Warm winter has resulted in soaring rat numbers, says Jon Parker

Oilseed rape has just started to move following the first application of nitrogen and sulphur, so a growth regulator, fungicide and trace element mix is planned.

The frosts have done a great job of controlling the charlock which has now left us with some relatively clean crops without having to rely on chemical control, with variable results. Alternative control measures in the local area have included whole cropping the charlock, which appears to have done an excellent job.

Wheat has had its first nitrogen and sulphur and the remaining Atlantis (iodosulfuron + mesosulfuron) has now been completed. Control from autumn applications has been variable and annoyingly no pattern follows as to why some areas are better than others. More resistance tests will take place this year. Some of the more forward crops still have high levels of rust and septoria and so a strong fungicide and growth regulator mix will be applied.

Land for spring onions is now being prepared. Our first drillings are due in March and the reservoir is full in preparation for a dry spring. This reservoir is filled by borehole and so we could fill it. However, our other reservoirs are winter-filled from rivers, from which the opportunities to abstract have been few and far between.

One unpleasant side of the milder winter is the massive increase in the number of rats. We have never seen so many on the farm and I don’t know if rat poison is becoming less effective, but it seems to be giving little or no control of numbers. High velocity lead seems to be the best form of control at the moment.