The entire AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds Monitor Farm network met for the first time this November to share their experiences and expertise.
The inaugural meeting of around 100 key people from the Monitor Farms across the UK was held on 17 and 18 November in Warwickshire, close to the Leamington Spa Monitor Farm which is hosted by Robert Fox.
Robert was one of a number of hosts from around the country who shared what they had learned from the Monitor Farm programme. He spoke to the assembled Monitor Farmers, steering groups, facilitators and other industry experts on the opportunities for business improvement through benchmarking.
Tim Isaac, AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds Acting Head of Regional Development, said: “Robert and the other speakers gave us all a lot to think about. It was wonderful to see the Monitor Farm network functioning as a single learning community for the first time. This was the culmination of a lot of work, and a great catalyst for the next phase of the programme. It proved what passion and dedication there is in our industry to learn and to constantly improve what we do.”
There are now 20 arable Monitor Farmers across the UK. This was the first time that they had all come together since the expansion of the programme from Scotland to England and Wales in 2014.
Despite coming from different farm businesses and locations the attendees found that they shared many common problems and priorities, such as soil management, cost control, yield consistency and marketing strategies.
Many of the Monitor Farm groups have also been covering the same topics in their meetings and at this event the participants were able to share their ideas with members of other groups.
For example, a number of the groups have been looking at constraints on arable productivity over the last year, led by Susannah Bolton, AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds Head of Research and Knowledge Transfer.
At the workshop she gave an overview of the work done and said: “It’s really important to understand the constraints before you try to find the solution: this is what we’ve been doing in the Monitor Farm programme. The exercise is a really good way to use the collective experience and knowledge of local farmers.”
She noted how, very often, the solution lies in the soil, and that farmers should use all available tools to understand their land.
Julian Gold, Wantage Monitor Farm host, shared his experience of CTF (controlled traffic farming): “I’ve been farming for 40 years and the decision to change to CTF has given me the biggest change to my bottom line. We now know exactly where our harvest compaction is and how to deal with it.”
Julian now traffics just 20% of his land, a change that has saved him over £10/ha in fuel, and half an hour per hectare of labour. He told the group how it helped him to prevent compaction and reduced the number of management decisions he has to make.
“The biggest problem I get now is trash,” he said. “I have had some issues with slugs after OSR, for example. I also need to slightly increase my seed rate and my corn carters need to be a bit more organised. On the whole, though, it is good soil management and cost-effective farming.”
In concluding the workshop, Paul Temple, AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds chair, said: “I visited the Cardiff Monitor Farm this summer and left with some answers and even more questions, but that’s what it’s all about: it makes you think. Together with AHDB, you, the Monitor Farm network, can improve the industry.”
