farming without an agronomist ?

It depends on how much you're prepared to spend - NIAB do good courses on all the basics, plus look on their sister site Artis for practical courses (present circumstances excepted) but they do cost, about £200 a pop.
If you don't want to spend so much, try using farming journals like Crop Production Magazine and Farmers Weekly and its Arable pages. They often have articles throughout the year detailing how arable farmers tackle problems, and can include detailed articles on spray products and rates. Studying these over the years has helped me a huge amount with the choice and rate of use of chemicals, and I cut out and keep an archive of helpful articles as a reference for problems in the future.
Probably others who use agronomists etc will laugh at my efforts, but it's intersting how much you can glean from a careful sceptical reading of magazines etc.
And don't forget field events that happen throughout the year, held by chemical companies, NIAB, ADAS, and local groups: they can be very useful for cornering an expert and getting on-the-spot guidance.
Not so much online but that's my road to knowledge.

I do the same. Farming notebook.

Ive learned so much here too.

How to make my own Siltra
Better timing for wild oats

I always listen properly to Johnathan Blake when we does his fungicide review of the year and I listen properly when Fromebridge says something here as he will have collective knowledge.
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
Fair point. No offence meant @DanniAgro.

Even Farmers Weekly articles have bias. I was reading the article on grass margins and stubble management for an environmentally friendly grower who now doesn’t use slug pellets. The fact that he stopped growing osr years ago would be the reason for that. Slugs live in my grass margins and beetle banks but growing turnips band osr provide the main habitat and need for pellets here.
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
I do the same. Farming notebook.

Ive learned so much here too.

How to make my own Siltra
Better timing for wild oats

I always listen properly to Johnathan Blake when we does his fungicide review of the year and I listen properly when Fromebridge says something here as he will have collective knowledge.

How do you make your own Siltra legally?
 

ajd132

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Suffolk


Anyone else see this ! £130/ha being talked about as a saving or “good” advice

i’m not actually even sure how you can spend that much ? a. x2 SDHI very sold program here would be circa £80 and the more basic none sdhi (probably more matched to potential this year on many crops) circa £40 /ha
They are suggesting you can save £30/ha by not doing a T0, who the hell spends that on a T0? It’s a shame as it kind of discredits Dick abit who I know is extremely switched on and has a lot to offer.
These supply companies are really beginning to take the pee, the articles by some of their agronomists in the press are laughable.
theoretically we don’t even need these companies in this day an age. Imagine cutting out these distribution companies and all the big buying co-ops, so many people on the payroll of U.K. ag who are not needed with today’s technology. These distributors have way too much power.
 

Against_the_grain

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
S.E
just out of interest has anybody gone back to a agronomist from doing it yourselves ?
Never stopped using an agronomist but for a while was using them less but found there were gaps in my knowledge and things that I was missing that they wouldn't of. Also good to bounce ideas of someone.
So have started to use mine a bit more again now.
 

DanniAgro

Member
He did say "careful sceptical reading" so I'd say hes clued up about the hidden agenda of the articles.
Exactly, although as others say, these magazines are full of sponsored, one sided content, so you have to pick and choose advice carefully, particularly with CPM which seems more and more to rely on paid for articles.
But a careful reading of advice, particularly when it comes out of the mouth of experts like Jonathan Blake or Bill Clark, can pay dividends.
 

snarling bee

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Bedfordshire
I almost ignore articles in magazines. Very few are without commercial bias.
Magazines can't even write a truthful article about a farmer or contractor. There is ALWAYS an editorial bias.
Even Clive's Direct Driller Mag is now like that. Why get a manufacturer to talk about their direct drill?? Get a farmer who has got one, or better someone who has SOLD one, to talk about it. And not someone recommended by the manufacturer, who will obviously recommend their favorite customer.
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands


Anyone else see this ! £130/ha being talked about as a saving or “good” advice

i’m not actually even sure how you can spend that much ? a. x2 SDHI very sold program here would be circa £80 and the more basic none sdhi (probably more matched to potential this year on many crops) circa £40 /ha

