Archive Article: 2001/05/18
Peter Hogg
Peter Hogg farms in
partnership with his brother
at Causey Park Farm, near
Morpeth, Northumberland.
Half the 450ha (1100 acre)
heavyland farm is in
crops, mainly winter wheat,
barley and oilseed rape, plus
a few potatoes
HAVING just got back from the first NFU Council meeting since foot-and-mouth struck, it is back to the pleasures of farming, after completely disinfecting myself, my clothes and car. The value of the work done at NFU HQ during this dreadful disease outbreak is incalculable. Whatever the staff are paid, its not enough. The minimal 1% increase in subscriptions, £2.20 on average, will be the best investment any farmer will make this year.
Good weather a fortnight ago prompted us to get the potato planter out of the shed, but while soil was dry on top the cultivator pulled up putty from underneath. After three days and 472 passes with a rotovater we eventually broke it down into small lumps. Using a de-clodder would have been futile as the whole field would have been removed.
Then the trailer carrying the seed potatoes got stuck on the headland and we began to question the wisdom of planting potatoes on a bank holiday weekend. Anyway, they are all in bar a bit which we are waiting on seed for.
Our cereal crops range from good to non-existent. Fields with good potential have now had 200kg/ha of N (160 units/acre) and the poorer fields up to 25% less.
One field of wheat has failed completely and a field of barley is so poor that no more will be spent on it until it gets a pre-harvest dose of glyphosate. Even that will be at half-rate!
On the better wheat crops we are about to apply a chlormequat and Sportak Delta (cyproconazole + prochloraz). CMPP will be added as necessary for broad-leaved weeds.
Oilseed rape crop condition spans a similar range, with early crops now coming into flower. They had Punch C (carbendazim + flusilazole) at 80% rate pre-flowering and dont look bad, but a late-drilled, min-tilled field looks abysmal. The question is, what can I do with this field now? I think Ill phone a friend. Does MAFFs Regional Service Centre at Carlisle count? *
Go 50:50? Phone a friend? What would you do with my worst field of oilseed rape, asks Peter Hogg.