U.K. farmer uses Pod-stick to straight-combine canola

James Cooper farms near Maldon, a historic town on the Dengie Peninsula in the county of Essex, U.K. He wrote this week to say “he reads my blog with interest,” then went on to share a little about his farming practices. He grows top grade milling winter wheat, oilseed rape (canola) and sometimes peas depending on price. He also has a small beef herd.

James straight combines his canola. Before harvest, he applies glyphosate to stop growth and Pod-stick to prevent shatter. “It seals the pods and does actually work. We think we get about 150 kg more per acre,” he writes. “We know that Pod-stick has worked because of low regrowth and looking at neighbour's fields that haven't had it especially during the wet harvest of 2008.” 

He has used Pod-stick for the past two years. It’s a new product from De Sangosse Ltd. “It is important to have a good fungicide program, and not to put the Pod-stick on too late. It contains a latex polymer blend which dries on and doesn't stick in the combine,” he says. He uses a fungicide, Juventus or Caramba, containing metconazole, which also acts as a growth regulator. Folicur, containing tebuconazole, could also be used. “The fungicide is very important to prevent lodging for easier harvesting.”

James has a Case IH 1660 Axial-flow combine. He harvests canola with a standard 1030 header with a Biso sideknife on one side.

He buys combine parts from Manitoba

If you ever wondered about shopping around the world for cheaper parts, James proves it can work.

One of my blog articles that caught his eye was from July 4, 2008. It was about price differences between Canada and the U.S.  “I have been buying parts from Miller Farm Equipment at Brandon, Manitoba for a couple of years now as they are a lot cheaper than the U.K., even with taxes and postage. A set of bearings for my combine would have cost about £400 here and I got them for £150 from Canada,” James writes.

I asked how he connected with Miller Farm Equipment. “We were looking for prices on parts in the U.S. and Canada, because we had a U.S.-built header on our old combine, and couldn't get parts in the U.K. very easily. They were the only people to reply to our e-mails,” he answered. “They tell us we spend more money with them than local farmers.”