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Biog: Independent agronomist, photographer and software developer. Rural Cambs-based vegan chap who doesn't hassle others. Martyn’s photography, which can be purchased online, can be found here: www.blackthornarable.co.uk

Herbicide Resistance

Harvest 2016 was a mixed bag. By far the worst for us was winter barley; after a good couple of years, yields were well down, but people are more or less sticking with the crop, but I do feel that another bad year could kill it though.

It performs very well for us in the second straw slot on the edge of the Brecks, these light sandy soils, with high organic matter are terrible for take all and winter barley fits well in these situations. I find the hybrids are more robust when we get a dry season and input costs are lower than wheat so it’s a lower risk option.

Potatoes have been variable in yield, black dot is a challenge for the packing sector, but for most it will be a decent year financially, so growers can replace kit where needed, but I raise a word of caution – just watch the rise in crop area, chaps.

Sugar beet is doing well in many fields and we have some excellent yields, a good harvest and fields already drilled with wheat.

Oilseed rape remains a challenge, the area well down on just three years ago and cabbage stem flea beetle (CSFB) is the deal breaker. Right now the crops sown on our light soils by the third week in August look great; frankly, though, it is not hard to keep crops like these intact.

I’m sensing with farmers a marked change in attitude, with a much more pragmatic approach and good adoption of ICM, although I suspect not many would say that is the reason.

As far as crop decisions are concerned, there is a noticeably greater uptake of varieties with better disease profiles. No longer are crop genetics chosen purely on yield.

Early harvest is now a key criterion for wheat growers and varieties like Graham, with a high score for tritici and early ripening should find favour. Another variety that is very popular this season is KWS Siskin.

The advice to growers to choose improved disease resistance seems to be working. No fields have been sprayed for phoma and DK Exalte in particular is looking stunning.

For those with blackgrass the switch to spring cropping has been marked, but we’ve found that spring beans do not have sufficient good chemistry to mop up surviving blackgrass plants, neither do they compete well allowing blackgrass to romp. Spring bean growers will be switched for winter beans for this reason.

Delaying drilling is also a common feature and where we have now had a long run of using soil amendments such as compost on our heavier soils, they generally allow us a few extra drilling days.

CropTec 2016

Herbicide resistance will be a big topic at this year's CropTec event, come and talk to our technical experts and listen to our seminars discussing how we can become more efficient.

We also have over 140 exhibitors at the event displaying the latest science and technology across the trade stands, while CropTec’s well established seminars and hubs will feature the latest thinking on a range of key arable topics delivered by leading specialists.

The event is free to attend for those visitors that pre-book their tickets. ALL visitors will be charged £15 on the day.

Biog: Conor Colgan farms at Lowick Hall Farm, near Berwick on Tweed. The farm is 700-acres, and the enterprises are an arable rotation of wheat, barley, oilseed rape, oats and beans. He also has an 80-cow suckler beef herd. Six years ago Conor completed an MBA at the Royal Agricultural University; his thesis was on Lean Management, a technique used extensively by efficiency-critical sectors like the car industry. As part of his study, he undertook a complete Lean audit of every process on the farm. He says that this has made him exceptionally judicious about what system changes he makes and whether the introduction of a new practice will improve the value it delivers to his end markets and business bottom-line. “If it doesn’t, I won’t do it.”

Title: Innovations must be farm-relevant

The innovations that have most benefited my farm all centre on GPS technologies and soil mapping.

I’ve used SOYL to map my fields with the dual aim of generating a more consistent yield from my lower indices fields and adopting a precision approach to applying P to the seedbed and K during the growing season. The net result has been a recovery of soil indices and an improvement in crop yields.

This approach works well for the scale of my operation and because I have a lot of variation in indices. For farms where soils are similar, I suspect that the returns may not be so good.

I feel that the environment for fostering innovation in the arable sector was hit badly when we lost our national advisory service. When ADAS in its old guise went, we lost the prism to assess innovation for our industry.

R&D is now in the hands of the supply chain and its results are used to sell products or kit. There are too few independent trials from the like of AHDB to assess how these new commercial introductions really perform on farm.

So it is beholden on farmers themselves to prove whether a new technology or innovation will actually deliver the purported returns in their own farm situation.

In the future, I think it is really important for organisations like AHDB, TEAGASC and SRUC to analyse the impact of new developments on a range of different farms, soil types and scale of operation. This work would give us the clarity we need to truly compare market introductions, and not take the manufacturer’s word for the projected improvements we’ll gain.

I foresee that investment into genetics and access to GM technologies will become the essential innovation for the coming decades, particularly if issues like Septoria resistance threaten the viability of wheat production in the UK.

CropTec 2016:

Want to find out more about R&D and the latest innovation and technology? make sure to visit CropTec 2016.

To encourage knowledge exchange among the British farming community further, this year’s event is FREE for farmers and agronomists to attend. You MUST pre-register online to ensure you receive your free place.

General pre-registered admission: £12, all visitors will charged £15 on the gate on the day of the event.

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