Cereals

The UK’s leading farm assurance body, Red Tractor, is urging farmers to engage in a consultation on how its farm standards should evolve.

Launched on 30th November 2020, AHDB’s online edition of the Recommended Lists for cereals and oilseeds (RL) 2021/22 features major changes to wheat rust disease-resistance ratings. Rachel Hicks reports.

Harvest 2021 trials at AHDB Strategic Cereal Farms will focus on the prevention, detection and control of pests, weeds and diseases – key components of integrated pest management (IPM).

The BYDV risk is likely to be elevated this season as a consequence of several issues, says Neil Watson, technical support manager for Hutchinsons.

Across the country 2020 yields suffered due to various weather issues, so many farmers will be keen to get their winter crops off to an early start in an effort to secure better yields next year. Consequently, many fields have already been sown with winter cereal crops.

Independent trials conducted in drought prone soils, comparing the performance of commonly used bio-stimulants on Skyfall winter wheat with a 50% fungicide programme, have found AminoA FLO to be one of the best performing and most consistent bio-stimulants in the study.

Black-grass dormancy rates of over 80% in tests this year gives growers and agronomists a clear indication for the most successful control strategies for the season.

Spring 2020 saw the largest area of spring cereals for many years. Although not as large an increase as in spring barley, oats saw a significant increase this year with the English crop seeing a 26% growth in plantings, according to the AHDB, with most of those appearing in spring.

After the sodden conditions last autumn, some arable farmers may consider drilling wheat earlier to guarantee a decent area next harvest. But threats such as grass weeds and virus carrying aphids are both more of an issue in early drilled crops. Bayer’s Darren Adkins gives his thoughts on how farmers can balance the need for wheat area with pest and weed threats.

KWS Parkin fell just short of making it onto the 2020/2021 RL and so could be overlooked by some growers, but this small and mighty variety offers something very much in demand, many industry specialists believe.

The importance of winter wheat variety disease resilience was evident at Bayer’s virtual Long Sutton demo, with physiological yield-benefits from fungicides also likely.

An increase in demand for rye grain in pig feed, either as pellets, or as wet or dry meal in home ‘mill and mix’ rations has led to a recent surge in interest in growing hybrid rye according to James Maw, Managing Director of Glencore Agriculture UK Ltd.