This year’s Scottish Ploughing Championships will be held in Ayrshire for the second time ever in its 59-year history.

The event, which takes place on Friday, October 27 and Saturday, October 28 at Monktonhill Farm, Prestwick, Ayrshire, will feature stands and activities as well as an educational area, run by the Royal Highland Education Trust (RHET), for children.

Director of the Scottish Ploughing Championships management committee, Hugh Currie, said:

“We are very grateful to the owners of Monktonhill Farm for allowing us the space to host this year. Ayrshire is traditionally a livestock area and so it’s superb to find such a top-quality arable farm keen to work with us.”

Scottish Ploughing Championships

For this year’s Scottish Ploughing Championships, event organisers have said a ploughman will be coming out of retirement.

“For 2023, one of the best ploughers in the world, Andrew Mitchell Snr., is coming out of retirement and competing at Monktonhill Farm and so competitors are gearing up for a tight contest,” event organisers said.

“Mr. Mitchell has rarely been beaten on home soil and a number of competitors are keen to give him a run for his money.

“Winners of certain classes also get the opportunity to compete at the World Ploughing Championships in Estonia in 2024 and so there is much to plough for,” they said.

Currie said this year’s event has “17 different classes which include small tractors, vintage ploughs, horses and the chance for young people to get involved and compete.”

“We also have competitors from all four nations this year, for the first time in a while, so it’s great to have some nationwide competition. Ploughing is highly competitive and it isn’t easy,” he stressed.

“The best way to explain good ploughing to a non plougher would be that you’re aiming for the ground to look like corduroy – dead straight, all the same, nice and even and dead level.

“Each competitor hones his or her equipment like a Formula 1 racing car and it really is a case of marginal gains – combined with a bit of luck.”

‘A great day out’

Currie said the Scottish Ploughing Championships are a great day out for farming and non-farming people and families.

“We have vintage machinery, three pairs of horses coming along to do a demonstration, trade stands, food stalls, craft stalls and lots to see and do,” he said.

“It’s a great fun day with the chance to meet old and new friends and socialise. There is also a farm shop on site for those wishing to stock up on local produce.

“The championships have also paired up with RHET, the Royal Highland Education Trust, with four schools visiting on the Friday and a classroom on wheels open on the Saturday for children and families to pop in and learn more about food, farming, and ploughing of course.”

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While straw is in short supply in many places due to weather-related challenges in the tillage harvest this year, the City Bridge Foundation is lucky enough to be able to source its straw from a farm in Essex.

The City Bridge Foundation incorporated a straw bale as a measure to warn those travelling beneath the Millennium Bridge that the distance between the water and the bridge had changed, in what they called an “ancient tradition”.

If the City Bridge Foundation did not do this, it would be in violation of article 36.2 of the Port of London Thames Byelaws 2012.

Straw bale

According to the byelaw: “When the headroom of an arch or span of a bridge is reduced from its usual limits but that arch or span is not closed to navigation, the person in control of the bridge must suspend from the centre of that arch or span by day a bundle of straw large enough to be conspicuous and by night a white light.”

According to City of London Councillor for Bishopsgate, Benjamin Murphy, a layer of membrane needs to be replaced on the bridge, which “will also be cleaned up during the closure”.

The membrane separates the bridge’s steel structure from its aluminium bridge deck; and as a result of the work being done on it, the headroom under the bridge will be reduced.

The bridge, which opened on June 10, 2000, was the the first new pedestrian bridge to be built across the Thames for over a century.

It is set to reopen on November 5 at the latest, resuming the link between the City of London at St Paul’s Cathedral with the Tate Modern Gallery at Bankside.

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Strutt & Parker has said farmland is remaining “extremely resilient” despite rising interest rates and a squeeze on farm profitability.

The property consultancy’s latest Farmland Database shows the average price of arable land sold so far during 2023 is £10,900.

This is lower than the £11,100/ac reported for HI 2023, but is the same as the 2022 average – which was 15% higher than 2021.

The Strutt & Parker database also revealed that, since 2000, arable farmland has outperformed the commercial and residential property sectors, and equities, delivering an annualised return of 7.8%

The value of arable farmland has risen by 29% over the past 10 years and by 351% over the past 20 years.

Head of estates and farm agency for Strutt & Parker, Matthew Sudlow, said: “Although it appears the growth in values has slowed in some locations, this is only because there have been fewer sales at £12,000/acre or more.

“Our analysis shows that 60% of the arable land traded in England this year has still sold for more than £10,000/acre, compared to 33% in 2021, highlighting the continued strength of the market.”

Demand for farmland

Sudlow said the feeling amongst agents is that demand is more variable for farmland than it was a year ago, but prime farms in popular areas of the country continue to sell well.

Buyers include farmers with rollover money to spend, private individuals, the investment sector and green investors.

“We’re also seeing some significant purchases from a handful of overseas buyers, who like the fact it is easier to buy at scale in the UK than in some other European countries,” he said.

“The UK’s appeal is being enhanced by our farming industry’s enthusiasm for adopting regenerative farming techniques.”

Traditional farmer buyers have accounted for around 40% of transactions so far in 2023. Historically, this figure tends to be 50-60%, Strutt & Parker said.

Supply rose in Q3 of this year, taking the total amount brought to the open market in England during the first nine months of the year to 65,600 acres, which is 9% above the five-year average.

There also continues to be “plenty of activity” on the private market, the consultancy said, but overall supply remains constrained in historical terms.

Positive outlook

Sudlow said the outlook for the coming year remains positive, although greater polarisation in values is a possibility.

“With demand becoming more variable, location is once again becoming an increasingly important factor in determining the price,” he said.

“The expectation is that the market is set to remain buoyant in the perennially popular areas of the country, such as the Cotswolds and counties close to London, and in other parts of the country where there are existing landowners looking to upsize.

“However, farms in traditionally less popular regions focused on productive farming may struggle to achieve the same level of interest as they would have seen last year.”

Levels of supply remain a talking point in the industry, Strutt & Parker said, with questions being asked about whether there could be a noticeable rise in the volume of land available, if farmers decide to sell up in the face of a difficult harvest, high input costs and falling Basic Payment receipts.

“While this is clearly a possibility, there is little hard evidence that it is happening yet,” Sudlow said.

Overall, the sentiment is that farmland remains a solid investment prospect, with a proven track record of capital growth, for a range of buyers, he said.

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John Whelan and Eamonn Tracey from the Republic of Ireland ploughing team won their titles at the 68th World Ploughing Contest which was held in the Kuldigas region of Latvia.

Together with their coach, Brian Ireland from Co. Kilkenny, the Irish team competed against competitors from 23 other countries.

Conventional class

Beginning his defence of his world champion title in the conventional class on Friday in the World Ploughing Stubble Contest, Eamonn Tracey earned 213 points at plot 19, leaving him just one point behind Martin Lindberg Veling of Denmark.

Going into the World Grass Contest on Saturday in a strong position, Tracey, in a Valtra tractor at plot 11, finished in first place.

This effort was enough to gain the Garryhill, Co. Carlow man 195.5 points, which saw him achieve 408.5 points overall, and be awarded the Supreme World Conventional Ploughing Champion title.

Reversible class

John Whelan, in his New Holland tractor with a Kverneland plough, finished first in the World Ploughing Stubble Contest on Friday, October 13.

Competing in the reversible class, the Ballygarvan, Co. Wexford man earned a total of 209.5 points for his ploughing in plot 36.

On Saturday, October 14, in the World Grass Contest, Whelan picked up 207.5 points for his efforts in plot 40.

While finishing second in this competition, behind Marco Angst of Switzerland, Whelan achieved enough points overall from both contests, 417 in total, to retain his title as Supreme World Reversible Ploughing Champion.

World Ploughing Contest

Among the 23 other countries competing in the contest was the Northern Ireland team, which saw Adrian Jamison finish 10th in the reversible class, while his teammate Andrew Gill reached third place in the conventional class.

The World Ploughing Contest saw the Irish team surpass the New Zealand team of Ian Woolley and Bob Mehrtens, a welcome change for Irish sports teams last weekend.

Ireland was due to host the contest this year, but as it replaced Russia as the host nation last year, it will next host the contest in 2037.

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Located within the site of the existing business, the new plant will provide 60% of the company’s annual electricity requirements.

Wilson’s Country managing director, Lewis Cunningham, commented: “The potato waste from the business will be used as the main feedstock for the AD operation.

“It has taken two years to get the project through near to completion. The last piece in the jigsaw puzzle was the establishment of an interconnector between the AD plant and the national grid.

“The new system is being gradually brought on-line over the next number of weeks. It will reach full operational capacity by the end of November,” he added.

Anaerobic digestion

The management team at Wilson’s Country has confirmed the key role of the new AD operation in helping to bring down the carbon footprint of the overall business.

Company CEO, Angus Wilson said: “We have been using certified ‘green electricity’ only within our entire operation for the past couple of years.

“This step, alone, has allowed us to reduce the carbon intensity of the company by 75%.

“Being able to generate a significant proportion of our green electricity on-site allows us to reduce our overall energy bill while, also making more efficient use of the waste streams produced within the business.

“It all adds to the sustainability of Wilson’s Country into the future,” he added.

AD is the conversion of organic feedstock by microorganisms in the absence of oxygen into biogas and digestate.

The biogas which is produced can be used to generate electricity and heat.

“We have a large electricity requirement on site. This is needed to power our controlled temperature potato stores, processing and potato packing operations,” Wilson continued.

“Given the nature of our business, the actual amounts of electricity that we need can vary a lot throughout the year.

“However, there will also be occasions when there will be surplus electricity generated on site, which can be exported to the grid.”

A proportion of the waste heat produced will be used to maintain the operational temperature of the AD operation itself.

“We are also looking at options which will allow us make best use of the residual heat from the AD process that will be available to us,” Wilson said.

“We are committed to securing a carbon ‘net zero’ position for the business over the coming years. The investment in the new AD plant is a critically important step in this process.”

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A new study has shown that whether or not blackgrass will be herbicide-resistant depends on more than just what is on its chromosomes.

Blackgrass is a growing threat on Irish tillage farms. It is believed that resistant strains of the weed have been coming into the country on imported machinery.

Once established, heavy infestations of herbicide-resistant grassweed can reduce cereal yields by up to 1.5t/ac.

Tackling blackgrass

The use of integrated pest management (IPM) practices will help to reduce the impact of blackgrass.

But getting a stronger research insight into the weed’s genetic mode of action is key to the development of future management and eradication strategies.

Rothamsted Research, in collaboration with scientists at Clemson University (US), has found that blackgrass has small loops of DNA that are outside the plant’s chromosomes.

These loops, called extra-chromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA), are not inherited in the same way that the chromosomes are.

They evolve separately from the main genetic structures in the cell nucleus and could help explain how blackgrass can rapidly develop resistance to herbicides or other stresses.

The research team identified the similarities and differences in the eccDNA in both resistant and sensitive populations.

Although the numbers and size of detected eccDNAs varied between the populations, comparisons managed to identify shared and unique genes and protein coding.

Compared to blackgrass that are herbicide sensitive, the eccDNA of herbicide-resistant weed have extra copies of genes known to confer herbicide resistance, including genes related to herbicide detoxification.

New information

Previous analysis of resistant and non-resistant varieties had clearly shown that resistance develops across multiple genes, but until now the mechanisms of how blackgrass could rapidly evolve these differences have been hard to pin down.

The researchers have shown that a combination of differences in chromosomal and eccDNA encoded genes might be responsible for the rapid evolution of herbicide resistance in blackgrass.

Rothamsted’s Dr. Dana MacGregor commented: “Because of advances in sequencing, we are now finding eccDNAs in many different species and are starting to understand what they do.

“Our findings show that blackgrass has eccDNAs, and on them are copies of chromosomal genes we know to be correlated with herbicide resistance.

“Having these eccDNAs may contribute to the genetic diversity we see in blackgrass and explain how it has so successfully adapted to man-made and abiotic stresses, including herbicide treatment.”

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The Co. Armagh-based potato packer and processer works with growers throughout the island of Ireland.

Company managing director, Lewis Cunningham told Agriland: “We are about six weeks behind with this year’s harvest. Yields are down approximately 10%, year-on-year. Tuber quality is also an issue.”   

Challenging year for the potato crop

Cunningham confirmed that local potato growers are facing into one of the most challenging harvests in living memory.

“The harvest is just the latest setback that has confronted potato growers this year,” he added.

“The very wet weather in April meant that main crop potatoes were not planted out until the middle of May, a full six weeks later than would normally be the case.

“Drought-like conditions followed, which hampered the germination and early growth of crops. But then came the heavy rains of July and August.

“Short of heavy snow in the middle of the summer, Northern Ireland’s potato growing community has had to cope with every extreme of weather that nature could ever conceive of throwing at them in 2023,” he said.

Even before this year’s potato harvest got underway, potato growers knew that yields would be well down, year-on-year.

“The switch from the very hot and dry conditions of June to the monsoons of July has created growth cracking problems in quite a number of crops,” Cunningham added.

“Something consumers do not want to see in bags and as a result, the potatoes in question cannot be sold in retail outlets.

“Also as the industry was coming out of a year with extremely low stocks of potatoes in store from the previous season, we really needed a early good yielding harvest with no problems.

“Early September saw harvest get underway but it quickly turned into a nightmare, as growers attempt to lift potatoes out of the ground that is just saturated, conditions have been more like November than September,” the Wilson Country’s managing director added.

 He explained that ground conditions were “pretty much bottomless” at the time, especially after Storm Agnes.

He said that he saw potato harvesters getting totally bogged down in places like Bishopscourt in Co. Down.

According to Lewis Cunningham, potato growers across Europe have had major challenges to confront throughout 2023.

“Most of these issues have been weather-related. Floods earlier in the year created major delays in planting dates in countries like France, Italy, Spain and Portugal,” he said.

“This was followed by a prolonged drought, which served to reduce the yield potential of potato crops dramatically.

“As a consequence, potato supplies will be very constrained right across Europe over the coming months,” he continued.

Adding to the economic pressures on potato growers in 2023 were the very strong fertiliser and agrochemical prices that characterised the entire growing season.

“Sustainable prices at retail level will be required to get the entire potato sector through the next few months.”

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Scotland’s chief statistician has released first estimates of the 2023 Scottish harvest – revealing that the total cereal production is expected to be around 3 million tonnes.

The statistics, released today (Thursday, October 12), predict that cereal production will remain in line with the ten-year average despite “significant challenges” during the year, the Scottish government said.

These challenges include high input costs and poor weather conditions.

Early estimates for yields of barley, oats and oilseed rape are below 2022 levels, but similar to the ten-year averages.

While the yield for oilseed rape is predicted to decrease by 6%, the production is to reach its highest value in 20 years.

A predicted increase of around 13% in growing area may result in production values “well above” the ten-year average, the government said.

The predicted yield for wheat is also below last year’s figure, but is higher than the ten-year average.

“However, industry experts reported farmers are noticing varying quality in the spring barley harvest due to the poor weather conditions,” the Scottish government said.

Harvest figures

Harvest estimates are based on first soundings of the 2023 harvest at the end of September.

The final results will be released in December after the harvest has finished in Scotland.

Estimates are based on harvest yields given by a panel of experts at a Crop Report Meeting and provisional land use areas from the June Agricultural Census.

Final land use areas will be published in the Results of the June Agricultural Census.

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The first survey of the 2023/24 harvest by Conab, the Brazilian government’s food supply and statistics agency, signals a “slight decrease” compared to the previous season.

The forecast has been influenced by the prospect of a decrease in average productivity due to a slight growth in the total area sown, which is expected to exceed 78 million hectares.

The 2022/23 grain harvest reached a new record at an estimated 293 million tonnes, representing an increase of 18.4% or 45 million tonnes in the amount of grain harvested when compared with the previous season.

Harvest

“From what projections indicate, we will have, at least, the second-largest harvest in the history of Brazil,” Edegar Pretto, president of Conab, said.

“It is necessary to monitor the development of crops and the adjustments that we will make throughout the season, which could result in this harvest’s production even surpassing that of the last harvest.

“However, even if it is not a new record, we expect a good harvest,” he said.

Conab estimates growth in both the planted area and productivity of soya beans, the main grain grown in Brazil, but at a slower speed than that recorded in the last crop year.

With an expected planned area of ​​40 million tons and an initial average productivity estimated at 3,586kg/ha, production should reach just over 162 million tons, the agency said.

If this forecast is accurate, the volume to be harvested will be a new record for the crop.

Brazil is anticipating that soya bean exports will remain high in 2024 with shipments of the oilseed estimated at around 92 million tonnes.

However, corn production is expected to drop to 107 million tonnes in the 2023/24 harvest due to a 4.8% reduction in the planted area and a similar decrease in average productivity.

Exports of corn are forecast to drop by around 27% as a result compared to the 2022/23 harvest.

Brazil

Conab is expecting a 7.7% increase in the volume of rice harvest compared to 2022/23, while bean production is anticipated to be 0.8% up on the previous season.

“The federal government has resumed public policies to stimulate food production, with announcements of harvest plans, the resumption of public purchases and the guarantee of minimum prices.

“These and other actions give positive signals to rural workers and we believe that the result we see in this announcement is related to this,” Pretto said.

With around 40% of crops harvested, Conab said that wheat crops show an increase in area of ​​around 12.1% and a reduction in productivity of 11.6%, compared to 2022, resulting in an expected production of 9.5 million tonnes.

Heavy rainfall and diseases associated with high humidity had a particular impact on crops in Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina.

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In addition, home-grown forage maize is a key component of the rations fed to ruminant livestock in Denmark.

Improving sustainability across agriculture as a whole is a key research and development objective for Denmark.

Tillage in Denmark

Where tillage is concerned, two key objectives have been established. These are: The growing of more protein crops – including beans, other legumes and grass; and the more sustainable use of all crop fertilisers and agrochemicals.

SEGES Innovation is the independent organisation charged with the responsibility of carrying out the research and development (R&D) required across all the sectors of Danish agriculture. It is a farmer-funded body.

SEGES works closely with universities in Denmark as well as a number of international research partners.

Members of the Irish Farm Buildings Association along with Agriland, recently visited SEGES’ main research centre, close to the city of Aarhus.

While there, they received an update on a number of current R&D projects from staff member, Jenn Hales Pedersen.

Where crop management is concerned, she highlighted to the availability of new digital imagery-based systems, which allow tillage farmers to gauge exactly when to apply fertilisers, fungicides and other agrochemical to best effect.

In the first instance, the CropManager system provides users with software to map out crops. It also offers access to sowing history and weather forecasts

The system provides farmers with the latest satellite imagery of the biomass available from their growing crops.

As a consequence, a full assessment is available of when best to spray crops or apply fertiliser.

Hales Pedersen explained: “Farmers using the CropManager System are provided with full advisory updates along with the satellite imagery, which they can download.

“The imagery is delivered courtesy of the Geographic Information System technology that is at the very heart of the new system.”

Carbon goals

Denmark has committed to having its farming and food sectors achieve a carbon ‘net zero’ position by 2050.

To help secure this objective, SEGES has developed a bespoke Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) digital tool.

The calculations in the climate tool are based on the individual farm’s own data which is transferred automatically.

By using the tool, the farmer is able to calculate his/her farm’s footprint and how possible changes in feed, fertiliser management, field management, new technologies or investments can impact the carbon imprint positively or negatively.

ESG is constantly developing new calculation methods, which are integrated into the climate tool on an ongoing basis.

Significantly, all the Danish banks are now seeking confirmation that a farmer is using ESG as one of the criteria determining the availability of credit.

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Researchers from the James Hutton Institute are seeking arable and mixed farmers to help shape a new mobile phone app aimed at helping tackle on-farm greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Farmers are invited to attend a test-drive and workshop event on November 9, 2023, at Glensaugh research farm near Laurencekirk.

During the workshop, researchers from the James Hutton Institute will demonstrate the app prototype, which, alongside on-farm sensors, will estimate GHG emissions.

As well as this, it will point to ways to reduce and help store more carbon in arable and mixed systems, the institute said.

The event will also feature a discussion about the drivers and challenges of reducing emissions, a tour of Glensaugh – including the institute’s Climate-Positive Farming Initiative – and a talk about cutting carbon in arable farming from plant physiologist and soil scientist Prof Tim George.

