Harvest

There is still no end to this very prolonged and difficult harvest. There are a lot of beans to be cut, along with pockets of spring barley and some spring wheat and oilseed rape. For those in the west and north, this is another particularly difficult year for harvesting.

While there is a bit less left with every passing week, much of that progress is coming at the expense of soil damage, which will have knock-on consequences for future years.

Straw: There is still a lot of straw sitting on fields around the country. Showers continue to prevent efforts to save this despite some good drying. The key thing is to be sure that you have a big enough window to complete the job before you shake out straw to dry. Once rows are thrown out, any additional handling will further decrease straw recovery. Perhaps one should spray off vegetation growing up through rows of straw that are still worth saving. The presence of vegetation could make it very difficult to shake out rows for drying. But spraying off would remove green cover on stubbles to be left for spring planting and that creates a need to get some other cover planted once straw is removed.

Planting

Drilling will be the main focus in the weeks ahead. Ground conditions have minimised planting to date but there has been some ploughing and planting done. Delay planting wheat into fields with high take-all risk until after the middle of this month.

Drill standard winter barley at up to 350 seeds/m2 or 160-190kg/ha (10-12st/ac) depending on seed size; hybrid barley is recommended at 200 seeds/m2 up to mid-October (big bags deliver this rate for 5ha – divide bag weight by 5 to kg/ha); drill winter wheat at up to 250 seeds/m2 or around 140-155kg/ha (9-10st/ac); and winter oats at over 300 seeds/m2 or 125-150kg/ha (8.0-9.5st/ac).

Get guidance on seed TGW as they are likely to be higher than normal this year. Higher seed rates are not a substitute for poor seedbeds, especially where slugs or crows are likely to be a problem. Roll, if possible, but only if conditions are suitable.

For those intending to use high N manures like pig slurry or poultry litter, the latest date for application is 14 October. If you are planting winter barley in a low-fertility site, it makes sense to have some form of organic manure close to the seed and roots. Lime remains critical.

For those committed to planting catch crops under GLAS, the planting date has been further extended to 28 October but crops planted in that window must be left in place until 31 January. Consider oat and mustard mixes.

Herbicide

Planted winter wheat or barley should be sprayed pre-emerge with products containing pendimethalin or flufenacet where grass weeds are a big problem. DFF and Defy can also do a good job in fields where sterile brome or other serious grass weeds are not a problem. Product options include Stomp, Firebird, Flight or Vigon.