Arable
Lack of water ‘more challenging’ than last year
• Prospects for irrigation downgraded • Low rainfall drives ‘savvy’ farming • Growers told to consider all options
L
ow average rainfall is trig- gering farmers and grow- ers to adopt water savvy
techniques earlier in the year amid increasing concerns of an- other agricultural drought hit. Irrigation prospects have been downgraded from moderate to poor in East Anglia, Lincoln- shire and Northamptonshire – in- creasing the likelihood of abstrac- tion restrictions. Other areas are also facing challenges with much of England in a weaker position than 2018.
les grows root crops, peas and ce- reals. Last year, he focused irriga- tion on the most profi table crops fi rst. Potatoes and beetroot yields turned out well. But unirrigated sugar beet yielded almost 25% less in 2017. “This year is looking like a big-
ger challenge than last, because our reservoir is currently at 30%,” he said. “We’re already irrigating, but to help us manage and target our water use we’ve invested in
for April ranged from 19% of the monthly long term average in the east to 86% in south-west Eng- land, with all regions apart from south-west receiving less than half the usual amount of rain. As Anglia Farmer went to
more soil moisture probes, we’re also getting out with a spade to check ground conditions.” Mr Hoyles said he was look- ing at new ways of achieving bet- ter crop nutrition. He is trialling bio-stimulants following ADAS guidance and sampling crops as he goes. “The good thing is, we have time to prepare and we’re acting early to make sure we’re better protected.”
Profit and loss The Agriculture and Horticul- ture Development Board is urging growers to consider all options to place them in a stronger position. Savvy techniques will be needed
“
We’d encourage farmers to develop contingency plans
to help businesses get more from the water they have in the worst affected areas, it says. AHDB water resources scien-
tist Nicola Dunn said: “With time to prepare, we’d encourage farm- ers and growers to develop contin- gency plans and consider options, which could make the difference between a profi t or loss situation this summer.” For more information about weather tools to help farmers, vis- it
ahdb.org.uk/weather.
Cumulative rainfall totals Water saving techniques for fruit growers
press, the Met Offi ce forecast for three months of May, June and July as a whole suggested simi- lar chances of above and below av- erage precipitation. On balance, however, drier-than-average con- ditions are marginally more likely.
Profitable crops
Lincolnshire farmer and Nene Potatoes chairman David Hoy-
8 ANGLIA FARMER • JUNE 2019
The AHDB is co-funding a cen- tre of excellence to develop commercial water-saving tech- niques for soft fruit growers. The Water Effi cient Technol- ogies (WET) Centre specialises in irrigation management and moisture sensing technologies which improve crop quality. By supporting it, the AHDB aims to accelerate the uptake of inno- vation in the soft fruit industry. AHDB knowledge exchange manager Scott Raffl e said: “One way of improving the adoption of research is to demonstrate it in
a commercial production system that is representative of grow- er practice. “The WET Centre offers us a ready-made site which has already helped develop preci- sion irrigation practices that re- duced water and fertiliser use by up to 30%, while maintain- ing and sometimes improving fruit yields and quality.” AHDB has previously fund- ed a series of water-use effi cien- cy projects on substrate-grown strawberry and raspberry crops with NIAB EMR. This new col-
laboration will also share knowl- edge about growing systems, crop protection, labour saving and other new technology. The WET Centre brings
together irrigation equipment and sensor suppliers with re- searchers to develop and com- mercialise new irrigation tech- nology – and demonstrate how these can be used on a commer- cial scale. The WET centre is part of
AHDB’s Farm Excellence pro- gramme. For details, visit: www.
ahdb.org.uk/farm-excellence
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