HGCA Borders Monitor Farm Alistair Hodge Whitsome East Newton

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1 HGCA Borders Monitor Farm Alistair Hodge Whitsome East Newton Report on 1 st Meeting held on 22 nd February 2011 FUTURE EVENTS The next Monitor Farm meeting is on Tuesday 19 th April starting at 11am. USEFUL CONTACTS Donald Dunbar SAC Facilitator donald.dunbar@sac.co.uk Tel: Supported by HGCA and the Scottish Government under the SRDP Skills Development Scheme

2 Introduction SAC monitor farm facilitator Donald Dunbar welcomed over 50 people to the launch meeting of the HGCA Border Monitor Farm Project. Following introduction of the monitor farmer, Alistair Hodge and his father John, the audience were provided with an outline of the monitor farm concept and the agenda for the afternoon. The group then departed the Whitsome village hall (The Ark) and went on a farm tour which visited several fields and the farm steading before return to The Ark. Farm Tour Stop 1. Heritage Field - Winter Barley, variety Cassia (feed for own use and selling) Armed with his spade Donald checked the soil profile to assess soil type and barley root penetration. The farm soil is from the Whitsome series which is described as imperfectly drained brown forest soils with gleyed horizons. The soil separated relatively easily exposing well developed plant roots. There was no evidence of a plough pan, about a third of the group said hey had a similar soil type. The crop was at growth stage (GS) (tillering 2 to 4 tillers per plant). Foliar diseases Mildew, Net Blotch and Rhyncosporium were identified at low levels by SAC plant pathologist Fiona Burnett. There was a brief discussion on the option of a T0 spray. See later section for outcome. Whamley Field 1 st Winter Wheat, variety Vicount (soft wheat) A further pit was dug in the wheat field adjacent to the barley field. The soil was much heavier soil, demonstrating the variability in soil type in the space of a few hundred metres. The soil had a higher clay content with more clods in the upper profile and was notably harder to separate. There was a layer of decomposing weed trash from the previous oilseed rape crop, although Alistair added that very little rape had managed to establish on this patch due to the cloddy seedbed the previous year. This texture variation within short distances highlights one of the challenges Alistair faces on the farm. Farm agronomist Jackie Cotton added that the favourable autumn sowing condition has resulted in one of the most even crop establishment seen on the farm for several years. Alistair is interested in trying variable seed drilling equipment that can adjust rates with a field in response to soil and seedbed conditions. A couple of group members are already using this method with varying levels of equipment sophistication. The crop was at also GS with Septoria tritici the only disease present on the lower leaves, again the option of a T0 spray was briefly discussed. Stop 2. Farm Steading The group had a tour round the farm steading which has a mix of traditional and more modern buildings. The grain drying and handling equipment is showing its age and has access issues. Alistair would like to upgraded/replace this facility and is looking for community group input.

3 In the straw bedded cattle shed Alistair explained his system of housing cattle on a Bed & Breakfast arrangement for a third party. His main reason for having the enterprise is the dung and slurry he gains to improve his heavy soil structure and savings in purchased fertiliser. Alistair showed the group his converted sub soiler which he has modified to allow him to drill oilseed rape. The 2.7 m subsoiler has 5 legs resulting in 54 cm row spacing with twin air pipes feeding each leg. The first sowing attempt encountered teething problems resulting in that field being sown conventionally, however the second rape field was successfully sown using the drill converted subsoiler. Alistair drilled into the previous crop stubble without the use of markers, but he was still able to use the previous years tramlines after driving over them once to ensure they stayed visible allowing him to accurately apply autumn fertiliser and herbicide treatments. Stop 3 Broken Hill Field - Winter Oilseed Rape, variety Emerson This field has a patch of soil from the Hordean series which is described as poorly drained calcareous and non calcareous gleys Digging the soil profile was notably harder and the soil particles were tightly bound to each other, beyond 8 the soil seemed compacted. Fiona Burnett observed that the crop was looking well with no signs of light leaf spot though some Phoma and Downy mildew was present at trace levels. Emerson has an excellent light leaf spot resistance Fiona raised the question on the choice of fungicide and timing. Presentations and Discussion Back in the hall Fiona Burnett provided a short presentation on topical disease issues and some of the new products available this season and the possible positioning of these products in a spray programme e.g. Siltra in barley, Aviator in wheat and Serguris in both crops. The field discussions raised the option of a T0 spray (GS22-30). Approximately 10 growers in the room routinely use a T0 on barley. Reasons given ranged from my agronomist recommended it to providing a greater time window for application of the all important T1 spray.

