Wet and cold may bring an end to the planting season
As we move into November the challenges to good crop establishment increase due to the potential for increased pest pressure, plus the risk of increased rainfall levels.
The drop in soil temperatures and recent rain may trigger a natural end to the winter crop planting season.
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Recent rain may have signalled an end to the 2016 winter planting season. It takes much less rain to wet the ground once temperatures drop, so things could get sticky from here. Soil temperatures dropped significantly in the recent cold spell, with Met readings of 4°C to 8°C early this week, but they moved up slightly again by mid-week.
While some land may dry out quickly, there are always additional challenges to establishment once we get into November. Slugs, crows and rabbits are all likely to cause more serious damage from here on, and this should have been factored into seeding rates for more recent plantings. And with temperatures falling, crops sown now will take much longer to establish, resulting in more hassle.
Establishment
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With so many well-established crops about one would not want to risk a patchy crop from poor late establishment, so think twice about any further planting. As well as crows and slugs, you may also get damage from mice and rats around by hedges, as well as rabbits.
Seeding rates for wheat need to target up on 350-400 seeds/m2 now, which translates to around 190kg/ha to 220kg/ha (12st/ac to 14st/ac) for 55g TGW seed.
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Recent rain may have signalled an end to the 2016 winter planting season. It takes much less rain to wet the ground once temperatures drop, so things could get sticky from here. Soil temperatures dropped significantly in the recent cold spell, with Met readings of 4°C to 8°C early this week, but they moved up slightly again by mid-week.
While some land may dry out quickly, there are always additional challenges to establishment once we get into November. Slugs, crows and rabbits are all likely to cause more serious damage from here on, and this should have been factored into seeding rates for more recent plantings. And with temperatures falling, crops sown now will take much longer to establish, resulting in more hassle.
Establishment
With so many well-established crops about one would not want to risk a patchy crop from poor late establishment, so think twice about any further planting. As well as crows and slugs, you may also get damage from mice and rats around by hedges, as well as rabbits.
Seeding rates for wheat need to target up on 350-400 seeds/m2 now, which translates to around 190kg/ha to 220kg/ha (12st/ac to 14st/ac) for 55g TGW seed.
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