Wanted- Entries for the Next Winter Wheat Challenge – Which Team Will Grow the Most Profitable Wheat Crop? While the harvest is not yet finished and the results of the 2012/13 Winter Wheat Challenge competition for students and young farmers have still to be announced, the organisers from Scotland’s Rural College are now seeking entries for next season’s event. Teams of 4 - 5 people, aged under 25 on 26th September, are invited to pit their wits against the opposition, the weather and the market to produce a “crop” of winter wheat with the highest gross margin per hectare. The annual competition is managed by SRUC on behalf of the Mains of Loirston Trust, established in 2007 by NE Farmer, the late Alexander W Allan. He was committed to advancing education in the practice and science of agriculture in Scotland. The 2013/14 Challenge is designed to encourage the next generation of farmers and agronomists by giving them their own plots of winter wheat to manage. (for results of 2012/13 see below). The teams will make management decisions throughout the growing season about crops grown on three sites in Midlothian, Perthshire and Aberdeenshire. They must choose the variety and select seed rates and fertiliser application rates, along with the inputs of herbicide, fungicides and growth regulators. While the work will be carried out for them by the SRUC Trials Teams, who will replicate the treatments on all three sites, the competitors will be pitting their wits against a range of real life variables. According to coordinator, SRUC Lecturer Scott Murray; “Winter wheat is one of the most challenging crops to grow economically. Crops in Scotland can break records, with 13 tonnes per hectare potentially achievable, but in other seasons weather, pests, disease and weeds can turn everything on its head, creating a real challenge in terms of selecting the optimum inputs”. While the opening months of the inaugural Mains of Loirston Winter Wheat Challenge proved to be just that, with wet seedbeds, and a late cold spring, the growing season this summer has been relatively benign. Just how the crops sown in autumn 2012 have performed will be revealed in November after the plots have been harvested, yields measured, quality tested and a price calculated. The team collecting the Mains of Loirston Trophy will be the one with the greatest margin between the total income and the growing or “variable” costs per hectare. Anyone interested in taking part, or who wants to know more should contact Challenge Coordinator Scott Murray before 26th September. He can be contacted on 0131 535 4048 or at scott.murray @sruc.ac.uk. You can visit the website at sruc.ac.uk/wwc. PRESS PLEASE NOTE: The results of the 2012/13 Winter Wheat Challenge will be announced on the SRUC stand during AgriScot on November 20th, 2013. There will be an opportunity to met the victorious teams and speak to the organisers. It was felt that the Agriscot date allowed enough time to compete the assessments required and ensure students were available for comment – it was also to late for this year’s teams to gain any unfair advantage from lessons learned. However the organisers understand this is not an Agriscot story and cannot compete for the space the event will require that day. Notes The Mains of Loirston Charitable Trust was set up by the late Alexander Williams Allan in 2007. It is a Scottish Registered Charity, Number SC038006. The Trust’s annual income is of the order of £100,000. The Trustees are empowered to spend the Trust funds for “the advancement of education in the fields of either the practice of agriculture or the science of agriculture in Scotland”. The Trustees have discretion as to how the money can be spent which includes:
Posted on: Mon, 09 Sep 2013 10:43:33 +0000
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