Weather

The weather has remained good to get spraying done and for some to continue planting after potatoes, beet and maize. Beans, maize and beet remain in the ground across the country.

Beans and maize should be cut as soon as possible. Many are frustrated that they have not got crops cut yet and this is understandable, but they will hold up okay. Maize should be harvested before frost.

Weed control: Weed control should be a top priority on farms at present. Early herbicide application can result in better weed control. Apply herbicides to winter cereals and oilseed rape if they have not already received an application. Aphicides may be needed at the same time.

As ground conditions remain good, it is an ideal time to soil test. Ideally you should soil test every three years or so.

You should wait three to six months to soil sample after phosphorus and potassium application, and if lime was applied, soil sample after two years to see if the soil pH has changed.

Many companies will take the soil samples for you. If you are taking them yourself, then make sure you get a representative sample. Travel in a ‘W’ shape around the field and take about 20 soil cores per sample.

They should be taken to a depth of 10cm. Soil samples need to be 2-4ha in size and should not be more than 4ha.

There are numerous labs that samples can be sent to, and prices will vary between labs. Results will take a while to come back, so taking samples now should get results back in plenty of time to make a fertiliser and nutrient management plan for the season ahead. All farms require a nutrient management plan and you may be asked for it during an inspection.

Hedge cutting

With ground conditions favourable at the minute, it is a good time to cut hedges if you are finished sowing and spraying. If you are in ACRES you may need to keep some hedges at 1.8m in height on some parcels.

Check your plan with your adviser. If you are cutting bigger branches from hedges, remember that you can no longer burn bushes on your farm. They need to be left in a pile, mulched or brought to a green waste facility.

Tillage Day

Thank you to all our readers who attended Tillage Day last week. We hope you enjoyed the day and took home something new from it. Attendees were positive, which is good to see. Winter crops are in good condition, which is a good start to the new season.

Some of the key messages were to calculate your costs and know what price to sell your grain at to make a profit. Agronomists were keen for farmers to soil sample to make sure they have their soil indices right.

The late harvest of beans also came up, and it was clear there are a lot of crops still to be cut, so don’t think you are the only one if you are waiting to harvest a crop.