What's it like on the land near you this season.
Posted: 13 Nov 2012, 22:04
I was on a farm near Milton Keynes this summer , due to the weather earlier on the grain hadn't filled out to make a good sample and some of the Oil Seed Rape was down on yield ( so I was told ), due to the lack of sun, a neighbour that had been growing sunflowers at the edge of a field for game cover had them waist height when they should have been head height,maize has not grown well as it needs the heat of the sun and there wasn't enough of it.
When it comes to sowing winter crops we had a nearly 200 acres not sown as the ground was too wet as there seemed to be one shower a day, every day and the ground never got a chance to dry enough.
Over 200 acres of OSR will have to be re-sown as it was so slow growing and what did come up was hammered by slugs and as the ground was so damp they stayed under the soil eating the roots of the plants and not going to the surface where the slug pellets were.
I was near Chester for a day and there were numerous fields not combined as the ground was so soft ( you could see where the combines had been getting stuck ) there were quiet a few fields that still had unbaled straw in them ( which would slow things up if they were going to sow it again this season ).
The farm I was on had Pick Your Own Strawberries and they have given up with them as this is the second year that they have been unable to pick any as they are going mouldy on the plant.
I would say straw will be in short supply as the wheat/ barley didnt grow so well as it can do ( less straw) and the rain has spoiled quiet a bit as it was lying on the ground before it was baled in some cases.
A friend outside Inverness was still combining his crops a week ago as it had been so wet earlier on.
However perhaps that was just where I was, maybe it was nice where you were !
What was it like in your area ?
When it comes to sowing winter crops we had a nearly 200 acres not sown as the ground was too wet as there seemed to be one shower a day, every day and the ground never got a chance to dry enough.
Over 200 acres of OSR will have to be re-sown as it was so slow growing and what did come up was hammered by slugs and as the ground was so damp they stayed under the soil eating the roots of the plants and not going to the surface where the slug pellets were.
I was near Chester for a day and there were numerous fields not combined as the ground was so soft ( you could see where the combines had been getting stuck ) there were quiet a few fields that still had unbaled straw in them ( which would slow things up if they were going to sow it again this season ).
The farm I was on had Pick Your Own Strawberries and they have given up with them as this is the second year that they have been unable to pick any as they are going mouldy on the plant.
I would say straw will be in short supply as the wheat/ barley didnt grow so well as it can do ( less straw) and the rain has spoiled quiet a bit as it was lying on the ground before it was baled in some cases.
A friend outside Inverness was still combining his crops a week ago as it had been so wet earlier on.
However perhaps that was just where I was, maybe it was nice where you were !
What was it like in your area ?