ahdb cereals & oilseeds agronomy 2017 · 1988 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012...
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AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds Agronomy 2017Wednesday 15 February 2017
Wiltshire
#agronomy17
Chair’s welcomePhilip Dolbear – Knowledge Exchange Manager (South West), AHDB
#agronomy17
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Programme10:00 Registration
10:15 Chair’s welcome Philip Dolbear– Knowledge Exchange Manager (South West), AHDB
10:20 The Velcourt approach to variety selection in the South West Matthew Cobbald – South West
Agronomy Manager, Velcourt
10:50 Integrated pest management Steve Ellis – Entomologist, Manager Pest Evaluation Services,
ADAS
11:20 Refreshment break
11:35 Weed management John Cussans – Agronomy KT Development Manager, NIAB
12:00 Nutrient management David Wilson – Farm Manager, Highgrove Estate
12:30 Panel discussion: the future of future farming
13:00 AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds Knowledge Transfer Update Emily Smith – Knowledge Transfer
Manager, AHDB
13:15 AHDB update Philip Dolbear– Knowledge Exchange Manager (South West), AHDB
13:25 Summary and close
13:30 Lunch
The Velcourt approach to variety selection for the SWMatthew Cobbald – South West Agronomy Manager, Velcourt
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Integrated pest managementSteve Ellis – ADAS
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Crystal ball gazing
• Fewer actives
• More expensive actives
• Threat of resistance
• Environmental concerns
• Legislation
Fewer new products
0
40
80
120
No.
of A
I re
gis
tra
tio
ns
New active ingredient (AI) registations by decade
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% area of arable crops treated with
insecticides
The days of cheap insurance
sprays are over
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
1988 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014
Source: Pesticide Usage Survey Reports for arable crops in Great Britain
Graph produced by Sacha White, ADAS
2016
Peach–potato aphid
Pollen
beetle
Grain aphid
CSFB
Pea &
bean
weevil
Striped flea beetle
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Pyrethroids & their alternatives:
Pollen beetle control in UK
Standard
treatment
Alternative products
Pymetrozine Indoxacarb Thiacloprid
Lamda-
cyhalothrin @
£7.48/ha
£40.86/ha £31.34/ha £19.32/ha
The science of doing nothing
• Most difficult
decision you can
make
• Do you need to
treat?
• Requires 100%
confidence in
available
information
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Thresholds: Outdated, obsolete,
onerous!!
• Most current thresholds
at least 20 years old
• Limited if any scientific
background (10/34 peer
reviewed)
• Too many
• Best information at
present
Assessment methods not user friendly
• Time consuming
• Temperature
dependent
• Elusive quarry
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Entomology/physiology collaboration
• Entomology
– Pest biology
– Assessment methods
– Control options
• Physiology
– Plant number
– Yield parameters
– Crop tolerance e.g. pollen beetle & stem borers
What have the Americans ever done for us?
(Litsinger, 2009)
Insect feeding group Example pests
Tissue consumers Slugs, flea beetles, pea and bean
weevil, pollen beetle, seed weevil
Leaf senescence accelerators Aphids
Stand reducers Slugs, wireworms, leatherjackets,
dipterous stem borers
Photosynthetic rate reducers Aphids (honeydew & sooty moulds),
leaf miners, leaf beetles
Assimilate sappers Aphids, saddle gall midge, orange
wheat blossom midge
Turgor reducers Nematodes, leatherjackets,
wireworms through root damage
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Loss of green leaf area
Insecticides targeted at pollen
beetle
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What should a threshold
scheme consider?
1. How many buds can a beetle destroy?
2. How many excess flowers does an oilseed
rape plant produce?
3. Is it possible to predict the excess flowers per
plant using an easier in-field measure (e.g.
plant population?)
On average a single beetle can
destroy nine buds per plant
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Excess flower number is dependent on
variety
Variety Excess flowers/m2
2008/2009 2009/2010
Castille (OP) 3747 8816
Excalibur (Hybrid) 7019 10760
PR54D03 (Semi dwarf hybrid) 7107 9505
Mean 5958 9694
Excess flower number is inversely
related to plant number
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Pollen beetle threshold varies
with plant number
Insecticide
Untreated
Rumo
Hallmark
Plenum
Biscaya
Validating the new threshold…
Is damage to the main raceme likely to result in
greater yield loss?
Aims & Methods
What about pigeon damage?
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Insecticide experiments
• Five sites over 3 years
• Varying plant populations: 17 to 63 plants/m2
• Thresholds ranged from 11 to 25 pollen
beetles/plant
• Beetle numbers ranged from 0.9 to 4.8 beetles
per plant – Threshold never exceeded.
• No significant impact upon yield
Defoliation treatments
120 seeds/m2 Non defoliation 120 seeds/m2 Defoliated
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Artificial pollen beetle
• Does what it’s
asked
• Can be relied
upon to cause
consistent leaf
damage
• Prune 0%, 50% or
100% buds on
main raceme
Impact of defoliation on yield
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
HM14 RM14 RM15 HM15
Yie
ld (t/
ha)
Defoliated Non Defoliation
* *
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0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
HM14(WOSR)
RM14(WOSR)
HM15(WOSR)
HM15(SOSR)
RM15(WOSR)
BX16(WOSR)
HM16(WOSR)
Yie
ld (t/
ha)
0% Pruning 50% Pruning 100% Pruning
Impact of pruning on yield• No significant
interaction with defoliation.
