I've had enough of cold and snow for this winter. In a few days time I'm off to Argentina and Chile to look at farming there - and to soak up a bit of sun, I hope.
Before going I thought I had better take a close look at our autumn drilled wheats. Before winter set in they all looked pretty good; green and tillering with a respectable plant stand on every field. Since the frost and snow they've gone brown and in some fields as you drive along potholed roads beside them, almost disappeared.
On closer inspection the plants are still there. But the frosts have caused the land to lift and even almost masked the later drillings. I was reminded, when I looked at them, of a trip I made to France several years ago to look at a similar phenomenon. There, on light land around Rheims after very severe frosts, winter barley had been torn from its roots by frost heave caused by the extreme cold and whole fields had been killed. It was a tragic sight.
Fortunately, our crops don't appear to be as seriously affected. The little brown leaves and the roots beneath seem to be intact. What we need now is some warmer temperatures, a nice steady rain to pat the soil down, and an early application of nitrogen. I shall leave a note to that effect before I leave. And I fully expect those crops to look very much better when I get back.