Farmer Focus: Crop performance strong despite rain
Robin Aird © Kathy Horniblow Once again, the season begins with a conversation about the weather.
To date, we have recorded just under 300mm of rainfall – almost one-third of our annual average. Including November and December, this brings the total to 570mm.
Some fields are waterlogged, which is putting us slightly behind schedule.
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Despite persistent wet weather, crop performance is stronger than last year.
Winter wheats are benefiting from residual nitrogen and are exceptionally lush.
We have introduced light sheep grazing to manage canopy density and reduce early rust.
One field grazed a week ago has already produced 2in of regrowth.
A split-field trial this year will help us assess the impact of grazing on yield, disease pressure, and fungicide requirements.
With a short dry window, we plan to apply 30kg N/ha of urea to the winter barley.
Crops show strong potential, and we remain optimistic
Yield in barley depends heavily on tiller survival, so early nutrition is essential.
Our digestate campaign has not yet begun due to saturated ground conditions.
All lagoons are currently full, forcing the plant to export digestate at significant cost.
Planning permission is already in place for an additional lagoon, which would give us much‑needed flexibility and reduce export dependency.
We recently attended our spring technical training day with Agrovista, organised by Sentry.
This remains one of the most valuable meetings of the year, offering access to trials results and independent agronomic insights.
The forecast for the next 10 days remains wet, but we are ready to move quickly once conditions allow.
Spring workload will begin with nutrient applications, digestate spreading, and key field operations.
Crops show strong potential, and we remain optimistic.
