Content previously published in the Farmers Guardian
Given how much rain has fallen in some parts of the country since the new year, we can only count our blessings in my area of the north west.
During January I measured just 50mm of rainfall, and February has been largely dry, so far. Crops on the whole look well set up, so we can only hope that conditions remain favourable. As I write this mid-month, the forecast for the next week or so looks mixed; cool but hopefully no deluges.
February always seems to come and go in a flash. The start might feel like winter, but by the end spring is nearly upon us. It makes sense, where we can, to make a start on the jobs list, or at least make plans do to so if land remains too wet. It’s too easy to be left regretting missed opportunities.
Spring barley is a case in point. One or two people have started drilling on dry, light land, as last year, when they beat the ensuing drought – it didn’t rain again until the end of May. Crops made the most of what moisture there was, got away and performed well. If the land will go and isn’t prone to slumping, why wait?
It’s also a good time to be putting urea and potash on winter cereals, and we’ll soon be applying manganese on deficient crops as required.
I also recommend phosphite products to revitalise crops. Calfite Extra supplies phosphite to improve rooting and L-PGA to enhance nutrient use efficiency, while Luxical supplies additional phosphorus as an organic acid formulation, reducing soil lock up and increasing foliar uptake. Both have become increasingly popular on farm as growers see the results for themselves.
Turning to grass, some people have started to spread slurry and muck, making the most of the benign conditions. Looking ahead, there is a heavy reliance on urea these days, which needs to be applied sooner than ammonium nitrate. The first dressing may as well go on by the end of February, on grazing as well as silage ground – given the current pressure on milk prices, an early turnout will be welcome.
A further increase in the maize area looks likely. Compared with the cost of growing whole-crop spring cereals with their relatively low yields, or multi-cut silage, growing an extra field of maize and hopefully shaving the concentrates bill could make sense.
Simon Nelson advises farmers on a wide range of arable and forage crops across Cumbria and into south-west Scotland.