agronomy

[Boysground]

And the certification company you chose?

I'm with NSF.

Same here for arable.

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[holly smoke]

£241 per ha on OSR for chemicals alone? fudgeing hell.

Sorry my mistake this price includes the seed 1 bag of hybrid plus some ffs on the rest 13 ha in total

 

[Richard III]

And the certification company you chose?

I'm with NSF.

Same here for arable.

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I'll scrap that theory then!

 

[robbie]

That still seems a bit steep.
What have you done for that.
I'm guessing there's plenty of insecticide and severla fungicide passes in that price.

 

[neilo]

Very few independent agronomists around here, as everyone seems happy to pay for one of the many serviced companies operating locally, which all seems very strange to me.

I’ve just started with an independent this year, coming from 30 odd miles away but doing several others locally now, so can bolt me on.
I have less than 100ac of arable cropping, in several crops, i’d Be surprised if he didn’t save his £8/ac fee at least a couple of times over.
Besides chems coming at far lower prices through his own small buying group (360 Glyphosate at £42 instead of £64/20L for example), but mixes are much simpler too.

 

[warksfarmer]

evening all

new on here so bear with me
we are currently using 1 of the main agronomy firms to do the crop walking but recently been thinking about changing as the price we are paying for chemical seems a lot more that posted on here.
230 acres split between w wheat, w barley, s barley, w osr, w beans
would it be cheaper to go independent and pay a fee or stick with a all in firm

many thanks hs

What are you waiting for!! Just do it. We saved £150/ha in the first year alone and yields never altered.

Serviced agronomy is corrupt and theft. It’s a pure con and all you are doing by remaining in it is lining the pockets of the suit men further.

 

[Brisel]

Good morning, I'm convinced that I would be able to save money and grow better crops if I source inputs myself rather than serviced agronomy. But I don't have a basis qualification though, am I flying close to the wind by self prescribing?

Hmm. It depends on your knowledge & experience for crop walking. There are plenty of good farmers who don't need BASIS to be very good safe and legal growers. You'll need regular access to the CRD database to check crop approvals & EAMUs. It's not just know ing which product is best but what is legal, compatible with others, what dose etc that makes it a little more complex. If you know a good agronomist why not pay them for crop walking and recs only, with you doing the sourcing? Most distributor agronomists have deals like this where clients only want the advice.If they recommend their own exclusive products then feck them off quickly! Membership of NIAB TAG is a good investment

 

[holly smoke]

That still seems a bit steep.
What have you done for that.
I'm guessing there's plenty of insecticide and severla fungicide passes in that price.

2 broad leave weed sprays
1 vol cereals
2 fungicides
3 trace elements
plus a adjuvant in every tank full

 

[holly smoke]

Sorry my mistake this price includes the seed 1 bag of hybrid plus some ffs on the rest 13 ha in total

witch still puts it at £190 per ha excluding fert

 

[An Gof]

I thought you had to have full recommendations now following the changes to crop assurance in October? In a similar position, BASIS qualified but don't keep up with the register, so paying my main supplier to do the recommendations. Proper pain crop assurance and our current inspector is overly militant. Failed last autumn due to not having a certificate from SWW proving that the mains water filling our main spray tank was not of drinking water quality!!!! This turned out to be rubbish for combinable crops following a complaint and the little stickers arrived shortly after........

Like you @Properjob I'm doing all my own agronomy. I have managed, so far to keep up my annual BASIS points but it is a struggle and you know how many meetings i go to
I wasn't asked for recommendations at my recent audit and i certainly do not write recommendations for myself. I do however have my annual basic plan used to calculate my annual requirements for ordering. I have never been asked for a recommendation sheet in all the years i have been inspected, all info from the audit is taken from the computerised field records.
A militant inspector is rather unhelpful, perhaps you should invest in some chocolate biscuits
Last year my inspector complemented my wife on the home made viennese fingers served with coffee. I made sure a fresh batch was available this year

 

[warksfarmer]

Sorry my mistake this price includes the seed 1 bag of hybrid plus some ffs on the rest 13 ha in total

We are £235/ha all in for seed, fertiliser, chemicals and all machinery operations so far. Only thing left to do is dessication and harvest.

 

[average farmer]

Very interesting thread for me this one!

I find myself in a situation where we could change to independent from serviced agronomy as our agronomist is retiring after 30 odd years with us. Looking at our bills and prices quoted on the tracker thread I'm thinking we could be saving 10-20% on our chem bills if like for like is used maybe more.

I'd be interested to here from members using independent agro about how much time they spend sourcing chems and who they buy through? would it be worth being part of a buying group? how do you find deliveries from different companies arriving at different times affect your time?

we are very busy and time is a big factor for us (me and Dad) with various other interests as well as farming, but tbh the saving we make on the chems would about pay for someone to do the spraying.

 

[Clive]

Very interesting thread for me this one!

I find myself in a situation where we could change to independent from serviced agronomy as our agronomist is retiring after 30 odd years with us. Looking at our bills and prices quoted on the tracker thread I'm thinking we could be saving 10-20% on our chem bills if like for like is used maybe more.

