Chemical Price Tracker

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
Do independents also have a vested interest to do something different though ?

Different from what? Unique brews like Kestrel or Boogie? Lots of trace elements & fancy unnecessary adjuvants? I see your point - many distributor reps will work on agronomy only and recommend widely available products so you can buy anywhere, not just their firm.

They wouldn't want pet products unless they are more commonly available ones like Cherokee, Adexar, Aviator. Having said that, Firelfy is Hutchinsons only but seems good value.
 

shakerator

Member
Location
LINCS
Different from what? Unique brews like Kestrel or Boogie? Lots of trace elements & fancy unnecessary adjuvants? I see your point - many distributor reps will work on agronomy only and recommend widely available products so you can buy anywhere, not just their firm.

They wouldn't want pet products unless they are more commonly available ones like Cherokee, Adexar, Aviator. Having said that, Firelfy is Hutchinsons only but seems good value.

Ok, say if you have a farmer reasonably clued into AI dose rates timings etc, and he gets rid of serviced agron, Indy comes in and does the same stuff with a different label. Grower then resents paying an acreage fee for doing what he had already done . Only applies of course if grower reasonably engaged in the process
 

franklin

New Member
because I don't know enough yet, i'm still learning, would it be much cheaper?

As said, it doesnt sound cheaper. But if you save £1 for each sprayer pass, and you make 8 passes in a crop of wheat, and you grow 1000ac of wheat, then thats £8k.

As discussed ad infinito, even if you have serviced agronomy (as I do) you are not obliged to take their product and you can ask them for an alternative. Or ask for a rebate.

One way or another you are paying them, so make sure they have your interests in mind too.

All you have to do is post some prices on here, and you will find any number of others who have purchased elsewhere. You can compare, and work out some mixes. Unless you farm a very small area of land you want to be paying your agronomist a rate per acre.
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
Ok, say if you have a farmer reasonably clued into AI dose rates timings etc, and he gets rid of serviced agron, Indy comes in and does the same stuff with a different label. Grower then resents paying an acreage fee for doing what he had already done . Only applies of course if grower reasonably engaged in the process

That's fair. There are plenty of decent service agronomists who don't take the mickey, especially the older wiser ones. The young buck from Agrii who is taking on an ex contract farm of mine this autumn for the new contractor is the godson of the neighbour so I doubt he'll get much past the farmer!
 

Flat 10

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Fen Edge
That's fair. There are plenty of decent service agronomists who don't take the mickey, especially the older wiser ones.
This is not often said on here but I believe it to be true. There is also considerable convenience in being assured of next day delivery and not ringing up lots of different suppliers IF the serviced agron is not taking the pee.
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
This is not often said on here but I believe it to be true. There is also considerable convenience in being assured of next day delivery and not ringing up lots of different suppliers IF the serviced agron is not taking the pee.

Not having 4 different chlormequat, 3 different metaldehyde and 6 different glyphosate generic products turning up also helps if you're not in a buying group that puts all chemical orders out to tender with a number of suppliers (not just the big 4).
 

ewewhat

Member
BASIS
Location
Cambridge
1 litre of Kestrel gives 160 grammes of prothioconazole and 80 g of tebuconazole, costing you £35.88 (£179.40/5 litres)

Instead, you buy 1 litre or 275 g of Proline for £46.40 and 1 litre or 250 g of Tubosan for £9.

160/275 = 0.58 litres of Proline for £27 and 80/250 = 0.32 litres Tubosan for £2.88. 27 + 2.88 = £29.88 for a home made Kestrel of equal strength vs your agronomist's special brew costing £35.88.

That doesn't sound like a huge saving but add that kind of saving up over 50% of your products and you've saved enough money to pay the legal costs & magistrate's fine for slapping the agronomist if they give you any bullsh*te about "how well formulated Kestrel is!"

One note of caution - if you're serviced i.e. don't pay extra for the agronomist because their fees are built into the chemical price, then you'll have to pay a £/acre cost to an independent agronomist which on a small area might not show huge savings over your Agrii one.

With an independent agronomist who is working to reduce your agchem spend you'll get your money back though. They have no vested interest in selling chemical unlike a distributor agronomist.

That is a great idea! A daft question....why have you done the sum 160/275 and 80/250? I'm terrible at maths...
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
The straight products, Proline and Tubsoan, have different concentrations to the Kestrel. Kestrel has 160 g/litre prothio. Proline has 275 g/litre so the division was to arrive at a pro rata reduced rate of a stronger product to give the same dose of active ingredient. I was trying to compare like with like. 1 litre of Kestrel gives 160 grammes of prothio. For 160 g of prothio from Proline you use 0.58 litres. 0.58 x 275 = 160

By mixing Proline and Tubosan at the right doses you could get the same dose of each active ingredient as the equivalent dose of Kestrel at a cheaper price. I hope that makes sense.
 

Hampton

Member
BASIS
Location
Shropshire
That's fair. There are plenty of decent service agronomists who don't take the mickey, especially the older wiser ones. The young buck from Agrii who is taking on an ex contract farm of mine this autumn for the new contractor is the godson of the neighbour so I doubt he'll get much past the farmer!
I retired from serviced agronomy at 29. I didn't have a penny to my name according to my lawyers, Mossack Fonseca.
 

Hampton

Member
BASIS
Location
Shropshire
The straight products, Proline and Tubsoan, have different concentrations to the Kestrel. Kestrel has 160 g/litre prothio. Proline has 275 g/litre so the division was to arrive at a pro rata reduced rate of a stronger product to give the same dose of active ingredient. I was trying to compare like with like. 1 litre of Kestrel gives 160 grammes of prothio. For 160 g of prothio from Proline you use 0.58 litres. 0.58 x 275 = 160

By mixing Proline and Tubosan at the right doses you could get the same dose of each active ingredient as the equivalent dose of Kestrel at a cheaper price. I hope that makes sense.
The interesting thing is what you do with the £7/ha saving. Do you bump up the rate to increase persistence, or do you apply a second fungicide later on? (granted with osr you will prob do that anyway).
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
The interesting thing is what you do with the £7/ha saving. Do you bump up the rate to increase persistence, or do you apply a second fungicide later on? (granted with osr you will prob do that anyway).

It depends on what I was spraying for. PGR and LLS in osr around now? A litre of Tubosan/Savannah/Odin 250 g/l teb will do that for £9/ha, though Toledo does the job gramme for gramme marginally cheaper.
 

Hampton

Member
BASIS
Location
Shropshire
It depends on what I was spraying for. PGR and LLS in osr around now? A litre of Tubosan/Savannah/Odin 250 g/l teb will do that for £9/ha, though Toledo does the job gramme for gramme marginally cheaper.
Of course, I was just making the broader point that the extra £7/ha gives you options you didn't previously have.
 

franklin

New Member
The interesting thing is what you do with the £7/ha saving. Do you bump up the rate to increase persistence, or do you apply a second fungicide later on? (granted with osr you will prob do that anyway).

Low pollen beetle risk I think for OSR. Nutrients already applied - I dont think spring applied boron is worth it. Leave a fungicide. Crops look moderate. Will probably wait until mid flower and go with a straight teb which will be it until dessicated. Will add in insecticide reluctantly on a couple of backward / less even fields.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.2%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 65 34.8%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.0%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,289
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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