Agronomy

The 2021/22 AHDB Recommended List sees several high yielding varieties introduced in the wheat and barley groups. For maximum potential yield to be achieved, crops need to be provided with the correct balance of essential nutrients throughout the growing season.

When growing high yielding varieties, often other agronomic features such as disease resistance are sometimes overlooked. The fungicides at our disposal today are capable of producing extremely good results, but it is important to apply as much thought to the fungicide programme and timings as to the choice of product, to achieve optimum yield potential.

Over recent years, the emphasis has moved away from reactive fungicide applications to treat visible disease in the crop, and more towards a strategy where prevention is better than cure. To achieve this, the fungicides must be applied at the correct time and early in the development of the disease, or even before infection occurs, with timing infl uenced by growth stage, weather and the variety’s disease resistance.

Improving Nitrogen fertiliser Use Efficiency (NfUE) will be one of the most important ways in which UK growers can improve their business productivity in the future. 

The single most important decision you can make to maximise your NfUE lies in the type of fertiliser you choose in the first place, says CF Fertilisers’ head agronomy Dr. Sajjad Awan. Whilst good management can help finetune the effectiveness of your applications, start with the wrong Nitrogen source and you’ll be locked into lower levels of NfUE with little you can do to lift it, he says.

“NfUE is essentially a measure of how much of the Nitrogen applied ends up in the crop. “In simple terms, if you apply 100kg N/ha and only 50kg N/ha is taken up by your crop, you will have an NfUE of 50% and half of the N you have paid for has gone somewhere other than into your crops as intended “Improving NfUE benefits your crop, your pocket and the wider environment.

Whether you are looking at it from the perspective of clean air, reducing your carbon footprint or increasing production efficiency, loss of N from the cropping system is a major problem.”

Clearfield® is a unique system for oilseed rape that combines hybrid seed varieties and high-quality BASF herbicides for the most effective way to approach weed control in OSR.

To achieve the maximum potential yield, crops need to be provided with the correct balance of essential nutrients throughout the growing season.

High yields come from achieving the correct leaf and shoot numbers, maintaining a green leaf canopy that intercepts 90% of the light and through achieving an increased number of grain ears and large grain sizes.

That's easier said than done when dealing with a crop exposed to the elements and other factors that may limit potential. However, a significant factor is a balanced crop nutrition programme, including the right levels of nitrogen, potassium, phosphate, and sulphur.

Gas prices have eased from the peaks we have seen in the last few months. At the time of writing, it is at similar levels to the price which triggered the initial production plant closures in the UK and across Europe.

Energy and protein feed costs look set to remain high through the remainder of the year, so maximising clamp fill and forage quality will matter more than ever. As you will be aware however, fertiliser pricing and availability on farm are proving challenging, so what are your options?

With the terrible events in Ukraine unfolding before our eyes, the consequences are being felt immediately at home.

The Boss of Yara, Svein Tore Holsether has warned in a BBC interview that the situation could get even tougher and has spoken of the Ukraine war as ‘catastrophic for global food’.

What was already a difficult situation with gas prices at 400 – 500% up on last year and the consequent issues with supplies, caused by increased manufacturing costs, production facilities closing, plus shipping and road transport shortages being known for the last 6 – 12 months, things have now become considerably worse. Gas and oil have both doubled in the last fortnight!

Russia is a significant player in energy and commodity markets, including nitrogen’s, phosphates and potash. As the sanctions take effect, the worldwide supply becomes ever tighter pushing prices even higher, regardless of where domestic markets traditionally source products. The combination of the increased manufacturing costings and a restricted supply is a double hit.

The efficient use of fertiliser has never been so important. Without fertiliser applications crops will not reach yield potential. In a grassland scenario, home grown forage is still the most efficient way to feed livestock. With the forecast of these high prices being the norm for the foreseeable future, a good quality silage for the winter months will be essential to keep what we will be higher feed costs, down. At Wynnstay we can offer a soil sampling service to ensure that the best suited products are used in the most cost-effective way through a nutrient management plan. The plan can include your organic manures and can be followed up with plant tissue, manure and silage analysis to give a true picture of the silage feed values to maximise on farm savings.

Please note: This information was correct at the time of drafting on 09/03/2022 and is subject to change at any time.

Follow our wildflower growing guide to help create a bee and wildlife haven. Wildflowers have proven to benefit farmland such as improving the wildlife on your farm by improving habitats for pollinators, farmland birds and other wildlife.

The UK Government will continue to offer Countryside Stewardship agreements in2022 and 2023.

Countryside Stewardship will eventually be replaced with the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme. This will follow trialling and testing and a national pilot involving farmers and land managers during the next few years.