October 2020
Pests to keep an eye on this week
October 30, 2020
Richard Derbyshire, Bartonfields iFarm Coordinator, 30th October 2020 Keep a look out for these pests in your emerging cereal crops: Aphids Aphids are still active and landing in cereals. BYDV carried by these can severely knock yields if left unchecked…. Read more
Tagged # APHID, CEREAL PESTS, CROP DAMAGE, crops, FRIT FLY, LARVAE, pest, SLUG EGG
Eyemouth iFarm WB and WW update
October 30, 2020
Here are some pictures from Greig Baird out on the Eyemouth iFarm Winter Wheat and tussocks plots, showing how they protect the tussocks from the crows. The second image shows a view of the Winter Barley. Our tussock trials may… Read more
Drilling the winter wheat trials at the Bartonfields iFarm
October 20, 2020
The winter wheat trials were drilled last Thursday 16th October (see video below -54 seconds) at the Bartonfields iFarm, Church Broughton, near Derby. 20 different varieties were drilled, including BYDV tolerant RGT Wolverine, best standing variety KWS Parkin and RGT… Read more
Latest news from the Ludlow iFarm
October 20, 2020
Autumn 2020 at Ludlow iFarm. What a difference a year makes! Last year we struggled to plant the plots at Gatley Farms into a far from ideal seed bed in November. This year, 560 trial plots have been planted in… Read more
iFarm Results – harvest 2020
October 19, 2020
We’ll be holding a series of webinars over the Autumn/Winter period to update customers on the results from our iFarm trials this year. Please look out for your invitation through the post and in your inbox over the next few… Read more
Cropwatch South – October 2020
October 16, 2020
We’ve certainly been glad to move on from the 2020 harvest. While extremely variable, it wasn’t actually as bad as we feared in many cases. Our November/December wheat drillings, in particular, were a pleasant surprise. A combination of better prices… Read more
Tagged # BYDV, CSFB, OSR, winter barley, winter wheat
Kent ifarm update
October 14, 2020
The stripper header story continues. Neil Harper comments on the drilling and subsequent emergence of winter oilseed rape into the stripped straw field in Kent. This is the 2nd year of drilling into stripped straw following the 2nd wheat last… Read more
Tagged # companion cropping, crops, drilling, iFarm, kent, OSR, stripper header, wosr
Fallacy of ‘income foregone’ payments for new ELMS revealed
October 5, 2020
Basing new Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS) payments on the age-old income foregone formula is unnecessary and will fail to deliver the desired public goods, warns a leading agricultural policy adviser. “Other than lack of imagination and ambition, there is… Read more
Tagged # BPS, DEFRA, ELMS, Environment, farmers, farming, Land, payment, scheme
Escaping the flea beetle threat
October 3, 2020
Companion cropping is providing oilseed rape on the Hampshire/Wiltshire border with good protection from cabbage stem flea beetle damage while preserving soil moisture to encourage early strong growth. Manager, Kevin Smith is looking to hide his oilseed rape under a… Read more
Tagged # buckwheat, com, companion crop, CSFB, Flea Beetle, oilseed, OSR, rape, todd jex
Talking Agronomy – Jo Bell – October 2020
October 1, 2020
Mid-September and there’s just some linseed and beans to finish harvesting. As we feared, the August storms took their toll of some cereals. Oats were the worst hit, with up to 50% of the grain on the floor; a shame… Read more
Tagged # armadillo, barley, blackgrass, budweiser, BYDV, dickens, explorer, extase, glyphosate, grt, kerrin, kws, lanter, lantern, Linseed, OSR, seed, silversurfer, skyfall, varieties, wheat, winter wheat, wolverine, zyatt