Challenging disease scenarios’ with rising input costs are a grower’s biggest challenge to margins this year – but do they need to be?
This is the over-riding message from the AICC at this year’s Cereals Event.
"If you are spending way over £100 per hectare on your cereal fungicide programme you need to ask the question if this is money well spent, or if levels of disease control and yields alike could have been maintained with less expense," says Sean Sparling, AICC.
At the AICC stand this year, a range of spring and winter crop plots will demonstrate how it is possible to maintain yields whilst managing inputs at realistic costs.
The question will be posed as to whether farmers are best served by allowing best practice and good science to be the driver for production rather than highest spend.
AICC will be running pop-in sessions at 11am and 2pm each day to discuss the visible differences in programmes demonstrated by the plots.
What will be the impact of European legislation on arable growers in 2020 and what would it look like?
By 2020 we could be faced with an environment in which a number of active substances will be lost to the market and product choice will be more limited.
Visitors to the stand this year will get to see the first hand the startling effects of the impact of this legislation on the fungicide toolbox – seeing is believing the real threat that the industry currently faces.
