is growing soya the way forward??

[startinghandle]

I am watching countryfile and an agro chemist forecast there is going to be a huge increase in acreage of soya grown but will this lead to problems
by the way I know nothing about growing crops as me and my brother are small time farmers and are finishing soon

 

[franklin]

Huge % increase will not take many acres....

.....maybe another 12?

Joking, but it's not going to be a mainstream crop.

 

[Tha Ulsterscot]

Don't think it would work this far North.

 

[pine_guy]

Well still people waiting for it to dry up to harvest spring barley, most want a dry month to be able to travel. So I guess if the margin was big enough, we could plant one spring and harvest the next spring up here

 

[wasted years]

Well still people waiting for it to dry up to harvest spring barley, most want a dry month to be able to travel. So I guess if the margin was big enough, we could plant one spring and harvest the next spring up here

Wasn't so bad til this weekend but its been gay wet.

 

[Simon Chiles]

Huge % increase will not take many acres....

.....maybe another 12?

Joking, but it's not going to be a mainstream crop.

The rise in Soya acreage has been astronomic. Gone are the days when I used to be the biggest Soya Bean grower in the country with 46 acres. The current acreage in the UK is some 5,000 acres which when you think it has risen from a couple of hundred a few years ago is some expansion. The reasons? Price of crop and huge demand. People looking for new break crops especially in the light of flea beetle damage in oil seed rape and withdrawal of seed treatments, and a spring sown crop that allows you to tackle black grass. Coupled with new varieties now on the scene and it’s starting to look attractive.

 

[Jim Bullock]

The rise in Soya acreage has been astronomic. Gone are the days when I used to be the biggest Soya Bean grower in the country with 46 acres. The current acreage in the UK is some 5,000 acres which when you think it has risen from a couple of hundred a few years ago is some expansion. The reasons? Price of crop and huge demand. People looking for new break crops especially in the light of flea beetle damage in oil seed rape and withdrawal of seed treatments, and a spring sown crop that allows you to tackle black grass. Coupled with new varieties now on the scene and it’s starting to look attractive.

It's a crop we are really interested in growing, but I am not convinced we get enough sunshine in Worcestershire to ripen them. There have been some quite successful crops grown in Herefordshire but they have been on grade 2 free-draining land where they can get on early...

 

[Simon Chiles]

It's a crop we are really interested in growing, but I am not convinced we get enough sunshine in Worcestershire to ripen them. There have been some quite successful crops grown in Herefordshire but they have been on grade 2 free-draining land where they can get on early...

Not quite sure what the getting on early bit of your post means. If you mean planting then you certainly mustn’t plant Soya early, it has a very vulnerable stage ( it has juicy cotyledons that the pigeons love ) that you need it to grow through fast. Once it’s got it’s true ( hairy) leaves it’s safe. Seeding depth is also critical as it has a fixed length hypocotyl.

 

[neilo]

What sort of yield can UK Soya do? The crop on Countryfile last night looked incredibly thin and hardly over-endowed with pods.

 

[Brisel]

My understanding of soya is that like maize and other hot climate crops, it needs heat to perform. Cold wet years just don't suit it. This year we had long hot dry spells that would serve it well as long as you got it established well. Like maize, we need varieties that require less heat units IMO.

 

[Simon Chiles]

What sort of yield can UK Soya do? The crop on Countryfile last night looked incredibly thin and hardly over-endowed with pods.

Apparently that crop yielded a tonne to the acre. That crop looked exactly how I’d expect it too look.

 

[multi power]

Why would anyone want to grow soya in the UK ?

 

[Farmer Miggins]

Why would anyone want to grow soya in the UK ?

Guaranteed free of GM soya?

 

[multi power]

Guaranteed free of GM soya?

Fair point, but I'd have thought it would make more sense to grow crops that suit the climate

 

[Simon Chiles]

Fair point, but I'd have thought it would make more sense to grow crops that suit the climate

What if you had a Soya Bean variety that suited the UK climate? These varieties that we grow were developed in the Ukraine. You couldn’t grow Soya that is grown in Brazil ( for example) in the UK as it isn’t suitable, it needs equal length of day and night so has to be grown near the equator. I think the bit that most people are missing is that there has been major leaps forward in Soya plant breeding, probably more so than any other crop lately.

 

[multi power]

What if you had a Soya Bean variety that suited the UK climate? These varieties that we grow were developed in the Ukraine. You couldn’t grow Soya that is grown in Brazil ( for example) in the UK as it isn’t suitable, it needs equal length of day and night so has to be grown near the equator. I think the bit that most people are missing is that there has been major leaps forward in Soya plant breeding, probably more so than any other crop lately.

That makes 100% sense
Bit like fresian v holstines
Fresians suit our climate but I'd say they would be pretty pointless somewhere that you could grow maize for fun

 

[Chasingmytail]

Not a fan of soya as a food stuff full stop whether it be animal or human

 

[shakerator]

No

Don't lupins have the required amino acids ?

 

[TomB]

Apparently that crop yielded a tonne to the acre. That crop looked exactly how I’d expect it too look.

So if a ton/acre is a typical yield what is the price/ton? A very quick google suggests US soy beans are not much more than twice the wheat price. Would need to be a good bit more than that to cover the risk? - but there must be some premium for U.K. grown?

 

[Bury the Trash]

You cant just mill it and use it ...so it has extra processing costs ...