Life after serviced agronomy.

[neilo]

I agree with your last point but growers let this happen. They chose serviced agronomy, not had it forced on them.

There isn’t much option in this area, surprisingly. There are next to no independent agronomists working in this area as far as I know, with almost everyone covered by service agronomy from 3 or 4 companies. Everyone locally seems happy to pay for that, even those running 1000+ acres of arable cropping.?

 

[Steevo]

Correct. It is not a legal requirement to have BASIS to do your own agronomy.

Those with red tractors seem to think they know better....

Do assured organic farms need an agronomist for their schemes?

 

[neilo]

Do assured organic farms need an agronomist for their schemes?

Do they have to field walk at night, using head torches??

 

[Brisel]

Those with red tractors seem to think they know better....

Do assured organic farms need an agronomist for their schemes?

Ive got a feeling they need NROSO and NSTS if they own a sprayer

@Sid

 

[carbonfibre farmer]

PGRO is funded by voluntary levy and imo do a great job for this exact reason. They need to provide value for money for growers because those growers have a choice. They also try hard to find and promote new markets....to encourage more people to grow and thus help fund themselves.

PGRO have been/are super helpful.
Had cause to speak to them the other day.

 

[Sid]

Those with red tractors seem to think they know better....

Do assured organic farms need an agronomist for their schemes?

With all the crops I have grown I have only had someone come and tell me to spray once.

Planted some Lupins as our own trial, agronomist from a well know SW coop came out and said the flea bottle needed such and such, and the Charlock needed such and such.
I said that's nice, I said to me it looks like the flea beetle is eating the Charlock don't you think......few mumblings ....and besides we are organic.....no sale and have never seen him since!

Ive got a feeling they need NROSO and NSTS if they own a sprayer

@Sid

I have a certificate from 30 years ago, PA1 and 2?
Never owned a sprayer and never used a sprayer since.

 

[MarkD]

The lack of geographic coverage of independent agronomy is a consideration if we legislate to split advice from supply.
BASIS is a legal requirement for anyone selling pesticides but the requirement for someone with that qualification being involved in recommendations comes from red tractor assurance schemes

 

[Brisel]

The lack of geographic coverage of independent agronomy is a consideration if we legislate to split advice from supply.
BASIS is a legal requirement for anyone selling pesticides but the requirement for someone with that qualification being involved in recommendations comes from red tractor assurance schemes

Red Tractor do not have a mandatory requirement to have BASIS if the advice stays within the farm business. That only happens when you're bringing in an outside advisor or doing recs for other businesses.

 

[MarkD]

Agreed. BASIS and red tractor have done a lot to make it seem as though an agronomist is essential

 

[Brisel]

Agreed. BASIS and red tractor have done a lot to make it seem as though an agronomist is essential

Yep, all in the name of "raising standards." No self interest at all.

That's being flippant - the odds of illegal applications happening are higher where there's less training. Arguably, our sprayer operators are much more professional now too since NSTS and NRoSO but I doubt that will be a popular view.

 

[T Hectares]

The lack of geographic coverage of independent agronomy is a consideration if we legislate to split advice from supply.
BASIS is a legal requirement for anyone selling pesticides but the requirement for someone with that qualification being involved in recommendations comes from red tractor assurance schemes

If advice and supply was split wouldn't we just have agronomists ??
With the former distributor ones in sparcely covered areas continuing ??

 

[MarkD]

How it works out in France next year onwards might give an indication. I was there last year and nobody seemed to know, although the co-op agronomists I spoke to expected to stay with the sales part of the business rather than set up as independents.
Not everybody wants to be self employed and it’s noticeable that there are very few independent agronomy firms who employ staff. The numbers work for a one person independent operation but hard to scale.

