It seems very dangerous to be talking about the lack of rain and moisture to get crops established after the wet autumns we experienced over the past few years, but currently that is the topic of conversation and reality.

With only around 210mm of rainfall since 1January, we are still a long way away from the 568mm yearly average, which is making me rather anxious, as I am sure it is others.

We all know we need to delay drilling autumn cereals to help with blackgrass control, but at what cost?

About the author

Matt Redman

Farmer Focus writer

Matt Redman farms 370ha just north of Cambridge and operates a contracting business specialising in spraying and direct-drilling. He also grows cereals on a small area of tenancy land and was Farm Sprayer Operator of the Year in 2014.

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With input prices skyrocketing, and the need to have got things like fertiliser on-farm already to ensure supply, the pressure to ensure winter wheat is drilled is far greater than previous years – where if it turned too wet it wasn’t such a big decision to just switch to spring cropping.

Switching to spring cropping also helped massively with blackgrass control, but after doing so three years out of the past five, the benefits would surely be less now.

See also: Optimism for blackgrass control grows with new herbicide Luximo

The hot dry spring and summer months are also fresh in my memory, as are the disappointing number of trailers leaving the field when harvesting spring crops this year.

With those thoughts in mind, I have tentatively started drilling wheat on low-risk fields, in between contract drilling jobs.

I’m going with the little and often approach, with some early and some late, rather than trying to do a lot of it at once. Early or later will be the safest and less-risky option.

Winter linseed and oilseed rape are desperate for a drink; the latter is already hinting that my gut decision not to grow it would have been the correct one.

Cabbage stem flea beetle damage is visible, but lack of moisture is currently proving more of a detriment to growth, which makes any pest pressure significantly worse.

I am looking forward to a short pause in the autumn workload next week with a trip to London for the Farmers Weekly Awards to support, and hopefully celebrate with, a friend who is a Contractor of the Year finalist.