Biog: Philip Partridge farms 330ha of arable and
40ha of permanent pasture in partnership with his mother Sylvia and sister,
Joy, near Ipswich, Suffolk. His late father, Mark, moved to the farm in 1953.
The current rotation is wheat, barley (spring and winter), rye, beans and this
coming season, soya for the first time. He has a small flock of sheep and 200
head of fattening cattle which are bought in as stores and fed on a mixed
ration of home-grown cereals and pulses. The soil types are Hanslope, Beccles,
Burlingham, Newport and Melford – Philip is very keen to learn more about his
soils and to improve soil fertility. He is married to Anita and has two
children, Karl and Fabian.
Title: Mixed harvest prompts
rethink for 2017
Harvest has been a mixed picture. Our Glacier winter barley yielded a disappointing 3t/acre, wheat varieties Reflection yielded 4t/acre and Evolution did well at just over 4t/acre. Winter bean variety, Tundra, was disappointing too, yielding just over 1.5t/acre, despite looking great during the growing season. However, the highlight of the harvest was a four-wheat blend that I trialled following the lead from Steve Childs in Kent, it was by far our highest yielding crop.
We
also trialed rye for the first time in partnership with KWS, it fits well with
our rotation, particularly with our blackgrass issue. I’m no longer growing
rape, I’m just not brave enough!
Our
wheat is sold into local pools because we are short of storage on the farm.
Last year our wheat price ranged from £115/t to £130/t – a long ways shy of the
£200/t in 2012. Thankfully drying costs have been minimal and we fatten
200-head of cattle on the farm, so we can walk the grain off the farm on four
legs instead of four wheels which helps spread the risk.
Looking
ahead to 2016/17, we are trying four different wheat varieties – Siskin, Graham,
Marston from DSV and Anapolis from Hutchinsons. We will continue to grow rye
and plan to grow soya for the first time next spring – in theory, it fits well.
Drilling is recommended into May which gives us an opportunity for a late
blackgrass spray and it helps spread the spring workload.
Soya
will be an interesting trial driven by a conversation with David Naughton of
Soya UK – he currently contracts growers for 1,000 acres of production, he
wants to increase it to 3,000 acres this coming season.
We
also plan to join the local AHDB cost of production Benchmarking Plus group, I
think it will be very valuable in focusing my mind on what works financially
and what doesn’t.
CropTec 2016:
Want to find out more about R&D, Innovation and your cropping choices for 2017, make sure to visit CropTec 2016.
In addition to the free advice on offer in CropTec’s topical and technical seminars, there will be numerous exhibitors you can talk to find ideas, inspiration and answers on everything from crop protection and nutrition to plant breeding and soil management in one place, at one time.
CropTec is FREE for those who pre-book tickets. You MUST pre-register here to ensure you receive your free ticket.
All visitors will charged £15 on the gate on the day of the event.
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