On the back of what can only be described as a ‘challenging’ autumn for many growers the door is finally shut for the 2019 drilling campaign, with land work and spraying now becoming marginal too!
For the growers who did manage to get any winter cereals drilled many haven’t turned a wheel in those fields since which will throw up further challenges come spring regarding herbicide efficacy. We will wait to see how the loss of Deter on a year where we haven’t been able to apply an insecticide in the autumn will affect eventual yield.
Agrovista has taken major steps forward within the seed industry. With the establishment of our own plant in Lincolnshire we are opening new doors and are firmly registering our name with growers across the North for being a competitive quality seed merchant. We work hard behind the scenes to trial a broad selection of varieties across as many soil types and farming practises as possible; for example, direct drilling – not all wheat varieties on the AHDB Recommended List (RL) will suit this type of crop establishment. Identifying the shift in farming practises we see it important to bring growers a comprehensive data set on varieties which will suit them.
Our national trialling capability enables us to carefully monitor and select both recommended and pre-RL material, identifying those with key agronomic benefits, such as to accommodate the apparent never-ending revocation of ‘actives’ e.g. Chlorothalonil. Many retained varieties on the new 2020 RL with a Septoria tritici score below ‘6’ will be hard to manage without CTL.
Within the north we also run a comprehensive fleet of ‘seed mobile processors.’ With spring seed being unusually tight for the 2020 season, if you have spring species sat in your shed it would be an opportunity to save money and dress your own! Agrovista also run a seed sampling and analysis service to ensure the grain achieves a level of quality suitable for season which this year more than ever I would advise you to do before dressing. Farm Saved Seed can achieve approximately 50% saving over buying bagged C2. Please contact Derwent Buyers Group if you have any enquiries regarding Farm Saved Seed!
Credit: Sam Luty -Yorkshire Region, Agronomist & Seed Sales Manager
