On 19th July BASF kicks off a digital demo week to introduce the new and optimised look and rich content of its Real Results Virtual Farm. During the week BASF will reveal their intuitive ‘Trials Zone’, host two webinars and launch a wealth of content across multiple other zones.
Launched in 2020, BASF’s Virtual Farm has been an invaluable resource throughout the pandemic, giving growers and agronomists access to leading experts, recent trials, and product information while the gates to research facilities and demonstration farms have been firmly shut. The Real Results Virtual Farm, however, has always been a long-term project and as the bank of information builds, so does its value.
“Come and take a look,” encourages Phillippa Overson, BASF Head of Crop Campaign Marketing. “Over the past few months, we’ve added lots of new content, from webinars to new product trials, and there’s much more to come.”
The new Trials Zone brings together all the digital trials currently hosted on the Real Results Virtual Farm. Featuring new products, growers and agronomists will get 360⁰ views of trials, be able to zoom into individual plots, compare treatments and watch guided tours with BASF and independent experts.
During the digital demo week, BASF will hero specific zones each day and highlight both new and existing content.
On Monday, the emphasis will be on the Trials Zone. Tuesday will focus on potatoes, OSR and pulses, with cereal herbicides and fungicides taking centre stage on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. The final day sees BASF’s comprehensive digital solution, xarvio™ and the company’s sustainability initiatives take the spotlight.
VIRTUAL TRIALS
From Monday 19th July, visitors to the virtual farm will be able to view three tours, hosted in a brand-new Trials Zones.
“We want to make sure nobody misses out – while it’s always lovely to meet in person and see trials first-hand, sometimes it’s simply not convenient,” acknowledges Phillippa. “In the near future, the Virtual Farm will give growers and agronomists the ability to compare trials year-on-year, which is not something you can do in a field. They will also be able to select and review trials from sites that most closely compare with their own farms.”
- Cereal herbicide trials
Featuring the new herbicide, Luximo®, the 2021 trial at Hardwick tested 11 treatments across two drilling periods. As well as exploring the individual treatments or the impact of drilling date, users can join independent weed expert, John Cussans from NIAB, for a guided tour.
- Potato blight trials
Potato growers can tour the 2020 Eurofins blight trials and get a preview of how the new fungicide currently unnamed and known as BAS657 performs in partnership with a variety of other products on a crop of Melody that was inoculated with some of the most aggressive blight strains currently here in the UK. With nine treated plots the trial tests the new products efficacy and enables growers to compare its performance against competitors.
- Cereal fungicide trials
In 2020, we digitised our platform in Herefordshire. Users can explore the cereals fungicide plots at Leominster with 3600 maps, the ability to zoom in on individual treatments and compare plots side-by-side. Dr Jon Helliwell, BASF cereal fungicides technical expert, explores five agronomic topics across 32 varieties and six fungicide programmes.
WEBINARS
‘Strong Against Weeds Together with xarvio™ Digital Farming Solutions’ is the title of the herbicide webinar taking place at 8-9.30am on Wednesday. “It’s an open and collaborative discussion with BASF’s resident blackgrass expert, Stuart Kevis, and agronomy manager Andrew Clune/Hugo Pryce joining our digital farming solutions manager Louis Wells and a farmer that’s been trialling Luximo®. We’ll be having a conversation around the four pillars of weed control,” explains Cereal Herbicides Campaign Manager and webinar host, Ali Richards.
“Come and ‘visit’ our trial site in Somerset at 8am on Thursday,” says Murielle Moille, Cereal Fungicides Campaign Manager. “We’ll be discussing this season’s disease control in wheat and barley, with a focus on maintaining green leaf area and protecting genetics, as well as exploring how digital tools can form part of a successful IPM strategy for tackling crop diseases.
MORE HIGHLIGHTS AND MORE TO COME
Elsewhere on the Real Results Virtual Farm, potato growers will find a new potato podcast, ‘Perfecting Potatoes Together’, and details about new products, such as the tuber treatment Honesty® and the insecticide, Axalion®. There will also be sneak peeks of yet-to-be-named products including a herbicide, a late blight control and a biological wireworm control.
For OSR growers there are farmer video diaries discussing the highs and lows of growing OSR this season and plenty of webinars to catch up on. And pulse growers can catch the results of a recent survey exploring the how and why of pulses.
There are also feature demonstrations and interactive demonstrations of BASF’s digital solution xarvio™, alongside content from farms already benefitting from the tool’s insights.
Growers will be able to discover more about easyconnect, a Closed Transfer System (CTS) that makes filling your sprayer faster, easier and safer than conventional methods.
There’s a new video about the company’s sustainability farms, together with information about wHen2g0, a digital tool designed to help growers with water stewardship for OSR herbicides.
Further ahead users can look forward to seeing more trial plots from the 2021 season including a fungicide trial that’s currently taking place in Somerset.
To explore the Real Results Virtual Farm simply visit www.basfrealresultsfarm.com
To register for the webinars click on the ‘upcoming events’ section or visit: https://basfrealresultsfarm.com/en_GB/zones/a5142569-8224-4b40-938e-c8d899fa2163/upcoming
Disclaimer
Use plant protection products safely. Always read the label and product information before use. For further product information including warning phrases and symbols refer to www.agricentre.basf.co.uk.
Axalion® contains trimethazolamide. Honesty® contains fluxapyroxad. Luximo® contains cinmethylin. Axalion®, Honesty® and Luximo® are registered trademarks of BASF. © BASF 2021. All rights reserved.
JCM Media Contact: Natalie Reed at natalie@janecraigie.com or +44 78436 81385