Red Tractor suspension for a rejected load of grain?

[Hindsight]

How can bydv be worse in ploughing, than when you drill into a living green bridge, this unseasonably mild early winter with plenty of early Oct drilled crops ought to tell a story, come summer.
More so with all the growers who have been declaring that they were finished with insecticides.

Connected to nitrogen levels in the plant that allows the aphids to detect them easier.

Aphids as a vector of BYDV will be from two sources. Those already in field - green bridge and those that fly in following wheat crop emergence. Aphids see in the infra red spectrum. And direct drilled fields tend to have trash / stubble etc left visible after sowing. Ploughed land tends to be bare with just the sown cereal emerging and standing alone. A cereal plant or surface stubble / trash will all look to an aphid varying shades of red. Thus an aphid is 'confused' by the trash. In a ploughed field with just cereal there is no 'confusion'.

This technique is being developed in the potato world as a means of reducing virus in seed potatoes. Field scale experiments scattering straw over the potato ridges after planting through which the young potato plants emerge.

This is a separate mechanism to any issue with leaf nitrogen. I would contend it is possibly more important than the leaf nitrogen focussed on by advocates of direct drilling.

Fascinating.

 

[ajd132]

Aphids as a vector of BYDV will be from two sources. Those already in field - green bridge and those that fly in following wheat crop emergence. Aphids see in the infra red spectrum. And direct drilled fields tend to have trash / stubble etc left visible after sowing. Ploughed land tends to be bare with just the sown cereal emerging and standing alone. A cereal plant or surface stubble / trash will all look to an aphid varying shades of red. Thus an aphid is 'confused' by the trash. In a ploughed field with just cereal there is no 'confusion'.

This technique is being developed in the potato world as a means of reducing virus in seed potatoes. Field scale experiments scattering straw over the potato ridges after planting through which the young potato plants emerge.

This is a separate mechanism to any issue with leaf nitrogen. I would contend it is possibly more important than the leaf nitrogen focussed on by advocates of direct drilling.

Fascinating.

Good stuff. Thankyou.

 

[Hindsight]

I read that it survives in the top inch and ploughing gets rid . Touch wood, I’ve never had trouble with it .

Wish it were that easy SIlverfox. Ergot easily found last August in Blackgrass (and much of the Ergot being found is most likely Blackgrass Ergot contamination) but also in wheat, particularly some varieties (Firefly seemed anecdotally prone). Easily found in Spring Wheat. In this part of Lincolnshire it is pretty endemic within wheat. And many, many of those farmers had fields that would have been ploughed and sown in a conventional way.

As an indicator of the issue Co-op store in Boston is investing in a colour sorter. Mobile seed dressers having a good time in their quiet time dressing on farm wheat. Xmas time for them.

As I said on another thread a few days ago is you have no Blackgrass on your farm and never seen Ergot thank your lucky starts and your system. And I should toddle to Church over the festive season and just offer up a wee prayer to the Almighty!

Best wishes,

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

It is true that you will 'catch' ergot from blackgrass- I have seen blackgrass with ergot. I presume other grass species will be so infected by it also.

Yes especially Italian ryegrass

 

[MrNoo]

Re spring Wheat. I have grown this every year for probably the last 15 years and never had ergot in it bar one year where there was the odd piece but it still went through to the mill. It is on BG land too, I think SW gets bad press!!!!

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

We had it in SW this year. The later drilled stuff was by far the worst. The cold cloudy summer seemed to make it worse by delaying senescence.

 

[DRC]

Wish it were that easy SIlverfox. Ergot easily found last August in Blackgrass (and much of the Ergot being found is most likely Blackgrass Ergot contamination) but also in wheat, particularly some varieties (Firefly seemed anecdotally prone). Easily found in Spring Wheat. In this part of Lincolnshire it is pretty endemic within wheat. And many, many of those farmers had fields that would have been ploughed and sown in a conventional way.

As an indicator of the issue Co-op store in Boston is investing in a colour sorter. Mobile seed dressers having a good time in their quiet time dressing on farm wheat. Xmas time for them.

