South: Herbicide programmes in tatters
For many farmers the last nine months has been the most difficult period ever. The relentless rain and lack of field work causing extreme distress and worry. After correcting my customers cropping...
View ArticleWest: The weather always pays its debt
At the end of last autumn’s series of blogs I hoped for a spell of dry weather to sort things out before the final onset of winter. A lot of literal and metaphorical water has passed under the bridge...
View ArticleWest: Ground finally dries and promptly freezes
After nearly 11 months of constant rainfall the heavens have cleared and we are in a very welcome period of dry weather. The only down side is that the ground has frozen hard and is making field work a...
View ArticleWest: Crops haven’t moved on in last month
Frustration is the first word that comes to mind, we seem to be in that awkward position of one step forward followed by two back which is where we are today. Since my last blog, the five days of dry...
View ArticleNorth: Some rain at last
At last, even the east coast has received some rain just as I was beginning to think my rain gauge was becoming as redundant as my bottle of shampoo. Many growers on heavier soils in these eastern...
View ArticleEast: Rain is welcome, as long as it knows when to stop
The countryside looks very different to last year. Oilseed rape crops have established well. Cereal seed-beds are very good and to date the slug pressure has been low. After the 39 mm of rain that fell...
View ArticleWest: BYDV a potential threat in south-west this autumn
Since last writing autumn plantings have moved on at a fair pace. With an earlier and drier harvest than recent years the drilling of cereals started earlier than in the last few autumns. This combined...
View ArticleWest: Weather finally closes in, in the south west region.
With some very heavy rain through the latter part of October and early-November, the ground has now become very wet in many areas throughout the region. Most crops, including maize for grain and other...
View ArticleNorth: Busy spraying period with crops looking very good.
The 60mm of rain we had in October seems relatively little compared to comments from fellow Cropwatch agronomists, who reported 150mm over the same time period elsewhere. Crops generally look very...
View ArticleEast: Pests and blackgrass keeping us busy
At the time of writing we have had one good frost, but the forecast suggests further wet and mild conditions. Hopefully this will not mean a repeat of last winter’s weather. Aphid pests and barley...
View Article
