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Crops and Soils

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    Orkney Soil & Nutrient Network: Case Study – Lyking Farm

    Lyking farm is a 174ha suckler cow unit based in the parish of Sandwick, some 12 miles from Orkney’s main town of Kirkwall. Its 120 spring calving cows are mainly Simmental crosses which run with Limousin and Simmental bulls to produce stores sold at around 18 months of age. The soils at Lyking are all non-calcareous gleys of the Thurso association derived from Old Red Sandstone, and fall into two different soil series. The best land is of the imperfectly drained Bilbster series, whilst the heavier soils fall under the poorly drained Thurso series. The land is categorised under the Macaulay Land Capability for Agriculture (LCA) classification as 4.1 and 4.2. which is land capable of producing a narrow range of crops, primarily grassland, with short breaks of cereal and forage crops.

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    bottles of pesticide
    bottles of pesticide

    Pesticide News – December 2020

    With the uncertainty surrounding Brexit on so many levels, there has been some clarity regarding the future and current registrations and approvals of plant protection products (PPPs) from the UK…

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    heap of grain
    heap of grain

    Farm Buildings – December 2020

    Grain pests We would recommend that growers monitor grain temperature regularly – not cooling during winter may be due to pest activity heating the grain. Spear thermometers kept continually in…

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    roots of potato plant showing cyst nematodes
    roots of potato plant showing cyst nematodes

    Potatoes – December 2020

    Forward planning for 2021 – sampling for nematodes It is never too early to sample soils for nematodes, particularly as sampling fields when the soil is moist gives the most…

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    picture of wheat bulb fly
    picture of wheat bulb fly

    Spring Barley – December 2020

    Pests Bear in mind that spring barley can get badly affected by wheat bulb fly, particularly if sown before mid-March. Crops at risk are those sown after potatoes, field vegetables,…

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    close up of wheat crop
    close up of wheat crop

    Winter Wheat – December 2020

    Diseases Crops are looking decidedly mixed going into the winter, with many struggling and reports on some later sown crops unlikely to emerge in waterlogged conditions. There are not many…

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