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Over the Hedge - Arable Barometer farmers' diary

Concern for Lincs OSR

 

Despite having to re-sow about 36ha (90 acres) of slug-hit wheat, Ben Atkinson is more concerned for the oilseed rape at Grange Farm, Rippingale, Lincs.

"I've admitted slight defeat on the slug front and have ended up re-drilling some Welford in heavy areas after rape. It's all on land that had been ploughed," he said.

"Looking back it was the only cultivation that would go when it was so wet in the summer, but I wonder whether patience would have been the better route.

"That's easy to say now, but with unknown weather and a lot of land to work, the idea of doing nothing was difficult.

"I'm probably a little premature with re-drilling, but often the first loss is the best loss and there is still time to establish a perfectly good crop."

However, it is the oilseed rape on 730ha (1800 acres) that is most worrying, said Mr Atkinson.

"It's just not growing. In the long dry period at the end of August and beginning of September, when it should have been getting established, it just sat there and lost vigour.

"When it did eventually get a little rain and germinated, it got to cotyledon and possibly one or two leaf stage and again just sat there.

"It seems quite weak and susceptible to phoma and downy mildew, and now that day length and temperature are declining it's not going to grow much more. We need quite a mild winter for a lot of plants to survive."

After a couple of days shooting, time spent catching up in the office has been a "bit of a reality check".

"No-one can deny that current market prices for arable crops are a blessing. But fertiliser, seed, fuel, machinery, labour and other costs have all increased. Coupled with decreasing SFP it does take the edge off the books a little bit.

"I don't mean to sound like a miserable old git, and am aware that Farmers Weekly does have that slot filled, but having been through the past 10 years I find it difficult not to scrutinize figures."

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