Nests and new crops – update from Rawcliffe Bridge
06.03.2023
Last month BASF Agronomy Manager, Aliona Jones, headed to Rawcliffe Bridge near Goole in East Yorkshire, the location of one of our Real Results Farms, and home to David, James and Richard Hinchliffe.
While it’s Aliona’s third year, the Hinchliffe family have been monitoring bird populations across the farm since 2003. At this time of year, they review bird boxes so Aliona joined James to see what had happened in those situated in a woodland, close to the variety plots.
“There are 100 bird boxes, reviewed annually to see whether they were used and whether the birds successful raised their chicks,” she explains. “It’s a useful indicator for gaging the size of populations and to learn more about the natural ebb and flow of different species. We usually see blue tits, coal tits, great tits and tree sparrows.”
Second-up were the trial plots where 20 varieties are being scrutinised for their response to disease and fungicides.
“The plots were drilled on September 15th 2022,” notes Aliona. “Their growth stage vary depending on variety but range from 3-4 to 5-6 tillers. All the plots look good at this stage – they established well with no gaps.”
“Barrel has been the slowest to get up and going, followed by Illuminate. Both are covering the ground but don’t seem as perky as some of the others and don’t have quite the same amount of biomass.”
For Aliona, one variety stand outs. “Bairstow is the biggest, tallest and has the most biomass. It’ll be interesting to see how it gets on as the season progresses.”
At this point in the year, there’s only one disease that is visible and that’s Septoria. “There’s quite a lot of it already,” observes Aliona. “It’s mainly on the older leaves but the lesions looked ‘fresh and alive’ rather than old, suggesting that the fungus is active and you can already see the difference in variety ratings. It means we’re going into the season with plenty of inoculum ready and waiting for the conditions to infect new and emerging leaves.
“We looked for yellow rust on varieties such as Zyatt and Skyfall, but couldn’t find any. Reassuringly, these findings are mirrored by what James is seeing on the rest of the farm.
Rawcliffe Bridge is renowned for its biodiversity and Aliona noted that the hares don’t seem to have any preferences when it comes to variety. “They do seem to be lazy and tend to graze crops that are on their regular routes.”
You can see for yourself how the plots are looking on the 5th of July when the Real Results Live Demo Day comes to Rawcliffe Bridge.
