Not something we've done much of before, beyond FSS winter beans and spring oats.
This season, for various reasons, we have a field of spring beans. Its never seen beans in the 28yrs we've been here, so I thought it suitable for a seed crop, to increase its margin. Worth a look anyway.
The 'premium' - £20/t over feed, so lets say £30/ac.
C1 seed cost, £140/t over C2 (if it was bought in) so £14/ac more seed cost.
Tight spec, hoops to jump through, maybe an extra fungicide, more management required etc, prob a similar increase in cost. again.
So for more work, I wouldn't be any better off.
The real niggle is that C2 seed to buy is about 220% dearer to buy from a seed house than they pay for it to be grown, just what do these seed houses do for their slice of the cake? Royalties are nowhere near that much, and theres no dressing or nematode test. Germination check? anything else?
The fact that some of them are charging what they can get away with (profiteering) in a year when spring seed is in demand stinks too.
I wont be growing seed then!
This season, for various reasons, we have a field of spring beans. Its never seen beans in the 28yrs we've been here, so I thought it suitable for a seed crop, to increase its margin. Worth a look anyway.
The 'premium' - £20/t over feed, so lets say £30/ac.
C1 seed cost, £140/t over C2 (if it was bought in) so £14/ac more seed cost.
Tight spec, hoops to jump through, maybe an extra fungicide, more management required etc, prob a similar increase in cost. again.
So for more work, I wouldn't be any better off.
The real niggle is that C2 seed to buy is about 220% dearer to buy from a seed house than they pay for it to be grown, just what do these seed houses do for their slice of the cake? Royalties are nowhere near that much, and theres no dressing or nematode test. Germination check? anything else?
The fact that some of them are charging what they can get away with (profiteering) in a year when spring seed is in demand stinks too.
I wont be growing seed then!