I'd be interested to here from members using independent agro about how much time they spend sourcing chems and who they buy through? would it be worth being part of a buying group? how do you find deliveries from different companies arriving at different times affect your time?

we are very busy and time is a big factor for us (me and Dad) with various other interests as well as farming, but tbh the saving we make on the chems would about pay for someone to do the spraying.

My independant will buy for me if I want him to and no extra cost - he buys very well when he does

Buy myself though now normally - takes moments on Farm marketplace or via a couple of calls or emails to known competitive suppliers

Well worth the effort

 

[SilliamWhale]

Very interesting thread for me this one!

I find myself in a situation where we could change to independent from serviced agronomy as our agronomist is retiring after 30 odd years with us. Looking at our bills and prices quoted on the tracker thread I'm thinking we could be saving 10-20% on our chem bills if like for like is used maybe more.

I'd be interested to here from members using independent agro about how much time they spend sourcing chems and who they buy through? would it be worth being part of a buying group? how do you find deliveries from different companies arriving at different times affect your time?

we are very busy and time is a big factor for us (me and Dad) with various other interests as well as farming, but tbh the saving we make on the chems would about pay for someone to do the spraying.

Certain companies but you in a bracket on their price structure. Make yourself known to 4 or 5 chemical suppliers who are reliable and willing to have feedback if you think they are too expensive now and again. eg agrii, procam, hutchinsons, buying groups etc.

Then send these companies an email of the chemicals you have used in the past 2 years and ask them to quote for those chemicals say in spring and autumn. Then check on marketplace and on the price tracker. If they won't email prices and only call you with prices, drop them as its a waste of your time and you need to be able to see the prices - its not rude to ask for email only its easier to plan. Then go with the cheapest or your favourite

Most of the time agronomy seems to be repeating the same thing year on year anyway with the odd tweak. Witness the crap we talk about with regard to T1-T3 - its mainly much of a muchness imv.

 

[snipe]

We use a buying group takes about 2 mins. I try to buy the cheaper products at one go at the beginning of the season growthreg roundup ctl. Just save a couple of deliverys

 

[Boysground]

Very interesting thread for me this one!

I find myself in a situation where we could change to independent from serviced agronomy as our agronomist is retiring after 30 odd years with us. Looking at our bills and prices quoted on the tracker thread I'm thinking we could be saving 10-20% on our chem bills if like for like is used maybe more.

I'd be interested to here from members using independent agro about how much time they spend sourcing chems and who they buy through? would it be worth being part of a buying group? how do you find deliveries from different companies arriving at different times affect your time?

we are very busy and time is a big factor for us (me and Dad) with various other interests as well as farming, but tbh the saving we make on the chems would about pay for someone to do the spraying.

Independent here. He produces the recommendations which we then discuss and usually change a little when I have a few ideas. I use a group to source all the chemicals, In the past I have done my own pricing with different companies but the group system suits me at the moment. This Monday I ordered my T2 chemical all done by email. The chemical was all on the farm by 10am Wednesday morning, that is the usual delivery. It came from 2 different suppliers. I cant remember the last time I had a delivery issue, we are always told allow 48 hours and I am happy with that.

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[AF Salers]

@average farmer I use an independant agronomist and he orders the products primarily from Woldmarsh buying group on my behalf, no additional cost for him to do the ordering, he also orders from one or two independant suppliers who sometimes have specific deals for certain chems. As others have said we but some products in bulk at the start of the season, (Glypho, CTL, Epsom salts this year) as this often means cheaper prices and delayed payment. The deliveries are following day from a maximum of 2 companies usually on any one order, though if it is a small order it is normally put with just a single supplier. My agronomist also does his very best to keep his rec's to full cans to prevent a build up of part cans.

 

[holly smoke]

Has anyone had any prices for t2 chemicals yet and what chemical have you been using?

 

[T Hectares]

Independent here. He produces the recommendations which we then discuss and usually change a little when I have a few ideas. I use a group to source all the chemicals, In the past I have done my own pricing with different companies but the group system suits me at the moment. This Monday I ordered my T2 chemical all done by email. The chemical was all on the farm by 10am Wednesday morning, that is the usual delivery. It came from 2 different suppliers. I cant remember the last time I had a delivery issue, we are always told allow 48 hours and I am happy with that.

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Sounds like we might be in the same group...

When I moved here the agronomy was done by an independent, with the purchasing through a distributer, I was told many times how much they looked after us, delivered each day, would take products back etc etc

Since using the group, which I'd used previously, there has been no issues.

I can always ring them up and arrange to pick anything up if needed, usually from the closest distributor 5 miles away, and their advice and help on the phone is great, they keep us up-to date with any supply issues and any deals around, and they do a really good job on fert.

I can't imagine using anyone else to purchase through...

That's where the farm market place model has a weakness imo, as I only use an Agro on a reduced service, I use the groups advice alot, they offer alot more than just purchasing....

 

[Boysground]

Hampshire is between Wiltshire and Berkshire

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