 

[AndrewM]

Correct. It is not a legal requirement to have BASIS to do your own agronomy.

yup sorry my mistake

"There is no legal requirement for advisors to have a certificate in the new regulations, because the Directive does not require it. However, we would envisage that all advisors, whether they work for distributors or independently, would hold a BASIS Certificate for Sale and Supply, or equivalent. Although it is not a criminal offence for an advisor not to hold such a certificate, the advisor role is a highly specialised and responsible profession and one where it is essential to be appropriately qualified. The industry supports this position and, for example, all AICC members must be suitably qualified and BASIS Professional Register members. "

wouldn't like to be involved in an incident that related to pesticide applications not involving a basis advisor though

 

[SilliamWhale]

Yep, all in the name of "raising standards." No self interest at all.

That's being flippant - the odds of illegal applications happening are higher where there's less training. Arguably, our sprayer operators are much more professional now too since NSTS and NRoSO but I doubt that will be a popular view.

More professional as in paid more?

 

[Brisel]

More professional as in paid more?

No, as in a specialist qualification unique to them.

 

[Lookonthebrightside]

"You will also need to have advice from a BASIS qualified person for farm assurance".
That's not quite right.
If you take advice, adviser must have BASIS.
If you don't take advice, there's no need for BASIS at all.

 

[Steevo]

"You will also need to have advice from a BASIS qualified person for farm assurance".
That's not quite right.
If you take advice, adviser must have BASIS.
If you don't take advice, there's no need for BASIS at all.

I have an agronomist....I don't always take his advice though.

 

[Devon Gurfallo]

Some may remember a thread I posted last year about moving away from serviced agronomy and shopping around for ag chem or possibly joining a buying group.

Sacking my Agronomist

So, we’ve been on serviced agronomy since year dot, my dad had the same agronomist as my grandad and never had any major issues or reasons to complain. Now the agronomist my dad had retired about 5 years ago so we got a new lad similar age to myself and he’s a decent chap who I get on well...

thefarmingforum.co.uk

It was a tough decision to make after dealing with the same company for a very long time, both my grandad a dad both delt with them but I was ready for a change and felt it was time to shake things up a bit.

Anyway as most will know it’s been a quite (and cheap) few months on the agronomy side due to the weather! However it’s now that time of year when the chem bills start rolling in?, herbicides, T1, etc etc

Well, after my first couple of orders all I can say is wow! I honestly can’t believe the price differences when buying ag chem’s. Just by shopping round for prices I’ll already have saved best part of 2K this year, which more than pays for the time it takes to get a few quotes.

So when will serviced agronomy be put a stop to? I’ll be honest it’s a big step to move away from it but up to now I’d totally recommend shopping round for your ag chem, it will pay for its self!

Some may remember a thread I posted last year about moving away from serviced agronomy and shopping around for ag chem or possibly joining a buying group.

Sacking my Agronomist

So, we’ve been on serviced agronomy since year dot, my dad had the same agronomist as my grandad and never had any major issues or reasons to complain. Now the agronomist my dad had retired about 5 years ago so we got a new lad similar age to myself and he’s a decent chap who I get on well...

thefarmingforum.co.uk

It was a tough decision to make after dealing with the same company for a very long time, both my grandad a dad both delt with them but I was ready for a change and felt it was time to shake things up a bit.

Anyway as most will know it’s been a quite (and cheap) few months on the agronomy side due to the weather! However it’s now that time of year when the chem bills start rolling in?, herbicides, T1, etc etc

Well, after my first couple of orders all I can say is wow! I honestly can’t believe the price differences when buying ag chem’s. Just by shopping round for prices I’ll already have saved best part of 2K this year, which more than pays for the time it takes to get a few quotes.

So when will serviced agronomy be put a stop to? I’ll be honest it’s a big step to move away from it but up to now I’d totally recommend shopping round for your ag chem, it will pay for its self!

What do you think your savings are as a percentage?

 

[Phil P]

What do you think your savings are as a percentage?

It’s to early to say a total saving, ask me again at the end of June. However I’ve been saving up to 25% + on some products compared to what I was paying previously.