Author: bionature

Producing potatoes on reclaimed land that is barely at sea level has its own challenges and that’s before you factor in the extraordinary weather of the past year.

That meant that – like many other growers – Neil and Victoria Webster spent part of March lifting last year’s crops on the same day they started planting this year’s.

They have a thriving business at Whams Farm, Scarisbrick in West Lancashire, growing some 600 acres of potatoes on their home farm and on rented land across the county.

They serve a variety of markets and are one of the chief suppliers of potatoes to the Five Guys restaurant group, so product quality is crucial.

So too is ensuring that the maximum proportion of their crops meet the size and quality specifications their various clients demand, and changes in their fertilizer regime are helping ensure they meet both of those aims.

Whams Farm is 406 acres of reclaimed land that is mainly black peaty soils. One advantage of being reclaimed land, Neil notes, is that the fields are broadly square which makes field operations simpler.

As well as some 70 acres of potatoes they grow cereals and produce turf, and also rent land out to local salad producers:

“That arrangement works very well with the neighbours, and means we have a good rotation and cashflow”, says Neil.

The rest of their potatoes are grown on rented lands within a 30-mile radius of their home farm, where they also have 3,500 tonnes of storage capacity.

In a normal year they start planting in mid-March and complete it in May, although this year is obviously going to be very different and difficult:

“On these peaty soils we don’t want to start planting too early because we are prone to get late frosts here”.

Crops are planted with a base dressing that supplies nitrogen, potash, phosphate and sulphur

During the season they receive between 120 and 200 units of nitrogen, with both suspension and compound fertilizers being used.

Like many growers, Neil has tried a range of additional sources of nutrients to improve crop yields and quality.

He finally settled on a combination of BioNature products after being introduced to them by his agronomist David Valentine and agreeing to do a field trial:

“We divided one field in half and used our standard regime on one half and added the BioNature products for the other half to give it a really true test.

“Yields were 20 tonnes/acre with the standard regime and between 22 and 23t/acre with it. In addition the BioNature treated crops had better uniformity of size and their skin finish was better.

“As a result a much greater proportion of the crop at the ideal marketable size.

“We grow Innovator, which is a hungry variety that benefits from having nutrients supplied little and often through the growing season.

“Before we discovered our current regime we had tried all sorts of other products without really finding a solution that works.

“The BioNature products can be applied with blight sprays, so that saves the time and expense of a separate application.

“We start applications at ‘rosette’ stage and continue as long as needed for the crops to reach the required size. We start test digging in mid-August to check on tuber size and health”.

Blight sprays are usually applied once every seven to ten days during the season – more frequently if the pressure high, and they apply the additional nutrients with every other spray:

“We use NHCaDelta, which supplies 15% nitrogen and 7% calcium, combined with 1-4-All, which contains a broad spectrum of micronutrients and trace elements.

“We did a trial five years ago dividing a field in half and treating one side with the BioNature products on top of our existing regime, and the other with the standard treatment.

“Overall yield was increased by around 10%, and much more of that yield was in the target size range of over 50mm.

“In addition we found no internal problems and the potatoes looked a lot healthier, which we felt was due to the calcium encouraging much better and stronger cell development.

“The crops seemed to suffer much less stress and problems like cracking were greatly reduced”.

The regime has continued to work over the past three years despite widely varying growing seasons:

“In the past three years we have had extremes of drought and wet weather yet despite everything the crops’ skin finish is consistently better and they keep better in store”.

Fertiliser Tweak Reaps Rewards

Agronomist David Valentine staged trials on a number of farms – the Websters among them – to test different fertilizer regimes, in response to customer demand:
His clients were looking for ways to make their production systems more robust:

“One key aim was to find a source of micronutrients to mix with the suspension fertilisers we supply, and which would provide essential trace and micro-elements.

“We tested a range of products in the field and BioNature fertilisers proved successful. After five years’ experience everyone knows the system works”.

The programme includes two of the company’s products.

NHCaDelta is a soil/foliar fertilizer which supplied stabilized nitrogen with calcium to aid root and cell development, and also improve yield and stress resistance.

1-4-All contains micro-elements and nutrients like iron, manganese, magnesium, zinc, boron and copper to aid the plant’s metabolic processes.

Both can be mixed with either blight sprays or insecticides. That flexibility of use is a crucial benefit, he says:

“Once we have tuber initiation we can start a programme applying 2.5litres/ha of NHCaDelta and one litre of 1-4-All.

“We have used it with blight sprays most often, but it mixes very easily with a wide range of fungicides and insecticides.

“Growers are always looking for greater quality, skin finish and uniformity and these products seem to achieve that”.

They really showed their worth in the dry year of 2018, says David:

“They promote the efficient uptake of other applied nutrients by amplifying the plant’s metabolic activity and ensure the nutrients are fully utilized.

“In 2018’s dry conditions many of the growers commented on how well the crops kept growing, and we’re sure the fertilizer regime played a key role in that”.

Despite the exceptional autumn and winter water pressure this year, spring drought and lower than average levels of solar radiation, Lincolnshire arable farmer, Tim Lamyman, achieved six Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) gold and silver awards, for remarkably high oilseed, wheat and barley yields, attributing the results largely to his fertiliser programme.

