OK, I don't post very often and when I do, for the last month or two at least, I probably come over like a one trick pony. But how much longer can this drought continue?
We have spring sown crops that are virtually gasping for moisture. The land is parched and although we have peas and sugar beet showing above the ground that actually look like they have grown a little if you compare them with a week ago, I wonder what they are living on.
The late drilled winter wheats look even worse. They haven't benefited from the second top dressing because there's been no rain to wash it in. And I daresay a lot of the N we applied has volatalised.
Old fogeys will tell you that its OK and that roots must be going down for whatever moisture is still in the land and that this will be good in the long run when it does rain. But how long is long? And will crops survive that long? And when it does rain, will it ever stop?
The last time I remember a drought of this magnitude was later in the year of 1976 - and it was a disaster.