The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Resolute students rise to Winter Wheat Challenge
COMPETITION: Biggest ever line-up for SRUC event
Wet weather and an attack of nematodes in Fife did not deter 20 teams of students which competed in this year’s biggest ever SRUC and Mains of Loirston Winter Wheat Challenge.
The competition, which is organised by Scotland’s Rural College, was won by a group of former Aberdeen-based students led by Forfar team captain Timur Kharisov who moved to Scotland from Moscow in 2003.
Other members of the team were Heather Duff from Brechin, Helen Parker, Emma Parvin, Joanne Breese and Ashleigh Nelson.
The competition encourages the next generation of farmers and agronomists by making them manage their own plots of winter wheat, requiring them to select the variety, seed rate, fertiliser and pest protection.
Each entry is replicated on sites in Aberdeenshire, Fife and Midlothian and the winners are the team with the best gross margin return from their crop.
The winning team reduced costs by using low rates of fungicides and moderate amounts of nitrogen, resulting in the highest yield of 10.7 tonnes per hectare at SRUC’s Bush Estate, and an offer of £148 per tonne from East Lothian grain merchants WN Lindsay, where the trial site samples were sent.
They chose the breadmaking variety, Skyfall.
Competition coordinator Scott Murray from SRUC said: “For many of our students, the Winter Wheat Challenge is the first time they have had to make agronomic decisions.
“There is a great deal to consider, from inputs like seed, fungicide and fertiliser as well as the final market for their crop, milling or feed.
“This year’s competition was particularly tough so huge congratulations go to the winners.”