Insight Focus
Daylight is increasing, and the busy farm season continues. Despite challenges like government restrictions on neonics and avian flu, there is a focus on refining nitrogen use and managing crops.
What’s Happening on the Farm?
I’m pleased to say that daylight is increasing and I’m beginning to feel less like a hibernating bear.
There have been many farm meetings to attend. As a typical farmer, I will travel halfway across the country for a “free” breakfast – off to one tomorrow.
Probably the most focused was an all-day event held by ADAS. It runs a crop yield competition to generate interest in increasing yield and receives entries from as far away as New Zealand.
We entered, but as my school report often read, “Could have done better if you tried harder”—we came last in each category we entered. The great thing about being in the basement, though, is that the only way to go is up.
Samples are being taken to determine the amount of nitrogen in the soil so that I can refine nitrogen use calculations, as required by law. Our manufactured nitrogen will be taxed in two years’ time. We are also planning drilling and spraying, so we are going to be busy.
I should mention the weather. We have had a relatively dry autumn and winter, though this has not been the case elsewhere in England. However, the general view seems to be that crops are in a better state at this point in the year than they were last year—it would be difficult for them to be worse.
Sugar beet deliveries continue, and our processor shows the same enthusiasm for taking in beet as before. However, closing dates are being announced—ours is around March 3, which is slightly later than usual.
It is fair to say there is still a lot of beets in clamp in the area, some of it turning an odd mix of black and green, which is not a good sign. Fortunately, we have not seen much frost damage to our own beet still in the ground.
What Stage are the Crops at?
Wheat/Rye/Spring Barley
Winter wheat is drilled and nearly all emerged. A bewildering number of disease threats lurk just beyond the horizon. Rye is further ahead than the wheat and is tillering like mad.
OSR
The UK planting area is at a working lifetime low and will likely decline further next year, with winter oats seemingly becoming the replacement.
For us, our single field has begun its spring growth and looks healthy. We haven’t been troubled by pigeons, but that likely just means I haven’t noticed what is attacking the crop. Nitrogen will soon be applied, as with other crops, since we are permitted to do so after January 15.
Sugar Beet
Lifting and delivery continue, and with the threat of a closing date, the end may finally be in sight. The leaf on the beet still in the ground has been severely reduced, leaving the plants looking quite sad. Now the question arises: Are we drilling next year’s crop while still delivering this year’s?
As expected, our government has refused us permission to use neonics to control aphids in the upcoming crop. It took 13 years, but the ban on neonics in oilseed rape has devastated that crop. I imagine that if dwarf yellow virus takes hold, the same fate will befall sugar beet. Meanwhile, we continue to import increasing amounts of OSR from third countries that, for the most part, still use neonics.
What are your Biggest Concerns?
Having been to so many different meetings over the last month it strikes me how much knowledge the farmer has available, should he care to listen.
This knowledge, however, is certainly ignored by those who govern us and those who seek to radically change our activities.
Avian flu is wreaking havoc in the area where I live, but unfortunately, this does not drive up demand for the crops I produce.
My lovely wife just returned from a visit to the doctor for her annual check-up. To say she was huffing and puffing like a Victorian steam engine is an exaggeration, but not by much. She’s been put on a diet and banned from alcohol because, apparently, she’s overweight. If that’s true, I should be dead.
