Bayer / CUPGRA Study Tour

by Andrew Spinks

Alongside a number of other members of the Cambridge University Potato Growers Research Association, I have just returned from a most interesting, Bayer sponsored, study tour in France.

The group travelled out to Paris on Sunday afternoon, travelling via Eurostar, we arrived at our hotel and spent an enjoyable afternoon and evening dining and exploring Paris. A meal at the restaurant Julien is very much recommended.

On the Monday morning we visited Expandis a co-operative marketing operation who specialised in processing potatoes and provided crop for a number of companies across Europe including McCain and PepsiCo. Expandis co-operativley marketed 5,500 hectares of potatoes, as well as a range of other vegetables including carrots, beans and salsify. They had recently purchased a washer from Tong Peal this sat in a lorry trailer and had a optical sorter. The group dined at a small restaurant in a nearby village, debate ensued on the nature of the poultry dish: was it duck chicken or guinea fowl? What ever it was it tasted good and provided us in good stead to move onto our next location which was a Bayer potato trials site. En route on the vast expansive plains that we travelled through,we saw a number of farmers had started harvesting barley . The Bayer plots gave us the opportunity to look at herbicide trials which involved a new herbicide, unfortunately it is not likely to be seen in the UK. We also saw Colarado beetles attacking the crop, this was something many of us had not seen before. The soil on this plot was very dry, with no stone and had a high chalk content. The next stop on Monday was to visit champagne producer Roger Brun, who gave us an entertaining and informative talk on champagne. He had an interesting and obviously very successful view on marketing of the product, we left late for the restaurant with a coach full of champagne to take home. The Jardin restaurant accommodated us brilliantly and astounded us with the quality of food.

On the next morning we travelled to meet two growers, the first was Thomas Duchamps. Thomas  grows 200 hectares of irrigated potato crops, which are broken down into salad and table area. Thomas was using a four row harvester and a Miedema belt planter, they did not de-stone and had no PCN problems. Thomas was growing for UNIPOM and packing salad potatoes.  The second grower, Alain Dequecker, is growing 100 hectares of potatoes, 30 hectares of which are irrigated. Alain had 20 hectares of seed and 80 hectares of ware. Alain was growing seed for himself and also for the seed houses such as AGRICO. Alain was, amongst other customers, growing ware crop for McCain. The ware crop we looked at was Innovator the seed had been cut, McCain had specified that this was required and a contractor came on farm to cut the seed with a hot knife.  At both farms we saw growers who had really very good soil, it had no stone, lots of chalk and was deep. They were not stone separating, had no PCN problems and were achieving high yields, there was also alot of space for expansion. Their cost of production was lower than ours in the UK, but the structure of their contract was different to that of the UK and as a result they were exposed to a bit more of the free market.  In Alain’s crop of Innovator he had used GPS to offset the beds beside the sprayer wheeling so that there was a wider area for the sprayer wheels to run down therefore the sprayer could have wider tyres.

In the afternoon we visited Comite Nord seed control station, this brand new building held meeting rooms, laboratories and greenhouses for the scientists and administrators who are part of the seed certification scheme. In France there is a slightly more complicated arrangement for seed certification, where historical arrangements mean that there are three groups each representing different parts of the country.

The journey home was an opportunity to discuss what was seen and contemplate how it affected what was going on in the UK.

Everyone left with a sense of three days very well spent and gratitude for sponsorship and organisation by Bayer and CUPGRA.

Ecole Supérieure La RAQUE

by Andrew Spinks

B&C Farming were pleased to welcome a group of French students, in February, for a tour of the store and yard at Wood Farm. They come Ecole Supérieure La Raque, which is located in Lasbordes near Castelnaudary, at the foot of the Pryrenees between Toulouse and the Mediteranean. The students asked some interesting questions and hopefully went away a little more knowledgeable than when they arrived.

James Bambridge BASIS Qualification.

by Andrew Spinks

Congratulations from all at B&C Farming Ltd go to James who has recently been awarded his BASIS Certificate in Crop Protection. His achievement and learning is a great asset to the business and will strengthen the farming service that B&C Farming has to offer our customers. James did his project on the Sugar Beet crop, the course was under the instruction of John Purslow.

Ian Durrant in the Grand Ring

by Andrew Spinks

Ian Durrant made an appearance at the Royal Norfolk Show, in the Grand Ring, as part of “It’s a Spuds Life”. Ian drove B&C Farming Ltd’s newly acquired self propelled harvester in the final scene of the performance which was a collaborative effort from Norfolk organisations and businesses which are involved in the production of potatoes and supply of machinery.

Chris Day in Potato Review

by Andrew Spinks

Chris Day, Easton College student and one of B&C Farming Ltd’s stone separator drivers has appeared on the front cover of the June 2013 edition of the Potato Review.

Russet Burbank Planted

by Andrew Spinks

The crop of Russet Burbank potatoes, which are on contract are all planted. The team have progressed through the ware crop acerage promptly and will now be moving out to near Fakenham to resume putting the seed crop into the ground. Incorporated into the Burbank fields are a number of trials which are looking at the effect of seed spacing. The rainfall today is very welcome, 5mm fell over night here at Wood Farm, Marsham. Maize, for Aylsham Growers Renewables is being drilled on the farm over the next few days.

Cold end to March.

by Andrew Spinks

As the bitterly cold wind-in stark contrast to the weather of last years balmy March- blows across the fields around Aylsham we are beginning to do some work on the land. The low relative humidities of recent days have done a good job of drying the soil. One potato field has, as I write, been ridged and the first bit of sugar beet is being drilled. The pigeon population in the area is proving to be a challenge to keep off the Oilseed Rape. Hopefully, the temperature will rise soon and the crops will begin to move.

Culverts

by bandcfarming

The very wet weather of the last ten days has left enough water to wash away a culverts in the stream which is now being repaired.

Early March 2013

by Andrew Spinks

At the moment, at the beginning of March, the team are spreading manures, drilling the final bit of spring barley and preparing machinery for the potato planting season ahead. Neville and Darren are busy despatching seed to customers who are just about to start planting potatoes and the team in the store are grading horseradish.