Nroso - a joke

[warksfarmer]

Been on a course recently and really what is the point in this ridiculous facade. The deliverers of the course are as disillusioned as the delegates on it.

- Pictures of uncovered pro shafts and questions like 'is this safe'?
- Misses in fields and questions like 'what could of caused this'?
- Incorrect pressure settings and what happens to the spray quality ...... no sh!t sherlock
- Bent booms on the sprayer isn't a fail on the test but a 'cautionary'
- Booms not latched properly when folded ........ 'cautionary'
- Calibration of a sprayer ....... what! its the year 2016. If your on a nroso course you've got the application qualifications so whats the point in an entire section on calibrating the thing again.
- New Technologies in spraying ........ GPS ......... I thought this was a joke because GPS has been around 20 years. Automated Steering ....... Section Control ........ Low Drift Nozzles ......... If Nroso think this is new tech then they themselves need an overall because they are at the very least 10 years out of date!

The course I was on had 34 delegates on it at £45/head. Thats £1,530 for the day. There were two instructors who were great but I doubt they get much more than perhaps £200 each for the day. Take into account facility hire and theres a good £800 profit in it for somebody.

Yes we are handling chemicals, yes they are dangerous but really there must be another way to police this. Surely an annual visit where an instructor is with you on your own farm, stood in front of your own machines and stalking to you informally about procedures is far more precise and accurate than sitting people down in rooms and telling them how to suck eggs.

What about an online information and test system that you log into to complete. Set some reading and then run a test on it over the net but allow the person taking the test to refer to the notes/reading list because in reality that what we all do anyway. Its not about memorising things. Its about having the brain power to refer to information when required.

Seriously driving back afterwards I thought what is the point in continuing in this industry with stupid regulations that do not actually give any CPD even though thats exactly what they are meant to do.

Rant over.

 

[Fuzzy]

I think the Nroso website says it all !!!
I learn more on TFF these days ...

 

[Boysground]

Been on a course recently and really what is the point in this ridiculous facade. The deliverers of the course are as disillusioned as the delegates on it.

- Pictures of uncovered pro shafts and questions like 'is this safe'?
- Misses in fields and questions like 'what could of caused this'?
- Incorrect pressure settings and what happens to the spray quality ...... no sh!t sherlock
- Bent booms on the sprayer isn't a fail on the test but a 'cautionary'
- Booms not latched properly when folded ........ 'cautionary'
- Calibration of a sprayer ....... what! its the year 2016. If your on a nroso course you've got the application qualifications so whats the point in an entire section on calibrating the thing again.
- New Technologies in spraying ........ GPS ......... I thought this was a joke because GPS has been around 20 years. Automated Steering ....... Section Control ........ Low Drift Nozzles ......... If Nroso think this is new tech then they themselves need an overall because they are at the very least 10 years out of date!

The course I was on had 34 delegates on it at £45/head. Thats £1,530 for the day. There were two instructors who were great but I doubt they get much more than perhaps £200 each for the day. Take into account facility hire and theres a good £800 profit in it for somebody.

Yes we are handling chemicals, yes they are dangerous but really there must be another way to police this. Surely an annual visit where an instructor is with you on your own farm, stood in front of your own machines and stalking to you informally about procedures is far more precise and accurate than sitting people down in rooms and telling them how to suck eggs.

What about an online information and test system that you log into to complete. Set some reading and then run a test on it over the net but allow the person taking the test to refer to the notes/reading list because in reality that what we all do anyway. Its not about memorising things. Its about having the brain power to refer to information when required.

Seriously driving back afterwards I thought what is the point in continuing in this industry with stupid regulations that do not actually give any CPD even though thats exactly what they are meant to do.

Rant over.

Couldnt agree more. I need to do a course to get my points but I have so many more productive jobs to do I will sit in the room thinking about what I should be doing. Like you say an online system that could be done over a couple of evenings would be so much better.

Bg

 

[MrNoo]

Don't forget the £20 membership fee too, just like ACCS, it's all just a job for the boys, leaching more £'s out of all my hard work. This country is overrun with jobsworths leaching off the backs of others. Don't even get me started on food hygiene registration for ACCS. We should just tell them to "Feck off" the lot of them.
On my recent course there were two people present who weren't, they'd buggered off shooting for the day and sent someone else instead.

