MEDIA RELEASE
1 June 2017
Benchmarking and ‘big data’ could be
increasingly important for arable margins
Benchmarking of crop performance plus use of big data to identify farming practices
that deliver genuine benefits could become increasingly important as arable farms
face continued grain price volatility, uncertainty over farming support and increasing
technical challenges, says leading agronomy firm, ProCam.
“Without proper benchmarking of yields and margins against the best-performing
crops in the country, growers don’t have a reference point as to what is achievable,”
says ProCam managing director, John Bianchi.
“Similarly, without broad acre knowledge of how different crops and agronomic
techniques perform, it is extremely difficult to identify which should be employed on
your own farm. Benchmarking and big data help better inform year-to-year and dayto-day agronomy decisions.”
Pointing to results of ProCam’s own 4Cast benchmarking database, which has 17
years of analysable data and has just had latest results from the 2016 harvest added,
Mr Bianchi says findings confirm just how large the gap between typical and the top
25% of crops can be.
Even average winter wheat yields on 4Cast have consistently tracked above the UK
DEFRA average over the last 17 years, he says, but 4Cast growers in the top 25%
have averaged substantially higher still – at over 2 t/ha above the UK DEFRA
average.
“In addition, big data from 4Cast often reveals surprise findings on the effects of
agronomic techniques on crop performance,” adds Mr Bianchi, “some of which are
highly relevant for this autumn.
“As an example, we’ve seen that you don’t necessarily need to spend more to
improve yield and gross margin. Also, delaying drilling, up to a point, and switching to
minimum tillage may not be detrimental to yield, and there is a clear case for growers
not to turn away from winter oilseed rape.”
Expanding on these areas, ProCam’s technical director, Dr Tudor Dawkins, and head
of crop production, Nick Myers, say the latest harvest 2016 results show the top 25%
of winter wheat growers on 4Cast spent less per hectare on variable costs than the
average, yet achieved higher yields and around £200/ha higher gross margin.
“There was little difference in the split between the types of sprays the top 25%
used,” says Mr Myers. “However, with their higher yields, their costs per tonne spent
on seed, fertiliser and sprays were all lower. This all suggests the extra gross margin
was down to attention to detail. We know that making the right day-to-day agronomy
decisions and using accurate timings can make a big difference.
“Perhaps linked to this, results from last season suggest the top 25% of growers
were happier to start drilling later, with the peak number of fields drilled occurring well
after 8 October, compared with before 8 October for the average. Yet the top 25%
still managed to finish drilling earlier.”
According to Dr Dawkins, with the top 25% growers also producing the highest yields
and gross margins, this could be an encouraging learning point this autumn for
growers facing blackgrass.
“There is natural concern with drilling later that it will reduce yield,” says Dr Dawkins.
“But the benefits, in terms of a lower yield penalty from having less blackgrass
emerging in the crop, could far outweigh this.
“What’s also interesting is that results from 4Cast show the changes in UK cultivation
practices that have occurred, and how these impact on yield.
“Over the last 17 years, ploughing has clearly been decreasing and non-inversion
minimum tillage increasing but average yield data from 4Cast for the last 14 years
showed wheat yields were slightly higher after non-inversion tillage than after
ploughing on all soil types – heavy, medium and light.
“This is another example of how costs and efficiency can be improved based on big
data – because non-inversion tillage is not only cheaper but also allows more timely
land preparation,” he adds.
In addition, Dr Dawkins and Mr Myers say there is strong evidence from 4Cast that
growers shouldn’t adopt a knee-jerk reaction of dropping winter oilseed rape from
rotations, just because neonicotinoid seed treatments have been lost.
The area of oilseed rape amongst 4Cast growers has been falling since 2012, but for
harvest 2016 4Cast figures showed it was more profitable than winter wheat and the
most profitable of 11 different crops examined, they point out. It has also been the
most profitable break crop compared with peas, beans and spring oilseed rape over
the vast majority of the last 17 years, they note.
“Growing winter oilseed rape as a previous crop has also consistently improved
winter wheat yield over the last two years on 4Cast,” adds Dr Dawkins.
“Growers will be questioning whether to plant winter oilseed rape because of the
challenge of preventing cabbage stem flea beetle eating into crop emergence with
the loss of neonicotinoid seed treatments. However, results show clearly that winter
oilseed rape not only has the potential to be a highly profitable crop in its own right
but also to bring a yield uplift to the following winter wheat crop.
“Benchmarking and big data help you assess these types of wider benefits. They
obviously need to be used in conjunction with agronomy knowledge and experience,
but they provide a sound starting point,” he adds.
Photo: John Bianchi
Caption: Benchmarking and big data help better inform year-to-year and dayto-day agronomy decisions, says John Bianchi, managing director of leading
agronomy firm, ProCam
Photo: Oilseed rape
Caption: Findings from ProCam’s 4Cast benchmarking and big data database
suggest there is a clear case for growers not to turn away from winter oilseed
rape
Photo: Blackgrass / Dr Tudor Dawkins
Caption: The concern that later drilling will reduce yield could be far
outweighed by the yield benefit of having less blackgrass emerging in a wheat
crop, says Dr Tudor Dawkins, technical director of ProCam
Images supplied/attached to be only used in connection with this press release.
-ends-
For further press information, please contact:
John Bianchi
Managing Director
ProCam UK Limited,
2020 Cambourne Business Park, Cambourne, Cambridge,
CB23 6DW
Tel: 01954 712155
Email: [email protected]
Dr Tudor Dawkins
Technical Director
ProCam UK Limited
Tel (direct): 01954 712165
Mobile: 07803 243875
Email: [email protected]
Nick Myers
Head of Crop Production
ProCam UK Limited
Mobile: 07889 625295
Email: [email protected]