CROPS 2014 at Chertsey has surpassed all previous events. Over 600 people attended to hear presentations from national and international cereal and seed researchers, and to view demonstrations around new cultivars, agrichemicals, machinery and fertiliser products.
The Foundation for Arable Research’s CEO Nick Pyke says the day was a huge success, and that comments from attendees suggested that the range of agronomy, technology and environmental presentations was spot on.
“We‘re very pleased with the feedback to date as we worked pretty hard to get the programme mix right. Guest speakers Patrick Stephenson from the UK’s NIAB TAG and John Kirkegaard from Australia’s CSIRO drew big crowds for their talks on cereal yields and break crops. Our growers always appreciate an international perspective on the crops that they grow and Patrick and John’s ideas were received with a lot of interest.”
Mr Stephenson, who is a consultant in the UK, discussed the factors which scientists believe are holding back potential increases wheat yields. He believes that many of these, such as disease resistance and the number of tillers, heads and grains produced per plants, as well as water and nutrient use efficiency could be addressed by improved genetics.
Mr Kirkegaard discussed the benefits of break crops following wheat crops, noting that a recent research review found that on average, wheat yields increased on average by 0.5 t/ha following oats, 0.8 t/ha following oilseeds and 1.0 t/ha following grain legumes. This research has also found that the “break-crop effect” often extends to a second wheat crop especially following legumes.
Amongst the New Zealand research on show was a newly designed irrigator stabilisation system, which can be retrofitted to centre pivot or linear irrigators to stop them blowing over in high winds. The system, designed by Canterbury University mechanical engineering students with funding from the Foundation for Arable Research, deploys self-filling water bags, which drop and anchor the irrigators. The design has been patented and FAR is currently investigating development options.
Other talks focused on issues such as nutrient management and farm environment plans, integrated pest management and spray drift reduction.