• No significant interaction with seed rate (exc. HM15 WOSR).
Take home messages
• Pollen beetle numbers rarely exceed threshold.
• Simulated pigeon damaged crops do not incur larger
yield losses from pollen beetle damage.
• Crops with lower plant populations are no more at risk
to pollen beetle damage than crops with high plant
populations
• Severe simulated pigeon damage may not always
reduce yield.
• Pruning all buds from the terminal raceme did not
reduce yield.
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Threshold scheme logic
• The minimum shoot number
required for average UK yield is
400 shoots/m2
• BUT plants typically produce >
1000 shoots/m2 by GS30.
• A number of excess shoots
could therefore be lost to WBF
without affecting yield.
• Shoot number is influenced by
sowing date
Minimum
shoot
number
Excess
shoots
Take home messages
• Reliance on chemicals will decline as uptake of IPM increases
• Days of cheap insecticide treatments are over
• Need to be more confident of when to do nothing
• Physiology input is vital for developing robust thresholds
• Link pests in terms of their effects on the crop
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Thank you
#agronomy17
AHDB Knowledge Transfer: links between research and practice
Emily Smith – Knowledge Transfer Manager, AHDB
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Content
1. The links between research and practice
2. Case study project:• Cover crop review
• Farmer experiences
• MAXI cover crop project
The links between research and practice
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Cover crop reviews
1. Opportunities for cover crops in conventional arable rotations (2014-2015)
Cover crop reviews
1. Opportunities for cover crops in conventional arable rotations (2014-2015)
2. A review of the benefits, optimal crop management practices and knowledge gaps associated with different cover crop species
(2015-2016)
3. Maximising the benefits from cover crops through species selection and crop management (2016-2017)
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Cover crop reviews
1. Opportunities for cover crops in conventional arable rotations (2014-2015)
2. A review of the benefits, optimal crop management practices and knowledge gaps associated with different cover crop species
(2015-2016)
3. Maximising the benefits from cover crops through species selection and crop management (2016-2017)
Maxi-Cover-Crop
• Large plot trials • Standard farm
establishment & destruction methods
• 11 cover crop treatments
• Tramline trials• Cover crop validation
trials
• Cultivation/ destruction validation trials
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The Monitor Farm programme
• 23 England & Wales
• 2 Scotland
Farmer experiences 2015-2016
Available from: https://cereals.ahdb.org.uk/covered
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Farmer experiences 2015 – 2016
Species ID
Tilney White mustard 1
Gaillette Strigosa Oat 2
Kings Winter Cover mix 3
Barracuda Radish 4
Kings cheap EFA mix 5
Tillage Radish 6
DSV Terralife Betamax 7
DSV Terralife Rigol TR 8
DSV Terralife Biomax TR 9
Kings Vitality Mix 10
0
50
100
150
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Cost/
va
lue
(£
/ha
)
Seed £/ha
Total nutrient value £/ha
x4
The links between research and practice
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Thank you
AHDB Update & SummaryPhilip Dolbear – Knowledge Exchange Manager (South West), AHDB
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Sector Objectives
4 Key common priority areas for AHDB
1. Stimulating competitiveness
2. Encouraging productivity
3. Raising demand
4. Driving value from volatility and resilience
C&O Priorities
1. Raise UK Productivity
2. Understand our competitors productivity
3. Lower UK costs of production
4. Improve input cost management
5. Find alternatives to diminishing chemicals
6. Increase Soils productivity
7. Understand better Rotations as a solution
8. Take waste out of supply chains
9. Exports – post BREXIT?
10. Industry data (Defra decline)
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What’s new!
• Field scale trials
• Coordination UK KE delivery – other’s data!
• Influence on direction of R&D
• Engagement with supply chains
• Deriving value from volatility
• Sustainability and soil health
Monitor Farms
?
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Arable Business Groups
Winter
Wheat
Spring
Wheat
Spring
Barley
Forage
Maize
Winter
OSR
Winter
Beans
Winter
Oats
2014 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014
Physical Summary
Total area grown (Hectares) 15.84 23.58 33.2 38.26 13.96 14.84 3.14
Total tonnage produced (Tonnes) 141 156 224 1701 51 67 23
Average yield per hectare (Tonnes) 8.9 6.62 6.75 44.46 3.65 4.49 7.41
Variable Costs
Seeds (£) 65 88 57 173 36 44 159
Fertilizer, manures and composts (£) 109 85 132 153 261 10 73
Sprays and chemicals (£) 210 169 134 43 285 137 92
Sundries (£) 11 11 11 1 1 1 11
Total Variable Costs (£) 395 353 335 371 583 193 335
Fixed Costs
Labour (including family labour cost ) (£) 293 205 205 205 205 205 293
Machinery and power (£) 218 152 152 152 152 152 218
Property costs (£/tonne) 26 26 26 26 26 26 26
Overheads (£) 20 20 20 20 20 20 20
Total Fixed Costs (£/Ha) 556 403 403 403 403 403 556
Total Cost of Production (£/Ha) 951 756 738 774 986 595 892
Example Farm Harvest 2014 Cost of Production
Contact me!
07964 255614
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Thank you
#agronomy17