Farmer Focus: Weather raises wheat drilling date questions

The continuing wet weather is already raising questions about wheat planting dates. It is, however, helping everything we’ve planted so far to grow, including, most importantly, the oilseed rape.

If only it grew as easily and quickly as the cover crops, it would save a lot of concern. Although at the moment both slug and flea beetle levels don’t seem to be terminal, fingers crossed.

The summer cover crops following oilseed rape have produced a lovely canopy and no doubt added organic matter and microbial activity to the soil, but I’m not sure if I’ll continue with them if the current Sustainable Farming Incentive support I get disappears.

See also: Why slug pressure is intensifying and what farmers can do

About the author

Andy Barr

Andy Barr farms 320ha in mid-Kent, aiming to farm as regeneratively as possible. He stopped ploughing 25 years ago and over this time restructured the business with less land farmed and increased the use of contractors, environmental areas and diversification projects.

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I’ve also never been sure about applying the nitrogen some suggest to the overwinter covers.

Thinking it over, I assumed it would be great to get more growth, but that what I really needed was some proof I’d make money from it.

And then I remembered I was farming and might well not make any money from anything.

I continue to carry out trials with Syngenta, Loddington and Niab into whether we can make more money from scratch tillage compared with more intense cultivations.

The answer, on my farm at least, is broadly yes with winter crops, but spring crops need some work.

This year the spring beans weren’t great after the drought, but annoyingly were still better in the cultivated plot, despite some great rooting in the reduced-tillage areas.

Annoying cultivations are also required in my environmental scheme areas as they end up in a state that is great for wildlife but a bit of a mess for re-establishing or changing the option.

And while I obviously can’t list all the annoying things in farming at the moment, the new farming rules for water aren’t helpful for my sandy land.

It can only grow profitable crops with regular manure applications, but the regulations make it trickier due to its higher phosphate indices.