All about BYDV

Join us for the first winter meeting of the Canterbury Monitor Farm where we will focus on Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV). By attending this meeting you will learn to identify the main virus vectors and understand the life cycles of these associated aphids. We will also explore what affects the life cycles, including the 'green bridge' and what farmers need to be thinking about.

We'll talk cover crops: whether this can be an affective solution to the problem and pest thresholds and when to act (including what tools are available and how to get the most from them). We'll also cover what strategies current exist for countering BYDV and might become available in the future, as well as a look at ongoing research. Dr Gina Aradottir from Rothmansted Research join us, bringing a wealth of experience in insect-plant interactions.

Speakers and topics

• Dr Gia Aradottir, Entomologist - Biointeractions and Crop Protection (Rothmansted) on BYDV

Programme

• Registration (including tea and coffee)
• Welcome and introduction: Paul Hill – AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds Knowledge Exchange Manager SE
• Beaute Farm update: Will Smith - Canterbury Monitor Farm host
• BYDV - understanding the disease: Dr Gia Aradottir, Entomologist - Biointeractions and Crop Protection (Rothmansted)
• Break out session and refreshment break: Aphid identification -  what methods do they believe they can integrate to build a more robust BYDV prevention strategy?
• Feedback
• BYDV continued - understanding the research and husbandry to help control it: Dr Gia Aradottir, Entomologist  

About Canterbury Monitor Farm

Will Smith farms with his father, brother and one other employee at Beaute Farm near Canterbury. Covering some 765 ha, of which 190 ha are owned, 100 ha are rented and the rest managed under varying contract farming agreements; the land features a variety of soil types including chalk loam, brick earth and marsh clay. William grows milling wheat, oilseed rape, beans quinoa and maize for a local anaerobic digestion plant. Alongside their crops the farm has a sheep and beef enterprise, straw and hay and property development businesses.

Will wants to improve his net margins through reducing input costs, via integrated farm and pest management; reducing his impact on the environment and supporting local biodiversity. Over the next three years William is keen to use the Monitor Farm programme to improve his farming methods and strategies, helping him to identify opportunities from the challenges ahead.

To find out more visit the Canterbury Monitor Farm page.

About Monitor Farms

AHDB Monitor Farms bring together groups of like-minded farmers who wish to improve their businesses by sharing performance information and best practice around a nationwide network of host farms. AHDB organises and facilitates Monitor Farm meetings for farmers, who own and operate the scheme – by farmers, for farmers. Monitor Farms are part of the AHDB Farm Excellence Programme. Each Monitor Farm project runs for three years.