Farmer Focus: My patience seems to have paid-off

I would like to think I have been fairly patient this year. We started drilling the hybrid rye and barley on 22 September and finished a couple of days later.

We then parked up until 5 October, and drilled all the wheat in just two days. The new contract farm was then drilled during the week commencing 12 October.

See also: AHDB data suggests more aphids are carrying BYDV

About the author

Robin Aird

Arable Farmer Focus writer Robin Aird manages 1,500ha on the north Wiltshire and Gloucestershire border, with a further 160ha on a contract farming agreement. Soils vary from gravel to clay with the majority silty clay loams. The diverse estate has Residential, commercial and events enterprises. He is Basis qualified and advises on other farming businesses.

Contact:

Email: robin.aird@charltonpark.estate

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Due to ground conditions and the weather, all our crops have been direct-drilled using either the Weaving Sabre Tine or the Vaderstad Rapid. They have all gone in very well, with the barley and rye emerging within a week.

These crops have recently received a manganese spray and a post-emergence top-up to help tackle grass weeds. There are plenty of gout fly and aphids around again this year, so it will be important to keep an eye on them.

The winter wheat is almost entirely up in rows and looks well. Even in areas where the maize fields were trafficked by the tanker, the wheat is growing strongly.

Soil structure across the estate is superb at present, although it will be interesting to see how it holds up after what could potentially be a very wet winter.

We did have to redrill 20 hectares of rye the other day due to poor emergence. The crop was planted in a heavier field, and I suspect there was just enough moisture to get it started but not enough to sustain its growth. A few slugs also had a chew, which certainly did not help.

It will not be long before we start loading grain out. Normally, we would sell a proportion as milling wheat, but with the premium so small this year, it is not worth taking the risk, so the majority will be sold as feed.

We have already had our first two named storms of the year, and I am still amazed at how accurate the weather forecasters are with both rainfall amounts and timings.

By using a combination of apps and forecasts, you can get a remarkably good idea of when the rain will start and how much is likely to fall. It certainly helps me plan my day and, more importantly, make sure I am safely in the office before the rain arrives!