Project leader Dr Jagadeesh Yeluripati said: “Our goal is to give farmers a way to identify practices that may effectively reduce their GHGs and also use their soil to store more carbon.

“This workshop is a unique opportunity to shape and improve this innovative technology.

“Together, we can identify the driving forces behind emissions, enhance usability and maximise its impact.”

The event on November 9 will run from morning to early afternoon and includes lunch. Farmers registering for the event will be paid travel expenses and compensated for their time.

The workshop is part of the Scottish government funded TRANSITION project.

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The Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB) has confirmed that the 2023 grain harvest in Great Britain (GB) is coming to an end, from a cereals perspective.

Only a few crops of very late spring barley and oats in Scotland and the north-east of England remain to be combined.

At this point, winter wheat yields are estimated at 7.8–8.2t/ha, sitting around the five-year average.

Winter barley yields are estimated at 6.2–7.2t/ha, sitting around the five-year average. Spring barley yields are estimated at 5.2–5.5t/ha and is sitting below the five-year averages.

Combined winter and spring oat yields are estimated at 5.0–5.4t/ha; the range has tightened as harvest progressed.

Winter oilseed rape (OSR) yields are estimated at 2.8–3.0t/ha. This is below the five-year average.

Lower yields were primarily a result of inclement weather during the growing season, as well as significant pest damage in some regions, particularly from Cabbage Stem Flea Beetle (CSFB).

Grain quality

Grain quality is quite variable. Where wheat is concerned, specific weights are ranging from 71-78kg/hl nationally. The GB average is currently 73–75kg/hl.

National protein contents are ranging from 12.5–13.0%, the same as a fortnight ago. The GB average moisture content for wheat is estimated at 15-17%. The range has increased from a fortnight ago where it was 15–16%.

The specific weights of winter barley crops have varied by region, ranging from 58–64kg/hl on farm. The GB typical average is currently 63–65kg/hl.

The GB average grain nitrogen indications range between 1.5–1.7%

The specific weights of spring barley crops have been ranging from 58-65kg/hl. The GB average is currently 59–62kg/hl.

The GB specific weights for oats are estimated at 49–52kg/hl, down from the 50–53kg/hl reported a fortnight ago.

Autumn planting

Meanwhile, there has been a slow start to the 2023 autumn planting season in GB.

Recent rainfall has allowed for the germination of weeds and volunteers in stale seedbeds, which are being controlled by soil cultivations or applications of glyphosate before drilling.

Wet soil conditions have resulted in more farmers reverting to ploughing rather than doing min-till.

Sowing of winter oilseed rape started in mid-August and has continued into September.

However, establishment has been variable following a period of hot and dry weather at the beginning of September.

Crops in several regions have already been damaged by CSFB and slugs.

Drilling of winter cereals started from mid-September. However, planting progress has been slow in most regions due to wet conditions.

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Almost 120,000t of Ukrainian grain will be exported to Africa and Europe via bulk carries Olga, Ida, Danny Boy, Forza Doria, and New Legacy, the minister said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Three vessels which recently had entered the ports of Chornomorsk and Pivdenij left yesterday (Sunday, October 1), carrying 127,000t of agro-products and iron ores for China, Egypt and Spain.

Grain exports from Ukraine via the Black Sea have resumed via a “temporary corridor for civil shipping”. After the Black Sea Grain Initiative ended in July, Russia had again blocked the Black Sea.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Agri Council (UAC) said that although the “first stage” of launching agricultural exports outside the grain deal has already taken place, “difficult conditions” remain.

Grain exports

Increasing the volume of food exports by sea to 30% of the level that was exported before the full-scale invasion would improve the work with exports, UAC deputy chair Denys Marchuk said.

Until February 24, 2022 – the day Russia invaded Ukraine – 6-7 million tonnes of agricultural products were exported from sea ports every month, according to the UAC deputy chair.

Describing the work of the humanitarian corridor as “encouraging”, he said that the export of 20,000t of grain which already successfully left ports shows that the corridor “can work”.

“This is a signal to the world that security in the waters under our control is ensured,” Marchuk said adding that the “free passage of ships through the sea routes will only improve”.

There are currently 120,000t of food products in the queue for passage to Ukrainian sea ports. Agricultural exports of about 3 million tonnes last month are a “good result”, he said.

However, the UAC deputy chair said that stable monthly exports of 4.5 million tonnes of food products are needed for the normal functioning of the Ukrainian agricultural sector.

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The amount of agricultural land in England stands at 8.8 million hectares, or 68% of all land, according to new statistics from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

The agricultural land use in England release contains the estimates of crop areas, land use and land ownership on commercial agricultural holdings in England on June 1, 2023, from the June Survey of Agriculture.

The utilised agricultural area (UAA) includes all arable and horticultural crops; uncropped arable land; land used for outdoor pigs; temporary and permanent grassland; and common rough grazing.

The total croppable area accounts for over half (55%) of the total UAA in England, and saw little change between 2022 and 2023 – remaining at just under 4.9 million hectares.

Permanent grassland accounts for an additional 40% of UAA and has decreased by 2.9% to 3.5 million hectares in 2023.

The area of agricultural land owned in England decreased by 0.5% to just under 6.2 million hectares in 2023.

Land rented in for a year or more fell by 0.9% and now stands at just under 2.9 million hectares.

Crops

The total area of arable crops saw a 1.3% decrease between 2022 and 2023, falling to just under 3.7 million hectares.

Cereals account for the majority (70%) of the total arable crop area, covering just under 2.6 million hectares in 2023.

The area of wheat decreased by 5.3% to 1.58 million hectares, whilst barley increased by 2.2% to 799 thousand hectares.

The area of oilseed crops increased by 3.4% to 369,000ha in 2023. Oilseed rape accounts for 93% of this area and rose by 6.1% to 342,000ha in 2023.

Potatoes decreased by 12%, falling to 82,000ha in 2023.

The remaining arable crops covered 670,000ha. Field beans and maize together account for almost two thirds of this area. Fields beans rose by 1.2% while maize saw a larger increase of 7.5% between 2022 and 2023.

The area of horticultural crops covers 117,000ha of land, a decrease of 6.3% compared to 2022.

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It has also published a new advisory leaflet which explores the value of magnesium as a nutrient source for wheat, barley, oats and other crops.

Trial work, carried out over the past 30 years across the UK and Ireland, has confirmed that insufficient potash has been applied to cereal crops relative to the quantities of nutrients removed in cereal grain and straw.

This has resulted resulted in an inevitable reduction of soil potash reserves.

A similar imbalance has developed for some other main arable crops and this also applies to phosphate.

These trends have continued and will lead to serious consequences for yield and quality.

The length of time before financial penalties occur will depend on soil type, manure use and the phosphate and potash reserves of individual fields.

Crops

The area of cereals receiving no annual phosphate or potash at all has also increased significantly in recent years with over 60% of the winter wheat area sown receiving no fertiliser phosphate or potash.

As only around 20% of tillage soils are at an index where phosphate and potash can safely be omitted for cereals, this is further evidence of imprudent cost-cutting.

It must not be assumed that because cereals are known to be efficient scavengers of phosphate and potash and because no visual symptoms are seen, that such cost-cutting is without penalty.

Serious economic consequences can occur without any visible symptoms of deficiency. Soil phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) indices may decline only slowly but as they fall below accepted threshold levels, the risks of yield and quality losses increase.

According to the PDA, such risks are not worth taking because of the essential requirement of these nutrients for the maintenance of yield and quality.

Potash affects both yield and quality of grain as well as the general health and vigour of the plant.

Cereal crops need at least as much, if not more, potash than any other nutrient – including nitrogen.

Potash is needed in such large amounts because it is the major regulator of solution concentrations throughout the plant.

It controls cell sap content to maintain the turgor of the plant and supports the movement of all materials within the plant.

Potash supply is thus essential for all nutrient uptake by the roots and movement to the leaves for photosynthesis and for the distribution of sugars and proteins made by the green tissue for plant growth and grain fill.

Sulphur

Immediately available sulphur in the soil can be measured by laboratory analysis.

But its susceptibility to leaching as sulphate and its variability both down the soil profile, and over time, means that the normal FOUR yearly soil analysis regime is not appropriate.

Both the organic processes and the leaching potential cause soil sulphur levels to vary by month, and by year.

Some research work has been done by measuring sulphur in deep core samples taken for soil mineral nitrogen testing in oilseed rape crops.

However, the predictability of potential reserves is still being determined.

Because routine soil analysis cannot be used to predict sulphur deficiency, plant tissue testing is sometimes suggested.

For oilseed rape and cereals there is the ‘Malate Sulphate’ test which can be done early in the crop’s life, but it may need to be repeated later at stem extension.

Plant tissue analysis looking at nitrogen and sulphur concentrations may also help to give a guide.

But the results may not become available until too late to correct for the current crop.

Alternatively, grain analysis for nitrogen and sulphur concentrations can be carried out. Although the results will certainly be too late to influence that crop, they should give good guidance for future policy.

The post What is the value of magnesium as a nutrient source for crops? appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

The mixed weather this year has caused a wide variation in harvest yield and quality around Scotland.

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) Scotland said that some respondents to its annual harvest survey this year described their harvest as brilliant, others described it as average and some said they found it very challenging.

Average yields recorded by respondents to the NFUS harvest survey were: Spring barley, 5.7t/ha; Winter wheat, 9.5 t/ha; Winter oats, 7.4 t/ha; Spring oats, 6.3 t/ha; oilseed rape, 3.9 t/ha and rye, 7.8 t/ha.

The union added that some farmers have yet to complete their harvest due to the wet weather in recent weeks.

NFU Scotland’s combinable crops chair, Willie Thomson, who farms near Longniddry in East Lothian commented: “The hot dry summer followed by a wet autumn has been far from ideal for some.

“The poor weather has not only delayed harvesting and planting but has also affected grain quality, particularly in spring barley, which is our biggest crop.”

Thomson said that a “clear” trend from the survey was that winter crops fared better than spring-sown crops.

“Winter crops sown in autumn 2022 came through into the spring in good condition and were well established and more resistant to the weather challenges that this year has brought,” he said.

“By comparison, spring crops have proven to be less resilient and for some around the country, we still desperately need a window in the weather for them to complete harvest.”

On the back of the wide variance in quality, Thomson said the union has contacted “key” malting and distilling stakeholders to highlight the challenges that weather has placed on its members, encouraging them to consider small changes to their requirements to ensure they can secure as much Scottish-grown barley as possible.

“It has been a hard-won harvest this year, with lower prices this season set against the highest input costs ever seen. On top of that, recent wet weather will have brought unwelcome drying costs as well,” he added.

“We will continue to assess what impact this is having on cashflow on Scottish arable farms and NFU Scotland’s third annual intentions survey, due to be launched at the end of the year, will identify if the combination of costs, market returns and a challenging year weather-wise have altered business plans for growers.”

The post Survey reveals mixed picture of Scotland’s 2023 harvest appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

Recent days have seen plans for a consultation on the matter confirmed.

The process will take place during autumn 2023 and will be coordinated by the Digital Grain Passport (DGP) leadership group.

Digital passports for crops

Digitising paper passports to improve food and feed safety data communication, through supply chains, has been discussed for more than a decade.

The commitment to hold a formal consultation now, follows the completion of a five-year pilot programme.

Over the 12 months, a much-simplified version of previous proposals that had been discussed at industry level has been developed. This will now be consulted on.

Representatives from all parts of the cereals and oilseeds chain have been working together to create a business case. This includes merchants and animal feed businesses, farmers and receivers.

The group has been supported by experts at the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB).

To inform the development of the business case, advice has been taken from a very broad range of interested parties including hauliers, port facility operators and businesses outside the membership of the organisations represented on the leadership group.

The business case sets out how a Digital Passport (Combinable Crops) system could operate, replicating the purpose of the existing paper passports.

The electronic documentation will, as now, be initiated by farmers with input from hauliers before onward transmission to receivers.

There will be live updates of assurance status prior to the vehicle leaving farms, avoiding the risk of delay or rejection at the receiver’s site.

The system is expected to be built with sufficient resilience and back-ups to avoid any undue downtime or faults.

Data

The new processes will also enable a multi-directional flow of data between farmers, grain merchants and end users such as millers, maltsters and feed mills.

This includes a commitment to the real-time return of information to those involved in the contractual chain.

All involved have said that they are very much aware of the need to ensure ease of use, as well as minimise costs and maximise accessibility.

There has therefore been active exploration of the potential for existing software and off-the-peg systems to be adapted to the grain sector’s needs along with a more bespoke approach.

The business case will be published in early October detailing the purpose, benefits and costs.

It will also consider how data will be governed, how real-time information will flow and to who, how data will be secured, as well as ownership and funding.

The purpose of the consultation is to ensure industry needs are addressed, highlighting gaps in the business case and to establish the level of support for the project.

If the majority confirm the proposal is supported, and considering feedback on the business case, the Leadership Group would approach the AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds Sector Council to discuss funding options.

Additional funding would be investigated from all available sources to keep costs as low as possible to direct passport users.

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Researchers at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) have highlighted the value of integrating remote sensing and data sharing for timely agricultural information critical for food security and sustainability planning in a new paper.

They say that real-time crop monitoring has become increasingly important, particularly for addressing climate-induced losses and damages, as discussed during the last United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP 27).

Satellite data

The researchers indicate that initiatives like GEOGLAM and the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) have traditionally contributed to monitoring global food security by relying on existing data about crop locations and agricultural productivity.

However, these systems often provide static information based on past data at a coarse resolution, they said.

To address current limitations and advance real-time, global-scale crop monitoring, the WorldCereal project, funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), has reportedly created an open-source, highly scalable system.

This system utilises openly available satellite data provided by the EU Copernicus programme.

In 2021, the system demonstrated its capability to provide seasonal cropland information, crop-specific maps for maize and cereals, and irrigation maps.

In their paper published in Nature Food, IIASA researcher Linda See and colleagues from ESA, the Flemish Institute for Technological Research’s VITO Remote Sensing, Stellenbosch University, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), highlight the potential for the system to incorporate greater crop-specific data, thereby boosting the accuracy of sub-national and national agricultural statistics.

According to the authors, this enhancement in data quality and gap-filling techniques would significantly improve capacity to monitor domestic situations and contribute to established international protocols, including FAO questionnaires concerning production and land use statistics, UNFCCC initiatives, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Global database

A key innovation of the project, according to the researchers, is its community-based, open, and harmonised global reference database, which contains 75 million samples from 2017 onwards, which was contributed to by many organisations and individual projects worldwide.

To fully realise its potential, the researchers said that steps should be taken to evolve the project into a cloud-based, sustainable platform with diverse operational models.

Linda See, lead author and a senior researcher in the Novel Data Ecosystems for Sustainability Research Group of the IIASA Advancing Systems Analysis Program said: “ESA’s WorldCereal project leverages high-resolution satellite imagery to generate near real-time information about crop types and irrigation.

“This advancement is just the beginning, as it opens doors for continual improvement and global collaboration.

“The system can be used in a demand-driven manner to cater to the needs of various user communities, potentially encouraging countries to not only provide on-site data, but also enhance cropland maps through the incorporation of local knowledge and data.”

The WorldCereal system demonstrates the power of integrating remote sensing, machine learning, and shared reference data, offering critical agricultural production and yield estimates for food security and sustainability planning, the research team has said.

While it demands significant investment, the benefits of having high-resolution, data-rich agricultural information, supported by an engaged global community, far outweigh the costs according to the team.

“In collaboration with international organisations like the FAO, national agencies can leverage this technology to enhance their agricultural statistics and reporting capabilities to support global initiatives like the UNFCCC and the SDGs,” study author Sven Gilliams, WorldCereal project manager at VITO said.

The authors point out that, while the community-based nature of the WorldCereal system offers many benefits, there are still gaps that need to be filled with data from various regions and sources.

There is, however, great scope for improvement through contributions from public and private organisations, as well as emerging data types like street view imagery and citizen science, the research paper stated.

The post Using satellite data to enhance global food security appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

The work will be undertaken by staff at Rothamsted Research based in the UK.

Significantly, initial results suggest that techniques, such as no-till and diversified cropping, are not a short-term fix for more sustainable food production systems; a long-term commitment will be required.

Research on regenerative agriculture

An experimental set-up of 24 cropping systems that combine a variety of regenerative agriculture practices has been established.

To date, reduced tillage has resulted in lower wheat yields but the effect varied with crop rotation, previous-crop and site.

However, plots with added organic matter significantly increased spring barley yield by 8% on average, though the effect again varied with site.

The ploughed crop plots tended to produce higher caloric yield, overall, than systems under reduced tillage.

Study team leader, Prof. Jon Storkey said: “The initial results suggest that it takes time for regenerative approaches to restore the health of soils and the ecosystem.

“In addition, there may be a decrease in yields as the system transitions to a more sustainable state.

“With so many variables in play, only a long-term, integrated approach will be able to tell us what really works in regenerative farming.”

History

The original long-term Broadbalk experiment at Rothamsted was set up in 1843 and was focused on how varying inputs of fertiliser might affect crop yield.

This was hugely influential and helped establish many modern farming practices that have consistently delivered bountiful harvests and widespread food security.

Today, as agriculture faces multiple pressures to reduce its environmental impacts, the new long-term experiments will look at how varying approaches to crop rotation, tillage, nutrition and crop protection can reduce inputs of pesticides and fertilisers, emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and support biodiversity.

The aim is to collect extensive data on multiple indicators from each of the experiments.

Rather than just focusing on crop yield, these new Large Scale Rotation Experiments (LSREs) are being monitored to study the synergies and trade-offs of each approach.

The experiment has been established as a long-term resource for inter-disciplinary research.

“We have explained the experimental setup in detail in this new paper so that other similar experiments can be set up worldwide,” Storkey added.

“Only by taking such a broad perspective can we hope to successfully inform the transition to more sustainable cropping systems across the planet.

“Inevitably trade-offs will need to be made between maximising crop yield and protecting the environment, but these experiments will help us better understand the system behaviour, and ultimately identify the optimal balance for multiple systems and approaches.”

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Scottish Quality Crops (SQC) has today (Thursday, September 21) announced that it is moving from an annual scheme to a product certification model to streamline audits for Scottish crop growers.

The SQC said this means that audits can take place throughout the year and grain passports can be issued earlier in the year to relieve the pressure of receiving these in time for harvest. 

The new product certification model will start on October 1, 2023, in line with the new scheme year and distribution of membership renewals.

Manging director of SQC, Teresa Dougall, said the certifier of crops for Scottish growers has been listening to the concerns of its members around the issue of receiving passports in time for harvest.

“Under the current annual scheme model, growers must be audited between October 1 and prior to harvest and successfully complete the certification process in this time to gain assurance,” she said.

“Only at this stage can passports currently be issued. With the move to product certification, we can provide rolling certification over 12 months meaning that passports can be issued earlier in the season and before harvest starts. 

“It will allow assessments to be more evenly spread across the scheme year providing our certification body, FIA, and their assessors with more time to allocate audits and complete the certification process.”

Dougall said it also brings SQC in line with other assurance schemes, making it easier for joint audits to take place where applicable.

Growers

Dougall said there is no need for Scottish crop growers to take any different action to previous years for the new product certification model.

“The move to product certification will still require all growers to have an annual assessment,” she said.

“The biggest change is that audits may take place at a different time of year and will not necessarily be at the same time every year.

“We are very pleased to be making this transition which will also add integrity to the SQC scheme by allowing for improved monitoring of production across the full scheme year.” 

Buyers can continue to use the member checker to confirm that the grain is from an approved site, SQC said. It confirmed that it will be working to improve the efficiency of the member checker next year.

The post New certification model to speed up the system for Scottish crop growers appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

The Environment Agency has recommended that farmers in Devon and Cornwall consider growing crops other than maize in the future.

It believes these areas are at a high risk of run-off during bad weather – which could become the norm as a result of climate change.

High-risk crops, grown in high-risk locations it said, increase the likelihood of pollution incidents from soil erosion and run-off.

“In some areas it may be better not to grow maize in the first place because the soil and location are at very high risk of runoff during bad weather, causing localised flooding and pollution,” Devon and Cornwall project manager James Wimpress said.

“These areas include steep slopes on sandy soils that are vulnerable to soil loss and erosion during heavy rainfall, and wet clay soils with poor drainage where it is difficult to harvest maize without causing serious compaction and damage to the soil.”

