Category: Blog

They say a picture tells a thousand words, so we’ve used an aerial drone to see how a couple of applications of our latest product can make real, visible improvements to pea and bean crops.

Last month we announced the launch of ToPPit, a speciality liquid foliar fertiliser that’s specially designed for peas and beans and now our customers are starting to see the benefits.

One half of this field of peas for Birds Eye have been treated with a non-stress programme of ToPPit for peas and one hasn’t. The difference is plain to see.

The treated side (on the right) has better ground cover, with thicker, greener, healthier pea plants. The side that hasn’t been treated (left) is a long way behind with a large amount of soil still visible between the thinner, less developed plants.

The difference is even more clear in these close up photos below. These shots were taken within minutes of each other and at the exact same height and the images haven’t been doctored, recoloured or cropped. The only difference is in the second image, that ToPPit has been applied twice; with one application at early stages of growth and another at the green bud stage.

This is an area where the crops haven’t been treated:

This is an area where the crops have been treated:

ToPPit is a 0-30-40 liquid foliar fertiliser that provides all the essential nutrients your pea and bean crops need to maintain healthy growth and high quality yields. It contains high levels of phosphorous, potassium and a wide range of micro-elements. Crucially, ToPPit is nitrogen-free which means it meets all the requirements for growing peas and beans in the UK.

It has no risk of scorch, it can extend the shelf life of the pea crops and it can improve the health of the plants and their tolerance against weather, stress and disease.

One thing you can’t see in the photos is that these plants will also have improved roots thanks to ToPPit which encourages strong root development.

Find out more about how ToPPit can help your peas and beans by visiting the product page on our website or contact our team who’d be happy to help.

Focus on nutrition produces world record 7.01t/ha

Lincolnshire farmer Tim Lamyman has beaten his own world record yield for oilseed rape thanks to bionature’s new seven-spray foliar feed programme.

The record was broken at the end of July on the 600ha Lamyman Worlaby farm in the Lincolnshire Wolds.

At 7.01t/ha, the yield is well above this year’s average UK farm yield of 4.8-5.0t, which comes after a particularly challenging, dry summer.

Tim puts yet this latest success down to applying liquid nutrition to the crops at every stage of the growing cycle, to produce deep rooting and relieve plant stress.

Here’s how he did it:

Bionature range	CalFlux, XStress,
Drilled	Mid-August
Field size	8ha
Harvested	26th July 2018
Soil	Chalky sandy-clay loam
Variety	Sparrow
Yield	7.01t/ha for 40% oil content

“I’ve always prided myself on pushing yields further, but as a farmer it’s all about returns in the end. We use Bionature and I’ve never seen pod size and density like it.”
Tim Lamyman, Lamyman Worlaby Farms

The seven-spray programme

Two sprays of calcium-rich CalFlux were used during flowering to help stimulate growth, keep the crop greener for a longer period of time and fight off the effects of hot weather. Despite the crop being damaged by pigeons during the winter, by March the crops showed excellent root structure, with long, straight roots to depths of 200-250mm.

A spray of XStress was also applied to strengthen the cell walls during the hot, dry weather, encouraging polyamides and preventing the production of ethylene.

We’ve just had some exciting results back from one of our ongoing pea trials using the Delta programme – and here’s the photographic evidence. We were looking to improve disease score and increase peas per pod and pea weight – Increasing process-able yields and enhancing quality through nitrogen application. Our trial compared the growth in one half of the field that had Delta applied to the other half that didn’t. As you can see, the difference is clear. With Delta and 1-4-All the crop has developed larger leaves, more top growth and canopy and stronger roots.

Get in touch with us today to improve your yields

Programme details

• Early: Two-and-a-half litres of Delta
• At two true leaves:One litre of 1-4-All
• At four true leavesTwo-and-a-half litres of Delta and one litre of 1-4-All
• Final application: Two more applications of Rainbow Wave and Delta.

Read our full pulses crop recommendations for the best peas

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for the team at bionature – we’ve been promoting our products at the BP 2017 Potato Industry Event, the UK Vining Pea and Bean Conference, and CropTec 2017.

It’s always a pleasure to meet so many businesses and growers who have so much in common at these events and it was great opportunity show people how our fertilisers can help.

BP 2017 and the UK Vining Pea and Bean Conference are great events to be part of, as they’re the only events of their kind for the two industries and they only come round every two years.

CropTec on the other hand, is massive – it’s a real eye-opening experience to see such a range of innovation and expertise with some really interesting businesses exhibiting.

Thank you to everyone who came over to the bionature stall to say hello.

One highlight for us was being interviewed by Sean Dunderdale from Lincs FM (something of a local hero of ours) and you’ll hopefully be able to hear our conversation with him on December 17th.

We had some big news to boast about at each of these conferences – we helped set the 2017 Pea World Record and a 2017 YEN gold winning wheat harvest.

We’ve got a range of crop recommendations, product guides and application programmes to suit any farm.

You can find out how we can help improve your potato, pea, wheat harvest and more on our website.

It’s hard work putting together a stall on these conferences and it takes weeks of planning and then some frantic setting up and tidying before the doors open, but it’s all well worth the effort.