Location. Spend £80/ha in Cornwall on a dirty variety in a wet year & you'll lose half the yield to septoria. £130/ha is still excessive on fungicides though. £105/ha here last year on prophylactic fungicides that with hindsight was too much give the dry May but wet June.
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
I almost ignore articles in magazines. Very few are without commercial bias.
Magazines can't even write a truthful article about a farmer or contractor. There is ALWAYS an editorial bias.
Even Clive's Direct Driller Mag is now like that. Why get a manufacturer to talk about their direct drill?? Get a farmer who has got one, or better someone who has SOLD one, to talk about it. And not someone recommended by the manufacturer, who will obviously recommend their favorite customer.


It's not easy filling 100 pages with farmer content alone and we feel that drill manufacturers have some interesting stuff to say. I do think it would be as interesting personally of it was jutting farmer content .................. and that's what TFF is really anyway. We are quite strict with manufacturers however and encourage them to talk not just about their machinery but you can hardly blame them when they do!

There is also the issue and significant cost of writing, printing and distributing to 15k plus readers that doesn't happen for free .............. the magazine is free so how do you expect it to exist without anyone paying at all? Just like the banner adds on TFF if it was not for them none of this would exist
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
They are suggesting you can save £30/ha by not doing a T0, who the hell spends that on a T0? It’s a shame as it kind of discredits Dick abit who I know is extremely switched on and has a lot to offer.
These supply companies are really beginning to take the pee, the articles by some of their agronomists in the press are laughable.
theoretically we don’t even need these companies in this day an age. Imagine cutting out these distribution companies and all the big buying co-ops, so many people on the payroll of U.K. ag who are not needed with today’s technology. These distributors have way too much power.


That is the great shame IMO - some of these guys are very smart, very switched on agronomists and advisors, the best in fact. But the money just gets in the way sadly................ I guess its just the world we live in
 

snarling bee

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Bedfordshire
It's not easy filling 100 pages with farmer content alone and we feel that drill manufacturers have some interesting stuff to say. I do think it would be as interesting personally of it was jutting farmer content .................. and that's what TFF is really anyway. We are quite strict with manufacturers however and encourage them to talk not just about their machinery but you can hardly blame them when they do!

There is also the issue and significant cost of writing, printing and distributing to 15k plus readers that doesn't happen for free .............. the magazine is free so how do you expect it to exist without anyone paying at all? Just like the banner adds on TFF if it was not for them none of this would exist

I realise that is how the world works.
That is why I value TFF and why I pay for NIAB membership.
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
I realise that is how the world works.
That is why I value TFF and why I pay for NIAB membership.


Direct Driller is as independent and low volume in adverts and advertorial as its gets in UK agriculture and is possible whilst remaining viable/possible - juts 25% of its is paid for and we are very proud of that low % whilst remaining free for readers - the industry standard is more like 80% and I could name a couple of publications where 100% of pages are paid for
 

Gong Farmer

Member
BASIS
Location
S E Glos
They are suggesting you can save £30/ha by not doing a T0, who the hell spends that on a T0? It’s a shame as it kind of discredits Dick abit who I know is extremely switched on and has a lot to offer.
These supply companies are really beginning to take the pee, the articles by some of their agronomists in the press are laughable.
theoretically we don’t even need these companies in this day an age. Imagine cutting out these distribution companies and all the big buying co-ops, so many people on the payroll of U.K. ag who are not needed with today’s technology. These distributors have way too much power.
They're trying to flog Revystar. I'm afraid any programme with that in could easily cost £130/ha or more.
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
They're trying to flog Revystar. I'm afraid any programme with that in could easily cost £130/ha or more.

Ouch. I hope they send it out with a tub of Vaseline!

What kind of prices per litre are you hearing & what's a T2 dose going to be for a medium disease risk crop?
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 78 42.9%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 63 34.6%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.5%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

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

    Votes: 5 2.7%

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

  • 1,286
  • 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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