This harvest the agency is asking farmers to loosen the soil after harvest if compaction has occurred, with particular attention paid to compacted headlands and wheel ruts acting as pathways.

A wetter than normal summer has meant that maize crops were late maturing and are therefore being harvested when soils are wet due to autumnal rainfall.

Tractors and loaded trailers can cause soil compaction when harvesting in these conditions it said, potentially leading to an increase in run off which could result in local flooding and pollution of nearby watercourses.

“Harvesting later than October 1, can be risky as soils may be soft following rainfall and prone to compaction. This can lead to increased runoff over the winter,” Wimpress said.

“We recognise that there has been great improvement with managing maize in recent years, including cover cropping and managing compaction, but we would encourage farmers to be vigilant with late harvests, particularly if the weather is wet.”

The post Farmers in Devon/Cornwall should consider moving away from maize – EA appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

The nutrient also impacts on the general health and vigour of plants.

Cereal crops need at least as much, if not more, potash than any other nutrient including nitrogen.

Potash is needed in such large amounts because it is the major regulator of solution concentrations throughout the plant.

It controls cell sap content to maintain the turgor of the plant and supports the movement of all materials within the plant.

Potash supply is, therefore, essential for all nutrient uptake by the roots and movement to the leaves for photosynthesis, and for the distribution of sugars and proteins made by the green tissue for plant growth and grain fill.

Potash

According to the Potash Development Association (PDA), adequate and available potash is essential to produce high-quality marketable grain with good specific weight and well filled grains.

A shortage will result in premature ripening with significantly lower individual grain size and weight.

This scenario will also prevent some potential grain sites from developing, thus reducing the number of grains per ear.

Cereals convert natural resources, including water, solar energy and carbon dioxide (CO2) into grain. With light being one of the most common limitations for crops in the UK in most seasons – the more light is intercepted, the higher the yield.

Cereals

As cereals are annual crops, they are not able to capture sunlight all year, and measurement data carried out by the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service (ADAS) would suggest that crops in this part of the world have the ability to capture up to 60% of the season-long energy.

The current Agriculture and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB) benchmark within the Wheat Growth Guide is based on a figure of 47%.

Although there is some opportunity for improvement early in the season, most of the ‘lost’ solar energy occurs later in the season, as crops begin to senesce.

The canopy starts to senesce from June onwards. But the speed of senescence will depend on a variety of factors, including moisture availability.

Levels

While there is little that can be done about the weather, one of the variables that can be controlled is the supply of potassium to a crop.

The level of potash available can have a dramatic impact on the speed of crop development from flowering through to ripening.

Measurements taken from three soils with varying levels of potash showed crops that were well supplied with potassium took 29 days longer to fully senesce than crops that were deficient.

Moisture stress significantly reduces growth and accelerates leaf senescence due to the reduced time to translocate metabolites from leaves to grain, which ultimately affect grain yield and quality.

Delayed leaf senescence can therefore facilitate plants in remobilising nutrients from old senescing leaves to young leaves and the developing grains.

The post Tillage: The role of potash in the nutrition of cereals appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

The new design, which was outlined on a recent event in France attended by Agriland, comprises four beams and eight rows of harrow tines.

Complex spring combinations are replaced by a hydraulic tine pressure adjustment, which ensures that the tines deliver more even pressure across the full working surface.

The pressure can be continuously adjusted to up to 5kg while driving. As a result, the Thulit is said to do an “outstanding” job during the sensitive crop growth stages.

The tines are arranged with a line spacing of 31.25mm to ensure blockage-free work. Stable, true-to-track and wear-free tine bearings also aim to ensure optimum weed removal.

A straightforward quick-change system makes it easy to replace the harrow tines, according to Lemken.

The Thulit features precise and continuous ground contour following with consistent tine pressure, making it a highly versatile implement, even on very uneven ground and in ridge crops.

Rubin 10

Meanwhile, Lemken also launched its 10m width version of the Rubin 10 – 10m harrow. It was also launched at the recent Innov-agri farm machinery event in France.

Given the scale of the new machine, it will be of specific interest to larger tillage operations in places like eastern Europe plus North and South America.

Like other Rubin 10 models, the new harrow features a symmetrical disc arrangement for fuel-efficient operation without side draft.

This new harrow can be hitched via a ball coupling or drawbar eye and hydraulic support is available to make attachment and detachment easier.

The two rows of serrated concave discs reportedly allow thorough incorporation across the full surface width from a soil depth of just 7cm.

The 14cm line spacing ensures blockage-free work even with large volumes of organic matter.

Each concave disc of the new Rubin 10 is equipped with an overload protection with damped kickback, which reduces loads on the frame.

Significantly, the new Rubin 10 has EU-wide road approval for speeds of up to 40km/h.

The machine is folded in from the cab, with the roller’s folding system ensuring that the width is reduced to 3m and the height to 4m, again to meet the requirements for road transport throughout the EU.

The new Rubin 10 also features a pendulum type suspension. The hydraulic depth adjustment facility on the new machine means that working depths can be adjusted in-cab while it is operating.

The post Lemken unveils first weed harrow during French demo appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

Agrochemical and crop protection manufacturer UPL Ltd. has launched a challenge which offers successful farmers 20ha of Vitalroot each.

The Vitalroot Vilality Challenge is offering 50 farmers the chance to avail of 20ha of the nutritional biostimulant that promotes increased plant health to support healthy root growth and root activity.

The deadline to apply for the challenge is September 30, 2023.

UPL said Vitalroot stimulates root growth and increases tiller numbers, which leads to “improved nutrient uptake, drought tolerance and higher yields”.

The company recommends that it be applied from the two-leaf stage until the beginning of tillering, which often combines with early post-emergence herbicide applications.

UPL head of marketing in the UK and Ireland, Gemma Noakes, said: “The active ingredient is Goactiv, mixed with phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) to make Vitalroot.

“It is an oligosaccharide that kick-starts enzyme activity, stimulating the plant’s metabolic pathways.

“This gets the plant moving at a key time, producing bigger root systems and more tillers, which translates to higher yields.”

Noakes said UPL is delighted by Vitalroot’s performance in trials this year, and feels that the best way to demonstrate this to growers is by offering them the product to trial on their farms.

To enter the Vitalroot Vilality Challenge, farmers must enter their details online through a link on UPL’s website.

UPL

UPL Ltd. is a global provider of sustainable agriculture products and solutions, with, according to the company, annual revenue exceeding $6 billion.

“We are building a network that is reimagining sustainability, redefining the way an entire industry thinks and works – open to fresh ideas, innovation, and new answers as we strive towards our mission to make every single food product more sustainable,” UPL said.

The company’s portfolio consists of biologicals and traditional crop protection solutions with over 14,000 registrations.

“We are present in more than 130 countries, represented by more than 10,000 colleagues globally,” it said.

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CropTec has said that seminars at this year’s show will equip arable farmers with the knowledge they need to meet the challenges faced by the industry “head on” and to maximise opportunities.

This year’s event will take place on November 29 and 30, at the NAEC in Stoneleigh, for the first time since the closure of the East of England Showground.

The seminar programmes on offer at this year’s event will be of benefit to “forward-thinking arable farmers” who will get access to exclusive updates and insights from industry leaders and innovators, CropTec organisers said.

Event director for CropTec, Verity Hyland, said: “With the arable sector facing such historic changes, our seminar programme is designed to equip growers with the knowledge they need to meet the challenges head on and maximise opportunities.

“As before, the CropTec seminar programme will bring the specialist knowledge of scientists, plant breeders, agronomists and policy makers together with the ‘boots on the ground’ expertise of some of the country’s most innovative farmers to create a unique learning opportunity.

“I would encourage anyone with an interest in the sector to come along and be informed and inspired. We look forward to welcoming you to Stoneleigh in November.”

The first session – ‘Breaking down access to new market to cultivate business resiliance’ – will be chaired by the chief economics advisor of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), Rohit Kaushish, on day one and by NFU vice president David Exwood on day two.

Exwood said changes to government policy and the high costs of production made this topic particularly pertinent.

“In a fast-changing world, having more opportunities to provide new and diverse income streams for farms is vital,” he said.

Kaushish said he hopes the session will offer clarity on the emerging support schemes and environmental markets as well as policy developments. 

“Farmers are looking for new diversified income opportunities to manage market risk and uncertainty and are increasingly being approached by project developers in environmental markets about new potential income streams,” he said.

“There are a lot of questions being asked at the moment on the potential of such markets at farm level. It is therefore a really good time to be exploring these markets in more detail.”

Crop nutrition

Past chair of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), Peter Kendall, will chair the second session which will explore issues around crop nutrition.

As agriculture strives to achieve its sustainability goals, this roundtable discussion will see experts explore the importance of low carbon crop nutrition, while looking at the future of fertiliser policy in a changing climate, CropTec said.

Panellists include business development and head of agronomy for session sponsor Yara, Mark Tucker, and independent agronomist, David Boulton, from Indigro.

“Anyone who has lived through the last 12 months of fertiliser prices will be considering really carefully all available options for plant nutrition in their system. Now is a great time to plan for the future,” Kendall said.

“I am looking forward to being part of this year’s CropTec at its new location. The show comes at a great time of year when we have the chance to review our previous harvest and plan for the spring season ahead of us.” 

Farmer experiences

The third session featured at this year’s show aims to share farmer experiences and successes.

The ‘Connecting bold thinkers in a time of change: Real stories from boots on the ground’ session is sponsored by Horsch.

Manager of Home Farms in Hacton, Andrew Williams, will discuss his experiences with robotics on the Suffolk farm producing conventional arable crops and organic vegetables.

Robotics and other technologies are being developed at pace, so being prepared to make swift investment decisions is essential, he said.

“These innovations are going to arrive, come what may, so farming businesses need to get to grips with developments coming down the road,” Williams said.

Farm director for AG Wright & Sons, Jack Smith, will then explore the importance of data in decision making.

“There is a ‘sitting in the office’ answer, which needs to be squared with the ‘standing in a field’ answer. It’s about taking insights from both and coming to a sensible informed decision,” he said.

Chair Andrew Francis from Team Ag said he hopes the presentations from the “innovative farmers” will show the diversity of approaches as well as the similarities.

“It is always good to challenge yourself in how you go about doing the day job. Whatever the components of your business are, any time is a good time to change,” he said.

Changing regulation

The final session of the day will tackle crop protection and changing regulation, with expert input from agronomists and plant breeding.

David Schaffer of RAGT will give an overview of breeding research to improve levels and durability of varietal resistance for UK farmers.

This will include RAGT’s work on barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) resistant wheat as well as new selection technologies to complement field scoring.

Other speakers include agronomist and associate director for Strutt & Parker James Bairstow – who will share his expertise on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) – and chief executive of CropLife UK Dave Bench.

The post CropTec seminars to help arable farmers meet industry challenges appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

Galbraith has brought Cockmuir Farm – a 112ac site including a farmhouse, arable and pasture land, wetland and woodland – to the market.

The property, which is situated in Moray four miles from Elgin, is for sale through Galbraith for offers over £835,000.

Cockmuir Farm features amenity areas and productive land, the property consultancy said, with about 26ha of arable land, 1.2ha of paddocks, 12.9ha of woodland and 4.3ha of wetland.

Partner with Galbraith, Rod Christie, said: “Farms such as Cockmuir are rare to the market here in Moray. 

“With an elegant and substantial traditional farmhouse together with the land and steading, it will be of considerable interest to lifestyle buyers and to those with agricultural, equestrian and environmental interests.”

Adjacent to the farmhouse is a stone and slate built steading which offers storage and livestock accommodation (suitable for sheep and as stabling for ponies and horses), as well as potential for development into additional accommodation (subject to planning permission), Galbraith said.

Farmhouse

Galbraith said the farmhouse includes “many fine period features” including fireplaces, high corniced ceilings and bay windows.

It has an open plan kitchen/dining room, sitting room, dining room, four reception rooms and six double bedrooms.

As well as this, it has a utility room, shower room, bathroom, additional WC, dressing room and a loft room.

The house is heated by gas central heating and in addition is connected to a bank of 38 solar panels (circa 9.5kW) which generates a “modest” annual income and helps reduce ongoing electricity consumption, Galbraith said.

“To the side and rear of the house is a delightful garden with a timber decking, areas of lawn and mature hedges, flower beds and borders,” the property consultancy said.

“There is ample parking space for several vehicles. The grounds are nicely protected to the north by some relatively recently planted mixed species woodland in addition to a further strip planted on the western edge of the farm.”

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Rothamsted Research’s Dr. Steve Foster told Agriland: “The banning of neonicotinoid seed treatments some years ago meant that farmers were left with only one group of chemistries, the pyrethroids, to control aphids and other insects damaging their crops.

“And to use the tool box analogy, this is a very narrow base to be operating from.

“If resistance to pyrethroids was to become widespread, then farmers would be left with no insecticide options, from a crop management perspective.

“Insects will naturally evolve over time to develop a gene-based resistance to chemicals that they interact within the environment,” he added.

The scientists explained that this is why it is so important for farmers to use the pyrethroids that are available now properly.

Insecticide resistance in tillage

Most Irish grain farmers will be aware of the threat posed by aphids, where Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV) is concerned.

But according to Foster, aphids and other insects act as vectors for a number of virus-related diseases that will impact on a range of crops. In all cases, the end result can be severe yield reductions.

“It is therefore important that farmers use the insecticides that are available now at the full and recommended spray rates,” Dr. Foster said.

“Going in with reduced rates simply gives the insects a greater chance to develop resistance.”

Research is currently ongoing in the UK and Ireland, centred on identifying insects with genes that are resistant to pyrethroid chemistries.

“Suction traps are useful in allowing the identification of specific aphid and other insect populations that are prevalent in a specific area at a particular time,” Foster continued.

“However, the collection containers within the traps contain alcohol and other organic solvents, which act to kill the samples taken, so screening bioassays that need live insects cannot be done.

“The identification of genomic resistance to an insecticide can only be achieved using live insects. This is why it is so important for farmers to play a role in collecting live aphids that are actually populating their crops.”

The Rothamsted scientist went on to point out that the threat of pyrethroid resistance is becoming a very significant issue to the arable farming sector is a very real one.

“Knock down resistance to these specific chemistries has already been identified in a wide range of insects,” he stated.

New chemistries

So is the development of new insecticide chemistries an option for the future?

“In theory, yes,” Foster confirmed.

“However, the cost of getting new insecticides over the line, purely in terms of the challenge posed by the current compliance measures, is prohibitive.

“In the meantime farmers can take fundamental management decisions, which will minimise the risk of losing pyrethroid chemistries.

“In the first instance, insecticides should only be applied to crops on a need-to-use basis.

“The inclusion of green bridges within fields at time of planting will act to prevent the migration of aphids on to growing crops and encourage beneficial insects into the crop,” he added.

Plant breeders will also play an important role in developing new crop varieties with in-built resistance to crop diseases, according to Rothamsted.

“However, if we were to lose the use of pyrethroid chemistries in the near future, either through greater resistance evolving or legislation, the consequences for the arable farming sector would be pretty devastating,” Foster concluded.

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Three new forage maize varieties from Limagrain have been added to the 2023/24 BSPB/NIAB Descriptive List.

These include two “very early maturing varieties” sitting atop the new list of first choice varieties for favourable sites, and the third, a later maturing option, topping the list for very favourable sites.

Skipper and Foxtrot are ranked numbers one and two respectively as first choice varieties for starch yield on favourable sites, while LG31207 tops the chart for ME yield for varieties suited to very favourable sites.

Maize manager for Limagrain in the UK and Ireland, Tim Richmond, said: “With an early FAO of 160, an ME yield of 221,175 MJ/ha and the highest starch yield (6.74 t/ha) on this year’s favourable site list, Skipper is ideal for farmers who want to fill their clamps with a very early maturing crop of exceptionally energy-rich and starch-filled maize.

“Skipper also performs well on marginal sites, where its good early vigour (6.9), excellent standing power (7.6) and early ripening cobs deliver an easy to harvest crop that gives exceptional dry matter and energy yields.”

Foxtrot is also classified as a very early maturing variety (FAO 170) and is second only to Skipper in terms of starch yield (6.54 t/ha).

Foxtrot also sits towards the top of the rankings for ME yield (222,363 MJ/ha) and DM yield (18.7 t/ha) and also shows good early vigour (7.2).

“And with a cell wall digestibility of 59.4%, Foxtrot is ideal for dairy and beef farmers who are looking for a bulky and very early maturing variety that will improve the feed conversion efficiency of their herd’s ration,” Richmond said.

The third new Limagrain variety to be added to this year’s Descriptive List is LG31207: with an FAO of 210, the intermediate to late-maturing variety is “one of the best options for very favourable sites”, Limagrain said.

“LG31207 is impressive on paper and in the field, and is the perfect choice for those growers looking to maximise their return on investment with a variety that poses minimal risk,” Richmond said.

“LG31207 tops the Descriptive List for very favourable sites with an ME yield of 217,115 MJ/ha and dry matter yield of 18.7 t/ha.

“And with excellent agronomic traits that include good standing power (8.0) , excellent early vigour (8.2) and an eyespot resistance rating of 7.5, LG31207 is a really safe choice for growers looking for an energy-rich, easy to grow variety for AD purposes.”

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The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Grain Transportation Report recorded a decrease in corn exports by 34% compared to the same time last year.

Net corn export sales for the marketing year 2022/2023 were down 0.023 million metric tonnes (mmt), 110% from last week.

The USDA stated that low water levels on the Mississippi River System (MRS) could be “problematic” for the corn harvest.

Water levels on the river have been been falling since June. According to the USDA, with “lower than normal precipitation” in the forecast, levels will likely continue to fall in the coming weeks.

Growing restrictions since June mean that a lower amount of grain is allowed to be loaded on a barge, according to the USDA.

Corn exports

The US is known to dominate the international corn market each year, but this time has lost its renowned title to Brazil.

USDA data shows Brazil will account for nearly 32% of global corn exports in 2023, while the US will export about 23%.

As the US deals with precipitation issues, Brazil has made major investments.

Brazil has revised upwards its forecast for the gross value of its agricultural production for 2023 to R$ 1.135 trillion (€208.5 billion).

This is an increase of 1.9% when compared to the previous year, according to the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA).

According to Reuters the Tegram grain terminal at Itaqui, built and operated by foreign and Brazilian grain merchants boosted its grain export volumes by 306% in eight years to more than 13 million tonnes in 2022.

Also a highway licence issued two years ago has modernised a key Amazonian grain corridor stretching over 1,000km from Mato Grosso to ports in Para state.

For years, caravans of grain trucks would get stuck regularly in deep mud on that road when they got caught in the rain on the way to northern ports.

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The National Farmers’ Union Scotland (NFUS) has urged those in the horticultural sector to take part in its seasonal worker visa scheme review.

Chair of NFUS’ horticulture working group, Iain Brown, is calling on all those who make use of seasonal labour to participate in the review.

“Labour is essential to the horticultural industry in Scotland and most of those who are employed on our farms come from overseas,” Brown said.

“Brexit changed the way people were recruited and made accessing seasonal migrant labour much more difficult.

“The Covid pandemic and the tragic war in Ukraine made a challenging situation recruiting seasonal staff much worse. Things have improved, additional visas made available under the scheme have helped, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.”

NFUS has been calling for a review of the seasonal workers visa scheme and a review, being conducted by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), is now underway.

“In the long-term, we will always have a need for seasonal labour, and we need guarantees from the UK government that they will support this,” Brown said.

“A lack of access to seasonal workers would undoubtedly lead to a significant reduction in the amount of home-grown fruit and vegetables on our shop shelves, undermining the UK government’s own ‘farm to fork’ strategy and its ambitions to tackle food security.

“To assist growers, we also need the length of visas to be increased. And it needs to be easier for workers to return to farms year after year, as many of them wish to do.”

A review of the seasonal worker visa scheme, he said, gives improvement opportunities.

“I urge all those who require seasonal workers to complete this NFU Scotland survey and help us secure improvements.”

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A new collaborative project is aiming to reduce the risk of potato bruising through technology to help reduce supermarket waste.

B-hive Innovations, an agri-tech research and development company, has been awarded funding by Innovate UK for the project.

The company will undertake the nine-month ‘TuberTurgor‘ project in partnership with scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL).

