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The impacts of this autumn’s challenging weather are becoming more evident in tillage fields.
Virtually every field sown in winter crops this year has failed patches due to difficult establishment weather and continued wet conditions.
Slug and bird damage have also been issues in emerging crops this autumn.
Reports of as much as a 25% crop failure have been suggested by some growers, although this is likely to be in their worst fields.
Many other reports suggest crop failure is confined to saturated wet spots in fields.
It is important to note that these figures are based on growers’ visual inspections of crop failure in wet fields. The true impact of this autumn’s poor weather on yields won’t be known until next harvest.
Despite some limited sowing over the past few weeks, winter crop area is estimated to be around 50-60% of the 2018 area.
Growers now have the winter period to plan their spring crop strategies for 2020, including the possibility of re-sowing failed winter crop areas and associated costs.
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