Over the Hedge - Arable Barometer farmers' diary

October 2007 - Posts

• 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." To leave a comment you must be logged in. Posted Oct 31 2007, 09:12 AM by flutefriend with no comments Select Tags... SaveCancel Filed under: slugs, ploughing, Oilseed rape, re-drilling [Edit Tags]

• Holding off lifting for better beet yield

  Although sugar content, initially 17%, has improved towards the end of John Barrett's first beet liftings, yield on the 37ha (92 acres) of 109ha (270 acres) so far harvested from Hill House Farm, Hedenham near Bungay has not risen beyond 44t/ha (18t/acre). "It's up to 18.5% which makes a significant difference," he said. "But we're now hanging on for a couple of weeks to see if the crop can grow on and put on a bit more yield." The mild weather, with only one frost to date, plus earlier fungicide protection should help, he believes. The whole crop received a mix of 0.1litre/ha each of Cabaret (cyproconazole) and Fortress (quinoxyfen) in early August against rust and mildew respectively. "It was really more the mildew timing, and the plan was to spray again with Cabaret after three or four weeks," said Mr Barrett. "But in the end we didn't because we didn't see rust as a problem." Having had no second wheats last year, he has now drilled all 93ha (230 acres) this autumn, leaving just 20ha (50 acres) of wheat to sow after sugar beet. "We've bought in Gladiator as I don't see Alchemy and Robigus as particularly good second wheats." Post-emergence follow up herbicide treatments after Trooper (flufenacet + pendimethalin) plus Treflan (trifluralin) look set to be confined to Compitox Plus (mecoprop). "The Trooper/Treflan mix seems to have worked very well on blackgrass," said Mr Barrett who as a Farmers Weekly Awards finalist was looking forward to the celebration evening on Wednesday. To leave a comment you must be logged in.   Posted Oct 29 2007, 10:58 AM by flutefriend with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Sugar beet, mildew, yield, rust, lifting, fungicide [Edit Tags]

• Bad day for agronomist in Berks

  Having finished wheat drilling in Berks, Nigel Horne took a half-day break yesterday, planning to start on beans next week. Meanwhile his agronomist Steve Cook of Hampshire Arable Systems checked out his crops for autumn treatments at Catmore Farm, West Ilsley. "Unfortunately he didn't have a very good day," said Mr Horne. His car broke down and to make matters worse he was a mile off-road and his mobile phone packed up, he explained. "So he wasn't recovered by the AA until after dark. In fact he had a very bad day." On the plus side, there is no spraying urgency apart from the need to tackle phoma soon in the oilseed rape, and no wheat pre-em herbicides have been required this autumn. "All the blackgrass fields are in spring beans this season," explained Mr Cook. "We're not early drillers," added Mr Horne. "So although we used nothing other than single-purpose seed dressing, I'm not worried about BYDV. We generally get the aphids with one well-timed spray. "There's nothing to worry about in the wheat - it's all emerging well, though we had to use some Carakol Plus metaldehyde pellets on about 40ha, all after oilseed rape, and it's now looking a bit better. "But the rape's very patchy and I expect we'll be re-drilling some with spring rape as I don't want to disrupt the rotation."  To leave a comment you must be logged in. Posted Oct 26 2007, 12:31 PM by flutefriend with no comments Filed under: Wheat, OSR, slugs, bean, Breakdown [Edit Tags]

• Perfect drilling conditions prompt late surge in winter wheat plantings

  Perfect ground conditions are prompting south-west barometer Troy Stuart’s contractor clients to continue to drill more wheat. “We’ve finished the home farm drilling but we’re still contract drilling.” More and more wheat was going in the ground, with growers ploughing up set-aside and pasture to drill the crop, he reported. “Conditions are perfect – it has been a very kind autumn, which has made up a bit for the summer. There was a bit of rain last week that slowed us down, but we’ve now had 10 days of dry and it is ideal.” Forage maize harvesting was nearly completed, he said, while he had also made a start on grain maize harvesting on lighter land. “Yields are above average so far. We’d budget on 3t/acre dry weight, but the first block did over 3.6t/acre, so we’re pretty pleased.” So far, around 92 ha (230 acres) of grain maize had been cut, with a further 200ha (500 acres) left to do. “Some of the other heavier ground is still a fair way off – it held on longer.” Autumn spraying was up to date, he reported, with both pre- and post-emergence sprays applied to crops in some instances. Slugs remained a problem on some fields, but he was now patch spreading slug pellets rather than doing whole fields. “We’re fire-fighting patches, but I’m hoping we got the worst over earlier.” To leave a comment you must be logged in.   Posted Oct 24 2007, 03:29 PM by Mike Abram - Arable Deputy Editor with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Drilling, Wheat, slugs, grain maize, set-aside, maize [Edit Tags]