Together, the research team will investigate “non-destructive” methods of measuring turgor pressure in potatoes; this is the force inside cells that pushes outwards, allowing the cells to withstand shocks and reduce bruising.

The project will gather data to provide proof of concepts for tools that ultimately could automatically sort different fresh produce by bruising risk.

TuberTurgor project lead at B-hive, Dr. Barbara Correia, said: “Growers and supermarkets are increasingly impacted by potato bruising that is brought on by prolonged periods of drought from rising global temperatures.

“This can drastically increase susceptibility to bruising damage during handling, so there is a supply-chain need to investigate how this can be reduced through devising early, non-destructive detection measures.”

TuberTurgor

B-hive will be testing a series of prospective methods to measure turgor pressure including physical hardness measures, ultrasonic and spectroscopic testing, as well as high resolution imaging approaches.

After an initial period to define the research protocol, the team will be conducting the first testing phase from this month until October to determine the most successful testing methodologies.

This will inform the second testing phase to gather extensive data for the most promising techniques – set to take place from November 2023 until the project completes in March 2024 – with refinements being continually made.

Technical lead at the NPL, Dr. Tony Maxwell, said: “NPL has a long history in the development of measurement techniques, and we are excited to be able to apply our expertise to an issue that so directly influences agricultural productivity and the environment.”

General manager at B-hive, Dr. Andrew Gill, said: “The TuberTurgor project is our latest fresh-produce analysis initiative, which has been devised to help supply chains minimise waste.

“Bruising contributes to enormous losses in productivity and reputational damage for both growers and supermarkets.

“We are delighted to have secured funding that could help to retain a high overall quality of end produce, as growers face ongoing challenges to manage their crop.”

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This is a direct result of the drier conditions that have impacted across the country over recent days.

By the end of last week, more than 37% of the GB winter wheat area had been harvested.

However, there is a large variation in progress, ranging from 2% in Yorkshire to over 60% harvested in the southeast.

In Yorkshire, it has been reported that priority has been given to harvesting spring barley, especially malting varieties, in an effort to preserve grain quality. As a result, winter wheat harvest progress has been slow.

In some regions, storms and heavy rain have led to reports of lodging, notably in the northeast of England.

But the overall rate of lodging remains relatively low. There have been reports of ergot identified in some loads in the east midlands. But, significantly, there have not been any reported rejections currently.

Winter wheat harvest yields

Where yields are concerned, early reports point to winter wheat tonnages being positive across many regions.

However, variation across regions is clear, with soil type also impacting this, according to the AHDB.

In Yorkshire, although winter wheat harvest has not progressed much, it is noted that early yield indications suggest that crops on lighter land have suffered more with lower yields.

Water stress towards the end of the growing season caused some grains to become shrivelled.

Early indications of yields on-farm are ranging from 5.5-12.5 t/ha, with higher yields typically achieved on heavier land than crops on the lighter soils.

Typical average GB winter wheat yields up to the middle/end of last week are estimated between 7.7-8.3 t/ha. These are well within the the five-year average yield figures.

Specific weights are ranging between 72-78 kg/hl on farm. The GB average is currently 74-76 kg/hl.

Hagberg falling number (HFN) values are ranging between 260 and 300 nationally. There is limited information regionally.

However, reports from the east midlands would indicate that early harvested crops have come in with HFN values averaging around 280.

In the south-east, the HFN range is between 270 and 320. In the south-west, HFN are slowly declining, but the majority of high-quality wheat has now been harvested in this region.

 Up to this point protein levels have been ranging from 12.5-13%.

There is limited reporting of this information so far but in the east midlands, early harvested crops show protein content to be at 12.6%.

The average grain moisture is around 16.2%, with the GB average set between 16% and 17%. There has been a variation in drying requirements depending on weather.

However it has been reported that less grain drying, notably in the west midlands, has been needed over the past week due to drier weather conditions.

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Big yields are forecast for this year’s maize crop and farmers must plan and prepare to capitalise on this to protect its quality at harvest.

This is according to seed and silage inoculants sales manager at global agricultural chemical company Corteva’s UK branch, Andy Stainthorpe.

Stainthorpe said using the right additive when harvesting maize is “critical to its success in the clamp”.

“With a record acreage of maize sown in the UK this year, the potential gains from producing and preserving this high-quality homegrown feed for the winter ahead are greater than ever,” he said.

“The 2023 national maize crop is estimated to be around 250,000ha, up 20,000 from last year. Figures from our PACTS trials over the last 20 years show an average fresh weight yield of around 48t/ha.”

Stainthorpe said, at last year’s trading price of £60/t, the potential value of this year’s 12 million tonne crop stands at more than £725 million.

“We also know from our trials the most valuable starch or grain component averages a little under 8t/ha (at 15% moisture), with a corresponding value of £487 million,” he said.

Corteva described these statistics as “eye-watering figures” and encouraged farmers to be aware of how important it is to ensure the nutrition of maize is retained as much as possible right up until is reaches the feed barrier.

“Choosing the right silage inoculant to do this depends on how your maize is going to be used,” Stainthorpe said.

“Silage for high-performing dairy cows needs to be protected from aerobic spoilage and have good digestibility.

“And with sowing in many areas later this year, harvest is also likely to be later, and there is an increased risk of spoilage organisms infesting the standing crop.

“Investing in protecting your maize silage this year makes good business sense. One small step taken at harvest is one giant leap for your silage quality all winter long.”

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Commissioner Wojciechowski said that Ukraine has 49 million tonnes of grain for export this year.

The  Black Sea Grain Initiative came to an end last month, and the first vessel since the closure left the port of Odesa on Wednesday, August 16.

It moved along a “temporary corridor” established for civilian vessels to and from Black Sea ports.

According to analytical agency, the APK-Inform consultancy, Ukraine in the first half of August exported 820,000MT of grain via its ports on the Danube River, which is currently its main export route.

In addition, another 75,000t of grains and oilseeds were exported from Ukraine by road transport during this period.

The agency stated: “It should be noted the stable demand for dump trucks in the direction of Germany and Romania for the export of rapeseed, which led to the growth of rates week-on-week. In other directions, the demand is not too significant amid low trading activity.”

Ukraine trading figures

Forecasted figures for grain exports for the remainder of 2023, continuing into 2024 are much lower than other years, according to Commissioner Wojciechowski.

He outlined figures for the exports of cereals and oilseeds combined for 2021/2022, which totalled 63 million tonnes.

An estimation for 2022/2023 shows a drop in these figures to 61.1 million tonnes.

The forecast for 2023/2024 show a further drop to 49.1 million tonnes.

Commissioner Wojciechowski also provided figures for agri-food imports from the EU to Ukraine from May to June 2023, in tonnes:

• Beef: 0;
• Pork: 0;
• Poultry: 32,430;
• Eggs: 12,778;
• Wheat: 854,913;
• Barley: 49,019;
• Maize: 1,848,204;
• Milk, cream, yoghurts: 145;
• Butter: 76;
• Milk powder: 3,513;
• Honey: 8,551;
• Sugar: 95,426.

Commissioner Wojciechowski said the alternative option of exporting through the Baltic ports is “distant, expensive and unprofitable”.

He added that he is in support of “surcharges for transit to ports”.

Solidarity lanes

The European Commission confirmed that since the beginning of solidarity lanes (SL) in May 2022, Ukraine exported 72.8MT of grain, including 44.4MT through SL and 31.9MT through the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

The commission stated that the average export was 5.1MT/month.

It added that according to UA authorities, in July 2023 around 70% of grain was exported through the Danube corridor, with the remainder being transported via rail and road.

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“Barley yields were disappointing for the most part with crops ranging from 2.5t-3.5t/ac,” he said.

“Brackling was a real issue in winter barley this year with ears dropping to the ground.

“Moisture contents came in at 16% to 25%. In many cases, growers have had to factor-in a fairly hefty drying cost, in order to get grain down to 15% moisture.”

Most barley straw produced in Northern Ireland has been rounded up. But quality is poor.

Some farmers have taken the decision to chop up barley straw and plough it back in. This will be at their own cost, as there is no Straw Incorporation Measure available in Northern Ireland.

“Some growers are also lining the bottom of their silos with chopped straw. This will catch a lot of the effluent coming off the very wet grass going into pits at the present time,” Owens told Agriland.

Arable in Northern Ireland

Turning to wheat, Owens said that crops are yielding well; 3t to 4.5t/ac. But here again moisture levels are very high at 18% to 22%.

“Drying charges are adding significantly to growers’ costs across the board this year,” he commented.

Meanwhile, winter beans are turning out to be one of the success stories in Northern Ireland for 2023.

“Crops are looking well at the present time,” Owens confirmed.

“The Protein Aid Scheme, offering £300/ha for beans, has really encouraged farmers to push on with the crop.

“Beans require no chemical nitrogen while also providing a tremendous entry point for first wheats within an arable rotation.”

According to Owens, the first of this year’s spring barley crops in Northern Ireland will be desiccated within the next 10 days to a fortnight.

“The heavy rains of recent weeks actually brought on a lot of later sown crops, which were looking very poor up to that point,” he said.

“Some crops actually went down some weeks ago. This was a direct result of the heavy rain and strong winds. But it’s not the end of the world, as the crops in question were actively growing at the time.”

Silage

Meanwhile the area of crop silages grown in Northern Ireland continues to expand.

“Winter rye is proving popular with dairy and beef farmers. Crops are extremely high yielding with silages performing well from an animal performance perspective,” Owens said.

“Livestock farmers, for the most part, do not have rain drying facilities available to them. So the prospects of putting in rye during September and harvesting it as a crop silage the following July is attractive.

“Another arable silage alternative that has taken off this year is the combi-crop option of peas, spring barley and spring oats.

“Because of the peas, the crop does not require bagged nitrogen. The peas also represent a very valuable protein source at feed out, particularly for young stock.”

Looking ahead, Richard Owens believes that dedicated arable farmers in Northern Ireland will want to push ahead with a significant acreage of winter crops over the coming weeks.

“But those dairy and beef farmers who grow smaller acreages of cereals have found the harvest of 2023 a difficult one to cope with. And the jury is out on whether they will go again with a cropping option  for 2023/2024.” 

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Container ship Joseph Schulte under the Hong Kong flag left the port today (Wednesday, August 16), moving along a “temporary corridor” established for civilian vessels to and from Black Sea ports.

Carrying more than 30,000t of cargo, including food products, the container ship, which had been in the port of Odesa since February 23, 2022 – one day before the invasion – is heading for the Bosporus.

The vessel last sailed under the Black Sea Grain Initiative on July 16 from the port of Odesa, before the termination of the initiative following Russia’s withdrawal.

Black Sea

The corridor will be primarily used to evacuate ships that were in Ukrainian ports at the time of the invasion, the minister said. However, Russia has not indicated whether it would respect the corridor.

Earlier this week, he said that, to “avoid provocations”, vessels should sails as close as possible to the coast of the northwestern part of the Black Sea, through the territorial waters of Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria.

Russian attacks

After the termination of the grain deal, Russia carried out “systematic air attacks on port infrastructure to stop Ukrainian agricultural export”, Ukraine’s Infrastructure Ministry said.

“At the same time, there are information speculations and attempts of provocations in the Black Sea to influence the movement of ships to Ukrainian ports,” the ministry added.

The grain infrastructure in Odesa was struck by Russian drones last night, the Ministry of Defense in Ukraine said. Several grain facilities have been subject to attacks since the end of the grain deal.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Agri Council (UAC) said that the only option to export agricultural products from Ukraine is through the Danube ports, however, they are “not safe for ships”.

UAC chair Andrii Dykun said the cost paid by farmers for logistics by land is too high, and appealed to the European Commission to compensate farmers for transport costs to European ports.

The council previously called for the establishment of “green corridors” to simplify travel to the ports of the Baltic States, Germany, the Netherlands, Croatia, Italy and Slovenia.

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Teagasc is strongly advising growers to concentrate on harvesting grain; getting winter wheat and relevant spring barley crops combined is a priority.

Later-sown crops of spring barley continue to look disappointing for this harvest. Both grain and straw yields do not look promising.

In addition, the strong prospect of these crops coming in with high protein values puts a major question mark on their suitability for brewing or distilling.

Thereafter, it will be a case of baling straw and making preparation for the 2023/2024 winter oilseed rape planting season which is just around the corner.

Met Éireann is predicting that high pressure will build across the country over the coming days with temperatures to exceed 20°C tomorrow Wednesday (August 16) and Thursday (August 17).

Forage maize harvest

Meanwhile, crops of forage maize remain on course to produce tremendous yields.

This is certainly the case in Northern Ireland, where the total area dedicated to the crop is estimated to be up 10%, year-on-year.

Maizetech’s Robert Duncan commented: “We also saw an increase of a similar magnitude for 2021 into 2022. Driving all of this is a combination of two factors – the return of growers and new farmers looking at maize for the first time.”

According to Duncan, the cold and wet conditions of late April into May encouraged arable farmers to look at maize, rather than spring barley.

“And they made the right decision,” he continued.

“Yes, maize planted this year was a fortnight or so behind where crops would have been in 2022. But the dry, warm conditions that followed in June were a real game changer.

“The moisture trapped below the film put in place at planting meant that newly germinated crops had full access to the heat and moisture they needed to maximise germination and subsequent early growth rates.”

Duncan specifically cites the availability of new compostable films as a key step forward in maximising the potential of maize crops grown in Northern Ireland.

“The new materials provide the young crops with all the protection that they need. But at the same time, they allow the growing plants to break through so much easier,” Duncan added.

“As a consequence, crop development is in no way hindered.”

Previously, crops grown under the old ‘oxo’ films would have been prone to heat stress during periods of very hot weather.

In the past, growers would have had no option but to physically cut open the film to allow the growing maize plants push through.

“This is no longer the case,” the Maizetech representative explained.

“Another advantage of the new films is that they are extremely biodegradable.

“Little or no evidence of the film used at planting will be visible, above or below ground, 10 to 12 weeks after planting.”

Robert Duncan also points to the fact that forage maize is no longer a marginal crop in Northern Ireland in terms of its harvest potential.

“Companies like Pioneer have committed to breeding new maize varieties that are totally suited to northern Europe and Scandinavia. And Northern Ireland is benefiting accordingly in this regard,” he commented.

“It is perfectly feasible for local farmers to grow crops of maize that will produce between 16t to 18t of fresh weight per acre. In addition, targeting dry matters and starch values, each in excess of 30%, is equally feasible.”

This year should see the first crops of locally grown maize harvested during early October, assuming the weather plays ball over the coming weeks.

“The hot spell in June allowed later sown crops to catch up on what would be regarded as a normal development profile,” Duncan added.

“But new crop management options are also allowing growers to maximise the potential of their investment in maize.

“One of these is the application of liquid nitrogen on maize at the 10-leaf stage. This is a real game changer.”

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Colorado potato beetle larvae has been found in Kent for a second time, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has confirmed.

On Friday, August 11, a single adult male Colorado beetle was found within the 1km surveillance zone in Kent.

This finding follows beetle larvae which was identified in a field in Kent in mid-July.

If the pest is not eradicated, it can pose a “significant threat to potato crops”, Defra said.

“The adult beetles and larvae feed on the foliage of potato and other plants in the nightshade family and can completely strip them of their leaves if they are left uncontrolled. However, they are not a threat to human or animal health,” it said.

No additional colony has been detected and, given the estimated age of the beetle, the department has said it likely “dispersed from the original site”.

Defra and APHA said surveillance for any possible undetected colonies will continue within the 1km surveillance zone.

The UK’s chief plant health officer, Nicola Spence, said: “Following a report, our experts have identified the presence of Colorado beetle larvae in a potato field in Kent.

“We are responding swiftly through our eradication programme, involving ground surveillance to look for beetles and larvae at the outbreak site and surrounding area.

“Whilst this pest does not pose a threat to human health, we encourage all growers, farmers, processors and the public to remain vigilant and report any sightings, especially in Kent.”

Confirmation that the beetle was a Colorado potato beetle was made following laboratory diagnosis of samples taken by APHA’s plant health and seeds inspectorate.

Colorado potato beetle

This is the first time an outbreak of the Colorado potato beetle has been confirmed in the UK since 1977.

Farmers and growers are being encouraged to remain vigilant for signs of the beetle.

It is bright yellow or orange with black stripes and is usually between 8.5-11.5mm in length and 3mm in width. Its larvae are a reddish brown in colour, round and globular, and up to 15mm in length.

Defra said the beetles are occasionally imported into the UK from continental Europe as “hitchhikers” on non-host plant material, like leafy vegetables, salad leaves, fresh herbs and grain.

In the past 70 years, there have been two outbreaks of Colorado potato beetles in the UK, one in 1976 and one in 1977. Both outbreaks were eradicated shortly after detection.

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Property consultancy Galbraith has brought a block of Grade 3.1 arable land devoted to regenerative agriculture in Howe of the Mearns valley, Aberdeenshire to the market.

The Moss-side of Esslie farmland extends to approximately 269.86ac (109.21ha) of predominantly Grade 3.1 arable land.

The site offers areas of more productive Grade 2 land on the east side, with areas of Grade 5.3 on the fringe of the Esslie Moss to the north.

Galbraith said the land at Moss-side of Esslie sits on the fertile valley floor of the Howe of the Mearns which is “known for its productive agricultural land”.

The land is for sale through Galbraith for offers over £2,250,000, with Iain Paterson of Galbraith saying that it is a “rare opportunity” for the buyer, as the land has been farmed under a regenerative farm policy for over a decade.

“The land is in good heart and will be rich in organic matter. No potatoes have been grown on the land in over 12 years,” Paterson said.

“There is good access to all the fields via a network of well-maintained farm tracks and several of the fields are bordered with hedgerows, providing connected habitats for wildlife. This sale represents a perfect investment opportunity or as a useful bolt-on to an existing holding.”

Howe of the Mearns

Galbraith said Howe of the Mearns is renowned for its highly productive agricultural soils with soft fruit, potatoes and vegetables all commonly featuring in crop rotations.

The vendor is an active member of the ‘Soil Regenerative Agriculture Group’ as part of the wider Farming for a Better Climate group.

As a result of this careful land management, Galbraith has said that the land at Moss-side of Esslie will be of an excellent standard and rich with organic matter.

Furthermore, it said, the land is free of pests such as Potato Cyst Nematode (PCN) and Clubroot. Soil sampling results are available from the selling agents.

The farm has an extensive network of internal tracks that have been well maintained and provide access to all of the fields.

The unit is ring fenced and a number of the field boundaries form extended hedgerows which provide a habitat for local wildlife “complementing the regenerative agriculture practices that have been adopted”, Galbraith said.

The land consists of Balrownie Brown Earth soils and Mineral Alluvial Soils and, citing the James Hutton Institute, Galbraith said the land will be capable of supporting a wide range of crops due to the quality of soil and drainage in place.

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This has significant benefits in terms of grassweed suppression, but new data suggests that it also has a benefit regarding nitrogen use efficiency.

Syngenta trials in the UK in conjunction with the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service (ADAS) as well as trials carried out by Syngenta Germany over seven years, have shown that hybrid barley has significantly improved nitrogen use efficiency when compared to conventional varieties.

Nitrogen use efficiency

Nitrogen use efficiency is the sum of two key components – one relates to uptake efficiency, the other to actual utilisation efficiency.

Nitrogen uptake efficiency relates to the effectiveness with which nitrogen (N) is taken up by the roots as they grow and explore the soil.

Nitrogen utilisation efficiency, on the other hand, relates the efficiency with which the plant converts the N it has taken up into harvestable grain.

The aforementioned hybrid barley trials are ongoing, but initial results from the first two years of trials with ADAS suggest that hybrid barleys are doing more, with less.

Hybrid barleys

According to Syngenta’s Ben Urquhart, the larger and deeper rooting system of hybrid barley leads to it being able to scavenge for nutrients more effectively than conventional wheat and barley.

As a result, the plants take up more N despite being at a lower plant population.

“Hybrid barley is known for its hybrid vigour, and vigorous roots are associated with improved nutrient uptake,” Urquhart said

“Hybrid root systems are significantly larger than those of conventional varieties.”

Across a wide range of N rates in the trial, the hybrids also showed significantly improved nitrogen utilisation efficiency over the conventional varieties, with the biggest differences being shown in very low application level scenarios.

