It always gives me great satisfaction to go in to breakfast at 7.00 am having achieved a successful mission-accomplished. Not that I do that very often but more through neccessity to catch up with another job in desperate need. So, at last, I have managed to get the pr-harvest glyphosate on to my winter barley.
By 5.30 the sun was in the sky. The crop was dry enough and not a breeze. A hint of a Northern airflow provided the final incentive to get on with the job as there was a crop of seed potatoes to the North next to the barley. The job was getting desperate as the barley is ripening fast and with four to five tatties (potatoes) per square metre in many strips this was a much needed control. I will be lucky if this one spray does the job without another one to prepare the field for tatties again in six years time. I thought I had made an early start but the farmer who has my tattie ground had just finished spraying the tatties (for blight) !
The oilseed rape is now being swathed in this area and I expect to get mine done on Sunday or Monday. The spring barley is looking well despite the cold wet weather. My worry at the moment is of high Nirogen content due to the very dry April leading to late uptake of Nitogen fertiliser. 6 t/ha is just a "hope for" at this stage, anything could happen. Likewise the wheat is looking good with a 9 t/ha yield just a "hope for" at this stage.