Nuffield and the James Hutton Institute

Well where do I start?  I have had a very busy 10 days or so continuing my Nuffield research into the 20t/ha wheat project and it has literally taken me all over the country.  On Sunday the 10th February I had a lovely 8 hour drive from Overbury to Dundee, Invergowrie actually, home of the James Hutton Institute  I was there to meet Professor Geoff Squire the following morning to have a look around the research facility and see what is going on.  I was very interested in this area, firstly as I hadn't been this far North in a very long time and secondly, the JHI experimental farm is a LEAF Innovation Centre.  Monday morning soon arrived and after meeting Geoff I headed out with Euan Caldwell, the Farm Manager to tour farm.  The range of crops and experiments fitting into the fields was incredible and the 'commercial' aspect of the farm had to fit around the experiments.  There were blueberries, raspberries, kale, swede, onions, cabbage, radish, broccoli as well as potatoes and cereals.  The JHI hosts the annual 'Potatoes in Practice' event; hats off to Euan, there is a lot going on.  I was really interested in two main aspects of the farm, firstly the Centre for Sustainable Cropping system and also the genetic work on nitrogen uptake and efficiency, as well as some interesting faba bean nodule banter with Euan and Pete!

Whilst touring the farm Euan showed me another experiment going on capturing the water run-off along tramlines.  All the water is collected (in the mini culvert above) and analysed to measure nutrient and soil sediment loss.  Different tramlines have had different treatments to try and reduce erosion.  Some cultivated, some with different tyre patterns.  All very interesting and practical experiments, aimed to really make a difference on farm.

The sustainability field trials were a really great study topic.  How can a 6 year rotation be evaluated for it's impact on the environment?  The JHI guys and gals, were trying to find out.  The project is being coordinated by Dr Cathy Hawes and involves 6 fields split down the middle with the two halves being managed in different ways.  The, shall we say conventional, half is managed with current best local practise and the sustainable half is managed in a way as to maintain crop output but with a reduction in crop inputs.  This reduction is in the way of artificial fertilisers, fuel and pesticides.  Everything imaginable is being monitored leaving the systems.  Soil movement in the different cultivation techniques, weed seed bank movement, nematode movement, water movement and even small mammal trapping to see if they prefer the sustainable farming method.  The project is in year 4 now, having had to years of straight maize (a C4 plant in a C3 rotation so the degradation rates can be monitored) and two years of the proper rotation.

Here's a view of one of the fields with a beetle bank through the centre.  It will be a fascinating research project and hopefully funding will continue to keep this going for more than a couple of rotations, i.e at least 15 years.  We need this research to measure longer term farming interactions with our environment.

The second area of interest was the work being undertaken by Dr Ali Karley she is looking into root traits for better or more efficient use of nitrogen.  In fact has the wheat breeding in the past been aimed at breeding wheat varieties that only perform well in high input, especially nitrogen, farming systems.  Ali's work is looking at finding traits that enable wheat plants to perform in lower input systems, or those traits that make the plants more tolerant of sub optimal fertility sites.  I learnt that there is about 3,000-4,000Kg of Nitrogen locked away in each hectare of soil (varies a little depending on soil types etc), mainly in organic matter and that plants are fairly efficient in the UK farming system at utilising the nitrogen we deliver through organic and inorganic systems.  I also heard about utilisation efficiency, how much of the nitrogen gets into the grain, (yield and quality implications).  I was also very interested in the work looking at root penetration of compacted soils.  Can we breed wheat plants with stronger more robust rooting systems to be more efficient in their nitrogen utilisation as well as bust through a compacted layer during difficult seasons when compaction could be a problem?

I would like to pass my thanks on to Geoff and his team for looking after me so well and sharing lots of very good information.  I fear that this may not be my last trip to Dundee!  After Dundee I headed back done the motorway to Rothamsted.......

Farm Update

The last couple of months have been a difficult time on the farm with unprecidented low levels of rainfall during two important months.  At the start of March we were all very delighted with the dry spell of weather, great for spring barley drilling, potato planting and of course for lambing.  As the weeks rolled on and the temperatures rose the light arable land really started the run out of water.  Fertiliser that we had applied just sat on the surface so crops were unable to use the nitrogen and insect pests were multiplying in the warm spring sunshine.  Our newly planted trees, both in the orchards and the elm trees, required watering in order to keep them alive!  Once started this job will need to carry on but with the investment in the trees we have to keep the going.  Irrigation has been intense on the salad onion crops and today we have started on the potatoes.  Our rainfall for March was only 8.6mm (driest in 60yrs) and April was even less at 5.4mm (long term average for April is 49.5mm)

The large cracks opening up in the fields are usually only seen in the summer months and this photograph was taken in mid April!  It just goes to show how the weathers unpredictability impacts on our farming systems.  As a rule our climate is not used to weather changes like this.  Other areas of the world, like Australia and America, would expect these droughts much more often than us.  It will be a very interesting season as it progresses, just what will the effects be on yields and quality be?  It is still a long way to go but with the final leaves out in wheat crops (visible in April) 3 weeks ahead of usual there must be an affect, at the very least an early harvest.

Last weekend the rain arrived giving a very welcome 24mm.  This rain was the right kind of rain, silly statement you all scream but it was gentle and warm.  This gave it time to actually soak into the ground rather than run-off taking fertiliser with it into the nearest water course.  The situation had eased slightly but more rain will be required to get these crops to harvest, and it might even have come too late for our malting barley, which is looking thinner and thinner.

Worm's Eye View of Potatoes

This is one of the potato fields that Cobrey Farms rents from us. The field was planted in mid April and the potatoes emerged a couple of weeks ago. With the dry weather Henry Chinn has asked us to start irrigating the potatoes. they receive about 25mm of 'rain' each time we irrigate. the bare area in the middle of this field is where we spotted a lapwing nest when we were cultivating the field. In order not to disturb the nest we cultivated and subsequently planted around the nest. unfortunately the nest was predated after the field was planted. At the start there were 3 eggs in the nest but they soon disappeared leaving no trace.

This is a shot down between the potato rows showing how the plants grow and develop. Wit the warm water and adequate water they will very soon reach to meet across the rows. They need lots of water so that the skins of each potato are blemish free. This means that they will look more desirable to the customer when packed in clear plastic for the supermarket shelf. If these skins are good when harvested in August, Henry will pack them into 1 tonne boxes and put them into storage where they will stay untill Christmas (I expect). To find out more about Cobrey Farms you can visit their web on www.cobrey.co.uk

Turning The Taps On

After a few hot days the potatoes need a drink! We are putting between 15-20mm on these crops which will last them about 1 week if it doesn't rain in the mean time. the forecast looks dry and the small tubers are starting to form (hooking up) and need to be kept wet for the next 6 weeks to avoid any problems with scab. This disease causes little blisters on the skin of the potato. It makes no difference to the taste or quality of that potato but when packed under plastic and on a supermarket shelf, looks a little dirty. Tonnes of potato's are rejected each year because of scab, either powdery or common, (there are two kinds). The run in this field will last 11 hrs and the rain gun will travel 370m each of the 3 times it will take to cover the field at a snails pace of 33.6m/hr