managed commercially 1 hectare of legumes = 0.7 hectares of EFA: So legumes are worth less on paper than on the ground
Catch/Cover Crop The only options to sow are rye, phacelia, mustard, oats, barley, vetch and Lucerne Must be a sown mix of at least 2 different cover types (one cereal and one non-cereal). 1 hectare of catch/cover crop = 0.3 hectares of EFA: Legumes are worth less on paper than on the ground Catch crops: 31st August - 1st October Cover crops: 1st October - 15th January
Out with the old and in with the new
At the time of writing the new HGCA Recommended Lists have just been published and whilst variety choice for next autumn may seem a long way away
it is worth considering what the new varieties offer to the market?
As usual the winter wheat list is likely to attract the most attention and certainly this last autumn has seen a swing from yield being the out and out decision maker to disease resistance combined with other factors. But the speed of that swing has been quicker than expected but driven by the disease pressure of last year. Varieties such KWS Santiago suffered a big drop in market share and varieties with good disease resistance, particularly Septoria, like Crusoe and Revelation gained.
KWS Trinity certainly has improved overall rust resistance against the other Group 1 wheat varieties and the Septoria resistance is reasonable too so it offers a useful alternative in milling wheat. KWS Lili is in the NABIM Group 2 category but with yields up with KWS Santiago. This is a variety that very much fi ts the mould of those that were popular last season with its good Septoria resistance. This was confi rmed in Agrii’s trials last year where it performed very well.
The other variety that will catch people’s attention is Refl ection. A hard feed wheat that is the top yielding variety albeit by just over 1%. Good grain, early maturity are backed with decent disease resistance. Though Yellow Rust may need watching. The hard feed wheat category is the biggest in the market so it is not diffi cult to see why this will be of interest for many. Winter rape is our biggest break crop by a long way and as is normally the case the new varieties to the market will be those that are on the new HGCA candidate lists.
Again disease resistance is becoming a major factor in variety choice, for Light Leaf Spot in particular. Alizze is a hybrid with very high yield and high oil content, but is specifi cally of interest because of its very high score for Light Leaf Spot resistance. Plus decent Stem Canker resistance too. On the conventional side Nikita has also set new standards for Light Leaf Spot resistance and is the top yielding conventional variety on the East/West candidate list.
The disease has become much more widespread in recent years so it is no surprise that those with the best resistance are coming to the fore in trials.
Environmental & Seed
Beth Metson – Farm Environment Consultant
Barry Barker – Arable Seed Product Manager
Balanced nutrition boosts wheat performance
Do you know a local hero?
Better balanced micro-nutrition can drive wheat yields substantially at relatively little extra cost to deliver valuable profi tability improvements, reveal two years of detailed Best of
British Wheat trials at the AgriiFocus Technology Centre.
Here, regional trials manager, Dr Syed Shah has been investigating a whole range of P, K, S, Mg and trace element interactions alongside nitrogen in research plots to identify and quantify key performance and profi tability improvement opportunities. This work is designed to support and inform the exciting series of fi eld-scale Agrii 15t Challenge studies underway on commercial farms across the country.
“We see classic diminishing returns from extra nitrogen above around 270 kg/ha as other limiting factors kick in” he points out. “Where we apply 300 kg/ha of N or more in pursuit of yields closer to 15t/ha , though, we fi nd worthwhile responses to higher levels of P and K.
“In the same way, we’ve found insuffi cient sulphur limiting responses to N, P and K and vice-versa. Insuffi cient magnesium has also limited responses to sulphur, with Kieserite (25% MgO) delivering valuable yield advantages over ammonium sulphate (with no Mg).”
Perhaps most impressive have been the yield responses of more than 1.0 t/ha, Dr Shah has recorded in his work with a mixture of foliar micro-nutrients applied as part of the normal spray programme.
Interestingly, his most recent studies have shown no response to individual applications of zinc, copper or boron but an extra 0.5 t/ha from a programme including mixture of all three elements. And this has clearly been linked to better green leaf retention during grain fi ll.
“All our work underlines the importance of eliminating all the various nutritional limitations in order to make the most of every nutrient we apply,” he insists. “This becomes more critical at higher levels of performance.
“Our target for a 15t/ha crop is essentially 500 ears/m2 carrying 55 grains/ear with a 1000 grain weight of 55g. For this we need to build and maintain suffi cient tillers, ensure the best possible grain set and preserve the most effi cient crop canopy to support grain fi ll.
“We’re looking to infl uence various different elements of crop performance with our nutrient applications. Early in the spring we want to drive tiller production and survival. Into mid-season and we’re after building the most effi cient canopy and ensuring the greatest ear fertility. And later on our key objective is to sustain that canopy for as long as we can for maximum carbohydrate transfer into the grain.”
Is there a person in your rural community who makes a real difference to the environment in
which you live and work? Nominate them as part of our campaign to fi nd the UK’s rural community champions, and they could win the recognition they deserve as well as £1000 for themselves or their cause. We’re running this competition in conjunction with FCN – a charity supported by Agrii who provide advice and support for farming families in times of crisis.
Often unnoticed, but always around us, rural community champions are the people who volunteer time, resources or money for a community or project in their local area. They help develop our rural communities to ensure they remain active and continue to benefi t the people who choose to live within them. This could be through fundraising efforts, care of elderly neighbours, restoration of village buildings, maintenance of village property, organisation of community events or farm visits for school children, or the support of community projects – anything that brings a benefi t or improvement to the rural community you live in.