• German machinery show beckons

  James Wray's potato lifting at Dungiven, Co Londonderry, 97ha (220 acres) of Navan, Cabaret and first-time Maris Piper, should all be over by Wednesday thanks to a good spell of weather with only patchy showers. "After a wet summer and a stop/start cereal harvest, who would have thought that the potato harvest would have been so straightforward," he said. Yields are good - up to 54t/ha (22t/ha) - as are prices. "We've been selling some for £130-135/t. I'm happy with that and optimistic about prices after Christmas. Although there's more blackleg than average I have yet to see any blighted potatoes." Cereal drilling progress is about 10-14 days behind his neighbours'. "We've always looked at potatoes as our main crop and cereals as a sort of break. But with cereal prices as they are we may have to think about restructuring our business." Another reason why only 36ha (90 acres) have been drilled so far is that all the cereal land has received 10t/ha (4t/acre) of hen manure. "It does a great job but it ties up a telescopic handler for loading and tractors to spread it. It also has to be ploughed down immediately, so there's a big labour requirement." Fortunately all his cereal seed was ordered early. With the collapse in beef fortunes much more grass than usual is being ploughed up this autumn, he noted. "If you didn't order early, seed barley and wheat has been nearly impossible to get hold of this year, and for those lucky enough to get any I've heard some crazy prices." Provided drilling is finished Mr Wray plans to visit Germany's AgriTechnica show (13-17 Nov). "It has the world's largest exhibition of agricultural machinery, and my father has good reason to be worried!" he said. "With the grain store more than full, the potato stores overflowing and strong prices for both, I can make a start on that growing list of machinery required."  To leave a comment you must be logged in. Posted Oct 22 2007, 09:56 AM by flutefriend with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Drilling, Potatoes, Agritechnica [Edit Tags]

• Slugs merit triple treatment in Scotland

  John Hutcheson's late nights in the drier have certainly been bearable given the end result from his Fuego beans. At 5.4t/ha the yield was pleasing enough, but the real bonus has been the market price. However, slugs are already eating into next year's potential wheat profits. "Compared with the wheat price which seems to be all over the place beans have held up very well, and I've sold as many as I dare at £200/t," he said. "It was a pleasant surprise, and I'm very pleased with that." With only 30ha of second wheats still to drill, part Predator and part Alchemy, he was hoping 3t of Alchemy seed ordered would arrive before the weather closed in. "We're not expecting any rain until Monday. "Our big problem is still slugs. They're on second wheats now, not just the crops after oilseed rape." One 23ha field of rape has had to be re-drilled, mainly because of capping after heavy rain. But slugs also had a bearing on that decision, he said. "We're using a lot more pellets than usual, and some wheat fields have been getting three applications of full rate Allure - 9kg/ha. "We're using Allure because it's a good pasta-based product with plenty of baiting points." He also believes its metaldehyde active ingredient is more environmentally acceptable than other options. "It's not a cheap exercise, though. Each time through costs about £4/acre, which effectively knocks £1/t off the bottom line. But it's essential - if we didn't do it we could lose the crop." To leave a comment you must be logged in. Posted Oct 19 2007, 11:14 AM by flutefriend with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Wheat, slugs, Beans, drier [Edit Tags]

