View from the East by Dr Keith Dawson

The main limiting factor in our western part of Ukraine which is below the verdant Carpathian Mountains, is not a lack of water like in the east, but a lack of growing days.

Compared to Cuba, where one can double crop with ease, our winter is a long one – and it's not finished yet. Like most of Europe this year, spring is late and although snow has protected the crops well over the winter, it has only just melted, leaving sodden fields with poor opportunities to travel and spread nitrogen.

The weather has been cold, so crops are not yet 'jumping', but here when spring comes, it comes with full force like a light switch. With such a late spring, a short growing season is even shorter and every day without growth or nitrogen applied is less yield potential.

This may well affect the final out-turn of Black Sea wheat yields, as might increased nitrogen prices this season. Disease and pest pressure, like Scotland, has been reduced by the recent cold weather, but frost damage has been minimal and unless there is a hot dry summer, there should be adequate moisture for the well rooted autumn-sown crops.

This is a good time for digging soil pits and examining soil profiles to see where any problems exist. It is a joy to plunge a spade into our area of black chernozem on the farms, but even our mineral clay loams are in good heart, as you can see from the pictures accompanying this article.

By utilising minimum tillage and by returning rape and cereal straw, we improve soil structure, drainage and trafficability. The return of organic matter to the soil from deep rooting oilseed rape is critical in a rotation incorporating two root crops in sugar beet and potatoes.

But, it has to be said that it was a battle to lift the final beet in the wet autumn last year and damage was done, especially on headlands. This will need remedying. Our only ploughing is before root crops and this also helps keep pernicious grass weeds in check.

Whilst it would be ideal to incorporate organic manures or slurries into this Integrated Soil Management programme, they are in short supply in Ukraine and impossible to find for what is now 45,000ha! Certainly, our soils are in much better heart than when we took them over up to 12 years ago.

Not only has the soil compaction caused by old Russian duckfoot cultivators been alleviated, but clearance of the widespread ditch systems on a catchment basis has improved drainage.

At the same time, not only have organic matters, pH and phosphate levels been maintained, but potash levels have been lifted. All of this is critical to our land leases and expansion, to be able to show that we steward the land well.

The importance of management of soils, tillage and rotations were highlighted in two recent Scottish arable conferences, both at the Crop Production in Northern Britain meeting, celebrating its 40th year, and at the recent winter meeting of the Scottish Society of Crop Research (SSCR).

As was pointed out, soils are produced at the rate of only 1cm per century and are thus essentially a non-renewable resource to be carefully conserved and protected. Due to degradation in countries such as China, coupled with growing population, the area of cultivable land is now at only 0.2ha per head of the population, whilst yields per ha are levelling out.

The keynote address at the CPNB, given by Professor Sarah Gurr, of Exeter University, highlighted the increasing speed with which diseases and pests travel around the world and increase the spread of resistance strains and mutants.

This may well be worsened by Brexit which will increase still further the cheap imports of food from around the world into UK markets. It is thus welcome news that the Scottish Government has announced the launch of a new 'virtual' Plant Health Centre, combining the considerable plant pathology skills from Scottish institutes to help biosecurity and protect Scottish growers.

Headed by the excellent Dr Ian Toth, of the Hutton Institute, this will be our frontline defence against this increasing spread. The less welcome news is that with the characteristic financial wizardry of the Scottish Government, there is no new money to support this heralded venture – funds will be robbed from other research projects, weakening the Scottish R and D base further.

There will be a world class speaker at the upcoming SSCR agm, in Dundee, on May 23. The best selling author, Mark Lynas, will be speaking on the 'Post truth surrounding GM crops, organic agriculture and climate change'. A former Greenpeace activist, he has published a number of books including 'The God species', which is well worth reading, addressing technology, environment and agriculture.

He has altered his views radically since his Greenpeace days and is now in favour of GM technology and the belief that government decisions should be made on fact and evidence, not on dogma and by focus group.

One would have had to be living on Jupiter not to notice some major global shifts in the tectonic plates of diplomacy and trade of late. In recent days, relations between the West and Russia has worsened further and assassinations on the streets of Kiev have now moved to the streets of Salisbury.

Further sanctions may well be in the offing affecting Black Sea trade into Western markets. Coupled with this considerable 'cooling' with Russia, is a further heightening of the US trade war with China, with considerable ripples likely to be felt elsewhere.

US farmers are highly concerned, as 57% of US soya – with a value of $10bn – currently heads to China, along with 26% of their pork. US farmer incomes have dropped by 50% since 2013 and 'Concerned of Idaho and Wisconsin' await developments with bated breath, as do 'Concerned of Coldstream and Auchnagatt', with its possible knock-on effects on oilseed rape prices.

The good news is that new research has shown that the likely effects of climate change have been significantly overestimated and also that it will be much more difficult and less effective moving to electric vehicles than anticipated.

Now, perhaps, someone could inform the Scottish Government of these facts and evidence?