Prizes• 20 local winners from across the UK
– £50
• Two runners up – £500 each
• Overall winner – £1000
• The overall winner will be chosen by Agrii customers at our events in summer 2015.
How to enterJust go to www.agrii.co.uk to nominate someone you know. Full terms and conditions can also be found on the website.
RuralCommunityCHAMPIONS
2015
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04
Syed Shah inspects wheat trial plots
Nutrition & Rural Communities
Dr Syed Shah – R&D Manager
05
Soft fruit has been a core crop for decades for Boxford (Suffolk) Farms. Of its 50ha of soft fruit production, 8ha of strawberries and 10ha of raspberries are now grown in substrates under protection
at its New Home Farm site, near Colchester in Essex.
Coir in bags has been the substrate of choice for three to four years. “Before that we had grown in some peat but much of our acreage was still largely in soil,” says farm manager Peter Kemp. “We have been moving crops out of the ground gradually over that period, because of the levels of soil-borne disease which had built up over time.”
“Growers may be under pressure to reduce their use of peat but there are sound cultural reasons to
switch to coir”
Growers may be under pressure to reduce their use of peat but there are sound cultural reasons to switch to coir, he says. “Coir is more free fl owing and its structure is more stable. We fi nd growth is more uniform than in peat and we have better control over the plant’s nutrition. Peat will stay wetter for longer which I think increases the risk of disease – and obviously we want to keep plant losses to a minimum.”
The company expanded the area under protection in 2014 with the purchase of a glasshouse unit on a site adjoining New Home Farm, which has given it extra security of production at the beginning
and the end of the season. “When it’s windy, polytunnels are at risk of structural damage,” says Peter. “And there’s a noticeably better, more uniform climate in the glasshouse, too, even though we don’t heat it yet.”
Instead of opting for a set-up with bags, however, Peter chose to invest in pots for hanging gutters, sourcing some of the loose coir he needed from Dutch Plantin via Agrii, the UK distributor. “Production in pots seemed to be the next step forward for us,” he says. “The actual pots themselves should last 10 years, whereas bags have to be disposed of every two or three years. We have found the pots just more convenient and easier to handle too.”
Most Dutch strawberry growers have moved glasshouse production over to coir in pots because, compared to compressed coir in bags, the substrate is ready to use. It also makes it feasible for those growers who want to plant annually to start with fresh substrate each time, says Dutch Plantin account manager Wim Roosen. Bags are still better suited for tunnel-grown crops, he adds, because the bag’s plastic wrap protects the fruit from the humid conditions of the coir and so minimises the risk of Botrytis.
Fresh start forstrawberries in coir
Agrii EastSpring 2015
Journal Horticulture
Coir supplied in bulk is produced at the company’s Indian manufacturing plant but buffered and washed, to an EC of less than 0.3 (measured by the 1:1.5 dilution method), at its site in the Netherlands. “Some growers ask for a higher content of fi bre, which gives added structure to the substrate,” says Wim. “That increases air-fi lled porosity and improves the distribution of water, which follows these fi bres, so roots never get too wet at the bottom of the pot. It is important, though, that pots are carefully and evenly fi lled otherwise water distribution will not be as uniform as it can be.”
“The emphasis on quality is just one of the reasons why we are pleased to
be a distributor forDutch Plantin”
Dutch Plantin is, in fact, the world’s largest producer of coir substrates
and its factories in India and the Netherlands work to RHP quality mark standards. This means that the whole manufacturing chain, starting with the source of the raw material, is inspected and approved and that the substrate is guaranteed to be of a consistent quality. “The emphasis on quality is just one of the reasons why we are pleased to be a distributor for Dutch Plantin,” says Agrii fruit agronomist Kevin Workman. “Together with Wim, Agrii’s agronomy team can help growers decide on which coir product best suits their set-up or suggest where improvements could be made.”
Meanwhile, Peter says the farm’s fi rst experience with pot production of strawberries in coir is likely to see it move more of its crop over to this system. Future plans may also include recycling the run-off. “We continue to look at this option and how it may fi t into our infrastructure,” he adds.
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Agrii EastSpring 2015
Journal
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Contact Information
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Agrii iFarm locations in the EastEnquiry Contact NumbersAgronomy EnquiriesCustomer Services0845 607 3322
Agrii Consultancy ServicesBeth [email protected] 927 474
Fertiliser EnquiriesPeter Read Stuart Menhinick07836 387 686 07770 334 141Tom Land 07730 764 043
SoilQuestStuart [email protected] 413 190
Seed Support and Variety Sales InformationKevin Woodman Simon Hobbs07768 507 204 07770 643 365Angie Baker Ross Dawson07796 193 895 07912 043 305Sam Gallagher David Bouch01522 515 204 07525 234 309
Farm Saved SeedMark [email protected] 527 251Hugh [email protected] 926 119
Fruit CropsKevin [email protected] 981 080
Vegetable CropsChris [email protected] 252 455
Weather StationsNeil [email protected] 252 418
Event EnquiriesCharlie [email protected] 855 503
Crop MarketingDavid [email protected] 695 549
Your local Agrii iFarms1. Fincham
2. Leadenham
3. Stow Longa
4. Lenham
5. Thoresway
Your localTechnology Centre6. Throws Farm
Key Agrii iFarms
Agrii Technology Centre
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