North east crop plans and profitability discussed at Banff and Buchan Monitor Farm

Crop nutrition plans and profitability came under scrutiny at the latest meeting of the Banff and Buchan Monitor Farm, where Scottish Agronomy’s Zach Reilly and Donald Paterson led a crop walk across the farm and discussed its arable performance.

Farmers attending the meeting at Sauchentree, New Aberdour, heard how the crop rotation had changed when Monitor Farmer Bruce Irvine had moved from being organic to conventional farming; last year the farm grew winter wheat for the first time, and he has introduced winter field beans this year.

“I’ve found wheat has to yield really well to make money as the inputs all add up. It also seemed to be really affected by last year’s late drilling and the wet weather,” Bruce told visitors.

Zach said that choosing to grow the variety Insitor this year was a good start. It was the top yielder in trials and had good Septoria resistance; its susceptibility to yellow rust was less likely to be an issue in north east Scotland than in coastal Fife, Angus and East Lothian.

Having picked a high yielding variety, Bruce should now be focusing on managing the things which are within his control, he said. “Crop establishment is a vital component to building a strong root system, which is the foundation to yield. The crop is growing now, and it’s ready for the first application of spring nitrogen.”

While wheat input costs can be high, Zach said farmers often didn’t make the most of nutrients in manure, especially when it was freely available on mixed farms such as Sauchentree. “It is worth checking the analysis of all organic manures – people will often know this for poultry manure but still undervalue farmyard manure. It’s often just put out on the field closest to the steading but think about where you put it as it can supply all the phosphate and potash you need on winter crops. For Bruce, utilising it effectively could help cut more than £200/ha of costs.”

The first crop of winter beans at Sauchentree – still an unusual crop in the north east – also provoked discussion, mainly due to its low gross output. Bruce made the decision to try beans when the soya price was high as they are a good source of home-grown protein for livestock feed, however soya prices have subsequently fallen to more manageable levels.

Visitors could see the beans had some tip burn due to frost, but crucially, Bruce had managed to drill the crop deep enough to avoid winter kill. He said: “I was surprised at how deep they needed to be drilled, at about 4-5in. The aim is not to have too much plant above the ground when it is frosty and to have the plants deep enough to keep them away from crows - we are lucky as we are very close to the coast so we don’t often have severe frost.

“I think the yield will only be about 1.8-2t/acre, so the gross margin will be low at about £200/acre. This might be the first and last year of winter beans at Sauchentree as a result – but I’m surprised at how deep the roots are already, and I think there will be a gain from this and the nitrogen fixing from the beans for the following crop. The gain might not be enough though,” said Bruce.

Zach said that while more Scottish farmers were growing winter beans, they were a challenge because of the low gross output. “For beans to really take off as a crop, we need the market to gain critical mass and for feed mills to switch away from soya towards home grown proteins.” 

About the Banff and Buchan Monitor Farm:

Sauchentree Farm, at New Aberdour, on the north-east coast of Scotland, is run by Bruce Irvine in partnership with his mother. Help at lambing comes from his art-lecturer wife, sister and brother-in-law and, their two daughters are starting to get involved in the farm.

In total, Bruce farms 650ac with cereals, sheep and cattle. Bruce believes the three enterprises are as important as each other, with livestock providing fertility for the arable side. Bruce markets their lamb and beef through Woodhead Bros, Turriff and ANM at Thainstone and enjoys competing with neighbouring farms on yield and lambing percentage.

The family has been at Sauchentree for more than 200 years.