HGCA Borders Monitor Farm. Alistair Hodge Whitsome East Newton

Transcription

1 HGCA Borders Monitor Farm Alistair Hodge Whitsome East Newton Report on 15th Meeting held on 16 th July 2013 FUTURE EVENTS Next Monitor Farm meeting Tuesday 5 th November 2013 USEFUL CONTACTS Donald Dunbar - SAC Facilitator donald.dunbar@sac.co.uk Tel: Alastair Hodge - Monitor Farmer alistairhodge@aol.com Tel: Peter Davidson - Community Group Chairman Tel:

2 CONTENTS Crop Update... 1 Weather... 1 Cereal Varieties Update Summer Market Update... 2 Supply Chain... 2 Crop Walk At Whitsome East Newton... 4 New Equipment... 4 New Grain Store At Whitsome East Newton... 5 Date Of Next Meeting... 5

3 Crop Update Group discussion on 2013 actual cropping compared with planned cropping: Crop May Predictions % of average yield expected Updated July Predictions % of average yield expected Winter wheat Winter barley Winter oilseed rape Spring barley Winter Oats Spring Oats Following Mays fairly gloomy outlook for predicted yields of winter sown crops across the Borders expectations for the approaching harvest have improved slightly. Wheat and barley heads appear bolder with more grain sites and rape crops have branched well. Weather The years weather continues surprise growers. Last year started dry then turned wet resulting in one of the wettest seasons in 40 years (1,057 mm). This year started wet in early January (106 mm) then it went dry (February June 170 mm) but also cold, both factors holding back spring growth. Its taken till June for temperatures to get near seasonal levels (data source Letham Shank Farm). Cereal Varieties Update Summer 2013 The new recommendation wheat variety Leeds appears to have interest from the group as a soft feed variety. Rated good for distilling with highest agronomic yield of the group 4 s. It is weak on mildew but has useful resistance to yellow rust and fusarium ear blight. Straw stiffness is similar to Alchemy and Viscount. Myriad is also of interest with similar performance, but slow speed of development will make it suitable for early sowing. The new on floor drying system will no longer permit separation of different types of wheat e.g. Cordiale for milling and Viscount for feed/distilling, so Alistair s varieties for drilling this autumn will all be group 4 soft wheat; Horatio, Leeds, Beluga, Viscount. Two-row winter barley variety Glacier looks to impress as a feed variety with yield to compete with 6-rows and good specific weight. Alistair has managed to secure some Glacier and will compare this to Cassia, his current 1 st choice feed variety. On heavier soils it appears to out performs Cassia on yield, is slightly earlier and has the edge on rhynchosporium resistance. 1

4 Market Update USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) have upgraded their harvest forecast harvest causing a slip in Wheat Futures for November ( 168/tonne on 16/07/13). However with continued increases in exports to feed growing China, India, Iran, Pakistan and Japan, demand could still offset increased production in the US, Australia and other EU countries. Trade Comment Estimate only 15 20% of coming harvests wheat has been traded versus 50% norm. A reflection on conflicting reports regarding demand and a lack of exacting information on standing yields within fields. Rape price has declined from 350/tonne to 302 due to increased US soya area. Feed barley prices predicted at around 150/tonne, could easily change once harvest begins and yields are reported from English harvest. Spring Oats have been sold at 190/tonne (+ 25/t over wheat). Supply Chain Euan Thomson from John Hogarth Ltd provided the group with an insight to the oat and pearl barley supply chain. Key Points Local mill at Kelso employs 30 full time staff and has a fleet of 3 lorries Mill processes locally grown oats producing pinhead oat meal, oat flakes and flour supplying the likes of Nairns biscuit factory in Edinburgh and wholemeal food producers. The business is one of the largest processors in Western Europe of pearl barley and barley flakes supplying the Great Scott and Whitworths brand. All of the grain processed at the mill is fully utilised due to high and low spec end users e.g. oats for porridge has a high specification where as pinhead oatmeal used in haggis production is a relatively low spec product and is unaffected by undesirable characteristics such as oat colour. Bi-products are sold either as animal feed direct to local farmers or to compound feed manufacturers. The company also sells animal feeds (compounds, straights and blocks), grass seed, fertilisers, lime, straw and forage to farmers. 2

