The winter has once again seen a successful series of talks called Time to Talk put on by the staff at Aiva in the hope of letting farmers see that there are alternatives to how the crops are grown, plus isn’t it nice to get together to have a chat from an industry where we are mostly alone.
The talks started before Christmas in Kent and came to a close a couple of weeks ago in Oxfordshire in a little village called Letcombe. We have heard more in depth conversation on Nitrogen Management and how it really is the most important job on the farm and how using different forms of nitrogen can effect the outcome. There is a lot of excitement for the coming year as the trials of
amino acids has been proving incredibly successful. In Exeter we saw results where the farmer had added Fulvic acid as Nurture N and amino acids as Citadel (formerly Nurture 60) and got a .5t/ha increase in yield from a £20 investment plus the quality of the seed was amazing. The pictures of the treated seed looked like a Ready Brek advert as the health shone out. Photo required.
Silicon was, of course, a major talking point as we are seeing that not only is it being successful in controlling pest and disease problems but also research is showing that it has a major effect on Nitrogen uptake and translocation, so once again exciting times ahead for this year. We were extremely lucky to have a wide variety of speakers and topics on the travelling agenda:
- Dr Avice Hall – Silicon
- Dr Kelly Jowett – Carabid beetles
- Nick Woodyatt – Nitrogen and Silicon
- Nick Woodyatt – Silicon and disease/pest prevention
- Mike Harrington – Regenerative agronomy
- Richard Boldan – Soil health & reduced fertiliser use
- George Hepburn – Carbon credits
- George Hepburn – Growing milling wheat
- Ben Harrington – Building microbial biomass
- Angus Gowthorpe – Intelligent farming
- John Hill & Andrew Knight – Thoughts and results on using Aiva inputs
We did make sure to video a few of these presentations for those that either missed them or would like to rewatch them!
Guest speaker Ben Harrington ‘Building Microbial Biomass’
Guest speaker Mike Harrington ‘Integrated Farming Systems’
Aiva Consultant Nick Woodyatt ‘Maximising Profits by Using Intelligent Farming’
Guest speaker Dr Avice Hall ‘The potential of Silicon’
We would like to thank the farmers who let us hold the talks on their farms , Tom Sewell in Kent, Angus Gowthorpe in York, John Hill in Exeter and Robert Beaumont in Suckley. Over the past couple of months we have seen many farmers who want to look at Regenerative farming seriously, had some fantastic discussion sessions and conversations, and most importantly passed on as much knowledge as we can to aid each attendee on their journey!
If you’re interested in either attending or hosting this years Winters Time to Talk events, then please get in touch!