Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) – Ayrshire

A sheltered flat north-south site, with sandy loam and current vegetation of barley stubble. Planting of a winter wheat cover crop took place in 2022, followed by Miscanthus, Willow, Poplar and Eucalyptus in spring 2023. The plans below show the layout of the trial plots at the hub site and the updates will keep you informed of their progress and performance throughout the trials.

Address

Auchincruive Estate, Ayr.

Latitude, longitude

55°28’30.7″N 4°33’28.8″W (55.475184, -4.557993)

Grid ref

NS 38427 23117

What 3 words ref for entrance

///plotted.improvise.miracles

Site Plans

Ayr Site PlanAyr Soil Sample Locations

Characteristics

Mean Annual Precipitation (mm)

820 mm

Mean Annual Temperature (°C)

12.9 °C

Altitude 

48 m

Exposure

Sheltered.

Topography 

Flat.

Aspect

N-S.

Soil type

Sandy loam.

Current vegetation coverage

Barley stubble.

Other relevant site info

 

Project plans/actions

Which biomass crops

 Planted (as of August 2023)

  • SRC willow (6-way mixture) (~0.5 ha)
  • Miscanthus giganteus – Miscanthus Nurseries (~0.5 ha)
  • Miscanthus ‘Athena’ – Terravesta (~0.5 ha)
  • SRC Poplar (0.137 ha)​
  • SRF Poplar (0.125 ha)​
  • SRF Eucalyptus (0.114 ha)
  • SRF Alder (0.028 ha)
  • Black Locust Turbo (0.034 ha)
  • Black Locust Turbo Obelisk (0.031 ha)

To be planted:

  • Reed Canary Grass​ 10 m x 25m 0.025ha
  • Switch Grass (upland ecotype)​ 10 m x 25m 0.025ha
  • Switch Grass (lowland ecotype) 10 m x 25m 0.025ha.
Planting goals/aim  
Agronomic dates (planting, harvesting schedule)

Planting: Spring 2023. 

Harvest: Jan/Feb 2024.

Management methodology (spray off, nutrient additions, ploughing, site prep, others)

– Ploughing/site prep Oct 2022 (Winter wheat cover – except on Miscanthus plots) + Glyphosate (early spring 2023).

– Pendimethalin pre-ems (spring 2023).

– Graminicide 3-6 weeks post planting.

– Dow Shield 3-6 weeks post planting (if required).

– Interrow weeding/spot spraying when required (spring/summer).

Machinery to be used TBC.

General Info

Field management history  
Other site detail of note  

Updates

Hub Site Update – SRUC Ayrshire – June 2023
16/08/2023
June 2023 – Hub Site Update The Willow variety trial was planted on 13th & 14th June by the Rothamsted Research team and team members from SRUC. Conditions were hot […]
Hub Site Update – SRUC Ayrshire – May 2023
14/07/2023
April and May 2023 – Hub Site Update Glyphosate spraying of the plots for planting was undertaken and weed die-off is evident. This was followed by spot spraying some of […]
Hub Site Update – SRUC Ayrshire – March 2023
04/05/2023
March 2023 – Overview of progress to date Remedial ground-work The arable site was in good condition. Baseline sampling took place after the spring barley harvest and no specific remedial […]
Hub Site Update – SRUC Ayrshire – February 2023
26/04/2023
February 2023 It has been extremely wet. So wet, the ground is almost like quick mud. Nearly lost a welly! It will be several weeks before it has a chance […]
Hub Site Update – SRUC Ayrshire – January 2023
01/03/2023
January 2023 Risk Assessments for grazing, browsing and crop damage threats were undertaken. Auchincruive has had unusually high volumes of rain in the last couple of weeks, followed by a […]
Hub Site Update – SRUC Ayrshire
09/01/2023
December 2022 Summer weed control, cultivation and drilling complete. A winter wheat cover crop has been drilled on all wood crops plots but not on those due to have miscanthus […]

Base line soil samples have been taken, ploughing is in progress, Hopefully planting wheat cover crop week beginning 24 Oct 2022.  

Gallery

55.4578372 -4.6146849 Scotland's Rural College, University Avenue, Ayr, UK