 

[Right-arm fast]

I go once a year in Jan to get 10 points, end of. I pick a few others up so carry a few over the year. You do pick up the odd thing I seem to recall it was mostly dates to remember this year. 2 hours is a bit much though

 

[bobk]

Nobody has ever mentioned points to me, just send us a score .

 

[chickens and wheat]

you say there course was a joke, but I found it the best one I'd ever attended. more of a reflection on the poor quality of the other ones than praise for the recent one.

As farmer cutting down from 500 to 200 acres I cant see me doing my own spraying anymore, as mot tests ,Nroso points etc means I've spent £250 a year on spraying before I've even got to the first field.

but I do still need nroso in order to knapsack round the buildings etc, so nroso remains for me, poultry assurance requirement

 

[chalk farming]

Yes let's have a course but make it worth it with a proper test. If you fail you can't spray end of, not let's have a test oh and the answers are in your work book. I used to work with a guy who was very short on points so the agronomist/agent turns they sit in the farm office make up a list of "meetings with agronomist " hey presto enough points for him to carry on spraying and to get our ACCS passed. Online training must be the way forward, if you fail you have to take it again.

 

[MrNoo]

Yes let's have a course but make it worth it with a proper test. If you fail you can't spray end of, not let's have a test oh and the answers are in your work book. I used to work with a guy who was very short on points so the agronomist/agent turns they sit in the farm office make up a list of "meetings with agronomist " hey presto enough points for him to carry on spraying and to get our ACCS passed. Online training must be the way forward, if you fail you have to take it again.

You'll have us needing a license to put our under crackers on next!
Online training? A lot of people dont even have "online" and plenty more couldn't use "online" if they wanted.
We have enough legislation to comply with without more rubbish like this to put up with, soon we'll be spending more time doing courses of one type or another than we will farming. It's utter madness.
ACCS is the same, not worth the sticker, I suspect that near on 45% of people are filling forms in the day before inspection, spray recs and such like, probably more. But then we've got to do it or we'll be shafted another £5/t if we dont, thanks NFU for that one.

 

[Surgery]

Why we all don't tell them to shove such jobs for boys schemes up their arses I don't know , mind you I am just as much to blame but it does make your blood boil.

It would be interesting to see if the Ukraine who have just signed up for some agreement with the UK over grain have any of these schemes , I bet feking not.

 

[rob1]

Not been on their courses for several years as I have been on a couple of TAG courses and they ARE worth the money and time as I have learnt a lot.
What pisses me off is go on these crap courses and get 10 points for a couple of hours but do a PA1 and 2 and you only get 8 points for doing two days training and two tests, complete rubbish

 

[Zebbedee]

I personally don,t mind the noroso meetings if there is something you need to know just ask and if you know everything, good and well but I always pick up something interesting, and quiet time of year I,m sure if it was changed to on-line it would be much worse and probably more expensive so I would suggest watch what you wish for!!??

 

[Bumble Bee]

@warksfarmer You myself and many others may well find the Nroso course a bit pointless, although I find that I usually pick up a few good points, often from the other delegates.

But believe me, there are plenty out there that are doing some unbelivable things when crop spraying. Unfortunately these are often (not always) the ones that only collect points at shows or pester there Agronomist for points the day before the ACCS inspection as they cannot be bothered to attend the training course and possibly learn something.
From what I have seen personally, it if often these operators who are in my view responsible for a large proportion of the active ingredients that water companies in water. This is mainly due to poor filling practices. Then more regulation is imposed on everybody as a result.

The courses are useful to keep us updated on changes in regulation. But I agree that there are somethings on the course (the PTO shaft is a good example) that are a bit of an insult to our intelligence.

 

[Rob Holmes]

Believe it or not there are some people that don't know this!
In my meeting, the instructor asked the delegates:

• Who had GPS? - Only me
• Who has auto boom height? - Only me
• Who has auto section? - Only me
• Who has a flow meter for filling? - Only me!
• Who has auto wash out? ...yes, you guessed it
• He was only surprised when i said i didn't have a drone!