As I said on another thread a few days ago is you have no Blackgrass on your farm and never seen Ergot thank your lucky starts and your system. And I should toddle to Church over the festive season and just offer up a wee prayer to the Almighty!

Best wishes,

Yes I do count my lucky stars as I know black grass is around here . Imported muck bringing it on one farm and obviously contractors balers etc.
we only have muck back from a pig farm that only uses my straw . Have always ploughed in the rotation , but not every crop.

 

[Widgetone]

Had a farm suspended for mouse droppings in a load of milling wheat a year ago. Mill reported to trading standards and RT got involved and suspended them..pending farm visit etc
Was 'cleaned' on farm and given the all clear after a fortnight of wrangling iirc. Even the rejected load got redelivered in the end with the same mill's blessing.

 

[ajd132]

T

Re spring Wheat. I have grown this every year for probably the last 15 years and never had ergot in it bar one year where there was the odd piece but it still went through to the mill. It is on BG land too, I think SW gets bad press!!!!

this year was quite bad for it but we haven’t had too many issues in the past to be honest

 

[Tractor Boy]

Re spring Wheat. I have grown this every year for probably the last 15 years and never had ergot in it bar one year where there was the odd piece but it still went through to the mill. It is on BG land too, I think SW gets bad press!!!!

I think it depends on where you are in the country which relates to the flowering timing. My spring wheat this year had no blackgrass but ergot is rife in the heap of wheat. All of it is being sent for cleaning. Winter wheat, however, that did have blackgrass has no ergot.
On a separate note about RT suspending members I found out that suspension for rejected loads is if the rejection has anything that is public health related, so ergot in milling wheat, glass, rodent droppings.

 

[Tractor Boy]

I don’t think this is true, there is masses of ergot this year. I think the majority of farmers would have been suspended.

RT can suspend you if the rejection is for a public health issue. So it is for things like ergot or rodent droppings in milling wheat or glass etc etc. presumably feed wheat doesn’t cause a suspension.

 

[Flat 10]

RT can suspend you if the rejection is for a public health issue. So it is for things like ergot or rodent droppings in milling wheat or glass etc etc. presumably feed wheat doesn’t cause a suspension.

That's waht i think but I tried to find specific mention on RT website but I can't. I will look again.

 

[ajd132]

RT can suspend you if the rejection is for a public health issue. So it is for things like ergot or rodent droppings in milling wheat or glass etc etc. presumably feed wheat doesn’t cause a suspension.

I didn’t realise this. Most of ours go into CS and we only have feed stuff on farm so guess I’ve never come across it.
there must be a lot of suspended farmers this year if that’s the case

 

[Barleymow]

But there is a small allowance for ergot in imported grain

 

[Flat 10]

But there is a small allowance for ergot in imported grain

Read massive. They take such a small sample per boat it would have to be infested with it to show up.

 

[Clive]

I thought this was the case that if you were rejected for having ergot or mouse poo in your grain you were suspended?
I hope I am as I cannot find out having spent half an hour on RT's website.
Can anybody point me in the direction of the relevant piece of paper? Thanks

i think it depends ( on what I’m not sure however !) …….. making it up as they go along I suspect

A few years we were suspended by Dead Tractor when a single, final load out many thousands delivered was rejected as milling and diverted to feed buyer …….. however at the time we were also TASSC so grain from the same store could still be delivered with different stickers ………… so zero contribution to food safety made there by assurance!

had to promise we would improve our rodent policy despite passing inspection just a month earlier where their inspection deemed our stores and systems as good enough, they are modern , commercial spec stores as good as it gets

I pointed out the stupidity and meaningless system at the time but as this commercial, monopoly of a business acts as judge jury and executioner with no right to appeal I was forced to lie and just say “yes we now have no mice on our farm“

Had I not been prepared to say what they told me (a utter load of rubbish) my milling wheat and OSR would have had no market - they could effectively have shut down my business

It is the very definition of a protection racket