4 T/ha Fiona produced a chart using trial data to plot the yield of winter barley using a two or 3 spray approach. The three spay programme showed a yield response in 6 out of the 7 years. Winter Barley: Average yield response from T0 spray 0.2t/ha yield04 yield 05 yield 06 yield07 yield08 yield09 yield10 M ean yield Nil T0T1T2 T1T2 With crop prices likely to remain high Fiona was inclined to apply a T0 to clean up the crop this season. Past practise on the farm is a two spray programme. Since this application of T0 will happen before the next meeting (19 April) it was left to Alistair to discuss the option with his agronomist and feedback the outcome at the next meeting. A cheap and cheerful T0 spray is routinely applied to the wheat crops to provide early yellow rust protection. In 2010 Cherokee (triazole and chlorothanalonil) was used to provided early rust control but due to the build up in resistant strains Septoria tritici will do little activity against this disease. An alternative option to consider for this year would be a low rate of Opus (epoxiconazole + chlorothanalonil) which will provide activity against rust but also septoria tritici. The two varieties of W. Oilseed rape being grown have very different light leaf spot (LLS) resistance scores, Flash (5) is susceptible and Emerson (9) is resistant. A product with good LLS control such as Proline or Prosaro (prothioconazole) should be used on the Flash with Folicur (tebuconazole) as a lower cost option to control the Phoma on the Emerson. Julian Bell from SAC Rural Business Unit gave an overview of grain marketing strategies and trends in grain prices over recent years. World production is struggling to keep up with demand and it is likely that prices will remain buoyant, however he emphasized that markets remain volatile with wheat futures dropping 7/tonne that morning. He put some questions in order to get some views from the group. Q. What makes you decide when you are going to sell your grain? Good forward price Rising market Falling market! Lack of storage Cashflow

5 Q. What is likely to affect the grain price over the course of the coming year? Currency World Weather Political reasons (unrest overseas as well as EU import policy) Hedge Funds and Speculators Q. Do you know your cost of production? People were not confident that they did however a few people reckoned that they knew within +/- 10 or a guestimate however there are so many factors affecting the cost of production which can be unknown. Q. Do you have a marketing strategy? 7-8 people said that they had a marketing strategy however it emerged that this was not actually a strategy which was written down. It is hoped that joining the arable monitor farm will help you to learn more about grain marketing and your cost of production. We will use the HGCA Cropbench programme to calculate costs of production or each crop and the competitive Grain Marketing Challenge as a fun way of learning more risk management and improving your decision making. Meeting Conclusion In the final part of the meeting those present were asked to sign up as a member of the monitor farm community group and provide information about their own business and list some of the objective they believe are relevant to the monitor farm and their own farming businesses that they would like to see discussed at the monitor farm. Objectives identified by Alistair were; Precision Farming Next step in soil analysis Use of variable seed rates Infrastructure Upgrading of grain drying and handling system Slurry storage capacity Machinery reinvestment Others Succession Planning Renewable Energy - wind turbine feasibility Next Meeting The next meeting will be on Tuesday 19 th April starting at 11am at The Ark (Whitsome village hall). The seond meeting will remain open to anyone to attend. Tea coffee and soup will be provided, but please bring along your own lunch. Topics on the Agenda Feedback from last meeting 2011 Spray Programme IACS and Land Management Options Oilseed Rape establishment costs in focus Grain Marketing Challenge