Farmer Focus: Well-established wheat a silver lining of wet autumn
Richard Harris © Emily Fleur Finding the positives from all the extreme wet weather this autumn is like finding a needle in a haystack.
One positive would be that we have found some old stone and tile drains we didn’t know existed.
Some are running, some have collapsed. This gives us something to improve on for next year, along with a range of new areas to drain, and ditches to clean.
The next positive would be that the direct-drilled wheat has established well behind the linseed, with very little soil movement or loss, and is holding a good colour.
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Less seems like more on the farm this autumn. However, something that needs some attention is the winter barley establishment.
We disced the wheat stubble once after harvest and again before drilling, and this has left a lifeless top 5cm which is holding water, sucking the life out of the winter barley plants.
I’m confident less soil movement is required long term, so we will be looking into hiring a straw rake and trialling a few different catch crops between crops of winter wheat and winter barley.
We will see which gives us a better long-term establishment, as I don’t feel these heavy weather patterns are disappearing any time soon.
Catch crops are something I’ve not seen the value in before, always siding on the fact the volunteer wheat and weeds would do just as good a job after discing.
But I feel the discing is too aggressive, leaving the soil soft and lifeless if the weather turns, so maybe a stubble rake or catch crop might be the better alternative.
Crops I’m considering are mustard and buckwheat, both very quick growing above and below ground, with seed costs fairly cheap.
Drilling these will also flush the wheat and weed volunteers we want to clear, so will act like a stubble rake in one.
The green cover will also help traffic the dung and compost spreaders in September, which can make a mark on the steeper banks.
Or, if nothing else, it will give the neighbours something to talk about.