• Frost not helping northern OSR

  After the first autumn frost hit Andrew Gloag's oilseed rape at Busby House farm, Stokesley, North Yorks yesterday he was keeping his fingers crossed for some more off-setting warm days. "It's been gloriously sunny today," he said. "But about 1000 acres are still very backward - some plants are only at the three true leaf stage - and it needs another two to three weeks of good growing weather to be safe. "The trouble is that once we start getting frosts we tend to get only a few hours of warmth before the day cools down again." If anything, the 25% established with a single-pass of the Sumo Quatro with an Opico mounted seeder, despite looking initially rough, now appears better set than the rest which was sown with the Vaderstad drill, he noted. The whole crop recently received Falcon (propaquizafop) graminicide plus Hounddog (esfenvalerate) insecticide. The latter was added to control flea beetles which, despite Chinook (beta-cyfluthrin + imidacloprid) seed dressing, have already been damaging the small plants. "We've had some shot-holing, we were going through anyway, and I didn't want to risk leaving them," said Mr Gloag. Next planned treatment, towards the end of next week, is the first of two anti-phoma sprays which will have Nutriphite trace elements added. "Two autumn phoma sprays, the second at the end of November, are now a matter of course for us." Despite indications that Proline (prothioconazole) is probably the best fungicide for phoma, Contrast (carbendazim + flusilazole) is his choice for the first hit this season. "Proline's significantly more expensive, and with the plants being so small we'll be spraying quite a bit of bare soil," he explained. To leave a comment you must be logged in. Posted Oct 18 2007, 06:42 PM by flutefriend with 2 comment(s) Filed under: frost, Oilseed rape [Edit Tags]

• Wheat pests main target in Shropshire

  Gout fly eggs and aphids were the main potential problems detected by Agrovista agronomist Neil Buchanan in Richard Solari's early wheat sowings in Shropshire yesterday. "We've been round all the wheats, and the early drillings just have their third leaf out," said Mr Buchanan. "There's also a huge flush of broad-leaved weeds after potatoes." With limited time to deal with the hatching gout fly larvae at Heath House Farm, Beckbury before they caused damage his hope was that the sprayer would be out, forecast frost permitting, before the end of the week. "We won't be doing anything pre-emergence," he said. "The plan is to use flufenacet and DFF, with a sniff of Lexus because cranesbill is a problem, plus Hallmark." Potato harvest is complete with yields, as expected, less than Mr Solari had hoped. "We're still about 15% down." But all first wheats and the winter barley have been drilled. "And we're half-way through a block of 100 acres of Gerald oats." The area was originally intended to be in oilseed rape. "We've never grown oats here before, but I'm now pretty allergic to oilseed rape. So I'll let you know in nine months' time whether it was the right decision."  The postal strike hasn't helped in his quest for a new farm manager. "I've been telephone interviewing a few people." To leave a comment you must be logged in. Posted Oct 16 2007, 02:34 PM by flutefriend with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Gout fly, aphids [Edit Tags]

• New sprayers 'a must' after set-aside change

  With drilling all but done, bar about 60ha (150 acres) on light land after sugar beet and on let potato ground in Lincs, Ben Atkinson has been turning his attention to spraying. Pre-emergence wheat treatments, of Crystal (flufenacet + pendimethalin) or Liberator (diflufenican + flufenacet), both plus Treflan (trifluralin) on the light and heavy land respectively at Grange Farm, Rippingale, are up to date - thanks to a new Sands 4000litre self-propelled sprayer with a 32m boom. Along with a new Chafer machine it replaces two 24m 3000litre Bateman self-propelled models. This season's greater cropped area, due to the set-aside change, would have stretched the latter too far, explained Mr Atkinson. "We're all liquid fertiliser," he added. Most of the oilseed rape has had Falcon (propaquizafop) graminicide and is due for a fungicide, probably Plover (difenaconazole), this week. "The extra capacity and boom width of the Sands is certainly giving greater output. "The new Chafer trailed sprayer has also been delivered but we haven't used it yet. It looks enormous with its 32m booms and 5000litre tank. "We keep telling ourselves that we don't need to fill it right up in wet conditions. "Slugs are being their usual pain, but we seem to have the upper hand at present. But pellet expenditure will not be small!" To leave a comment you must be logged in. Posted Oct 16 2007, 10:25 AM by flutefriend with 3 comment(s) Filed under: spraying, Sprayers [Edit Tags]