Weeds

Hybrid vigour is the driving force behind the higher yields recorded when comparing hybrid to conventional barley.  

But hybrids also bring to bear significant advantages, where grassweed control in barley crops is concerned.

Taller plants with higher tiller numbers are more competitive with grassweeds for space and light.

Significantly larger root mass underground means that hybrid barley plants are more effectively anchored in the ground and provide a larger surface area for uptake of essential nutrients and water.  

According to many agronomists, hybrid barley should be an essential element of any integrated pest management (IPM) strategy, targeting grassweeds.

It has been shown that grassweed suppression is achieved, irrespective of herbicide resistance status.

Trials have also demonstrated that the remaining grassweeds in crops of hybrid barley produce fewer tillers, smaller heads and fewer seeds. The end result is a reduced seed return for the following crop.

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The CropTec Show will be hosted at the National Agricultural and Exhibition Centre (NAEC) Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, this year for the first time.

The East of England Showground, the event’s old venue, officially closed its doors on July 1, forcing organiser Agriconnect to find another venue.

The technical arable event, now in its eleventh year, will kick off at NAEC Stoneleigh on November 29 and run until November 30, 2023.

Event director at Agriconnect, Verity Hyland, said: “As always CropTec brings together experts, policymakers, and forward-thinking growers to share technical arable expertise and experience.”

“We are busy curating a seminar programme which will address the current opportunities and challenges for UK arable production and specifically how to navigate change to cultivate resistance.

“Furthermore, this year’s specialist hubs will delve further into crucial topics such as water management and natural capital, with their own speaker line-up and experts on hand to offer one-to-one advice too.”

A new feature for visitors at this year’s event is the test driving of sprayers as part of the demonstrations.

“This is an exciting first for CropTec, allowing visitors the opportunity to jump in the hot seat and try a range of cutting-edge sprayers in one venue,” Hyland said.

“Visitors wishing to take part simply need to speak with the individual manufacturers on the day to organise a time-slot.”

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Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB) senior cereals and oilseeds analysts have confirmed that improved US crop conditions will bring downward pressure on market prices.

The next crop condition update from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will be published next Monday, August 14. It is expected to contain a series of actual yield projections for both soyabean and maize.

Meanwhile, the situation in the Black Sea region remains very volatile.

This is a direct consequence of Russia and Ukraine failing to agree a continuation of the Black Sea Grain initiative.

The past week has seen attacks by Russia on ports along the Danube river with Ukraine using naval drones to attack Russian shipping.

AHDB’s Anthony Speight commented:

“The Russian cereal harvest is now underway. Total grain output in the country for 2023 is estimated to come in at 137Mt, with wheat alone accounting for 88Mt, according to IKAR.

“Russia is very active on international markets at the present time. Recent days have seen Egypt agreeing to purchase 235Kt of Russian wheat.”

Meanwhile, the 2023 grain harvest in Ukraine is continuing apace. The latest crop forecasts from Ukraine’s traders’ association relate a projected increase from the July figures across the following grains and oilseeds: Wheat; barley; maize; rapeseed; and sunflower.

Ukraine’s wheat output figure for 2023 is now projected to come in at 20.2Mt. The equivalent figures for barley, maize, rapeseed and sunflower are 5.2, 26.9, 3.9 and 13.9Mt respectively.

Back in 2021, the last year of unaffected farming in Ukraine, the actual crop output figures were as follows: Wheat – 33.0Mt; barley – 10.1Mt; maize – 37.6Mt; rapeseed – 2.9Mt; and sunflower – 16.9Mt.  

AHDB is reporting that the UK cereal and oilseed harvest is starting to pick up.

Up to now, it has been a case of dodging the showers with growers making significant inroads, where winter barley, oilseed rape and oats are concerned.

Momentum is set to increase further with the prospect of some continuous drying days in the offing. This should give farmers an opportunity to start combining winter wheat and spring barley crops.

Where recommended list winter barley harvest results are concerned, the latest figures from AHDB confirm that 2023 yields have held up well.

This is somewhat in contrast to the situation in Ireland, where barley yields are down, year-on-year.   

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Accountancy firm Duncan & Toplis is warning arable farmers to be prepared for reduced yields and profits this harvest.

The company, which supports agri-businesses across the East Midlands, has expressed concern over this years harvest and predicts a difficult season ahead for farmers.

Several factors have contributed to the negative impact on income this year in comparison to 2022, including volatility in commodity markets due to the Ukraine war, weather instability and a “significant lack of sunshine”, the company said.

Head of agriculture at Duncan & Toplis, Mark Chatterton, said: “What a difference a year makes. Arable farmers had a glorious summer in 2022, both with higher crop yields and higher prices. This year however, the weather means that harvest is very stop and start.

“The quality of wheat crops in the field is suffering significantly, and yields will not be as good as 2022 due to a severe lack of sunshine in July.

“Clients are reporting that wheat yields are likely to average closer to 8t/ha, whereas in 2022, they were nearer to 10t/ha.”

Chatterton pointed out that prices have experienced a “sizable decrease”, with feed wheat currently trading at £180/t, down from a peak of £350/t in July 2022 or £240/t this time last year.

Market volatility

Chatterton said there has been extreme volatility in the commodity markets since February 2022 due to war in Ukraine.

“Input costs have also risen, especially fertiliser, with the price peaking at 800/t in summer 2022,” he said.

“Fuel and electricity prices have also seen a huge increase during the 2022/23 crop year.

“As well as dealing with the weather and market volatility, farmers have the added pressure of managing input purchases and crop selling.”

In addition to this, Chatterton said, the higher profits from harvest 2022 will result in higher tax bills and many of these will be due in January of 2024 – when bank balances are “likely to be dwindling”.

“It has never been more important to plan ahead and work with your accountant to ensure that your business is prepared for what is to come,” he said.

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This year's harvest is forecast to be the second largest on record. Analysts and farmers explained that rain during July "shepherded the crop" through its critical development phase, offsetting dry conditions early in the season and hot summer temperatures.

Improved conditions in the field weighed heavily on the market as the drought damage from the early season was not as bad as feared.

Harvest in Brazil is also adding to the supply outweighing demand, as its harvest increased this year, and it is expected to overtake the US as the world's top corn supplier.

Drought-tolerant genes and other improvements in genetically modified corn allowed the crop to weather severe drought across much of the midwest, according to farmers

Genetically modified (GM) corn accounts for more than 90% of the US crop, according to Reuters.

A 4,000ac farmer from western Illinois, Drew DeSutter said: "With the technology that we have in the seed, the corn hung in there a lot better than people expected."

Corn forecast

Analysts said that in a monthly report due on Friday (August 11), they expect the US government to cut its forecast for domestic corn production to 15.135 billion bushels this year, from its July estimate for a record high 15.320 billion.

The new forecast, if achieved, would be the second biggest harvest ever, behind the 2016 harvest of 15.148 billion bushels.

Average yields were seen at 175.5 bushels/ac this year, which would be the fourth biggest ever.

The percentage of corn rated "good-to-excellent" this year by the US agriculture department (USDA) in weekly reports rose by 4% during July.

Good-to-excellent ratings of 55% on July 30, were the lowest for that time of year since the major drought year of 2012.

In the previous 30 years, good-to-excellent ratings for the corn crop had risen in July only six times.

A farmer who grows corn and soyabeans near Casey, Illinois, Eric Honselman said: "It has just been a roller coaster of a growing season.

"I just wish mother nature would make up her mind."

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With this technology, farmers will also be able to use pesticides to better effect, and monitor their soil more efficiently.

The World Nano Foundation has released a report it said aims to delve “into the potential game-changing role of nanotechnology in revolutionising sustainable agriculture practices”.

It defines nanotechnology as the manipulation of matter at the microscopic nanoscale level.

The report states that the technology is already being applied to improve the efficiency and sustainability of agriculture worldwide.

Nanotechnology in agriculture

The report states that nanotechnology can provide benefits to a range of aspects of agriculture, including:

Precision agriculture – nanosensors can monitor soil moisture, temperature, nutrient levels, allowing farmers to optimise crop yields while reducing inputs of water and fertiliser;

Smart delivery systems – nanoparticles can be used to deliver fertilisers and pesticides more efficiently, reducing waste and minimising environmental impact;

Disease detection – nanosensors can detect the presence of plant pathogens (organisms carrying disease), allowing farmers to take action before severe damage is done;

Food preservation – nanotechnology can be used to develop antimicrobial coatings for food packaging, which can extend the shelf life of food and reduce food waste.

University research

In Wales, researchers at Aberystwyth University have explored the potential of nanomaterials in developing innovative solutions for the targeted delivery of pesticides, fungicides, and other agrochemicals.

This university aims to enhance the effectiveness of crop protection while minimising the environmental impact of chemical inputs.

Aberystwyth University also seeks to investigate the use of nanosensors in order to provide data on soil nutrients and moisture levels, allowing farmers to make informed decisions on fertiliser application and irrigation.

Prof. Peter Majewski of the University of South Australia said: “Nanotechnology offers exciting possibilities for sustainable agriculture, particularly in precision agriculture and targeted delivery of nutrients and pesticides.”

At the University of California Davis, researchers have explored the use of nanotechnology in the areas of crop production, pest management, and precision agriculture.

They are also investigating the use of nanofertilisers to enhance nutrient uptake and efficiency and to develop nanomaterial-based systems for targeted and controlled release of agrochemicals (to control pests).

The Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi is focused on the development of nanofertilisers to enhance crop productivity and reduce nutrient losses, as well as agrochemicals using nanomaterial-based systems for effective pest and disease management.

Sustainable agriculture

The market for nanotechnology in sustainable agriculture through organic farming, herbicides and farming practices is still relatively small but expected to grow significantly.

The report stated that the global nanotechnology market in agriculture is forecasted to reach $16.7 billion by 2025, with the increasing demand for sustainable agriculture practices a key driver of market growth.

The US Department of Agriculture has awarded $35 million in grants over the past five years to support research in this sector.

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Morrisons has launched a new trial where it will underwrite 100% of all of the costs of growing a crop.

Details of the £2 million, year-long trial, which will involve three potato farms and one carrot farm, were unveiled today (Thursday, August 3).

As part of the trial, the first of its kind in the UK, Morrisons will cover all costs from field rent to fertiliser costs involved in growing the crops.

According to the supermarket group, which said that it works directly with more than 2,700 farmers, the trial aims to give farmers “greater financial security” because Morrisons will shoulder all the “risk”.

Gareth Cosford, senior buying manager for root vegetables at Morrisons sais: “As British farming’s biggest direct customer we understand the impact that higher costs are continuing to have on farmers.

“Therefore our trial scheme allows us to take all the risk associated with growing the crop away from our farmers and continue to grow the best-quality British produce that our customers know and love.”

Crops are currently being grown on the farms that are participating in the trial and produce from this trial is expected on be on the supermarket’s shelves by the end of this year and in 2024.

The supermarket group said that if the trial is successful it will roll out the scheme to more farms later next year.

One of the farms that is participating in the new trial is Naish Farms which grows potatoes for Morrisons.

Andrew Nash, director at Naish Farms said: “Morrisons already buys our whole crop of potatoes from us, taking the top-quality and also misshapen or oversized ones and making them available to customers as part of their naturally wonky range to maximise our return and offering the best value to their customers.

“In farming there are ups and downs throughout the season.

“For us we are seeing greater weather challenges which may impact our crops and by being part of this new Morrisons trial, they’re underwriting our growing costs to cushion us from the associated risks and…supply security so that we can focus on growing the very best potatoes for their customers.”

In 2015, the supermarket group launched its Morrisons Naturally Wonky initiative where it buys whole crops and picks out any fruit or veg that has a quirky shape but is perfectly fine to eat.

According to the group this helps to minimise food waste in the field and also offers “affordable produce to consumers”.

“It also gives farmers an alternative route to market. The range includes 24 wonky varieties, and 27,000t of fruit and vegetables were sold this way in 2022,” Morrisons said.

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Over £14 million is to be made available for innovative farming solutions under two new research and feasibility competitions under the Farming Innovation Programme.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) announced the funding today (Wednesday, August 2) as part of its commitment to invest £600 million in innovation and productivity in the agricultural sector over three years.

The competitions are open to farmers, growers, foresters, research organisations and businesses involved in agriculture to collaborate on novel ideas and innovative farming solutions.

The department said previous rounds of funding have led to investment in the use of ultraviolet as a disinfectant in the dairy and poultry sectors.

Farming Minister Mark Spencer said: “These competitions are all about encouraging collaborations between farmers and growers on the one hand, and research organisations and industry on the other, to help bring ideas from the planning stage into practice.   

“The success of the previous competition rounds and the broad scope of ideas coming forward showcase the range of possibilities available for driving up productivity and solving some of the industry’s biggest challenges.

“I encourage everyone to take a look at what’s on offer in the latest competitions and apply.” 

Small R&D Partnerships

Defra has also published guidance for the third round of the Small Research & Development (R&D) Partnerships competition, which seeks to help businesses develop a new farming product or service and take it to commercialisation on the open market.

The competition, developed in partnership with the Transforming Food Production Challenge and delivered by Innovate UK, is worth almost £10 million.

The second round of the competition has provided funding for projects including exploring how to breed sheep with a naturally low carbon footprint to help sheep farmers contribute to the journey towards net zero.

The guidance is available on the UK government’s website and farmers, growers, foresters. research organisations and businesses are encouraged to read it ahead of applications opening.

Applications for the third round of the Small R&D Partnerships competition open on August 14.

Executive director for the healthy living and agriculture domain at Innovate UK, Dr Katrina Hayter, said: “We look forward to supporting the next round of applicants and identifying promising partnerships that hold the potential to address the sustainability, efficiency, and net zero challenges confronting the UK’s agrifood industry.  

“By fostering collaborations between farmers, growers, agri-businesses and researchers, these partnerships become the driving force behind transforming innovative solutions into practical applications.”

Feasibility Studies

The Small R&D Partnerships guidance and funding comes alongside new guidance for a £4.5 milion Feasibility Studies competition, which aims to support businesses and researchers through project testing and development.

It looks for early-stage solutions that have the potential to substantially improve the overall productivity, sustainability and resilience of farming, and move existing agricultural sectors to net zero, Defra said.

Applications for the Feasibility Studies competition window are open from September 1,8 of this year.

Successful applicants in previous funding rounds include a study to identify fungal strains that can help fight against insect and fungal pests in wheat crops with the aim of reducing the costs associated with multiple applications of chemical pesticides, mechanical damage from repeated spray applications and crop yield losses.

“Feasibility studies mark the initial stage in researching an idea that could improve farming, while Small R&D Partnerships are a vital step to empowering businesses to forge novel farming products and services, paving the way towards successful commercialisation,” Dr Hayter said.

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They help to provide soil cover at times when no plants would otherwise be growing.

The crops also provide the living roots after harvest to help feed bacteria and fungi that form part of the food web and maintain soils in a healthy state.

These plants, like all plants, will access nutrients from the soil, which hopefully then contribute to the needs of the following crops rather than some having been lost through leaching.

Catch and cover crops

One of the many challenges, however, is that there is no specific definition of a cover crop; it all depends on what species is grown, when the crop is drilled, how well it is established and how successfully it establishes and grows.

This means that there is no ‘standard’ data available on what a ‘cover crop’ will deliver, nor when the nutrients in its biomass will become available to subsequent crops.

Plants growing at a time of the year when nothing would otherwise be growing will pick up nutrients from the soil.

These nutrients, particularly the more mobile ones, such as nitrogen and sulphur, as well as potassium on light soils, may otherwise be at risk of moving down the profile following rainfall (particularly in late autumn or over winter).

If they are ‘held’ within the cover crop, they are protected in the topsoil, to be released back to the soil at some point following termination (whether by frost, physical or chemical means).

To a large extent, this is what the previously harvested crop has already achieved, with nutrients ‘held’ within the straw (where it is not removed) and the decaying root systems.

Not all nutrients behave the same way, with most being held within the structural parts of the plants; these will only become available (or at risk of leaching) once the plant begins to breakdown or decompose.

Potassium (K) is atypical; it is found in plants as the free K⁺ ion, or held in weak complexes, meaning it is released much more quickly and easily from unharvested material and residue.

The rate of release is largely related to rainfall amounts and timing.

In terms of their impact on the cycling of K in particular, crop species that pick up the available potassium in the soil and release it after destruction will have limited benefit.

The exception is very light soils, where the K may otherwise move down the soil profile, although this requires significant rainfall.

However, with the majority of nutrients likely to be slowly released from the unharvested material of the previous crop, this leaves the remaining available nutrients in soil as a target for catch or cover crops to take up.

Cash crops

Most catch and cover crops carry out the same functions as many cash crops, the only difference being that they have a shorter growing period and are generally not harvested.

These plants will therefore be utilising the same available (or exchangeable) nutrients within the soil, meaning the potential for plants to cycle nutrients will depend on the levels within the soil.

Cover or catch crops grown on soils with low available K are likely to contain less K than plants grown on a soil with a higher level of available potassium, just as would be the case for any cash crops.

There are a number of variables surrounding how much nutrient catch and cover crops may pick up and release back to the following crop, and species and soil nutrient levels are two of them.

Another is the length of time these crops are growing, as this will impact their access to soil reserves, effectively through the size and architecture of their root systems.

Best types

From a K perspective, the most effective plants at providing a benefit for following crops will be those that are able to access potassium reserves from deeper soil layers, bringing it closer to the surface, such as fodder radish.

This is less likely when these species are grown as cover or catch crops as the growing period is short and therefore roots are unlikely to have had time to develop fully before they are stalled by the weather, or destroyed for the establishment of the following cash crop.

Once a cover crop is terminated, the nutrients contained in the residue will become available to the following crop over different timescales depending on the nutrient and the cover crop species.

E.g., if a cover crop is destroyed shortly before sowing a spring crop, varying proportions of the nutrients it contains may be released too late to be usable by the crop.

Cover and catch crops have a greater role to play than purely nutrient cycling.

However, in this context the short growth period and restricted range of species are likely to result in limited quantities of nutrient being taken up by the cover crop.

For potassium in particular, the more nutrient-rich the soil, the greater the quantity that may be cycled.

Nutrient cycling through cover crops may slow the rate of decline in soil nutrient status, particularly on light soils, but they will not improve a soil that has a low nutrient status to begin with.

Weather

Cover and catch crops are generally grown at times of the year when nothing would otherwise be growing, between the harvest of one cash crop and the sowing of the next.

Along with the nutrient cycling, this provides soil cover which helps reduce the negative impact that rainfall can have on the soil.

Rainfall hitting bare soil can have a significant compacting effect, therefore cover crops can help to maintain, and in some cases improve, soil structure.

Improvements are particularly possible through deep-rooted crops like radish, which can help to rectify structural issues at depth.

Maintaining good soil structure, which is also assisted by the cycling of carbon (as an additional microbial food source) from cover crops, is clearly important for effective crop growth.

But it also provides for efficient nutrient use by the following cash crops.

This is improved through less restricted root length and architecture, root hairs and mycorrhizal relationships.

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This is according to the latest planting and variety survey from the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB).

The survey, which provides planted area estimates for the UK with a regional breakdown, revealed the UK wheat area for harvest 2023 is set to slightly decrease year on year.

It is estimated that 1.75 million hectares of wheat has been planted for harvest 2023. The slight year-on-year decrease in wheat area has been at the expense of additional barley and oilseed rape (OSR) being sown.

The total UK barley area is estimated to increase by 5% in the year with an uplift in both winter and spring area.

There is also an increase in the GB rape area, which is estimated to increase 11% year-on-year.

High prices in spring 2022 offered growers the incentive to plant additional OSR.

There seems to be a movement away from alternative break crops such as oats, as the GB oat area is set to decrease by 7% year-on-year.

Barley and oilseed rape

Anthony Speight, AHDB senior analyst, said: “The UK harvest is here and it’s highly likely that gross margins for 2023 are going to be squeezed in comparison to 2022.

“This season has been a high input year for farmers as inflation, energy prices and input costs have increased exponentially.

“Since winter crops have been sown, global grain markets have been on a downward drift as markets have adjusted, navigated and digested the war and geo-politics in the Black Sea.

“It’s a hard time for growers as cereal and oilseed prices are now lower than what they were when planting intentions were decided last year, and those peak marketing opportunities may have passed for 2023 harvest.”

