The field gate is almost shut; there is just time to draw breath and review this season and plan for the next before the combines roll. So while I’m leaning on the gate (chewing on the obligatory straw), how would I sum up the season? Well for me it’s been a challenge, but hopefully one with rewards. For most of the season crops have looked promising and worthy of high inputs as we chase high output. Not that we had much choice in the level of investment with high disease and grassweed pressure breathing down our necks, all with the uncomfortable backdrop of product shortages and slipping grain prices.

Rapeseed desiccation is almost complete and barley on light land is nearly ready to harvest. Generally, winter barley looks fantastic and we will be disappointed if, on some farms, we don’t smash their record yields. Likewise, wheat yields look very promising. Heavy land wheats are holding on to their green leaf area well as robust, well timed fungicide programmes hold and decent weather for grain fill prevails. However, I have seen some foci of unusual looking and very agressive septoria lesions high up in an otherwise clean canopy. Even where very robust programmes were used and affects are not easily explained by poor fungicide timings. Is this just a result of high disease pressure or is something more sinister occurring?

Blackgrass control strategies have been discussed at length. As fellow Crop Watch contributors have previously mentioned, the most effective remedial activities are often unpalatable. My concern is that although strategic discussion has been strong, some will initially only make small tweaks, perhaps reducing margin without improving control. Serious control will require strong commitment involving changes to rotation, later drilling and/or spring cropping and intelligent cultivations. Perhaps an early harvest will benefit us by allowing early cultivations and longer stale seed-beds?

Wishing you all a good harvest; let’s hope it’s a good one.