I'm not bragging, but there are some farmers with a bog standard sprayer, and only do 100 acres or so a year, i think these courses genuinely educate them

 

[MNBVCXZ]

Part of the reason they first started doing them was afaik to stop a pesticide tax???!
Whilst they aren't perfect they are well attended and better than f**k all. I think you might be surprised how negative online training would be perceived.

 

[herman]

I find the food and coffee quite good on a norso course . We had a hot buffet lunch on Tuesday.
Seriously, I learnt a few things and it's true not everyone has gps and all the toys on their sprayers , it maybe a farce but if it ticks boxes why would you want to make it difficult ?

 

[Andy Howard]

Just rang up to book my fertiliser calibration test for my spreader £210 plus £25 for NSTS certificate (new this year). Sprayer MOT is £145 plus £25 for NSTS. By November we have to have all slug pelleters tested. I have two of those, one on sprayer and one on the drill. They are £145 plus £25 for NSTS each. So to get everything up to date on this 800 acre farm is going to cost £645 plus £100 for NSTS. A fricking joke when wheat is £100/t. I get 20% off if I do them all at the same time. Still £516 plus £100 for NSTS. cant quite believe it!

 

[redsloe]

Believe it or not there are some people that don't know this!
In my meeting, the instructor asked the delegates:

• Who had GPS? - Only me
• Who has auto boom height? - Only me
• Who has auto section? - Only me
• Who has a flow meter for filling? - Only me!
• Who has auto wash out? ...yes, you guessed it
• He was only surprised when i said i didn't have a drone!

I'm not bragging, but there are some farmers with a bog standard sprayer, and only do 100 acres or so a year, i think these courses genuinely educate them

I should be careful, just because some of us don't have the gadgets, doesn't mean we are uneducated in the ways of the dark arts!
What annoyed me is we spent half the morning going through the points in a sprayer MOT. The fact that most in the room had been through 7 or 8 made the effort pointless.

 

[spin cycle]

Believe it or not there are some people that don't know this!
In my meeting, the instructor asked the delegates:

• Who had GPS? - Only me
• Who has auto boom height? - Only me
• Who has auto section? - Only me
• Who has a flow meter for filling? - Only me!
• Who has auto wash out? ...yes, you guessed it
• He was only surprised when i said i didn't have a drone!

I'm not bragging, but there are some farmers with a bog standard sprayer, and only do 100 acres or so a year, i think these courses genuinely educate them

patronising so & so....we must educate the 'little guys'.....if it were up to me i'd only let empty sprayers travel on roads because surely thats a big risk......4000l sprayers ...unbunded...carrying enough potential to pollute feck knows how many miles of watercourse....but 'big lads' always know best

 

[principal skinner]

Try arguing the case for using autosection, apparently I should spray the headland last so as not to travel on sprayed ground, but I spray it first so as to reduce overlap on the on/offs only been doing it that way for about 23 years (only ten with gps).

Instructor: Should not spray them first as I will drag contaminated soil out onto the road
Me: no I wont I clean my wheels before going on the road
Instructor: where do you clean your wheels?
Me: Farm track, grass margin, headland tramline etc
Instructor: well you must start doing them last
Me, no. I do them first as i want to be able to use my auto section to reduce overlap to a minimum
Instructor: you should not have ANY overlap
Me: how can I have no overlap? By using gps I reduce it to a minimum.
Instructor: you could fail ACCS doing it your way
Me: you still haven't told me how to spray a field with no overlap
Instructor: silence.

As somebody said to me a while ago 'those that cant, teach'

Tried to fail us on the ACCS a couple of years back because I don't use a pre printed spray book, and I didn't put my name and address next to every operation, use an A4 sized book and record everything that's needed including the rec number next to every job, on the first page of the book is written 'unless stated otherwise, all applications are made by (me) with my name,address, mobile and landline, pa1,2 and 4 certificate numbers and my nroso number, but this wasn't good enough! Feck me talk about a load of old twaddle and jobs for the boys.