farm-link

Wheat HomePage The crop monitored by Crop Watch last season topped the 5 tonnes per acre mark. This time around farm-link and Syngenta, have again joined forces with David Jordan to plot the progress of a specifically grown winter wheat crop - variety Consort.

Cereal grower David Jordan (left) and Syngenta's Raymond Hilman inspecting one of the fields which will be the focus of Crop Watch during the 2004/2005 season.

This time, however, the focus is on  a new location - a 27 acre field that has been in grass for over a decade. "The crop was sown out at the rate of 11½ stone per acre on November 04," explained David. "The existing sward was sprayed with Roundup at the rate of 2 litres per hectare a fortnight before planting."  Syngena's Raymond Hilman visited the field directly prior to sowing to gauge its progress. "The crop was sprayed with a post emergent herbicde adn the insecticide Hallmark (active ingredient lambda-cyhalothrin) to protect crops against BYDV attack. He added: "The  crop will be managed in a very proactive manner." "As a result, other cereal growers can use the weekly reports as an effective advisory tool in terms of highlighting potential disease pressures that might be about to impact on their own crops. Students at agricultural colleges will also find the Crop Watch project of interest." N.B. During the various growth stages of the crop, reference will be made to a range of herbicides, seed treatments and agrochemicals. It is imperative that all these products should be used safely and that users should always read the relevant product labels.