Weather: in recent weeks we have thought the weather was going to pick up and each time it hasn’t. Some people have got bits and pieces done – fertiliser on winter crops, some glyphosate on stubbles and cover crops, but many could not travel at all.

After the rain last week and at the weekend land was once again untrafficable.

Patience will be key in the coming weeks. Yes, there is plenty of work to be done, but it needs to be done in good conditions. The coming days look like they will bring drier weather, but there are showers in the forecast for next week. Give land time to dry before tackling work.

ADVERTISEMENT

There will be pressure on, but it is not that late in the season yet. Crops planted a little bit later into a better seedbed will do better.

The old saying well-sown, half-grown is said for a reason.so patience is one of the best trait a tillage farmer can have in the current weather.

Beans: this goes for crops like beans as well. Beans need good seedbeds. Some will likely be wondering is it getting too late for beans, others are probably thinking of planting them because it is getting late. In recent years, beans have been planted into April.

We don’t know what the weather will be like later in the year in terms of dry weather or harvest conditions so it’s a chance people have to decide if they are going to take.

Keep seed rates up. Thousand grain weights are high and seed rates should match up. If you have a lot of ploughing ahead of you consider getting a contractor in to direct drill the beans. Don’t plant them too deep at this time of the year you want them to emerge quickly. Get P and K into the seedbed and rolled and a pre-emergence herbicide applied.

Beans are a big help for alternative weed control so you need to use the opportunity to get it applied. Part of the reason for sowing them is weed control so take it and apply the product on time.

Winter cereals: many have not travelled at all on winter cereals and those crops need attention as soon as you can travel. Get compound out and nitrogen. Many crops will be due more nitrogen in the coming days. Weeds also need to be looked after, but is important not to stress crops.

Herbicides can cause stress so get fertiliser on first and wait for temperatures to improve if you can. Pacifica can be applied up to GS39 and Allister Flex can be applied up to GS29. Manhattan or Broadway Star can be applied up to GS32. Some crops may only need a tidy up herbicide with a sulphonyl urea.

Compliance: remember the two and three crop rules remain in place and you need to comply with this. Three crops if you have more than 30ha of crops and two crops if you have 10-30ha.

If your total holding (farm size) is less than 30ha you will not be penalised for non-compliance, but most people will still need to comply as they may have less than 30ha of crops, but they’re total farm size is bigger than that.