• New 'stubble-to-stubble' contract taken in stride

  Rain forecast for tomorrow looks like interrupting John Barrett's autumn drilling in Suffolk. But given that he has recently taken on an extra 263ha (650 acres) under a new annual stubble-to-stubble contract run from Hill House Farm, Bungay, progress has been good and he hopes to finish by the end of the week. "I didn't want to say anything about the new contract until it was finalised last Friday, but we've been quietly nibbling away at it since we started sowing oilseed rape." The new arrangement brings the total farmed to about 1820ha (4500 acres), and as of today he has just 93ha (230 acres) of second wheats plus 20ha (49 acres) of first wheats after sugar beet on the new area to sow. The extra acreage, all close at hand, will make little difference to overall equipment and labour requirements, explained Mr Barrett. "We were already making some machinery changes, including moving from a 6m Vaderstad drill to an 8m one. And Leeroy Green who's been working for us on a part-time basis will become rather more full-time." Herbicide treatments are well under way. On the heaviest land, where blackgrass is the main weed target, a Trooper (flufenacet + pendimethalin) plus Treflan (trifluralin) mix has been applied. "On the one farm with no history of blackgrass but quite a bit of meadow grass we've used DFF/IPU. "Our biggest battle has been with slugs. We've used a lot more pellets than usual. But when you look back to the summer that's hardly surprising. When we were combining oilseed rape the header was covered in slugs." To leave a comment you must be logged in. Posted Oct 15 2007, 09:51 AM by flutefriend with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Drilling, contract, herbicide treatments, Stubble-to-stubble [Edit Tags]

• Slugs 'worst ever' in Devon

  Heavy slug pressure is the only slight cloud after week of good weather has allowed Troy Stuart to make good progress with autumn drilling near Exeter, Devon. "It's been very kind," he said. "We've only been stopped for two days and we're now 70-80% done. A lot of the rest is after grain maize. "But we've had huge numbers of slugs, and I'd say they're the worst we've ever seen here." Oilseed rape, this year's 154ha (380 acres) sown to Catana, ES Astrid, and Komando, is always treated with pellets. "We do it as a matter of course. Otherwise by the time the slugs start getting at the young plants it's usually too late to do anything about it. "But we've only had to go the once this time because we sowed into moisture and the crop got away well. It grew away from them." The main problem has been in wheat after oilseed rape, he explained. "Normally we pellet on a trap basis field by field. But this time we've had to treat every field after rape. The numbers are huge. We've been counting 4-5/sq m dead after treating." On the plus side the reasonably dry conditions have allowed him to save money on control product. "We've been using Lynx mini-pellets. They're not so weather-resistant, but they are cheaper." To leave a comment you must be logged in. Posted Oct 12 2007, 10:49 AM by flutefriend with 1 comment(s) Filed under: OSR, slugs [Edit Tags]

• Home-saved bean seed tests encouraging in Berks

  Despite heavy rain on Tuesday, Nigel Horne hopes to have finished drilling wheat in Berks in the next three days. "We've about a third left, or about 60ha," he said. "That'll just leave 67ha of beans to do later this month." Home-saved Wizard seed for that operation at Catmore Farm, West Ilsley was tested by NIAB and shown to be free of ascochyta and stem nematode, he noted. "The germination's a bit low at only 70% so we'll have to adjust the seed rate to allow for that." Some time ago the crop used to be established by ploughing down broadcast seed. "But for several years we've used a Shakaerator, without the vibration, with an Accord drill on top. The costs compare very favourably and we get much the same results." Oilseed rape, Lioness as last year plus newcomer Catana, is somewhat patchy, he admitted. "But there are some late emerging plants coming through. I treated about 10% against slugs and with hindsight I should probably have done more. But I'm a reluctant pellet user." For his wheats home-saved Gladiator has been joined by Solstice, replacing Malacca. "We grew Solstice the year before last. It's now Group 1, and it averaged 9.6t/ha with full milling spec." To leave a comment you must be logged in. Posted Oct 10 2007, 04:45 PM by flutefriend with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Drilling, Beans, Shakaerator, ascochyta, stem nematode, Accord [Edit Tags]

