Difficult harvest: This is getting to be a difficult harvest. Another week of broken weather is not good news when many crops are ripe. Brackling and gemination now become real concerns, especially for malting barley and seed crops.

Grain yields continue to be variable, with geography and soil type having a big impact. By far the best yields are coming from the south, with lots of barley crops getting above 3.5t/ac and up to 4t/ac.

In other regions yields have been as low as 2t/ac, with averages running in the 2.5-2.75t/ac or 3.0-3.5t/ac ranges.

The importance of soil organic matter and soil health is becoming increasingly evident in crop performance with the variability in weather patterns.

Most crops in the south are now ripe but there is still a bit of a wait elsewhere.

Straw breakdown is now a real risk in barley and a small amount of sprouting is already evident in some winter wheat and spring barley crops.

Straw: The broken weather, low straw yields and difficulties baling appear to have increased the interest in securing straw in recent days. Straw yields are down everywhere, even in the south. Remember, your straw can be valuable in your field, as well as out the gate.

Anyone intending to plant rape after a crop still to be harvested should seriously consider chopping the straw. Fields with straw in rows kill the option to plant rape early.

Straw needs to be worth more than €60/ac to justify selling it. At €12/4x4 bale, and €3.50/bale for baling, the straw is only making €8.50/bale. That equates to a seven-bale/ac crop and many crops are doing less than that. It’s all about organic matter in the soil. There is no difficulty selling the straw if you are applying a different organic matter source.

Oilseed rape: Now is a good time to plant winter oilseed rape. Earlier planting will make more autumn growth to help reduce pigeon damage and autumn vegetation means less spring nitrogen to drive canopy growth.

If possible, get organic fertiliser applied ahead of planting. This should be incorporated to minimise nitrogen loss. Avoid fields where herbicides were applied late in this season. A high pH is important for rape, up around 6.8. It is equally important to have adequate P and K in the soil because rape needs to make backend growth.

Plant 30-35 seeds/m2 for hybrids and 60-80 seeds/m2 for conventional varieties. For those planting Clearfield hybrids, the seed rate might be slightly lower, say 26-30 seeds/m2, as a slightly more open crop is useful with herbicide timing.

Catch crops: Get them sown as soon as possible. Planting delays mean less growth and therefore less benefit.

Plant using min-till and in a single pass. Take advice on what to plant, as the season is moving on.

If soil improvement is your objective, you should consider part-grazing and leaving the rest to go back into the soil during cultivation.