Pioneering UK wheat trials

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I n June, it was a great time to visit and report on two wheat farms in six days: BASF East Midlands Agronomy and Sustainability Farm at The Grange, Mears Ashby and BASF Yorkshire Agronomy and Sustainability Farm at Tophouse Farm, Rawcliffe Bridge. In the UK, wheat is a vital commodity that traditionally faired well in these arable regions for centuries. Innovative work and research is now undertaken to farm wheat in new ways. It shows how effective land, resources and nature can be created in harmony with each other to provide sustainable environment and wheat for food. Top House farm joined in partnership with BASF in 1996. This farm was a trailblazer, ahead of its time for agronomy trials. Biodiversity monitoring was introduced in 2002-2003 as part of the V oluntary Initiative (The V oluntary Initiative is a UK-based programme sponsored by the crop and farming industry which works with the UK government to promote responsible pesticide use). With co-operation and support from the Hinchliffe family, owners and farmers of Top House farm, a remarkable story has been developing. There have been successes such as increasing farmland bird numbers through simple measures alongside informative agronomy work this has delivered excellent informative data for farmers.  The Grange joined with BASF in 2008 with biodiversity monitoring, in the words of Andrew Pitts, “to provide for my children’s future.” With fantastic guides at both sites such as Graham Hartwell, environmental stewardship manager, BASF plc and Paul Goddard, stewardship value manager, BASF plc, on both days, there was a lot of exciting and important subject matter to see, touch and understand. At Top House Farm, Graham and Paul were joined by John Peck, head of technical management and stewardship, North Europe, BASF plc; Louis Wells, agronomy manager, BASF plc; and Rose Riby, variety specialist (north) from KWS. The farm owners were also there to assist with information and share their own perspective. Regarding the farms, a minority of the land Pioneering UK wheat trials 48 | Milling and Grain F

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I

n June, it was a great time to visit and report on

two wheat farms in six days: BASF East Midlands

Agronomy and Sustainability Farm at The Grange,

Mears Ashby and BASF Yorkshire Agronomy and

Sustainability Farm at Tophouse Farm, Rawcliffe

Bridge. In the UK, wheat is a vital commodity that

traditionally faired well in these arable regions

for centuries. Innovative work and research is

now undertaken to farm wheat in new ways. It

shows how effective land, resources and nature can be created in

harmony with each other to provide sustainable environment and

wheat for food.

Top House farm joined in partnership with BASF in 1996. This

farm was a trailblazer, ahead of its time for agronomy trials.

Biodiversity monitoring was introduced in 2002-2003 as part of

the Voluntary Initiative (The Voluntary Initiative is a UK-based

programme sponsored by the crop and farming industry which

works with the UK government to promote responsible pesticide

use). With co-operation and support from the Hinchliffe family,

owners and farmers of Top House farm, a remarkable story has

been developing. There have been successes such as increasing

farmland bird numbers through simple measures alongside

informative agronomy work this has delivered excellent

informative data for farmers. The Grange joined with BASF in 2008 with biodiversity

monitoring, in the words of Andrew Pitts, “to provide for my

children’s future.” With fantastic guides at both sites such as

Graham Hartwell, environmental stewardship manager, BASF

plc and Paul Goddard, stewardship value manager, BASF plc, on

both days, there was a lot of exciting and important subject matter

to see, touch and understand.

At Top House Farm, Graham and Paul were joined by John

Peck, head of technical management and stewardship, North

Europe, BASF plc; Louis Wells, agronomy manager, BASF plc;

and Rose Riby, variety specialist (north) from KWS. The farm

owners were also there to assist with information and share their

own perspective. Regarding the farms, a minority of the land

Pioneering UK wheat trials

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is for the trial partnership. Graham said, “for

great biodiversity on a site, only 2 percent of

the land is required. This proves that the simple

steps taken at both sites is possible without

impacting the amount of land required to add

this value. Records are made at the start and

then regularly through the farm’s lifespan

over many years.” An important point that

Graham and his colleagues were keen to stress

was that the data is gathered and recorded by

independent third parties so the whole value

chain has reliable, unbiased and trustworthy

information.