Speight explained that with the war continuing in Ukraine, it is still a volatile and unknown time for commodity prices.

“As harvest 2023 starts, growers will have a clearer idea on their breakeven point,” he said.

For 2023, the total UK wheat area is estimated at 1.75 million hectares, 3% down from 2022.

The total UK barley area for harvest 2023 is estimated at 1.15 million hectares , up 5% on the year.

The GB spring barley area is estimated at 702,000ha, up 7% year-on-year, while the GB winter barley area is estimated to be 2% higher at 434,000ha.

The GB oat area is estimated at 161,000ha, this is 7% down year-on-year. In contrast, the GB rape area 11% higher than 2022 levels, estimated at 402,000ha for 2023.

KWS Extase is the most popular wheat variety for 2023, accounting for 17% of the total GB wheat area.

For barley, Laureate is the most popular variety, accounting for 32% of the total GB barley area.

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This was a direct response to the ending of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

And while the week ended with some profit-taking on the part of traders, the new week has kicked-in with markets opening higher again.

Ukraine has been increasing shipments through the Danube in recent months. So, the widening of air strikes by Russia on these facilities poses renewed questions about access to Ukrainian grain.

Global grain prices

Meanwhile, the International Grains Council (IGC) increased its forecast of the global grain crop last week by five million tonnes, mainly due to a larger US maize area.

Despite this, the IGC still expects global grain ending stocks to contract year-on-year due to deficits in the wheat and barley markets.

The IGC forecasts global wheat carryover stocks to fall by 20Mt over 2023/2024, while barley stocks drop to the lowest level in nearly three decades.

Maize crops both in the US and Europe are in still their critical stage of development, known as ‘silking’.

So, markets remain nervous about crop potential. Higher temperatures are forecast for much of the US maize growing area this week, which could hamper yield development.

There is also concern about the impact the current hot, dry weather in southern Europe may be having on summer crops, especially maize.

UK

Last week also saw UK prices rising, a direct consequence of the Black Sea Grain Initiative ending. The November 20223 UK feed wheat futures contract settled at £212.15/t on Wednesday past, its highest level since April 19.

The contract then dropped back slightly to end the week at £207.00/t.

Oilseed markets are currently focused on developments in the Black Sea region and global weather trends.

Last week saw Chicago soya bean future prices climbing through the start of last week, buoyed by dry US weather concerns and wider market volatility surrounding the Black Sea Initiative.

So, the weather over the coming weeks remains crucial and continues to support soya bean and soya bean oil markets.

Demand also remains a watch point on oilseed markets. In the US, the Environmental Protection Agency has finalised the blending volumes of biofuels required by US oil refiners over the next three years.

But the total volume is less than the initial proposals.

The impact of Russia withdrawing from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, damage to Ukrainian ports, and the intensification of the war in Ukraine remains important in oilseed markets too.

Malaysian palm oil futures (October delivery) closed on Thursday at the highest point since March.

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With the harvest season typically concluded and preparations for the new year in motion, The British Potato Show will return from November 22-23, 2023 at the Yorkshire event centre in Harrogate.

This year sees a record amount of trade stands, as the industry prepares to come together again.

Emerging out of Covid-19, events are back bigger and better than before, with the industry realising the power and benefits of face-to-face events.

British Potato Show

Organisers of BP2023 have said that they are thrilled to welcome the seminars back at this year’s show, presenting visitors with technical talks, along with current industry topics and issues.

Show evolution has continued with crop production exhibits being joined by an ever-expanding range of post farm expertise.

While growers will be catching up on everything from varieties to sprout suppression, factory staff will be exploring developments as diverse as water treatment, haulage and the very latest in optical sorting and whole crop utilisation.

Visitors to BP2023 will have access to:

• Scores of Europe’s leading potato companies;
• The latest in potato research and development;
• All types of farm, packing and processing machinery;
• New breakthroughs in production and processing;
• Business news and emerging opportunities;
• Buyers, suppliers and advisers from plough to plate.

Adding an extra layer of prestige to the event, the National Potato Industry Awards will be held at the Old Swan in Harrogate on the first evening of the show, Wednesday, November 22.

The awards are a celebration of excellence and innovation within the potato industry and guest speaker, Rod Woodward, will return following his much-lauded appearance at the last awards ceremony.

With its unique blend of information-sharing, networking, and innovation, BP2023 promises to be an essential free event for anyone involved in the British and global potato industry.

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Christened ‘Cicero’, the £500,000 project has received funding support from the Department of Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) .

In common with other nitrogen-fixing legumes, chickpea has the potential to reduce on-farm fertiliser requirements and the high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with fertiliser production and application.

Current UK legume production is mainly restricted to field beans and combinable peas, which are not necessarily optimised for human consumption.

A large proportion of these crops is destined for animal feed.

In contrast, chickpea is familiar to the food industry. However, the crop is rarely grown in the UK, largely due to the scarcity of adapted varieties and the lack of knowledge both growers and advisors have of the crop.

Chickpea research

UK food companies annually import 60,000t of chickpeas for products including standalone tins, pouches of cooked chickpeas and packets of dried pulses.

Chickpeas are used as ingredients in ready meals and bakery products. Cicero will explore the possibility of displacing imported chickpeas, courtesy of UK-grown crops.

Project lead and NIAB’s head of breeding, Dr. Phil Howell said that Cicero will take a multi-faceted approach.

Variety trials and agronomy testing will be carried out by NIAB and specialist seed company Premium Crops, ranging from small plots up to field-scale evaluation.

End-use quality assessments will be undertaken by Norfolk-based grower Place UK, which has successfully grown chickpea crops to sell through its vertically integrated food ingredients business.

“Whilst the two-year project timescale prohibits a full breeding cycle, new populations will be advanced rapidly through the glasshouse, with selections ready for their first field evaluation by spring 2025,” Howell stated.

“NIAB has already assembled a diverse collection of chickpea material, which will be evaluated in field nurseries over the project duration.

“These will be complemented by a unique population of novel induced variants developed together with biotechnology start-up Viridian Seeds.

“These new sources of diversity will all feed into a second cycle of new crosses to kick-start the development of UK-adapted material.”

Solutions

The NIAB representative explained that chickpeas are a classic example of the challenges the legume sector is facing.

Manufacturers must often rely on imports to service the increasing demand for healthy plant-based foods.

“While this crop can be grown in the UK, its yields and quality are unreliable because current varieties are not well adapted,” Howell continued.

“Ultimately, we need better varieties bred specifically for UK conditions, but we also need to improve our agronomy know-how to get the most out of varieties, now and in the future.”

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The Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB) is confirming that 202220/23 winter barley yield results are now available from four sites.

These comprise three fungicide-treated and one untreated trials at locations in Devon, Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire.

The current average treated yield of control varieties in the treated trials (10.10t/ha) is above the five-year average (9.76t/ha), but it’s very early in the season to draw any conclusions based on this.

Winter barley

According to AHDB analysts, it has been a good season for winter barley trials. Autumn was very mild with adequate moisture meaning all trials were drilled and crops established well before the winter.

December was the coldest since 2010 with severe frosts, helping check disease progress. But from late December through January and February there were both cold and mild wet periods, though February was very dry, with less than 20% of the average rainfall over much of England.

Spring started with a very wet March, with double the usual rainfall in much of England, followed by an average April, giving diseases a chance to get going.

Drought through May and June, with high temperatures in the second half of June, helped check disease but probably limited yield potential.

The current 2023 values only show yields based on three sites so should be treated with caution, particularly as the earliest harvested trials can sometimes be ones most impacted by drought.

Varieties

The six-row hybrid varieties are the highest yielding in these early trials. SY Kingsbarn (111%) is highest yielding, just ahead of SY Kingston (110%).  

SY Canyon and SY Thunderbolt (108%) are just behind that, with the older hybrids, Belfry (107%) and Bazooka (106%) again a little further back.

Newly recommended SY Nephin yielded poorly at the Lincolnshire site and this has brought its overall average yield down (105%).

However, it was recommended due to good disease resistance and untreated yield and it was the highest yielding variety in the single untreated trial to report back thus far.

In the two-row feed varieties, Lightning and newly recommended LG Caravelle are equal highest yielding (104%), just ahead of LG Dazzle (103%), with KWS Tardis on 101% and KWS Hawking and Valarie on 100%.

Newly recommended Bolivia has disappointed thus far (96%), but yielded well in the single untreated trial and may improve when more trials are in.

Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV) tolerant six-row conventional KWS Feeris at 102% has yielded in line with its five-year average.

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Roger Parry & Partners has brought a 442.26ac livestock farm in Shropshire to the market with an asking price of £4.75 million.

The farm is situated just outside Picklescott Village at the edge of the Long Mynd, and is close to the market town of Church Stretton and within reasonable proximity to Shrewsbury and Ludlow. 

The property includes a six-bedroom, five-bathroom farmhouse which was built in 2003.

The farm itself has been run as a beef cattle unit plus arable land. It has approximately 58,875ft² of buildings for 1,200 in-housed cattle. It has a range of modern buildings currently used primarily as cattle yards.

All livestock buildings are supplied with water from a private well.

In addition, the Shropshire farm has a grain/fodder store, a workshop, machinery storage buildings, an annex and stables.

The land is ringfened, and has access of council-maintained roads. The owners also benefit from Commoners’ rights on the Long Mynd. 19.94ac are woodland.

Commenting on the property, Roger of Roger Parry & Partners said: “This sale offers an outstanding opportunity for buyers to purchase a fully equipped livestock farm which has been run as a beef cattle unit plus arable land.

“It has an outstanding range of modern agricultural buildings in a superb location.

“The property is available to purchase as a whole or up to five lots,” he added.

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Firefighters have urged farmers to think about fire safety following a call out to a field fire in Essex last night (Monday, July 17).

Crews from Essex Fire and Rescue Service were called to Ludgores Lane in Danbury at around 9:20p.m last night after a combine harvester caught fire.

When the crews arrived, the fire has spread to approximately 10ac of crops. Crews from Chelmsford (two), Maldon (two), Rayleigh Weir and Witham, and off-road vehicles from Billericay and Burnham helped tackle the fire.

Group manager Craig McLellan said: “Crews did a fantastic job of surrounding the fire so quickly and stopping it from spreading.

“The fire affected about 10ac of crops so they had to work incredibly hard to extinguish it. I’d like to thank the farmer for assistance too.

“Due to the rural location, crews have set up a water relay to extinguish the fire affecting the combine harvester.” 

It is believed that the cause of the fire was accidental.

Fire safety

Following last night’s incident Essex Fire and Rescue Service have urged farmers to think about fire safety, during harvest season in particular, “to reduce the risk of devastating and dangerous fires”.

It has said that farm machinery is one of the top causes of rural/farm fires.

To reduce the risk of a fire it advised farmers to keep machinery and vehicles well maintained and serviced regularly, and to clean machinery regularly to keep it free from hay, straw, oil and grease.

This messages comes at an apt time as the 11th annual Farm Safety Week is underway – the theme of which is ‘Farm Safety Starts with Me’.

A drive-home message of this theme is for farmers to take the time to review the safety measures on their farm.

Echoing this message, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) is this week running a campaign encouraging farmers to “take five to stay alive”.

The idea behind this message is that taking five minutes before a tasks allows time to evaluate the task at hand and implement ways to make the task safer.

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Noting that the attachment of seed distributers to various items of cultivation equipment is becoming ever more popular, the company has introduced its own system, with a weight transfer system as a further option on the machines.

Terria plus Tegosem

Pottinger argues that the focus on taking full advantage of planting timeframes is becoming ever sharper and this includes meeting deadlines for sowing cover crops after harvest.

Installing a 500L Tegosem air drill on the company’s stubble cultivator is a further step towards helping the rapid establishment of ground cover, the great benefit being that excess nitrogen in the soil is absorbed by the seedlings and retained on site.

Creating a fresh root structure within the soil as soon as possible after harvest also helps in improving and stabilising the soil structure also increasing water infiltration while reducing the risk of erosion.

By carrying out both tasks in a single pass, costs are reduced, timeliness is increased and with less field traffic, soil damage is avoided to a greater extent.

The Tegosem hopper, with hydraulic fan, is equipped with an adaptable metering shaft which is electrically adjusted according to the driving speed, automatically switching off at the headland.

Traction aid

The company has brought in the option of a weight transfer system which moves weight from the stubble cultivator to the rear axle of the tractor.

The pressure in the drawbar cylinder can be adapted for different working depths with the potential to transfer up to 1,400kg to the tractor’s drive wheels.

Machines are heavy and taking them onto fields is unavoidable, so this type of device can help make the most of the weight involved.

As a further refinement to the range, Terria models with tandem rear rollers can now be equipped with an optional levelling board instead of the concave discs for working lighter soils.

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The deal brokered by the United Nations (UN) and Turkey in July 2022 to allow Ukraine export grain from three Black Sea ports was set for renewal today.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen “strongly condemned” Russia’s move to withdraw from the deal “despite UN and Turkey’s efforts”.

“I strongly condemn Russia’s cynical move to terminate the Black Sea Grain Initiative, despite UN and Turkey’s efforts. EU is working to ensure food security for the world’s vulnerable.

“EU Solidarity Lanes will continue bringing agri-food products out of Ukraine and to global markets,” the president of the European Commission said on Twitter.

UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres recently sent a letter to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin outlining a proposal in a bid to keep the deal operational.

The objective was to remove hurdles affecting financial transactions through the Russian agricultural bank, which was a major concern expressed by Russia, the UN said.

Black Sea Grain Initiative

Food exports through the corridor have dropped significantly in the past months from a peak of 4.2 million tonnes in October 2022 to 1.3 million tonnes in May.

This decline was due to the “slowing pace” of inspections and the “exclusion” of the Yuzhny/Pivdennyi port, according the UN secretary-general.

Nearly one year into the agreement, more than 32 million tonnes of food commodities have been exported from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports to 45 countries across three continents.  

China has been the main destination for cargo exports of Ukrainian grain at 8 million tonnes, followed by Spain at 6 million tonnes and Turkey at 3.2 million tonnes.

The partial resumption of Ukrainian sea exports enabled by the deal has unblocked vital food commodities and has helped reverse spiking global food prices, the UN said.

The grain deal has allowed the World Food Programme (WFP) to transport more than 725,000t of wheat to Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, the UN said.

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Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) president William Irvine is encouraging farmers to review safety measures on their farm and work out what can be done to improve it this Farm Safety Week.

“For example, signage regarding slurry pits, high-powered equipment and livestock can make a huge difference and can help to keep you and farm workers safe all year round,” he said.

“By doing this, you are not only actively working to keep yourself safe, but you are also protecting the farm business and most importantly your family, from the devastating experience of losing a loved one.”

The 11th annual Farm Safety Week, an initiative by the Farm Safety Foundation involving organisations across the UK and Ireland, kicks off today (Monday, July 17) with the theme ‘Farm Safety Starts with Me’.

Common excuses like ‘I’ve always done it that way’ and ‘I’m in a hurry’ are “not good enough reasons for risk-taking, poor maintenance of equipment or unsafe working”, Stephanie Berkeley from the Farm Safety Foundation, said.

“While we are seeing more people calling out poor practices and sharing their experiences there seems to be a broad acceptance that this is just how it is in farming?” she added.

Berkeley reminds that the agriculture mortality rates remain “stubbornly high”; 21 people were killed in work-related incidents in the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry in Great Britain last year.

According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), this is “markedly higher than the average across all industries”.

Camilla Mackey, HSE Northern Ireland’s principal inspector of the agri-food team, added: “I am appealing to the farming community to consider the risks they face, and, put proper precautions in place to ensure tasks are carried out safely. It could just save your life.”

Farm Safety Week

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) over the week this year is encouraging farmers to “take five to stay alive”, with the idea that taking five minutes before a tasks allows time to evaluate the task at hand and implement ways to make the task safer.

It also encourages regular breaks to prevent physical or mental burnout. NFU is encouraging farmers to share the ways that they stay safe on the farm on social media using the hashtag #Take5StayAlive.

The “heartbreaking thing” about most farm accidents, UFU president Irvine said, “is that they could have been prevented”.

“Working on a farm creates risk every day and we need to be constantly aware and reminded of that to create a safer working environment and habits,” William Irvine said.

“All of us are guilty of thinking ‘it will never happen to me’. But, as Farm Safety Week has shown in the past, and will do again this year, a farm accident can happen to anyone in a spilt second, changing lives forever.”

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A single adult Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) has been identified in Hampshire.

Confirmation was made today (Friday, July 14) by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) following laboratory testing of samples.

This follows what Defra and the APHA have called an “unrelated outbreak” of the beetle in Kent, earlier this week.

The APHA has since removed the beetle from the Hampshire location and will be conducting surveys in gardens, potato crops and land around the finding to ensure there are no other Colorado beetles present.

UK Chief Plant Health Officer Nicola Spence said: “The beetle was swiftly removed by the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate and there is no evidence to suggest this finding is connected to the outbreak in Kent.

“Whilst this pest does not pose a threat to human health, we encourage all growers, farmers, processors and the public to remain vigilant and report any sightings.”

If not eradicated, the Colorado potato beetle is a significant threat to potato crops.

The adult beetles and larvae feed on the foliage of potato and other plants in the nightshade family, i.e. tomatoes, aubergines, peppers, and can completely strip them of their leaves if they are left uncontrolled.

It is currently regulated as a Great Britain quarantine pest and the APHA is obligated to support efforts to maintain this status.

The beetles are occasionally brought into the UK from continental Europe as ‘hitchhikers’ on non-host plant material.

In the past 70 years, there have been two outbreaks of Colorado potato beetles in the UK, one in 1976 and one in 1977. Both outbreaks were eradicated shortly after detection.

Sighting of the beetle should be reported to the APHA.

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However, Seedtech’s Tim O’Donovan outlined a much more definitive test for the disease at the company’s recent trials event in Co. Waterford.

All that is required is sample of fresh soil, taken from a field that has just been combined, a single cereal seed and a plastic tea or coffee cup.

Testing for take-all

Instructions follow – fill the cup with soil, place the seed in the soil, bring the cup indoors and leave on a warm window ledge.

Inspect the cup 10 days later, by which time the seed will have germinated. It is then a case of gently peeling the plastic away from the soil mass. This will expose the full root mat that has developed within the cup.  

If the roots are white, then take-all is not an issue. However, if the root mat is coloured black, one is then left to mull over the implications of the well-hackneyed phrase, ‘Houston, we have a problem’.

Take-all is an important disease of winter wheat, especially as control with fungicides or varietal resistance is extremely limited. The disease is also moderately important in winter barley. Spring sown cereals are not as badly affected.

The fungus is now widespread throughout the UK and Ireland. It acts to reduce yield and grain quality.

Estimates suggest the disease affects half of UK wheat crops, with average yield losses of 5–20% resulting. However, more than half of the crop can be lost when disease is severe. 

Take-all causes most damage on light soils where the fungus spreads more easily and the loss of active roots has a large effect on water and nutrient uptake.

Poor drainage and nutrient status also encourage the disease. The weather also has a large influence on the impact of take-all. Dry conditions during grain filling exacerbate the damaging effects of the disease on root function.

Northern Ireland

Experience in Northern Ireland would indicate that take-all is acting in an almost sub-clinical manner on many cereal farms.

Leigh McClean is a crops development advisor with the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise

He commented: “Some winter barley yields were disappointing last year, despite crops looking well in the fields.

“Growers were attributing this fall-off in final yields to Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus. Weather conditions for aphids, the vector of the virus, had been very suitable the previous autumn.

“Sub clinical take-all may also be an issue in winter barley. These are crops that are mainly grown as a second cereal within an arable rotation. Carry over issues relating to take-all can be an issue in this context,” McClean added.

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The Centre for High Carbon Capture Cropping (CHCx3), which represents a four-year, £5.9 million research project, has been officially launched.

It has been established to help UK farmers and growers target net zero in the most efficient way possible.

The new body will also enable new revenue sources for farmers and growers through a carbon marketplace while also supporting enhanced value chains for industries such as textiles and construction.

The project will run from now through to 2027. It is supported by a consortium of 22 industry and research partners and will be led by the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB).

Carbon capture cropping

The research undertaken will focus on four cropping options: Rotational cover crops; annual fibre crops (industrial hemp and flax); perennial food, forage and feed crops (including cereals and herbal leys); and perennial biomass crops (miscanthus, willow and poplar).

