Farmer Focus: I hope weather forecasters are wrong
David Fuller © Angus Findley Despite the cool April temperatures and cold north-easterly airflow for much of the month, crops have raced through growth stages in recent weeks.
Winter barley has been by far the speediest, with awns now appearing about 10 days ahead of last year.
In contrast, oilseed rape looks set to have a prolonged flowering period this year, with crops only just hitting mid-flowering, a full four weeks after starting to flower.
That said, the sea of yellow flowers is very pleasing to the eye, especially at current values.
About the author
See also: Spelt and rye earn premium spot in Berks organic rotation
I’m not usually one to call for rain, but the last time we had any quantity of appreciable rainfall was on 12 April, when 9mm fell.
Forecasting models are predicting very little between now and the end of May. Let’s hope they are wrong and we get some precipitation in the near future to help crops fulfil their potential.
With the dry spell, we are inevitably questioning whether to cut fungicide spend in crops.
It’s generally too late to make that decision on most winter crops, as most of the spend has already happened.
The only crop where significant savings could be made is winter wheat. However, my view is still to keep things fairly robust.
After a wet and very mild winter, septoria – of which plenty is evident on certain varieties at the moment – and yellow rust are still great threats. The current crop values also add to the risk of getting things wrong.
With spraying temporarily up to date, we have a slight lull on the farm, giving us a breather to get caught up on a few maintenance jobs.
But having inspected a few winter wheat crops, it looks as if we will soon be back at it again with T2 sprays on both wheat and barley.
