9th
December 2005
MASSTOCK SMARTFARMING PROJECT
‘A bright future
for oilseeds’ was the theme for the first in a series of workshops held at the
The purpose
of the meeting at the Lincolnshire School of Agriculture was to promote a new
trials initiative, Best of British Oilseeds, combining Masstock’s SMARTfarming
network with Monsanto, BASF, Kemira GrowHow, Vaderstad and Claas
The meeting
also aimed to communicate agronomic management factors enabling high-yielding
oilseed rape crops and to encourage discussion on marketing opportunities for
the future.
The event
was attended by 80 farmers and agronomists who were welcomed to the Best of
British Oilseeds project by David Langton, trials and SMARTfarms manager for
Masstock, who also gave a review of the research and development work which
Masstock is carrying out with the oilseed rape crop.
A
presentation by Paul Birbeck from machinery manufacturers Vaderstad explained
some fundamental differences in crop establishment practices, outlining those
used to establish the crops on the SMARTfarm site at Riseholme Park Farms Lodge
Farm in Nettleham.
A further talk
by Philip Marr explained some of the current trials, covering new varieties,
disease resistance, seed rate and establishment achievements, and the afternoon
was concluded by David Neale looking ahead at opportunities, developments and
challenges in producing and marketing in a new era of oilseed production.
The event
was very popular with those who attended and Masstock plan to hold further such
events at
For more information contact:
Jez Ashberry, Press and Media Relations Manager
01522 886042 jashberry@lincoln.ac.uk
Visit our news web pages: www.lincoln.ac.uk/news/latestnews.htm