ile most land is now saturated, the high water tables and occasional high winds are causing problems in other areas.

Rain and water have made their way into some grain stores so check to see if you have any such problems that may need correction now or in the future.

Records

Use these few slack weeks to get your records up to date for both your chemicals used in 2017 and your fertiliser records for 2017.

You should also prepare your nutrient allowances for 2018. These are important jobs to get done correctly to help avoid cross compliance penalties.

Soil testing: This remains an important task on all farms. Remember if you do not have a valid soil test – less than four years old – you must assume that your land/parcel is Index 3 for phosphate. So if you are on low fertility land and apply more than the Index 3 allowance you are in breach of regulations and allowances.

Soil testing

Soil testing remains essential for good farming. Soil pH is the most critical starting point so if funds are limited lime is the one that must be addressed. Incorrect pH means that you get reduced efficiency on all other fertiliser inputs. Farming can’t afford that, especially tillage farming. There are now a number of liming products in the market which enable short term adjustment of pH on conacre.

Grain markets: barley starts the new year on a high

There are still jobs that need to be done despite the wet

Tillage management: grain stores, record keeping and soil testing

Andy Doyle looks at the importance of checking grain stores, keeping records and soil testing.