Northern farmers join 50-strong national farm trial network

Farmer Nigel Durdy who farms at Shawfield Farm, Haxley, Doncaster
Farmer Nigel Durdy who farms at Shawfield Farm, Haxley, Doncaster

Five farmers from the north of England have been selected from over 300 applicants to join the biggest farmer trial ever conducted by the crop protection manufacturer, BASF.

The farmers, all based within the York, Doncaster and Scunthorpe triangle, will join 45 others from England, Scotland and Wales to undertake wheat agronomy trials as part of the 50-strong ‘Real Results Circle’ which will culminate with the gathering of wheat yield data at harvest time.

The draw of the initiative has been that the trials will be conducted on growers’ own farms, under local conditions using their own machinery with the assessments being carried out by independent partners ADAS and precision mapping expert, AgSpace.

The northern farmers - all well-regarded for their progressive approach to growing arable crops - are:

• Julian Thirsk, Flaxley Lodge Farm near Selby;

• Jonathan Scholey, Lodge Farm, Frinckley near Doncaster;

• Richard Hinchliffe, Dikes Marsh Farm, near Goole;

Pat Thornton, Low Melwood, Owston near Doncaster;

• Nigel Durdy, Shawfield Farm, Haxley, Doncaster

'Capabilities'

Louis Wells, BASF’s Agronomy Manager for Yorkshire said: “The BASF Real Results Circle will allow growers to learn about their own farm’s capabilities and to be part of a multi-location, national trial.”

“AgSpace will assess each farm, monitor crops, determine disease pressure and assess fungicide performance throughout the season, while ADAS will produce an end-of-season report on the crop, outlining the results and lessons learned.”

Susie Roques, ADAS Crop Physiologist, said that the crop assessments will be made using the Agronomics system - a new digital technique for farm-based research developed by ADAS and AgSpace with the support of the British Geological Survey.

“On-farm tramline trials and split field trials, like those in the BASF Real Results Circle, are being increasingly used by individuals and companies.

“The Agronomics approach brings a new and unique scientific credibility to the design, management and statistical analysis of tramline trials which will ensure that the 50 participating growers can have more confidence in the results than they would ever have had before.”

Commenting on why he’s getting involved, farmer and advisor, Pat Thornton said: “Hopefully being a part of the Real Results Circle will mean that I’m not missing out on learning something new and finding the best ways to invest in a crop – also seeing is believing.”