Andrew Kerr
Andrew Kerr
Andrew Kerr farms 344ha
(850 acres) in partnership
with his parents and brother
at Wyldingtree Farm, North
Weald, Essex. Cropping is
potatoes, including some
on rented ground, plus
cereals, herbage seed and
oilseed rape
As I write this article the rain is still falling like stair rods. Fieldwork ground to an abrupt halt last week and it is sad to think that a year ago I was saying almost exactly the same thing.
Cereal drilling finished on Oct 17 at Wyldingtree and I have to confess that I resorted to broadcasting the last 12ha (30 acres) following spuds. After initial subsoiling and cultivation, conditions had seriously deteriorated and we ended up tickling the wheat seed in with a pass of a spring-tine cultivator. The last time I tried that was back in 1987, and emergence of the crop justified leaving the drill in the shed rather than marooned in a wet hole.
The potato team have done phenomenally well to reduce the unharvested area to just 4ha (10 acres) by the end of October. The Pearson harvester redeemed its earlier breakdowns with its ability to lift in appalling conditions.
Now, my main worry revolves around getting the cereal spraying done before the blackgrass gets out of control. Recent mild weather has made many local early drillings resemble well-manicured lawns rather than cereal crops. Subsequent problems with weeds, disease and lodging look highly likely – Utopia for the chemical salesmen! My product choice will probably major on a Lexus/Hawk (flupyrsulfuron-methyl/clodinafop-propargyl + trifluralin) combination, ideally applied once a frost has toughened the crop. Early sowings have already had a treatment for gout fly and manganese.
Oilseed rape has had a graminicide, namely BASFs new dim, Aramo (tepraloxydim). So far it appears to be doing the business on some "difficult" blackgrass.
I was rather stunned to hear the latest and daftest proposed EU directive. Apparently if some nutters in Brussels get their way we will soon be restricted to three hours tractor-driving/day for health reasons. Either these people have a major shareholding in a robotic tractor design or, and more probably, they have never actually sampled the comfort of modern suspended tractor cabs. *