Back to square one

Some had been out in the fields earlier this month; now all Met stations are reporting over half their normal February average rainfall in the first 10 days of the month. Many tillage areas have already received more than their monthly average. This could put paid to any more winter wheat planting.

Planting of all crops has been put back for a few weeks. Recently planted crops must be watched for crow attack and possibly slugs. The first challenge will be establishment level so we must hope that fields will not stay waterlogged for long, especially barley. But for anything that has begun to bud, it is likely that vernalisation will be ongoing.

There was an amount of winter wheat and some spring barley and potatoes planted in recent weeks. Spring barley may be most at risk from the wet but frost would not be desirable either.

Ploughing

There was an amount of winter ploughing done over the past few weeks but the very broken weather emphasises the need to have some fresh land to plough closer to planting. This may give a better chance of getting some sowing done earlier.

Planting

While ground is again waterlogged, it is inevitable that planting will be under way again soon on dry land. Beans should be the priority as long as conditions are good enough but this crop is not best suited to light land. There is still over a month to get beans sown and it remains a very useful part of any rotation. Spring wheat and oats will also benefit from early planting and malting barley growers will be pushing ahead on free-draining ground.

Beans are best suited to medium to heavy land. Target 35 to 40 seeds/m2 and try to put them down at least 10cm to protect them from crows. With 500g per 1,000 seeds, one would need to plant over 200 kg/ha (12.7 st/ac) to establish 30 plants/m2 at 95% germination and 80% establishment (even more for bigger seed). Strip-till drills can work well with beans in fertile fields, especially where the soil structure is good.

Soil fertility remains very important for beans. It is essential to have pH close to 6.8 with Index 3 P & K. This is even more important with strip tilling. Fertiliser should be drilled down close to the seed in low-fertility sites.

Spring nitrogen

When land dries again it will be time to think about spring fertiliser – N/P/K. Rape and barley are the highest priority for the moment. All crops will need sulphur, except where there has been a lot of organic manure applied over the years. Sulphur can be easiest applied in the first N application where the N rate is lower.

Use the GAI to guide early N rate on rape but these are likely to vary between 60kg and 150kg N/ha this spring.

As there is still a risk of substantial N loss, application now might be kept down to 20-30kg N/ha with the balance of the first split applied towards the end of the month. P and K are also required in early spring.