• Northern Ireland internet access locked out by postal strike

  As if baling, straw clearing, harvesting potatoes, ploughing and spreading chicken muck wasn't enough to keep him busy, James Wray at Dungiven, Co Londonderry has also been moving house. As a result he has also been without an internet connection for two weeks. "You don't realise how much you rely on it," he said. Ironically, after his first modem failed, its replacement became a victim of the postal strike. On the plus side he has already lifted half his 97ha (240 acres) of potatoes, 80% grown on rented land. "We started on 18 Sept, about a week earlier than usual, but it's been a bit on/off because of wet weather. But yields and quality are good." A first stab at growing Maris Piper has been particularly encouraging. Northern Ireland imports about 30,000t/yr of the variety which is rarely grown there because conditions are unsuitable and there is little irrigation to help control scab, he explained. "The tubers end up like hedgehogs." But this season's wet summer seems to have favoured his 12ha (30 acre) trial aimed at import-saving. "We're getting over 20t/acre and there's no scab or blight. I did manage to keep to the seven-day spray intervals and added a blight spray to the desiccant. "After we planted in April we were thinking that we might have to buy a second-hand irrigator but it just wasn't needed." His own wheat sowing began only this week, but into ideal conditions. "We like to drill in blocks so we are waiting to get a few more spud fields lifted. We do the rented ground first to keep our landlords happy." With more land coming out of set-aside cereal seed supplies from England and Scotland are tight, he noted. Alchemy and Einstein are being joined by newcomer Oakley. "I've got 5t ordered but prices are very high." To leave a comment you must be logged in. Posted Oct 09 2007, 11:20 AM by flutefriend with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Potatoes, Postal stike, Eistein, Maris Piper, Alchemy, Oakley, Internet [Edit Tags]

• Bean harvest delayed in Scotland

  Two-thirds of the way through combining the 34ha (84 acres) of Fuego spring beans at Leckerstone Farm, Dunfermline, John Hutcheson is anticipating some late nights tending his batch drier. "We're three weeks later harvesting them this year," he said. "Last year we were done by mid-September. I think it's mainly because of the dull weather we had in July. "They're yielding OK at about 4.5t/ha, but they're still over 20% moisture. "It's taking all day to dry 10t, though we could do two batches if I stay up to midnight." With only a third of the crop safely dried so far, that looks a distinct possibility to avoid the risk of the rest heating in store and spoiling. On the plus side, wheat drilling has been going well with about two-thirds of his 486ha (1200 acres) sown. "We're now back on min-till with wheat after oats and the Simba Solo's giving us some good seed-beds. Previously where we'd been ploughing after wheat for barley the soil was coming up quite raw and wet." Last season's Alchemy and Robigus have been joined by newcomer, the soft feed Monty which Mr Hutcheson hopes will be suitable for distilling. Should bad weather prevent the balance being sown before the end of the month he will switch to Optic spring barley, for malting. "I heard someone recently got £237/t for some," he said. To leave a comment you must be logged in. Posted Oct 05 2007, 05:25 PM by flutefriend with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Drilling, Harvest, Wheat, ploughing, min-till, Beans, combining, drying [Edit Tags]

• Northern sowing programme nearly done

  Andrew Gloag's expanded autumn drilling programme, run from Busby House Farm, Stokesley in North Yorks, is almost complete thanks to his two-man teams working 12-hour 7am-7pm shifts. "We've had a very good run and the 1.8in of rain we had last week was just perfect." The 6m system involves Jonny Sadler or Malcolm Neal driving a 600hp Challenger 875 with a Sumo Quatro to create stale seed-beds. These are sprayed off with glyphosate, and the same team then follows ahead of the Vaderstad drill with a Simba Cultipress. The drill is pulled by a Challenger 325hp 765 driven by James Tempest or Mark Ward. "We've been doing about 250 acres a day," said Mr Gloag. "This time, with some extra contract working to do, we shall have done about 4,700 acres including our own. "We finished the 550 acres in South Yorks, all second wheat, last Monday, and this morning we have only about 300 left." No pre-emergence cereal sprays have yet been applied, but the 172ha (425 acres) of barley, all Saffron, will get Crystal (flufenacet + pendimethalin) soon. Mr Gloag's main concern is for the 506ha (1250 acres) of oilseed rape, split equally between the hybrids Excel and Excalibur and conventional Castille and Catana. Sowing did not take place until 5-12 September and most of the plants are still only at the cotyledon stage. "It's looking very vulnerable." There is no noticeable difference in emergence between the hybrids and conventional varieties and there has been little slug damage so far, but the whole crop has received 10kg/ha of mini-pellets to protect it. Wheat drilling began on 12 September with 65ha (160 acres) of Claire, originally destined to go in a week earlier. "It's never let us down, but we were busy sowing rape. "We've dropped Alchemy, which I admit may be a bit rash, and we're majoring on Humber and Oakley." Like other Barometer farmers Nigel Horne and Troy Stuart, Mr Gloag has experienced a lot more outside interference with his operations this autumn. "Fly-tipping in gateways is becoming a major problem." He was also without his Land Rover for a while after it was stolen by an opportunist thief. "I'd left it in a gateway while I went no more than 35 yards to see how things were getting on. I turned round to see it being driven off." He admits his mistake in leaving the keys in the vehicle, but thankfully it was recovered by police (minus its radio and keys) in Middlesbrough. To leave a comment you must be logged in. Posted Oct 04 2007, 11:24 AM by flutefriend with no comments Filed under: Drilling, Wheat, OSR, Challenger, Sumo, Simba [Edit Tags]

