With the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive, and uncertainty about future iterations of the scheme, Cereals will aim to highlight the benefits of alternative crops.
“The SFI represented a pretty easy way for farmers to move away from out-and-out production-focused farming to deriving an income from environmental funding,” says Edward Hutley, partner at Ceres Rural. “Taking marginal land out of production has been a wholesale change – and there are lots of people with agreements in play.”
Farmers are now faced with waiting for the scheme to reopen or explore alternatives. One option is to incorporate niche crops into the rotation.
“At our farm in Essex we have grown borage, echium, ryegrass seed and chia seed – these are all crops to be considered, although they’re not to be entered into lightly as they’re not risk-free,” explains Edward.
“Such crops require specialist equipment and storage, have fewer plant protection options, and limited marketing opportunities. There’s also a steep learning curve, with mistakes likely along the way – but the returns could be worthwhile.”
A compromise could be to grow well-known crops but on value-added contracts, such as naked oats, high erucic acid oilseed rape, or crops for seed.
Alternative breaks
With continuing issues around the viability of oilseed rape, alternative break crops are also gaining popularity, including winter linseed, which markets for over £600/t.
Nigel Padbury, seeds and marketing manager at Premium Crops says: “When you consider that winter linseed can yield 2.5-3.5t/ha, we can confidently say it presents a very strong financial proposition.
“It shares many agronomic advantages with OSR, including a similar drilling window and seedbed conditions – but with reduced nitrogen requirements at 140kg/ha versus 200kg+ for OSR.”
Another advantage is that the crop is not affected by flea beetle and has a July harvest window, mitigating the risk to growers. The company will also highlight canary seed, which offers a good return in the birdseed market and can be competitive against blackgrass.
“We strongly advise farmers not to grow any niche crops without a guaranteed buyer,” Nigel adds. “It’s crucial to secure a buy-back contract before planting, as trading these crops on the open market can be risky, leaving farmers with unsold produce and disrupting supply chains.”
Attendees to the event will be able to explore a range of crop plots dedicated to these alternative crops, as well as new cover crop mixes to boost soil health.
Another crop being promoted is sunflowers, following the first-ever marketing pool last year. United Oilseeds will be on site to discuss the benefits of the crop.
“The first season exceeded expectations, with many growers achieving yields over 2t/ha,” says Nick Hobson, United Oilseeds’ sunflower project lead. “Despite challenges like moisture management and pest pressure, the final price surpassed £400/t, reinforcing sunflowers’ market potential.”
Cereals will take place on the 11th and 12th of June. For more information and to book tickets go to www.cerealsevent.co.uk