Combines have started rolling – 25 days ahead of last year – and the crop in the field we started in had been in the ground exactly 11 months.

First impressions are that oilseed rape yields aren’t breaking any records, but at the same time, they aren’t disappointing.

The farm has taken a further step with technology this summer by having all soils electro-conductivity scanned and tested to create soil maps for variable-rate seeding. It was trialled manually last year and appears to have been successful in evening up crop establishment where soil types vary in-field.

Two weeks ago I visited southern France as part of the Farm Sprayer Operator of the Year winner’s trip. We visited a Syngenta factory to see how agrichemicals are formulated, mixed and packed, and also went to the French version of the Silsoe Research Institute, where spray nozzles and application equipment were tested and accredited.

Read more from our Farmer Focus writers

Interestingly, the test protocol for a low-drift nozzle involved more than in the UK, but the French only test sprayers once every five years, and only have a single compulsory sprayer operator training course that is completely classroom based.

We also visited a vineyard that was implementing measures to help increase biodiversity, reduce insecticide use and improve farming practices. The vineyard application equipment that is allowed is quite frightening – mist cannons and air-atomisers with no ability to control spray drift at all. This resulted in complaints and new laws – but, weirdly, none to target the equipment that causes the problems to begin with.

It was a brilliant trip, and very interesting to see some of the issues affecting farmers in another country within the EU, and how they are trying to overcome them. Thanks to Syngenta and Farmers Weekly.

I’ll leave you with a question I’ve yet to answer convincingly. Having decided to upgrade my sprayer to give me more boom width options, GPS section control and some other technology, what is the best way to manage harvest traffic that would usually stick to tramlines, especially on ground going into OSR, if tramlines widths are going to change? Should I spray the OSR at 24m for another year?

Matt Redman operates an agricultural contracting business and helps out on the family farm at Lower Gravenhurst, Bedfordshire. The 210ha farm grows mainly wheat, oilseed rape and beans.