• Potatoes not too bad after tricky season

  Although Richard Solari's potato yields in Shropshire are about 15% down on normal expectations after the sodden summer he isn't complaining. "It's not been an easy season, but many people have been hit much harder, and some lost whole crops to the flooding," he said. About 60% of this year's crop at Heath House Farm, Beckbury is Maris Piper for the open chipping market, and the current price for deliveries in 25kg bags is helping offset the lower output. "Trade's good this week. There's quite a bit of extra work involved, but we're getting £135/t in the bag, and we should finish lifting this week. "We're also getting on well with drilling - at least for us. I expect others down south are already finished." This year Oakley has ousted Robigus as his main wheat. Einstein remains for later sowings and one field of second wheat in the revised rotation which no longer includes either oilseed rape or sugar beet. "We haven't had any second wheats for some time." Pearl, maybe for malting, continues as his barley choice. So far he has had only a ‘trickle' of responses to his advertisement for a working farm manager in last week's Farmers Weekly. "I've had a go at doing it on my own," he said. "But I didn't really enjoy being so closely involved in the day-to-day side of it. "I should know in a week's time whether I've found someone suitable." To leave a comment you must be logged in. Posted Oct 03 2007, 10:21 AM by flutefriend with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Drilling, Wheat, Potatoes, farm manager [Edit Tags]

• Rain renews slug battle in Lincs

  Last week's rain every day looks as though it came just in time to save Ben Atkinson's 780ha of oilseed rape in Lincs which had been suffering in the dry soil. "The sting in the tail is that the slugs are back and up for a fight," he said. After rain rendered earlier control pellet applications at Grange Farm, Rippingale useless, a mix of 4kg/ha of cheap minis with 2kg/ha of a more rainfast better quality product is being used for the repeat treatments required on about a fifth of the crop. "I always hoped I wouldn't become one of those grumpy old farmers that moaned about the weather," said Mr Atkinson. "Too late! "We seem to be in a year of extremes. The first dry period robbed us of our yield and the first wet one flooded and flattened our crops, ruined soil structures and bogged combines." This autumn's dry weather led to poor establishment in Castille, Catana and Kalif OSR and made pre- wheat drilling cultivations difficult, he added. "Now we have another wet time which has awoken the slugs. 80% of the crop is OK, but 20% is having to fight them. "Having held back a little on wheat pre-em herbicides due to the very dry seed-beds, we've been struggling to catch up with the spraying. But we're just about keeping up." About 60% of his 1600ha of wheat - Humber, Oakley, and Welford with Cordiale as the second crop - was drilled by today. "That's rising by 4% a day." To leave a comment you must be logged in. Posted Oct 02 2007, 10:13 AM by flutefriend with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Wheat, OSR, slugs [Edit Tags]

• Wet in France too

  John Barrett was recovering from a week-end break in Paris this morning after a wet spell slowed his wheat drilling in Suffolk last week. "I've got a bit of a thick head but it was worth it. What struck me though was how wet it was also in France. We had about 45mm here last week. But from Calais to Paris I saw fields of potatoes and sugar beet lying under water." Beet lifting at Hill House Farm, Bungay started at the end of last week with all loads originally destined for the Cantley factory being diverted to Bury St Edmunds. "Apparently Bury is struggling to get enough to keep going," said Mr Barrett. "We decided to lift some of the poorer heavier land crop first as it probably wasn't going to make much more. And, as expected, it's only done about 18t/acre. We aim to average 24. But the sugar's pretty good at around 17%. "We're drilling again today, and with any luck we should have all 1800 acres of our first wheats, bar 50 after late lifted beet, in by the end of this week. We sow spring barley after a lot of our beet." This season's wheat choices are Alchemy, Humber and Oakley. "We've dropped Robigus as it had a poor year here." To leave a comment you must be logged in. Posted Oct 01 2007, 11:28 AM by flutefriend with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Drilling, Wheat, Sugar beet, Rain [Edit Tags]