Tillage Management: harvest lingers as planting gets under way

Many parts of the country had decent weather over much of the past week which enabled some harvesting of ripe crops. However, crops in the northwest remain very slow to mature because they did not experience the high radiation and temperature levels received elsewhere.

It is planting time again as winter oilseed rape and catch crops go into the ground. However, it is important to remember that actual rainfall levels have been low, with barely 50mm in many parts of the country for July and August.

This means a risk of dry seedbeds for germination so farmers need to be very careful with soil management during cultivation and establishment. Loosening of the soil must be accompanied by almost immediate consolidation to help minimise soil moisture loss. Check to see if there is moisture availability in the upper 5-7cm before embarking on min-till, especially for rape.

If there is not sufficient moisture near the surface, it might be sensible to plough for winter rape but ploughed ground also needs to be consolidated immediately to minimise moisture loss. That should really mean a furrow press followed by a roller, rather than just a roller.

Planting should be completed by the end of the month where possible. Most fields destined for the crop have long been cleared of straw and many have been cultivated. This provides an opportunity for timely planting and organic manure application. Cultivated stubbles have vegetation growing but this should bury easily if ploughing, thus minimising the need for glyphosate.

Seeding rates remain on the low side of 30-35 seeds/m2 for hybrid varieties and 70-80 seeds/m2 for conventional varieties. Try to judge establishment rate as moisture levels in the seedbed could be significant for even establishment. Target good seed burial and firming post-sowing. Roll at right angles to the direction of planting.

Seedbed fertiliser and/or organic manures can help drive backend growth with timely sowing. Compound fertiliser may not be freely available so this makes organic manures even more important this year. It is more about P and K as we are likely to see a surge of nitrogen mineralisation on warm soil once we get rain. This is most important on lower-index soils. High pH up around 6.8 is also a help.

Many stubbles have now been cleared, opening the opportunity to stubble cultivate, whether that be necessary or not. It is still a good practice to help reduce major pest and weed problems.

Many cultivated winter barley stubbles now have a lot of vegetation present and these might be cultivated a second time if they are destined for winter cropping.

This would help kill much of the current vegetation and encourage a second strike of weeds. Knocking out the volunteers should help reduce infection pressure from diseases like net blotch and rhyncho. This is especially the case for rape stubbles as regrowth can encourage slug multiplication.