Jeremy Nicholson and Ben Mead, east midlands Frontier agronomists, have worked closely with Tim and fertiliser supplier, Bionature UK, to grow the award-winning crops.

“Ultimately, Tim’s crops always capture high levels of water and sunlight,” says Jeremy.

“A big fundamental to high yielding crops is the root structure, which is encouraged by Delta K application at the start of the season. We repeatedly measure larger root systems where it has been applied versus where it hasn’t.

“And obvious, but central to high yielding, high quality crops is sunlight capture. Tim’s Bionature-applied crops stay greener for longer and so have time to capture more sunlight and turn it into energy and this is achieved by mid and late season foliar feeds Tip Top, Calflux and XStress, coupled with a robust fungicide programme,” adds Jeremy.

Tim Lamyman won YEN medals in the highest cereal yield category, with 15.4 and 15.6t/ha respectively, as well as a host of other gold and silver awards. “Our farm’s approach is to produce resilient plants through the use of an advanced crop nutrition strategy,” he says.

“I’ve worked with Bionature since 2014 as a trial farmer, and their products are head and shoulders above the rest because they’re effective, consistent and tank mixable.

“We apply two 2.5L applications of Delta K in the autumn/winter and one more application in the early spring. This encourages large root development and more compact, shorter, stronger, stiffer stems to support biomass later on.

“We then move into the Tip Top part of the programme, which is a foliar NPK treatment applied at the T1 -T1 ½ stage, to create biomass and help tackle the potential potassium deficit.

“At flag leaf timing XStress is used to enhance the photosynthesis in the light capturing leaves by providing micro elements to prevent the plant shutting down. It also helps root absorption under stressful conditions.

“In oilseed rape, CalFlux is added as well to limit pod abortion. Using it in oilseed rape allows the plant to draw on the CalFlux source of Calcium, using extremely clever technology that keeps the Calcium in the flowering area of the plant, and under stressful conditions the plant draws on this source of calcium instead of the new growth. This in turn limits pod abortion, evens up seed size and strengthens the oilseed rape pods,” he says.

Tim explains that his approach is specifically aimed at productivity, and in a tough year, where crops were under a lot of water stress, Bionature products performed under pressure. “We had 650mm of water between 1^st September 2019 – 1^st March 2020 on the farm, which is in the Lincolnshire Wolds,  and the crops maintained greening later into the season, despite this excess water and lack of light.

Mark Carter, Bionature UK director, is delighted with the 2020 YEN award wins. “Tim Lamyman’s input as a trials farmer has been priceless and we now know when and where these products perform best.

“With a unique delivery mechanism and the environmental pressures we all face, never has there been a better time to use our nutrition programme. When trials officers, farmers and agronomists comment that there isn’t another product they have in their tool box that compares to ours, it’s testament to the last few years of hard work developing products and programmes,” Adds Mark.

ADAS trial results show that a balanced autumn Bionature liquid fertiliser regime doubles OSR root length.

Results from 2019 crops showed that Bionature’s Delta liquid nitrogen applied at the recommended rate, achieved 104% increase in specific root length, when compared to the non-treated control.

Mark Carter, Bionature UK director, explains that getting OSR established and away rapidly is important in counteracting various pests and diseases. “Early root development is key to rapid emergence and this is stimulated by readily available nitrogen, so the plant can develop an efficient root system.

“Autumn applied Delta liquid fertiliser has a positive charge, which means it sticks to the soil, as well as penetrating it, leading to an increase in nitrogen use efficiency. It also means less nitrogen will be lost through leaching,” adds Mark.

Bionature Delta fertiliser is a stabilised nitrogen fertiliser with potassium for improved rooting, stress tolerance, crop quality and yield production.

North Lincolnshire farmer, Colin Chappell, grew 9 hectares of oilseed rape this year on heavy clay land and has seen good results with Delta. “We had a much straighter, longer tap root on treated crops than the untreated section of the field and ultimately, the difference between the sample on untreated and Delta-treated crops was significant.”

“Usually we would grow more OSR, but conditions were against us and Interestingly, this particular crop stood in water for nearly three months over winter and we harvested 3.2 t/ha. So the plant was healthy enough to withstand the flooding, where other crops would have failed,” adds Colin.

Delta is available in pack sizes of 20 litres or 1000 litre IBCs and is compatible with most other crop protection products on the market.

To find out more about Bionature’s OSR programme and products speak to Mark on 07950313704 or Tom on 07494668732 or visit www.bionatureagriculture.com.

We are one of the UK’s leading crop nutrition companies supplying farmers. We provide growers with smart liquid fertilisers so their crops can get the nutrients they need. We specialise in all aspects of agriculture and our products bring a wide range of benefits.

We are looking for individuals who have drive and ambition along with an interest in farming and agronomy. You must have good communication skills, both verbally and written and ideal candidates should have a flexible approach to work and managing workload. A full UK driving license is required and applications must be able to reach out to our prospective customers throughout the UK, offering products that benefit the growth and health of crops.

Rewards include:

• Excellent salary package
• Company car
• Pension
• Full training
• Other benefits

If you have any questions or would like to find out more about the role, contact Mark on 07950 313 704 or email nat@bionatureagriculture.com for an application form.