Who would have thought it that in my August article I’d be saying harvest is all but complete! The later sown winter wheats were cut last week while all that’s keeping the combines from an early hibernation are the odd spring barley and bean crops. There are plenty of smiles on faces in the farmyards as yield have been tremendous far greater than I expected, especially following the desert-like June we experienced just 8 weeks ago. First wheats have taken the trophy with yields averaging over 4 tonne/acre with 5 tonne/ acre also a common feature. Second wheats may have brought averages down slightly as these seemed to suffer worst from the June hangover, saying that they were still above average. Winter oilseed rape crops comfortably achieved well over 1.75t acre, with early July sown crops floating around the 2-tonne mark. The early sowing regime of 2021 seemed to allow crops to escape the wrath of flea beetle. Winter barleys continued to follow the high yield trend as well which makes it a full house for the three major UK sown winter crops.
Harvest conditions have been near perfect with combines rolling from one crop to the next, the only issue that turned the odd smile upside down was the warm dry conditions which led to several harvest fires in the Yorkshire region. Not only did machines fall foul to mother nature but the loss of crops in some situations was devastating. To see a year’s hard work go up in smoke is something that breaks your heart. However yet again the camaraderie within the agricultural industry was first class with neighbours helping each other out in their times of need and in some cases putting their own safety and machines at risk.
While beet crops spent the recent heatwave flat to the floor and looking sorry for themselves, they have had a sudden resurgence in life following the cooler temperatures and a hint of rain. While sprayers can still travel without causing too much damage I will be going through with some manganese and magnesium on those lighter nutrient deficient soils to help give them a further boost in life.
With harvest almost ticked off for the year focus soon switches on to harvest 2023 and with that in mind oilseed rape crops are already in the ground. The majority of my crops are all now in the ground with a few after-thoughts going in the week. I did put a ban on sowing during the second week of august due to the fact there was probably more moisture in the seed bag than was out in the field. Early sown crops (last week of July) have made a brilliant start and are already approaching the 3 leaf stage. The recent showers have encouraged a flush of cereal volunteers so graminicide applications are planned to go on at the end of this week. The dreaded flea beetle seems to be keeping away at the moment and with damage from this little critter on the lower scale I shan’t be recommending any insecticides……just yet! I am pleased to report the early-sown plants are nicely away from risk and will get away without any insecticide treatment.
With the increased focus on soil management our soil sampling arm of the business has been extremely busy and all I can say is thank God for the automated machine we have mounted in a buggy, with the hard ground conditions a hydraulic system fairs better than brute human force.
