I NOTE IN the On Our Farms Report for Mar 25 that I announced that we had sown 15.1ha (37 acres) of sugar beet seed by Feb 18. This should, of course, have read Mar 18 and my apologies to our British Sugar fieldsman if I caused him any undue stress. Knowing Charles Fletcher well, I suspect it barely produced a wrinkle upon his otherwise benign countenance.

By last weekend, we had improved on the sown area of sugar beet to total 22.42ha (55 acres) leaving 11.57ha (29 acres) still to drill at Sacrewell Lodge. Our preference has been to finish the peas of which we have 30.22ha (75 acres) this year. All have now been sown, rolled and sprayed with a pre-emergence herbicide.

 Emergence of the earlier sowings was Apr 4, barely two-and-a-half weeks after drilling. And with adequate moisture in the soil we are hopeful for good establishment.

Sugar beet too emerged by the first week of April and is in need of the first post emergence herbicide treatment. If we are held up for too long after weed emergence, both the cost and the strength of the agrochemicals will increase. Our aim is to apply low doses, little and often, to minimise the check to both the tender sugar beet seedlings and our profit and loss account.

Turning to fertiliser, our Kuhn Aero pneumatic spreader has been busy. By the end of March a total of 122kg N/ha (97.6 units/acre) had been applied to pearl malting barley as ammonium nitrate in two applications. Hopefully that will be sufficient to maximise yield but not too much to take us above the agreed maximum nitrogen content of 1.85 in our contract.

The oilseed rape will receive three applications of nitrogen. By the end of March it had received two totalling 165kg N/ha (132 units/acre) of ammonium nitrate. A further 35kg N/ha (28 units/acre) will be applied this month as late as travelling through the crop will allow.

 nitrogen applications

Second wheats have also received two of three applications consisting of a total of 173kg N/ha (138 units/acre) so far. Similar applications have been made to early and conventionally drilled wheats.

The later drilled wheats following roots received a first dressing of 61kg N/ha (49 units/acre) in mid-March and we will top that up to similar levels by mid-April.

 Third dressings will follow on all but the late wheats by the end of April with foliar nitrogen in the form of urea to be applied to enhance grain protein post anthesis.

We are reasonably up-to-date with the spraying. The T0/T1 fungicide plus growth regulator spray was applied to early wheats using Opus (epoxiconazole), Bravo (chlorothalonil) and chlormequat. The barley has had a tank-mix of the new Fandango (prothioconazole plus fluoxastrobin) fungicide from Bayer plus growth regulator.

 The oilseed rape has also been sprayed with Folicur (tebuconazole) for growth manipulation and trace elements and will need a fungicide during flowering.

As and when time permits, all crops will receive the trace elements magnesium and manganese in the form of bitter salz and manganese sulphate monohydrate.

 Looking at the statistics for the past six winter months, we have had 219mm of rainfall compared with our 49-year mean of 284.8mm or 77%. For the past three months, however, that figure has plummeted to 57% of the mean, which for those farming on stony, drought-prone land, is sobering.

All crops are looking well but as we proceed through the spring months to the critical four weeks between mid-May and mid-June, I hope that we will have made up the rainfall deficit. If not, there may be tears before harvest.