Harvest is now nearly upon us and I sit ruefully looking at problem areas and working out strategies for the coming season to counter problems that have arisen this year. As this is the final Crop Watch for the season I will rely on my co-contributors to cover immediate agronomy issues and focus on planning for the coming rotation. Weed mapping is vital for rotational planning. Troublesome grass weeds must be dealt with in the stubble using stale seed bed techniques.  Using cropping blocks, matched to weeds problems can be very effective; this can include delayed drilling and varying break crops.  Although attractive winter barley malting premiums and lower growing costs are very tempting, remember grass weed control is very limited!  Spring barley can provide extra opportunities for stale seed bed techniques. It is becoming increasingly obvious that the critical time for grass weed control is the period immediately after harvest to the immediately emerging crop; miss it at your peril.

The ever climbing cost of phosphate and potash make soil sampling essential to establish the exact soil indices and thus tailor applications to the crop needs. This can also enable you to examine soil structure.  As red diesel gets perilously close to 90p saving on unnecessary cultivations could be very cost effective. It is also vital to remember that the most important asset on your farm is the soil!

During my training in the good old days a wise Suffolk farmer took me round his crops  on a cold day in February 1984 and said “what you see in February is what you get at harvest” Well 1984 was a bumper harvest! Using that analogy leads me to believe that wheat yields will be good and probably the highlight. Barley and Rape will be a very mixed bag with little to cheer. Winter Beans must be better than last year which will not be hard to do!