Ground conditions:

Most areas got a fair bit of rain over the past week, but most land is holding up well. Trafficability is not a major issue and most growers have been able to get out spraying. But even a little more rain could alter this situation. Soil temperatures were in the 7°C to 9°C range for the past week, which is about 1°C higher than the same week last year. So growth continues.

I note that all the Met stations in tillage areas show that a further 100-200mm is needed to bring total 2016 levels up to the 30-year mean. So it’s a dry year thus far. The situation was broadly similar at the start of this month, last year but it caught up in the end.

Pests: Crows have become increasingly active in many areas with visible consequences for crops. All recently sown crops could be in similar danger where crow numbers are high and where they are actively feeding. Seeds may not be their target, but that hardly matters if they pull up a plant looking for something else. In all, 1,000 crows on 2ha is one crow per 20m2,and it can do a lot of pecking in a week.

Slugs continue to be a threat, so keep an eye out, even on well-established fields. But more recently sown fields, especially with unrolled cloddy seedbeds, present a greater risk. Put down traps rather than waiting to see crop damage, as dead plants can’t recover. Use either upturned flower pot bases or bits of old carpet as the trap and bait them with something like Alpen (don’t use slug pellets for this purpose). If there is much activity, pellets may be required.

Rabbits are active and leaving their mark in established and establishing crops. The challenge is to get numbers down – using shooting, fencing, burrow management, etc. High numbers will also impact on spring crops unless nature, or you, act to decrease them over winter.

Pigeons may also begin to show interest in rape when the next cold spell comes. So if there are a few particularly vulnerable areas in a field perhaps you should build your defences to prevent them getting into these specific areas. Once they are in it is very difficult to get them out.

Read more

Tillage management: Aphids and volunteers