Arable farmer top of crops

Highland arable farmer Donald Ross was crowned top of the crops at the annual ADAS Yield Enhancement Network awards.

Mr Ross, who farms at Rhynie Farm, near Tain, is a member of levy body AHDB’s arable business group in the Black Isle.

The mixed family farm stretches across 690 acres, carrying 100 suckler cows, 250 ewes and just under 400 acres of cropping.

Along with previous Black Isle monitor farm host Brian Matheson, Mark McCallum and John Gordon, Mr Ross has spent the last year monitoring and comparing plant counts and crop development with his neighbours.

The four farmers have been benchmarking

“We didn’t change a lot from the rest of the crop”

their businesses together for the past 10 years.

After entering some of his data into the ADAS awards, Mr Ross came first in the percentage of yield potential and second in the overall yield categories with his crop of Viscount winter wheat at 5.99 tonnes per acre – this was 83% of his potential yield.

“I was very surprised to win. We didn’t change a lot from the rest of the crop. However, we did apply a split dose of plant growth regulator,” said Mr Ross.

“We were lucky with the weather this year. A mild winter and spring meant that nearly every seed grew and nearly every tiller came to fruition. When we get sunshine at the right time it really makes a difference here.”

Mr Ross said the choice of Viscount could also have played a factor in his awards success.

The first time the crop was grown at Rhynie, in 2010, it outperformed other varieties by about 1.2 tonnes per acre.