Land conditions variable

Unlike the west and north, February has not been particularly wet across the eastern half of the country. However, rain still slows or stops field work in most areas. There is a bit of ploughing being done on free-draining land and hopefully there is less rain in the forecast for the week ahead. It’s always amazing how quickly drills can get out once the days get longer, the rain stops and the wind blows.

Market movement

Futures grain prices have moved upwards in the past week. That may be a level of optimism for new crop rather than old. Futures markets are currently responding to the risk of hot and dry weather in Argentina in particular, where both maize and soya beans are at their sensitive flowering stage. However, this is still a threat rather than actual damage so it’s not a time for counting chickens. It will take a number of big problems in different parts of the world to really light a fire under grain markets. We have seen potential problems not materialise in recent years.

Planting

It’s more a matter of being ready to get on to a field or two if an opportunity presents itself on dry land. Beans will be a priority on dry fertile fields. Strip-till drills work well on fertile fields with good structure. Target up to 35 seeds/m2. Put seeds down to 10cm or deeper.

Next priorities will be spring wheat, spring oats and malting barley. This time last year, land was beginning to dry but most planting was into April without ill effect. So don’t muck in your crops. The decision to plant should be dictated by soil conditions only, especially down in the seedbed as it governs the risk from rain post-planting.

Plan for around 350 seeds/m2 for wheat and oats. You need a guide on seed size for all crops. You should aim to establish 350 plants/m2 for malting barley so you need to drill 370-380/m2.

Where possible, put some P and K down with the seed at planting, especially with low soil indices. If pH is low, apply some Growmax or granlime – it might even be better value than P or K. If you can’t get the P and K down with the seed, it should at least be applied and incorporated into the seedbed. A 7t/ha crop of spring barley on Index 2 land requires 37kg P/ha and 95kg K/ha.

Spring nitrogen: As we pass mid-February it’s time to think about spring nitrogen/compound. Rape and barley are highest priority. Travel conditions are key. All crops need sulphur except where there has been a lot of organic manure applied over the years.

Rape

Rate is driven by GAI and how much additional canopy growth is needed. Get advice on this – probably between 60kg and 150kgN/ha. Winter barley: apply between 50 and 70kg N/ha depending on rotation and crop. Winter wheat and oats: apply 30-50kg N/ha to keep crops ticking over.

Try and balance N with P & K requirements. You can apply too much N at this time so be careful.