Firstly, travelling over to the East Midlands

was a very pleasant affair from the Milling

and Grain ofces. With a timetable set for

the London and South East Millers Society

(LSEMS) to stick to, plenty of time was

allocated for travelling. There was time for

a quick call to Graham Hartwell before the

LSEMS programme got under way, it gave a

taster of what was to come later in the day anddiscussion of another site BASF plc ran and

whether the opportunity to visit there could

be possible. It would make this article an exclusive as no other

 journalist had yet visited both trial sites to report.

Attendees numbered around 30 for the The Moor and 22

at Rawcliffe Bridge. There was a strong representation of

the milling community, even though numbers were small.

Representatives from a wide range of companies such as Bühler,

Allied Mills and nabim joined the tours.

The tours of the farms generally followed a pattern of an

introductory talk and walking tours of what creates the right

balance for success in wheat and success in biodiversity. We

learnt of the crop rotation patterns, a three-year cycle at The

Grange and a ve year cycle at Top House farm (Table1).

These open days at the farms were hosted by BASF plc, the

world’s largest chemical company. An ironic fact was that

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there were no chemicals or chemical products being promoted.

The promotion at both sites was of wheat farming. There is aBiodiversity Action Plan in place and constant monitoring by

independent conservationists of the production of data. Over

time, both farms were proven to increase biodiversity as well as

increasing wheat volumes. Positively thriving nature relies and

assists positively thriving wheat crops.

During the The Grange visit the group of around 35 was

introduced to the concepts and reasons for the site. This lay in

seeking best practice, quality data and quality food; whilst using

fewer resources to meet the sustainability challenges, increasing

wheat production and biodiversity. Countering uninformed public

perceptions was also a key factor at the site. Since its inception,

all sections of society in the UK have visited these two sites each

year - school groups right up to governmental policy decision

makers.

Flour milling relies on good quality wheat. This is where the

Top House Farm site excelled in showing the groups winter

wheat from the current nabim recommended lists and trialingfuture wheat varieties. This takes place in a matrix of 30

differently treated wheat varieties. Treatments and fertilisers

are applied in precise amounts to gain understanding Solstice,

Skyfall, Crusoe, KWS Trinity, Gallant and RAGT Illustrious from

Group 1; Cordiale, KWS Lili and Butler from Group 2; Zulu,

Britannia, Energise, Conversion and KWS Barrell from Group 3.

There were many more in the Group 4 varieties but as these are

commonly used in animal feed, not food milling wheats.

In many ways, the superior amount of wheat at Top House

farm within its 142-hectare site gave more detail and depth to

the attendees. The 2014 - 2015 cropping of wheat reected the

current economic conditions, recovery from the very wet preceding

seasons and the relationship within the group. The plots of wheat

at Top House sat as a checker-board pattern across a large eld

categorised into ve stages of treatments from the trials. Louis

Wells was able to provide a lot of discussion about the untreated

and treated wheat and the cost benets in the data from the 2014

trials. At its most effective, normal treatment to wheat added more

tonnes to the harvest from the same amount of land of 6 tonnes

per hectare with the Conquerer variety of wheat. Providing more

return on investment is about being sustainable and more secure in

providing reliable harvests to meet or exceed expectations.

The biodiversity is created and nurtured through drilling seeds

of specic plants which provide habitable food stores for birds

and wildlife to thrive, installing bird boxes in strategic places

assists the best practice management for wildlife.

My nal thoughts are that the overlying theme was about

making the right choice for the site. The vast number of

variables depend on where the site it is located. The complexity

is simplied with the experience and broad vision of the

partnerships between farmers, agronomists, breeders and

environmental stewards. It seems that we are all responsible forthe environment and of wheat it produces, which we all depend

upon. These tours are highly recommended for our millers

and members of the cereal industry, they provide a deeper

comprehension of how benecial our industry can be to the

environment.

Table1

Farm site Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

The Grange Wheat Wheat Bean - -

Top House farm Wheat Wheat Rapeseed Wheat Wheat

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