Much has changed since I last wrote in July. Harvest is completed for many, with only a few patches of Winter Wheat to cut for some, and a few growers with Spring crops still standing.
Overall, for CMP clients, crops have generally performed well given the horrendous growing conditions of the last season, which we would all like to forget.
I am always amazed by how Winter Wheat can bounce back from prolonged waterlogging. This last cropping year has clearly shown that. Surprisingly without too many bare patches!
Across the South, Oilseed Rape, has been (or shortly will be) drilled. Meaning there is a large variation of growth stages, with some fields holding plants beyond the Belkar application cut-off (yes, 8-leaves!). Whilst others still see a nervous agronomist cursing away at slugs, more than once a fortnight.
Whilst some early-drilled crops did suffer from (pyrethroid-susceptible) Flax Flea Beetle and Striped Turnip Beetle shot-holing (which did cause some initial alarm), Cabbage Stem Flea Beetle numbers appear to be modest so far this Autumn. Not for want of summoning this nemesis, time will tell whether the pressure is late or indeed there is a more positive story at play.
Perhaps this change to last year is down to many growers following NIAB research and cultivating OSR stubble to disrupt the CSFB’s lifecycle? Or perhaps the beetle is less fond of weeks of waterlogging than Winter Wheat? Potentially, this just an odd year for a blip in population. Either way, growers commented throughout harvest on the lack of CSFB emerging from grain trailers and stores.
Attention is quickly being drawn to Autumn Barley and Wheat drilling across Wiltshire and Hampshire, as I write. I am sure many further North will already be ahead.
Many agronomists across the country will be tentatively reminding farmers of the agronomic benefits of delayed drilling. Easy to say through the rose-tinted glasses of an adviser!
But I wouldn’t be doing my job without mentioning the weed, pest, and disease suppression advantages of delayed Autumn cereal drilling. Earlier sown crops are known for increased Septoria, Take-All, Eyespot, BYDV, and grassweed pressures.
It is widely believed that Winter Wheat varieties drilled in mid-September instead of a month later can expect to be more susceptible to Septoria Tritici, to the extent of one rating less than that of their AHDB Recommended List rating. This in turn has a knock-on effect on later fungicide spending.
Indeed, some research suggests our adversary Black Grass does not appreciate lower soil temperatures at delayed drilling. NIAB suggest its germination can decrease by up to 15% per week between early September and mid-October drilling.
However, some more cautious advisors, better invested in self-preservation, might choose to hold their tongue! Especially as the terrors of last Autumn, Winter, and Spring, still ring clear in many growers’ minds.
Lastly, planning CMP’s National Register of Sprayer Operators’ training events has also been on the cards this September. Having had my ‘Train The Trainer’ event earlier this month, I am pleased with the progress the team at BASIS appear to be making.
Granted, the task of finding new material every year to include in a presentation cannot be easy for the NRoSO team at BASIS. Especially when the pace of technological change is painstaking slow. However, first impressions suggest they have produced a decent presentation without reusing too much from the past.
Crop Management Partners will be hosting seven NRoSO events across the South of England in early December and February. This will be my second year of shouldering some of the presentations.
I can confirm that imagining your 40-strong audience naked is less confidence-building, and more traumatising…