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Think Carefully about Crop Rotations in 2005
Date added: 25/06/04 |
- Loss of Area Aid will affect profitability of some crops far more than realised.
- Top 25% of producers achieve crop margins over 30% more than UK average.
The loss of Area Aid will have a far greater impact on choice of crop in 2005 than many people imagine and g rowers really need to get to grip with their rotations in light of this, warns ProCam technical agronomist Nick Myers.
Speaking at the Procam 4cast Open Day at NIAB on Thursday 23rd June, Nick Myers said removing Area Aid payments from gross margin results for all crops over the last 5 years had highlighted the vulnerability of some key crops in the rotation.
“There might be sound agronomic reasons why certain break crops need to be grown, but the profitability of many will be seriously suspect in the future,” he said.
“Our 4cast data for the last 5 years shows first Wheat is the most profitable and consistently performing crop by some margin and the best performing break crop is Winter OSR.
”Using the ProCam data with Area Aid removed shows the average gross margin for first Wheat in 2003 being £464/ha and that for second and third Wheats being £375/ha.
Furthermore, the top 25% of producers achieved margins without Area Aid of £612/ha for first Wheat and £522/ha for second and third Wheats – nearly 32% higher on first Wheats than the average.
The top 25% of producers also achieved margins without Area Aid of £515/ha for Winter OSR compared with an average £364/ha. No other break crop came close to these levels of profitability.
“There may be reasons such as weed control and spreading workload that suggest other regimes, but if you can, Winter Wheat and Winter OSR are the most profitable combination,” Nick Myers said.
“Fixed costs too need careful management too. Establishment costs make up 40% of fixed costs on average so now might be the time to look at reduced tillage options as well.” |
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