Potato Review

8 POTATO REVIEW SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 PRECISION FARMING Precision Farming: Are potato growers getting a return on investment? There are several precision technology options available to potato growers. From the use of probes under the soil, to satellites miles above it, the choices are seemingly endless – so how do farmers pick the solutions from the snake-oil? Three of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board’s strategic farm hosts recently discussed their use of precision technology to date at a Q&A session hosted by AHDB Senior Knowledge Exchange Managers, Claire Hodge and Graham Bannister. THE FARMERS Andrew Francis – Elveden Farms, Suffolk Elveden Farms grows approx. 500 hectares (ha) of potatoes, for processing, pre- pack, and salad potatoes. Andrew has used soil probes to measure nitrogen leaching on sandy soils. Kerr Howatson – Bruce Farms, Perthshire At Bruce Farms potatoes are grown across 300ha. Commercial varieties include Maris Piper, Maris Peer, Saxon, Osprey and Rooster. Kerr has used satellite field mapping, creating field zones for variable rate seed spacing of salad potato crops. Will Gagg – RJ and AE Godfrey, Lincolnshire The farm grows around 440ha of main-crop potatoes for the packing market each year, in a rotation. Will has been collecting data on the farm, and producing his own tools in the office.. GB: What are your experiences of using precision technology on farm? AF – One of the biggest challenges is the reliability of precision kit, we need to challenge the companies to demonstrate how it can uplift our returns. I’m part of the Agri-EPI network and I hope that that will deliver some answers. WG – It has been similar for us, we are able to highlight areas of the fields, but then what are we supposed to do with the information year on year? Weather has a big impact and we can’t control that. At the moment we really just monitor with the intention that the data will be useful at some point. AF - For us the best thing is simple use of a drone and camera, looking at the growing crop and zoning our fields. CH: Historic data can be helpful, you look at eight years of cropping and work out your potential index and produce seed maps, and it’s not expensive. Have you tried this? AF - Variable rate planting for cereals stands up, it has worked for us, but does it work for potatoes? KH - We did try this for our salad potatoes which need to be under 42mm and it made a big difference to the value of the crop. The soil makes the difference, and in some cases we had three or four different soil profiles in one field. We used a higher seed rate on heavier ground and saw huge benefits for salad potatoes, and we were able to maintain the right size. I don’t think the return on investment you’d get for general ware market potatoes stacks up though. WG - Yield mapping can be useful, it can pick up zones in the fields, and can highlight differences in performance. According the Grimme there can be a 400% variation within fields, we need to change that. KH - If we could get it right consistently then it could be really useful, as we’ve seen at Bruce Farms. I think there are opportunities for the seed sector too for example seed growers are now being asked not to exceed 55mm for Hermes, so it is imperative they get a really even crop. CH – Is it better to invest in the early stages of the cycle, like planting, if we can get it right there we don’t have to try and correct things later? KH – this is certainly true, something we’ve found with the changes we’vemade to cultivations depths – accuracy, or precision if you like, in the early stages hasmeant better results. AF – Sometimes we’re using precision techniques, and we don’t consider that is what we’re doing. It has become standard practice but we shouldn’t be associating precision just with technology, it’s about accuracy, and informed decision making, using your expertise. WG – Consistency is certainly the key now, and we’re always trying things to improve that – it can be a series of 1% improvements that make the difference. GB: So is the issue practicality? We know that there are many variables in growing potatoes, have any of the companies come up with an off the shelf solution that can deal with them all? AF - There is an issue with the transition between research and commercial practice, that is where the gap is and that’s what we need to sort out. We were using soil probes to measure nitrogen rates, but this was driven by researchers as part of AHDB Potatoes Strategic Farm programme – there were issues with reliability that just wouldn’t stand up in the commercial world. When we did get results through, it was great and the data was very reassuring on our environmental impact. WG – Our best results have come when we’ve tailored our own solutions. You take the data, put it in a spreadsheet and find what works on your farm. AF – Where it can be useful is when you pair it with your own experience. I think it is the younger generation driving the need for new technology, but often it’s because they want to skip a step. They want the easy answer and they undervalue knowledge and experience. New technology is not always the answer. KH – I agree, you see people that don’t want to look over the data. They don’t want to do stem counting or tuber counts. Some of the technology works for us, but you still have to put the work in yourself and use your own knowledge – it is not all shortcuts.

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