5 Recent 1 million investment in new milling facilities to modernise, improve efficiency and deliver higher quality products to meet the specific demands of their customers. Renewable energy proposal to install a hydro screw turbine to produce electricity reducing the company s carbon footprint and improve long term sustainability both environmentally and financially in controlling power costs. Euan keen to source a greater percentage of oats and pearling barley locally and in doing so developing strong links with local growers. Firth (spring) and Gerald/Dalguise (winter) are favoured oat varieties. Pearling market will look at most 2-rows, newer varieties Florentine and California of interest while Pearl (and six rows) is ruled out as it cracks and splits in milling process. Spring feed barley Waggon popular but also take most malt varieties failing malt spec. Rejections - some varieties also not suitable due to waxy texture and flour colour or presence of in store pests. Group commented on need for meaningful grower contracts particularly for oats with an agreed price per tonne. Some varieties are becoming outclassed in yield and Hogarth s were encouraged to look consider others providing they meet their suppliers spec. An invitation was extended to the group to visit the Kelso mill at a later date. The small acreage of spring oats is included in the rotation at East Newton to allow slurry and muck to be spread in the spring. The application of manure rules the malting barley option and the semi-break crop gives the option of following the oats with a first wheat. Yields have be consistently good (farm average 3t /acre (7.4 t/ha) and the crop produces a good bulk of straw. It was noted by growers that oats were the crop least affected by last years dreadfully wet season. They agronomy is relatively straight forward with mildew the main disease risk. The crop is lest tolerant of some herbicides products but a well established crop usually out compete many weeds. Whilst the demand for oats has grown steadily it remains a relatively small market and supply can outstrip demand which puts many growers off. More recently contracts linked to the wheat price have given growers more confidence to commit an annual area to the crop. 3

6 Crop Walk Oilseed Rape - Desiccation will be carried out using 4 litres/ha of Glyphosate + wetter + sticker with 200 litres water/ha in coming weeks. Group members preferred Glyphosate to Diquat alternative (true desiccant product). Believe it is more effective at killing the plant stems down to the ground and also better control of other weeds. Spring Oats Aphid colonies (confirmed as Cereal Grain aphid) easily found on heads in crop edge. Threshold for insecticide is when two thirds of heads affected up until milky ripe stage. Important to walk well into the crop to assess a true level (30 m up a tramline) as headland normally carry higher numbers. Winter Wheat Shorter than normal with fewer tillers (straw yield will be affected), negligible foliar disease but some stem browning and eyespot. Dry weather has caused the ground to crack, down as deep as 9 to 14 inches. New Equipment Winter rape establishment has not been consistent enough using the converted subsoiler but Alistair does not want to return to the plough and power harrow. He has been considering a cultivator that will meet this task but also one that gives opportunities for non inversion cereal establishment as well. Last autumn he trialled a Sumo Trio for wheat establishment and believes this machine can cover both tasks giving a non inversion option to reduce establishment fuel cost and increase work rates. To help offset the replacement cost he traded in the 4 m Culti-press giving a cost to change of 4,000 (list price 18,000). The 3m cultivator has an offset row of subsoiler legs (500 mm spacing) fitted with winged tine with variable depth adjustment and hydraulic auto release. These are followed by a double row (removable) of serrated discs (fixed angle) and a single packer roller. 4

7 The min-till surface finish makes it very difficult to accurately follow with pre-emergence herbicide and fertiliser. To overcome this issue Alistair has decided to fit assisted steering (approx. 1,800) to the multi-drive to improve the accuracy of fertiliser and herbicide applications. New Grain Store Good progress is being made on the new grain shed. The drying floor and gas drier has been recently fitted and all that remains is the laying of the remainder of the shed floor which is to be completed this week. The high output drier fan and gas burner is mounted above the ventilation tunnel which divides the two 300 t bays. This compact set up avoids the need for a further shed to house the fan and burner. It will be interesting to find out how drying costs and labour requirements change with the new facility. After the End There are only 3 further meetings before the end of the project. Views from group members were sought on what they would like to see happen after the end of the project. There was strong support for further meetings to be arranged possibly two per year to allow the group to continue to follow some of the actions that Alistair has implemented over the 3 year project. There was also interest in the formation of an arable business group for members who were keen to continue to monitor and investigate the performance of their businesses. Date of Next Meeting Tuesday 5 th November 5