In addition to evaluating their potential to enhance atmospheric carbon capture and sequestration in the soil and crop-based products, CHCx3 will examine the effects of cultivation system and agronomy on economic returns and other environmental outcomes.

Further work will optimise the production and use of renewable biomaterials for fibre, textiles, and construction and develop carbon insetting/offsetting platforms.

CHCx3 will provide resources to support the effective uptake and utilisation of crops with high carbon capture potential, with practical outputs such as crop guides, web tools and apps available to landowners, farmers and agronomists.

The project will also offer a wealth of opportunities for its many stakeholders to engage with and participate in the ongoing research, including crop trials, field demonstrations, webinars, workshops and training.

Project Lead and head of the NIAB Innovation Farm, Dr. Lydia Smith, believes that crop choice, management and utilisation all offer opportunities.

“Farmers and associated industries can address climate change goals through input-efficient crops that are able to increase carbon capture,” she said.

“But they must have confidence in achieving profitable and sustainable outcomes.”

NIAB director of agronomy, Stuart Knight, agrees. He believes that CHCx3 will build on the institute’s extensive programme of crop diversity, farming systems and soils research.

“The project will kick-start vital new collaborations between researchers, seed suppliers, growers and industries seeking to realise the full potential of crop-based products, establish new revenue opportunities within the carbon market, and give a major boost to our shared aim of achieving net zero,” he said.

CHCx3 has been awarded funding by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) under the Farming Futures research and development (R&D) Fund: Climate Smart Farming.

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Larvae in a field in Kent have been confirmed as Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata).

This is the first time an outbreak of the beetle has been confirmed in the UK since 1977 – although they are endemic in large parts of Europe.

If not eradicated, these beetles are a significant threat to potato crops. The adult beetles and larvae feed on the foliage of potato and other plants in the nightshade family and can completely strip them of their leaves if they are left uncontrolled.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) are therefore urging growers, farmers, processors and the public to be vigilant.

However, Colorado potato beetles are not a threat to human or animal health.

The APHA, which made the confirmation following laboratory diagnosis of samples taken, is working closely with the affected grower to eradicate the pest from the site in Kent.

This includes performing a 1km survey to determine whether there are further cases beyond the immediately infested area.

“We are responding swiftly through our eradication programme, involving ground surveillance to look for beetles and larvae at the outbreak site and surrounding area,” UK Chief Plant Health Officer Nicola Spence said.

“Whilst this pest does not pose a threat to human health, we encourage all growers, farmers, processors and the public to remain vigilant and report any sightings, especially in Kent.”

Colorado potato beetles are bright yellow or orange with black stripes and are usually between 8.5-11.5mm in length and 3mm in width. Its larvae are a reddish brown in colour, round and globular, and up to 15mm in length.

It was first recorded in 1811 in the US. The beetle has since spread across the US, and moved into Canada, Central America, Europe and Asia.

According to Defra and the APHA, they are occasionally imported into the UK from continental Europe as ‘hitchhikers’ on non-host plant material, such as leafy vegetables, salad leaves, fresh herbs and grain.

In the past 70 years, there have been two outbreaks of Colorado potato beetles in the UK, one in 1976 and one in 1977. Both outbreaks were eradicated shortly after detection.

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21 people were killed in work-related incidents in the agriculture, forestry, and fishing industry in Great Britain last year, according to figures published today (Thursday, July 6) by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

This is just below the sector’s five-year age of 26 and the majority of deaths (64%) were to the self-employed.

While there were more deaths in the construction industry last year (45), the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry has the highest rate of fatal injury per 100,000 workers of all the main industrial sectors.

The HSE said that the rate of fatal injury in the sector remains “markedly higher than the average across all industries”.

Fatal work-related incidents

Overall, 135 workers were killed in work-related incidents in Great Britain last year (period April 2022 to March 23). 26 of these were in Scotland, 15 in Wales and the remainder (94) in England.

This number is higher than the previous year (123), but in line with pre-pandemic levels. The figure for 2021/2021 was 145. Over the long-term however, the rate of fatal injury to workers shows a downward trend.

The three most common causes of fatal injuries are falls from height (40), being struck by a moving object (29), and being struck by a moving vehicle (20).

Commenting on the figures released as part of the ‘Work-related fatal injuries in Great Britain’ report today, HSE chief executive Sarah Albon said: “Any loss of life in the workplace is a tragedy.

“While these figures show Great Britain is one of the safest countries in the world to work, safety must continue to be at the top of everyone’s agenda.

“Our mission is to protect people and places and we remain committed to maintaining safe workplaces and holding employers to account for their actions.”

A further 68 members of the public were killed following a work-related incident in 2022/23. This is a decrease of 20 from last year.

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The guidance on autonomous mobile machinery (AMM), including crop robots in agriculture and horticulture, has been developed to enable farmers, horticulturists, government agencies, autonomous mobile machinery manufacturers, importers and distributors and other users to take advantage of available technology.

Since the World Resources Institute estimates that farmers will need to produce around 60% more food by 2050 to serve the world’s growing population, having access to these tools could be crucial to help them improve sustainable food production and meet rising demand, according to BSI.

Code of practice

Use of autonomous mobile machinery in agriculture and horticulture – Code of practice provides guidance around the safety and risk management processes that can be applied to farming operations.

It also includes information on instructions and training for safe operation and maintenance of AMM and advice on farm planning, including hazard controls and emergency preparedness.

This follows a global drive towards uptake of AMM in agriculture and horticulture to support labour shortages and a need for more intensive crop management.

In February this year, the UK Government pledged £168 million in funding to help encourage the development of new technology and innovative ways of farming, with a focus on practical solutions that advance food productivity and deliver significant environmental and animal welfare benefits, including robotic technology.

According to BSI, despite the benefits, use of AMM can also present risks, especially when integrated with staffed farm operations.

This new standard aims to provide best practice guidance on their introduction and safer use, while encouraging wider adoption of AMM, particularly in smaller enterprises. 

Technology and robots

In a recent white paper on Smart Farming by BSI, it stated that with agriculture contributing an estimated 19-21% of global carbon emissions, technology can address many pressing challenges.

E.g., data analytics solutions, such as sensing the moisture level of soil, could increase crop precision and accuracy, while robotics technology is already being used to take on tasks like fruit picking.

Sebastiaan Van Dort, associate director, sustainability and energy at BSI said: “Smart farming can bring huge benefits to society, including more economic production of crops, sustainable production and greater food security, as well as helping the agriculture sector to meet net-zero targets.

However, owners and operators of AMM also need to feel sure that the introduced technology is used safely.

“Using I.T [information technology] including robotics has the potential to accelerate progress towards a sustainable world while delivering higher, more profitable growth and improved food quality.”

The code of practice also clarifies roles and responsibilities of owners and operators, designers and manufacturers and importers and distributors to reduce uncertainties.

The committee included representatives of: Harper Adams University; JCB; The Ramblers Association; Innovate UK; John Deere; Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB); Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA); Health and Safety Executive (HSE); Small Robot Company; Institution of Agriculture Engineers; University of Lincoln; and the National Farmers’ Union (NFU).

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The trend was driven by concerns over hot, dry weather in the US midwest, where much of the world’s maize crop is grown.

At that stage, the condition of the crop pointed to lower yields than the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) had previously forecast.

But the prospect of rain later in the week for these maize-growing areas led to profit-taking and maize prices falling.

As a result, December 2023 Chicago maize futures ended the week lower.

Global wheat markets

However, global wheat prices ended the week up and have moved up again in early trading yesterday (Monday, June 26).

The Russian political situation jumped into the headlines over the weekend due to the rebellion by the Wagner group of mercenaries.

It also seems more likely that the Black Sea Initiative (Ukrainian export corridor) will not be extended, based on statements by both Ukraine and Russia.

In addition, Romania may give priority access to domestic grain in the port of Constanta. It is estimated that the port has handled around one third of Ukrainian grain exported since the invasion of Ukraine.

This means renewed uncertainty about global access to Black Sea grain at a time when there are suggestions that global wheat supplies are looking tighter.

Crop report

The EU Monitoring Agricultural ResourceS (MARS) crop report trimmed EU-27 wheat, maize and barley yield prospects last week, with the largest cuts for spring barley.

SovEcon trimmed its forecast for the 2023 Russian wheat crop by 1.2Mt to 86.6Mt, It is also expected that the 2023 Indian wheat crop will be 10% smaller than initially forecast.

Meanwhile, the main story driving oilseed markets over the past few days has been the weather prospects for the United States.

Chicago soyabean futures (Nov-23) ended down 2% last Friday. However, just two days earlier, the contract climbed to the highest close since the start of March.

The USDA crop progress report released to the week ending June 18 cut the US soyabeans ‘good-to-excellent’ rating to 54%, down from 59% the week before.

This was a greater cut than expected, with notable downward revisions in Iowa and Illinois.

Despite this support at the start of the week, the market actually ended the week down. The market dropped with investors locking in profits, and a weakness in crude oil markets from a negative economic sentiment as markets focused on rising interest rates.

However, by the end of last week, the weather in the US midwest looked to improve, taking some fuel out of the bullish sentiment.

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What the agents are calling a “first-class arable and livestock farm” in Northumberland is on the market guiding at £6.75 million as a whole, or in three lots.

Branton East Side Farm in Powburn, Alnwick comprises approximately 565ac in total and comes with a five-bedroom house, one-bedroom annex and four cottages.

It lies around 11 miles northwest of Alnwick and the A1 and under a mile from the A697 at Powburn. Alnmouth train station is on the East Coast Main Line providing regular services to Edinburgh, Newcastle and London.

The majority of the farm (350ac) is designated to arable farming, with 175ac as pasture and 33ac of woodland. The land is predominantly assessed as Grade 3 by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

It is also currently entered into a Higher Level Countryside Stewardship Scheme, due to run until 2028.

The farm’s buildings have the capacity to house 500 cattle, 1,000 ewes, silage clamps holding 1,800t and storage for 700t of grain. There is also a range of machinery and general storage facilities.

John Coleman, head of farm sales at GSC Grays, which has brought the property to market, said: “This is an exceptional commercial farm in a most attractive location and is already attracting strong interest from buyers across the UK.”

The current owners are retiring, having had the farm in their family for the last two generations.

Northumberland farm

Also for sale in Northumberland is Birdhope Farm, in Northumberland National Park. This approximately 364ac farm is on the market for offers of over £1.2 million.

It comes with a two-storey farmhouse, woodland, permanent pasture, upland grazing and wildlife habitats.

The farm buildings comprise mainly traditional buildings which have been restored, including a range of stables, a distinctive timber hay-barn with slate roof, a workshop and a separate former byre.

Alistair Cochrane said selling agent Galbraith expects a “great deal of interest” in the property.

“The sale of Birdhope Farm offers an outstanding opportunity to acquire a delightful mixed landholding in the heart of the National Park, amidst some of the most striking scenery in England,” Cochrane said.

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Yara UK has today (Friday, June 23) announced a long-term collaboration with Simpsons Malt Ltd. and Varda aiming to “dramatically” reduce the carbon footprint of malting barley and distilling wheat production.

The agreement will involve the use of fossil-free green fertilisers and data-based precision farming.

Yara and Varda, an ag-tech company founded by Yara, will work with Simpsons Malt to reduce the environmental impact of leading global beer and whisky brands.

Carbon

One of the largest independent, family-owned malting companies in the world, Simpsons Malt is aiming to achieve carbon neutral malting barley and distilling wheat production by 2030.

The company produces around 300,000t of malt per year at its two malting sites.

The commitment is in response to consumer demand for greater transparency and decarbonisation of farming practices.

Andy Hindhaugh, commercial director of Simpsons Malt Ltd said that the company is “delighted” to be entering into this new collaboration.

“We are committed to minimising the environmental impact not only of our own operations, but throughout our wider supply chain.

“This exciting partnership gives us the opportunity to do exactly that, while also helping our brewing and distilling customers deliver on their own sustainability objectives.”

Yara

Yara estimates that the use of green fertiliser can reduce the carbon footprint of wheat crops by around 20%.

When this is combined with other innovations and best practices, the reductions can become even higher.

“Through our green fertilisers, digital tools, and research led agronomic advice, growers can improve nutrient use efficiency and actively contribute to the reduction of their CO2 footprint,” Jari Pentinmaki, managing director of Yara UK, said.

“We are excited to be collaborating with Simpsons Malt and Varda, as we all look towards a nature positive food future.”

The ag-tech start-up, Varda, will help growers with the use of its geospatial technology that enables the integration of field level data.

This includes the company Global Field ID system which assigns a unique identification number to each field or plot, reduces data fragmentation and supports data sharing.

“Agriculture is uniquely positioned to positively contribute to the climate crisis by reducing its carbon footprint and improving its productivity.

“We are proud to play our part in helping pioneering organisations such as Simpsons Malt in establishing a more transparent and collaborative food supply chain by organising and combining fragmented field data,’’ Davide Ceper, chief executive of Varda, added.

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At its 2023 Innovation Summit, the company identified growth potential in segments like crop fertility, biologicals, biofuels, carbon farming, precision application services as well as digital platforms and marketplaces.

Overall, the company expects to access more than €100 billion (approx. £859 million) in these adjacent markets annually, in effect doubling the division’s potential market which stands at more than €100 billion for the core portfolio alone.

By the middle of the next decade, Bayer envisions shaping regenerative agriculture on more than 400 million acres.

Rodrigo Santos, president of Bayer’s Crop Science Division and member of the board of Bayer AG said: “We are envisioning an even broader role in agriculture. With the most powerful innovation engine in the industry and leading market positions, Bayer is uniquely set to provide the solutions that farmers need in light of food security and climate change.

“We define regenerative agriculture as increasing food production, farm incomes and resilience in a changing climate while renewing nature.

“Our portfolio will deliver future innovations with regenerative agriculture at the core, and we will explore new market opportunities to further allow farmers to combine productivity, profitability, and sustainability benefits.”

Regenerative agriculture

According to Bayer, farmers around the globe can expect access to industry-leading innovations that not only deliver yield improvements, but which can also regenerate soil and minimise the impact of farming on the climate and broader environment – tailored to the different crops.

On the farm of the future, the terabytes of data captured from the field as well as the tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestered, will be as important to the farmer as the yield that each field produces, the company has said.

Going forward, Bayer said it will focus its investment on solutions that deliver important pillars of regenerative agriculture.

This includes: Improved productivity; social and economic well-being of farmers and communities; conservation of water; mitigation of climate change; improved soil health; as well as preservation and restoration of biodiversity.

The company is investing in its pipeline to accelerate the delivery of solutions that growers need.

Late-stage transformative technologies are being combined with the annual refresh of the global seed portfolio and the addition of hundreds of new product registrations and formulations every year.

Projects

In 2022, 15 projects advanced, including new crop protection active ingredients, new seed traits and digital models.

Bayer refreshed its seed portfolio with 500 new hybrid and variety deployments and its crop protection portfolio with 10 new formulation launches and more than 250 new registrations.

The R&D investment of €2.6 billion (approx. £2.23 billion) , before special items, in 2022 continues to advance a pipeline with an estimated peak sales potential of more than €30 billion (approx. £26 billion), half of which are incremental to the existing base, according to Bayer.

Dr. Robert Reiter, head of R&D at Bayer’s Crop Science Division said: “A bold vision takes a bold investment. It takes all five of our innovation platforms – breeding, biotechnology, chemistry, biologicals and data science – to power this pipeline.

But it is far more than these platforms alone. It is the convergence of the innovations that allows us to generate system solutions to solve our most pressing challenges.

“Farmers need the best genetics with best-in-class traits; they need data-driven planting scripts to know when and where to plant those crops.

“And they need lower impact small-molecule crop protection paired with late-season biological solutions and precision applications to sustainably protect those crops.”

Bayer said it is advancing existing breeding technologies while also developing the next generation of tools like gene-editing to create designer seeds for growers in crops like corn, soya beans, cotton and vegetables.

The precision breeding programme helps to improve both yield and efficiency for farmers, using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to develop the right seeds for the right conditions.

The company is also expanding its expertise into new spaces, like the Preceon Smart Corn System, offering reduced plant height which brings multiple benefits to the farmer.

Bayer

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition.

Its products and services are aimed at helping people and the planet thrive by supporting efforts to master the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population.

In fiscal, the group employed around 101,000 people and had sales of €50.7 billion (approx. £43.6 billion). R&D expenses before special items amounted to €6.2 billion (approx. £5.3 billion).

The post Bayer to capitalise on regenerative agriculture appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

Three factors are in the mix: Mounting tensions in the Black Sea; continuing dry weather in many grain growing areas; and a recent bounce in crude oil prices.

At the tail end of last week, the United States Drought Monitor confirmed a sharp expansion on abnormally dry conditions across America’s mid-west. This is the country’s maize and soyabean growing region.

The report confirmed that storms had done little to halt widespread degradation of conditions in the region, reporting that livestock are already needing additional feed due to reduced forage.

Above-average temperatures are also forecast for the end of June and through July by the US Climate Prediction Centre.

High temperatures when maize crops are silking (reproductive stage) are strongly linked to lower yields.

Grain prices in Europe

Meanwhile, forecasts for EU-27 wheat, barley and maize crops are now falling. This is due to dry weather in northern Europe and Spain.

Lower maize plantings in Poland and Spain are also a factor.

Predictions for the 2023 grain harvest are also on the decline. Spring crops are, very much, much at risk.

The proportion of spring barley rated good / very good has fallen form from 89% to 83%.

While this is still above last year’s 53%, it is now lower than both 2019 and 2021. Most spring barley crops in France are now at the flowering stage.

Maize crop conditions also deteriorated, down from 88% good / very good to 86%, slightly below this stage in 2022.

Water is really needed in France now to help growing crops and ahead of rapeseed planting in August.

Palm oil

Malaysia is also feeling the impact of drought conditions. Water stress there is affecting palm oil trees in the biggest palm oil producing state.

This reduces the fruit yields, and so, in turn, palm oil production.

There is currently an El Nino weather event developing, which often means higher temperatures and lower rainfall for palm oil production areas.

Earlier this month the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) again forecasted that global grain and oilseeds will be larger than global demand in 2023/2024.

It forecast a surplus for all grain of 33Mt (the largest since 2016/2017) and a surplus of 27Mt for oilseeds (the largest in recent years).

This expectation and relief caused by access to Black Sea supplies despite the war continuing, pushed markets lower. The issue is that the USDA forecasts are based on high yields.

However, if crops don’t achieve these high yields it could shrink, or for grains, even evaporate the gap between global supply and demand.

If confirmed, this would push prices higher.

The post Tillage: Grain prices starting to strengthen appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board’s (AHDB’s) four sector councils have begun discussions over increasing levy rates to address the impact of rising costs on the board’s spending power.

Conversations will be held with key industry stakeholders and levy payers during the coming months.

Levy payers and stakeholders can give feedback to the AHDB in a number of ways, including: Attending AHDB meetings, talking to representatives in relevant sectors, and contacting AHDB directly.

Once levy payers and stakeholders have had the opportunity to share their views, sector councils will decide on a recommendation to share with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which is responsible for making a final decision on changing levy rates.

If approved, new rates could be implemented from April 2024, the AHDB said.

AHDB levy rates

The levy rate for the beef and lamb and cereal and oilseeds sectors has not changed for more than 10 years, and for the dairy and pork sectors it hasn’t changed in over 20 years.

However, rising costs across agriculture and inflation have added pressure to sector budgets.

“[The] AHDB is having to adapt the work it’s delivering at a time when budgets are being impacted by inflation and a budget reduced by changes to our VAT status,” AHDB’s divisional director of engagement, Will Jackson said.

“There have been no increases for over a decade, inflation has eroded the value of the levy by around 40% in this time and there needs to be a significant step taken to close this gap

“There is never a right time to be recommending a levy increase, but we believe the current economic climate makes the case more urgent with clear, tangible benefits.

“Without a levy increase, we will lose the expertise and impact that the four sectors need.”

AHDB sector councils

AHDB sector councils represent the beef and lamb; cereals and oilseeds; dairy; and pork sectors. They decide what programmes of work are needed to support their sectors, and what recommended levy rate is needed to fund that work.

The council members are typically levy payers of the that sector. Appointments are made based on candidates’ skills, and are confirmed through a levy payer vote.

