Introducing the winter programme including the black-grass challenge

Join us for the first Vale of Belvoir Monitor Farm meeting of 2019 winter season. We welcome Dick Neal of Crop Production Specialists Hutchinsons who will discuss the challenge of black-grass and what we can do to manage this weed. Monitor farm hosts James and Michael will update audiences on this year's harvest at Sherwood Farms and their autumn drilling programme. We will also review plans for the Vale of Belvoir Monitor Farm programme. 

For those interested there will be an optional session after the meeting on Farmbench. This will be a chance to learn more about the programme and ask any questions you may have.

Speakers and topics

• Dick Neale, Hutchinsons

Programme

• Registration with a bacon roll and coffee
• Welcome and introduction: Judith Stafford – AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds Knowledge Exchange Manager
• Vale of Belvoir Monitor Farm update: James and Michael Parker – AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds Monitor Farmers
  • Harvest review
  • Autumn drilling
• Review of plans for monitor farm programme: James and Michael Parker and steering group members
  • Strategies for controlling black-grass
  • Crop nutrition
  • Plans for monitor farm try-outs (trials)
• Managing black-grass: Dick Neale, Hutchinsons
  • Weed control - general
  • What we can learn from field trial results
  • Dealing with serious black-grass issues
  • Risk factors
  • Managing the rotation to control black-grass
  • The importance of seed dormancy
  • Effect of soil type, crop species, varieties and seed rate
  • Effect of cultivations
  • The role of cover crops
• Summary of main points and take home messages opportunity for any further questions
• Meeting close & refreshments
• Optional Farmbench session.

About Vale of Belvoir Monitor Farm

Father and son team James and Michael Parker farm at Sherwood Farms in the Vale of Belvoir, Leicestershire. Their soil ranges from heavy clay to clay and sandy loam. James and Michael’s 560 ha increasingly flexible arable rotation includes winter wheat, winter oilseed rape, winter barley, spring barley, winter beans, winter triticale and spring linseed. Sherwood Farms is also home to 72,000 laying chickens, a mixture of free range and colony. The eggs are packed and sold onsite. Both James and Michael want to increase the efficiency of their business and to produce crops as economically as possible. They are looking forward to comparing their business with other farmers facing similar challenges, identifying where improvements can be made.

Find out more by visiting the Vale of Belvoir Monitor Farm page

About Monitor Farms

AHDB Monitor Farms bring together groups of like-minded farmers who wish to improve their businesses by sharing performance information and best practice around a nationwide network of host farms.

AHDB organises and facilitates Monitor Farm meetings for farmers, who own and operate the scheme – by farmers, for farmers.

Monitor Farms are part of the AHDB Farm Excellence Programme. Each Monitor Farm project runs for three years.