On the 11/4/2013, the soil amendment treatments, including the pyrethrum marc, were spread onto the left hand side beds of the trial site. Onions were then drilled as the second test crop on the 27/05/13, to follow on from the green bean test crop. The onions have since established very well and we have an anticipated harvest date of late January/early February 2014. A herbicide program to match commercial practices has been adhered to following consultation with Tim Groom from BRA.Treatment differences are apparent with significantly larger onion seedlings from the marc treatments compared with all of the other treatments. The first measurements of plant height are included in this report.Soil erosion, caused by unseasonal heavy rains during August and September 2013 has caused some problems to the onion plants. Despite this, we expect to be able to produce a satisfactory yield by harvest time

All of the commercial farm trial sites have progressed as planned, excluding one of the pasture paddock sites, ‘Pasture Paddock East’ at Colin Chaplins farm. In this instance, the farmer has decided that he would like to use the paddock to plant potatoes. As the marc on this site has already been spread, we will continue to use this paddock. However, we will now monitor the yield and vigour of the potatoes in relation to the amount of pyrethrum marc spread. This now means that there are five commercial cropping trial sites and 1 commercial pasture paddock.All sites had pyrethrum marc applied during April 2013. Since then, onions have been planted at the trial site at Ellemere in the Ross paddock. While the other commercial cropping sites have had their soil tilled in preparation for their crops. Paddock ‘Ross North’ at Ellemere is ready for poppies to be planted, the paddock on Werrin farm, is awaiting its poppies to be planted and the 2 cropping paddocks at the Colin Chaplin site are ready for potatoes to be planted.The remaining pasture paddock is continuing as planned. Fences have been erected to ensure that any sheep in the paddock are kept away from our harvesting areas. Initial pasture harvest results are included in this report.

Materials and Method:Following the successful conclusion of the green bean harvest on the 21/02/2013, the trial site at the Forthside Vegetable Research Farm was maintained, so that the next phase of the trial could commence. The green bean plants were removed manually, to mirror commercial green bean harvesting.On the 05/04/2013, the next application of soil amendments was applied to the beds (Table 1, below). This time however, the treatments were only applied to the southern bed of each plot. These beds received the same treatment as was applied before the green beans were drilled. The other bed, did not receive any treatment (Figure 1). All treatments were applied manually on the same day, barring the commercial fertiliser treatment, which is to be applied by hand at the three true leaf growth stage. The amendments were then incorporated into the soil using a rotary hoe. Due to the emergence of oats from the oaten chaff treatment, these beds were sprayed with roundup on the 03/05/2013. The beds were then worked a final time with a roterra on the 07/05/2013, in preparation for drilling of the onions. All beds were sprayed with roundup on the 20/05/2013 to get rid of any weeds before the onions were drilled using a Stanhay Airseeder drill on the 27/05/2013. All onions were drilled with a MAP/Folicur/Super phosphate combination as a seed treatment.