The AHDB is currently seeking new members for all four of its sector councils.

Interested parties have until Monday, June 26, to apply.

The post Discussions over increasing AHDB levy rates begin appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

HarvestEye was launched on to the UK market in 2019 and interest in the new system has reportedly been strong in Europe and Australia.

The plan now is to make the technology available in Ireland

“Size is everything when it comes to potato growers selling their produce,” HarvestEye sales manager Ed Strawson said.

“Up to now potato growers would have used trial digs to assess what’s going on under the soil. But the variability within a potato field is immense.

“HarvestEye has been specifically designed to allow growers identify the size and specific weight of potatoes across an entire field in total detail.”

It’s understood the information can be used to determine future cropping practices.

Tuber technology

Using a camera and machine learning algorithms, the technology measures and counts a crop as it is being harvested. This produces a breakdown of size, count and relative yield through a field – which is considered a huge advantage in modern farming.

Unlike conventional sampling, this technology has the capability to show the performance of the whole field, providing a much more accurate representation of a crop.

The data is captured and collated by a computer, which can even provide historic GPS tracking of a field over the years, allowing growers to make more informed decisions moving forward to improve efficiency, crop yield and uniformity.

With a more comprehensive understanding of the size and count for each field, the technology supports complex decision making, where crop management is concerned, according to the company that developed it.

Crop variability can also be mapped across specific field locations, providing targeted agronomic performance data. It assists growers to work towards specific customer requirements for each variety and, ultimately, increase profits.

The camera can be fitted to any existing harvesting equipment, is reportedly simple to use and doesn’t interfere with the harvester.

The data is then gathered and displayed on a tablet, making it easy to view, analyse and cross-reference detailed data sets.

Placing the system on the potato harvester allows HarvestEye to pinpoint the exact digging location within a field, where specific batches of potatoes are concerned.  

The post Technology to identify tuber size could be rolled out in Ireland appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

Wheat futures saw some support last week, largely due to concerns over rising tensions in the Black Sea region.

Meanwhile, Chicago wheat futures (Dec-23) were up 0.9% over the week. Chicago maize futures were down 2% over the same period, with an improved US supply outlook weighing on prices.

According to Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Russia is still not satisfied with how the Black Sea grain deal is being implemented.

Russia has said that they will not agree to an extension of the deal (due to expire on July 17) unless demands to improve its own food and fertiliser exports are met.

These demands include the resumption of the transit of Russian ammonia through a pipeline via Ukrainian territory. The pipeline was damaged in a blast last week, though both Russia and Ukraine are denying responsibility.

Other impacts on world markets

The recent destruction of a dam in the Kherson region of Ukraine could also have longer term impacts on agricultural land, with a reported 4.4 cubic miles of water heading towards the Black Sea via the Dnipro River.

The damage has left 94% of irrigation systems in the Kherson region without water, an area which is among Ukraine’s most fertile and productive region. Markets will likely remain reactive to any further escalations in the area, according to AHDB.

With winter wheat harvest now underway in certain regions of the US, and spring wheat in its heading phase, US weather remains an important watch point.

Up to 2in of rain forecast in Kansas and Oklahoma over the next week will likely slow down harvest progress in the region.

Though up to 3in forecast in parts of North Dakota and Montana could help improve the spring wheat crop condition.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) were released last Friday (June 9), with few unexpected changes.

However, world wheat ending stocks for the 2023/2024 season were raised more than analysts had expected, now at 270.7 Mt, up from the previous estimate of 264.3 Mt.

This increase is mostly on account of higher global production forecast, despite higher global consumption also being expected.

The post AHDB: Update on world grain markets appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

There are many parameters throughout the growing season that can influence yields.

However, spring weather is a watch point, as winter wheat enters the construction phase of growth and this accelerates towards the end of April.

Half of total growth will occur in this phase, as the dry matter produced in this period supports root growth and organs vital to grain production.

But all of this begs the question: Was the rain that fell in May sufficient to maintain wheat yields?

Rainfall

At the start of the month the unsettled weather continued, including heavy showers. However, by the middle of the month it had somewhat dried up, with little rainfall since.

Latest data from the Met Office indicates that the UK received 39mm of rain in the month of May, the second lowest this decade, behind 2020 when rainfall was 32.8mm.

Despite May’s deficits, accumulated rainfall in the UK over spring (March to May) has totalled 240.8mm, 18% higher than the previous five-year average.

This accumulation of rainfall is comparable to 2014, 2015 and 2019 when UK wheat yields averaged 8.6-9.0t/ha during these years.

So, is the lack of rainfall in May really that problematic for crops?

Wheat yields

As at May 30, 2023, 85% of winter wheat was rated good-to-excellent in the AHDB’s crop development report, published on that date.

This was ahead of 82% recorded at the same point last season.

Further to that, with rainfall earlier in May and then the subsequent sunny and mild conditions, crops are reported to be looking well and yield prospects are good, to above average.

This information reaffirms that the UK has the potential to produce a large wheat crop this coming harvest, with a potential of 15.5–16.0 million tonnes expected (based off the envisaged planted area and higher than average yields).

However, it’s important to note that, after the wet start to spring, some areas are almost looking too dry now. This could have an impact on final yields and is a watch point.

But it goes without saying that the final output for 2023 will very much depend on the weather over the next couple of months, as well as the final planted area.

The post How will final UK wheat yields ‘shake out’ in 2023? appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

It’s that time of year when cereal growers will start to consider what new seed varieties are available for the season ahead.

In some parts of the country, the start of the winter barley harvest is just four weeks away. And as soon as this is completed, it’s onwards and upwards, where oilseed rape is concerned.

Winter wheat, however, remains a very profitable and sustainable crop option for tillage farmers in the UK and Ireland.  

Limagrain’s newest feed wheat addition to the 2023-2024 Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) Recommended List is LG Redwald.

It comes to market with a UK-treated yield figure of 107%.

Redwald has shown this high yield consistency across regions and very testing seasons of weather, according to AHDB.

Its high untreated yield of 92% reflects its very good disease resistance, especially for Septoria tritici. Redwald is a high tillering, big biomass plant type, so consider a lower seed rate.

Limagrain trials over several seasons show that reducing the seed rate by 20% had no effect on overall yield performance, with better lodging resistance.

Redwald is a taller variety (94cm) with a big biomass, so a well targeted, robust, split plant growth regulator (PGR) programme is recommended.

Drilling new seed varieties

Growers should not drill the new variety too early, as it does not have the characteristics associated for the early drilling situation.

It suits the standard planting window of mid-October onwards and can be drilled to the end of January.

Redwald benefits from being grown on water retentive soil types, not lighter soil types associated with drought situations.

Growers should reduce seed rates and implement a good PGR programme for heavier/fertile soils.

The new variety performs well as a first or second wheat. Sitting as a very high yielding variety in a second wheat situation, it is a valuable variety to improve gross margins in this scenario.

Redwald has good tolerance to take-all, but a low rating for eyespot. It should be managed accordingly.

While the variety has good disease resistance for Septoria tritici, and both rusts, Limagrain advises that all crops should be monitored and treated accordingly.

While trials show that a robust on-farm fungicide strategy should be implemented, a T0 spray may not be required, depending on disease pressure.

However, a robust T3 fungicide is important for protection against fusarium, and as it is a later maturing variety.

There are benefits from maintaining green leaf canopy to maximise grain fill.

The post Tillage: Time to consider new seed varieties for 2023-2024 appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) is seeking new members for all four of its sector councils.

Positions are now available in the beef and lamb; cereals and oilseeds; dairy; and pork sectors. The application deadline for the available positions is Monday, June 26.

Appointments are for three-year terms, starting from October of this year. The roles require a commitment of up to two days/month, including attendance at sector council meetings.

AHDB said sector council members play a “crucial role” in deciding what work should be commissioned for their sector and ensuring there is effective engagement between levy payers and the board.

Members applying for positions in any of the sectors are required to abide by the AHDB code of conduct for board and committee members.

Responsibilities of sector council members include attending senior council meetings – of which there are typically four every year – and contributing to debates and discussions to agree five-year strategic sector priorities for levy payers to vote on.

As well as engaging with levy payers to seek feedback on their sector’s needs, new council members will also be expected to contribute to debates and discussions in deciding the proposed activities and programmes which will be funded.

They must take into account the results of levy payers voting polls, AHDB said. More information on the roles and their respective sectors can be found on the AHDB website.

“At the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), we act as a critical enabler for the industry and shape the future of farming in the UK,” a spokesperson said.

“Working with AHDB you won’t just be helping our farmers produce the food we eat and look after our environment, you’ll be shaping the future of food production and leaving a legacy for the next generation.”

The post AHDB seeks new members for all four sector councils appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

This is ahead of 82% at the same point last season, but down 3% on the month. Just 2% of the crop was reportedly in poor/very poor condition, up 1% on the month, but down from 3% at the same point last year.

Overall, winter wheat crops are developing well.

Most crops are now in between the growth stages 39 and 45 (flag leaf fully unrolled to flag leaf sheath swollen). This is ahead of where crops were at the same time last year.

Generally, crops are looking well at this point in the season, and yield prospects are good. There are only occasional crops in poor condition that have high levels of blackgrass or have suffered standing water earlier on in the season.

Septoria is the primary concern in terms of disease pressure at the moment.

Further crop update

Where winter barley is concerned, most crops are in relatively good condition. AHDB has confirmed that 88% of winter barley was in good/excellent condition, up from 82% at the same point last year, but down from 90% last month.

Approximately, 2% of the crop is in poor/very poor condition, compared to 3% at this time last season.

The last few weeks have seen swift development, with the majority of crops now between the growth stages 60 and 70 (start of flowering and flowering complete).

Winter barley crops are at a similar growth stage as the same point last season.

There is variable risk of lodging throughout GB, though levels are not too concerning currently as robust plant growth regulator (PGR) programmes have been used to reduce the risk.

There are small areas in poor condition due to standing water earlier in the season or dense blackgrass populations.

However, overall, winter barley crops have good prospects as long as lodging risk does not increase. Any increase in lodging risk will be dependent on future weather conditions.

The dry weather over the past few weeks has meant that drilling of spring barley is now complete, with the remaining 6% drilled throughout May.

Delayed by rain, drilling spanned over many months (Dec/Jan to May) and as such, development of the crop varies on when it was planted.

Earlier grown crops are now approaching ear emergence, whereas later crops are still in the tillering stage.

As of last week 74% of spring barley crops were in good/excellent condition, down from 78% last season.

The percentage of the crop in poor/very poor condition was 6%, up from 3% at this point last year.

According to AHDB agronomists, the prospects for spring barley crops are looking well, with earlier sown crops in slightly better condition than those in later sown fields.

The post AHDB: Crop update – 85% of winter wheat in ‘good’ condition appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

This is the view of agronomist, Richard Owens, who manages a selection of cereal and potato crops in counties Antrim and Down.

“I walked a number of winter barley crops last week. They were exceptionally tall and not as thick as I would have expected for this time of the year,” Owens told Agriland.

“I sense that the plant growth promoters applied earlier in the season have not worked. This may be a consequence of the wet and cold conditions at time of application.

“We are six weeks off the first barley crops of the year being harvested.

“Ear fill is now well underway. I would be concerned that as the ears get heavier, those crops that are quite tall will be very disposed to lodging, should the weather turn wet and blustery prior to combining,” Owens added.

Winter barley crops

Richard Owens has also noticed some ramularia in winter barley crops that he has inspected over recent days.

“This is a disease that can take hold in very hot, sunny conditions. But there is nothing that growers can do about it. All winter barley crops will have received their final fungicide spray by this stage,” he said.

“We will just have to wait and see what the harvest brings.”

Turning to winter wheat, the agronomist confirmed that most crops are looking well.

“Most of the wheats that I have looked at over the past few days are now responding well to fertiliser that was applied last month. Ears are now starting to emerge,” he continued.

“In terms of spraying programmes, I would strongly advise the application of T2 ear wash.”

Spring barley

But it’s not such a rosy picture, where spring barley is concerned. Some crops in Northern Ireland were only sown out in the middle of May.

“Later sown crops are finding life difficult, given the continuing hot, dry weather,” Owens added.

“In these instances, I would recommend a foliar feed containing a range of amino acids and sugars.

“These will act to keep crops vibrant. There is a range of seaweed-based products on the market at the present time, which can meet this need.”

He explained that barley crops are also very prone to manganese deficiency, the threat of which increases during periods of stress.

“There is no rain of note forecast for the rest of this week and, possibly, beyond,” he said.

“On that basis, I would advise that all spray treatments applied to spring barley over the coming days should include a source of foliar manganese.”

Where main crop potatoes are concerned, Richard confirmed that some fields in Northern Ireland were only planted out at the end of May.

“It has turned out to be one of the latest seasons on record for growers,” he commented.

“Later planted crops will reach maturity. But yields will be down on what would normally be expected.

“Growers should also plan for these later sown crops to be more predisposed to blight attack.

“This is because their foliage is softer and less disease resilient than those planted earlier in the spring,” he said.

The post Tillage: Some winter barley crops at high risk of lodging appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

An educational event on the County Showground in Haverfordwest this month will aim to teach school children from across Pembrokeshire about local food production.

The event, which is sponsored by Meat Promotion Wales/Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC) and Castell Howell, will take place on Monday, June 19, and Tuesday, June 20, 2023, on the Pembrokeshire County Showground.

The event is suitable for year five students upwards and will feature arable, dairy, beef and sheep farmers to demonstrate and explain the journey of the different crops, milk, eggs and meat produced in Pembrokeshire.

There will also be machinery and animals at the event to help farmers explain what skills are required to produce food and care for the countryside, the Pembrokeshire Agricultural Society said.

The society anticipates that over 1,000 children will be in attendance, all of which will have allotted times.

Pembrokeshire Show governor, Kathy Wilson, said: “One of the important elements of Pembrokeshire Agricultural Society’s work is educational and spreading the word around the county about how local food is produced.

“The response was extremely positive to our first Food Story event last October which had a harvest theme.

“We hope local school children will learn a lot about where their food comes from when they attend this barbecue themed event next month.

“We are very grateful to all the farmers and supporters who are volunteering their time to make this event happen.”

Local food production

The event will feature businesses from Pembrokeshire who will teach the children about health and well-being as well as how science, technology, engineering and mathematics are used to produce food locally.

It will also provide an opportunity for children to learn about land-based careers and those within the food and drink industry.

There will also be discussions around weather and climate and how it can affect the work farmers do and how crops grow.

Children will also get an opportunity to cook and taste something with local ingredients, Pembrokeshire Agricultural Society said.

Schools that are interested in participating in the event are urged to complete the booking form, which is available via the Pembrokeshire Show website.

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This is the main recommendation emanating from the McKinsey & Company consulting group, following a detailed assessment of new technology options that can have a beneficial impact on the farming sectors across the United States.

McKinsey’s analysis reveals that farm automation could have a positive impact on farmer economics and mitigate the effects of climate change, especially in an environment of rising regulatory pressure.

Yet less than 5%of farmers currently use automation technology.

Increased automation

The research indicates that continued pressures on farm economics and a drive toward more sustainable farming practices will accelerate adoption of automation.

Farmers are reporting that input costs are the number one risk to their profitability, with widely used fertilisers rising significantly in price over the past five years.

However, more efficient use of pesticides and fertilisers can be achieved through automated precision spraying, fertiliser application robots, and other solutions, according to the report.

McKinsey analysis also shows that some herbicide application technologies that use computer vision to selectively spray weeds and avoid crops can reduce costs by up to 80%, creating a payback period of two years.

As all farmers will testify, labour is also a persistent challenge for their businesses.

A case in point is the fact that large quantities of fruit and vegetables never reached a shop shelf, due to a shortage of workers to pick crops in the UK alone last year.

In addition, farm-worker wages have increased at a faster rate than previous years, increasing the economic pressure on farmers.

Analysis shows that automation could open a wider labour pool by lowering the operating skills required by workers and improving working conditions.

Moreover, automation can also enhance productivity and reallocate labour towards the highest value tasks on the farm, McKinsey found.

E.g., fully autonomous equipment could reduce the need for machine operators to engage in hazardous activities such as spraying and enable a single operator to handle multiple machines.

Vasanth Ganesan, a partner, at McKinsey said:

“Though farmers have low levels of adoption currently, there is an increasing level of interest from farmers to invest in new innovative technologies that allow them to protect their current book of business while also continuing to optimise yield looking into the future.

“In addition, sustainability commitments made by companies across the agriculture and food value chain, combined with regulations, will further incentivise farmers to adopt automation technologies.”

Farm machinery

Meanwhile, a report published last month in the UK, has pulled together some of the biggest names in agriculture to predict the future of farm machinery and explore the rise of robots in farming life.

Entitled, ‘The Future of Agricultural Machinery’, it draws on the opinions of a range of leading industry experts, including Harper Adams senior engagement fellow, Kit Franklin.

Looking at everything from the impact of monster tractors and the labour shortage, through to autonomous machines, artificial intelligence, drones, data and alternative fuels, the publication reflects on what agri-business must do to help farmers succeed in the years to come.

Kit Franklin is also principal investigator of the ‘Hands Free’ farm at Harper Adams.

He commented: “When autonomous tractors first came out, it all seemed a bit sci-fi to farmers and, while they liked the idea, they didn’t believe it would happen in their lifetime.

“Having now seen them, 95% of farmers are positive about autonomous machines and are asking ‘when can I have one?’ There is a real appetite out there. Seeing is believing and we’ve done it.”

The post Increased automation should drive agri response to climate change appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

Extreme weather incidents are serving to rock Europe’s potato industry to its very foundations. Last year was actually the second warmest year on record in Europe.

The drought conditions resulted in a dramatic downturn in overall potato output.

Estimate figures suggest that the harvest across northern Europe, UK and Ireland was around two million tonnes less than normal.

That’s around one third of the total UK and Ireland potato production with packers and processers now striving to supply customers from a fast dwindling supply base.

The end result was a dramatic increase in prices, particularly within the potato processing sector.

Potato industry

Angus Wilson, chairman of Wilson’s Country Potatoes commented: “Earlier this year, large quantities of potatoes were exported out of Ireland and the UK to countries throughout Europe.

“And this trade has increased exponentially over recent months. I can’t fault Irish growers for getting involved.

“On the back of the input costs they were coping with last year and high storage costs due to increased energy prices, it made sense to get the possible prices they could get for potatoes in store.

“But the upshot of all this is the fact that Irish and UK potato stocks have never been at lower levels.”

Adding to all of this is the fact that extreme weather events have also impacted on the potato industry in 2023.

“Recent floods in Italy and across most of southern Europe have not allowed potato growers in these regions to get on with their normal planting activities,” Angus Wilson explained.

“And it has been the same story here in Ireland. After an excellent February, the cold, wet spring severely delayed the planting of potatoes on many farms by up to six weeks.

“I know of many instances where main crop potatoes were not put into the ground until last week. This is far too late.”

It is normally accepted that Irish and UK potato crops will reach full ground cover by the summer solstice – June 21.

“In the vast majority of case, this target growth indicator will not be achieved in 2023. The end result will be a significant drop-off in yields come this year’s harvest,” Wilson confirmed.

Shortfall in potatoes

All of this adds up to a perfect storm for Europe’s potato industry.

“And Ireland is caught in the middle of all this,” the Wilson’s Country representative stressed.

“I can predict with almost complete confidence that a shortfall in Irish potato output in 2023 will be matched by similar experiences in other countries.

“And, of course, these issues will carry over into 2024. So we’re probably looking at least two consecutive years of challenging market conditions for the potato industry.”

According to the Wilson’s Country representative, it’s still too early to accurately gauge the level of potato plantings in Ireland this year.

“Given the very late spring and the continuing market uncertainty, some growers may decide to cut down on planting levels this year,” he said.

“We just don’t know. And, of course, all of this is simply adding to the challenges facing growers, where input costs are concerned.”

“Given the events that have unfolded over the past two years, the cost of potatoes has increased significantly over recent months and is continuing to increase, especially the specialist processing and chipping varieties,” WIlson added.

“This is coming at a time when demand for potatoes and potato products is starting to grow once again. This is a tremendously positive story for the potato sector. The down side is that the industry may not be able to meet this demand over the coming 12 months.

“And this is all due to the extreme weather conditions that have impacted across Europe over the past two growing seasons.”

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