Field work comes to an end

It was very wet in parts of the country over the past week with some areas having recorded up to nine inches in total for November while other areas had just over four inches. But some days have been very mild and land is still solid in some parts of the country if there is a need to get some spraying finished. The south has certainly got more rain in recent weeks that further north.

For those who have all work up to date this is a good time to do an overview of progress to date. If you have applied herbicides, trace elements, insecticides etc can you judge how they have performed? I see a level of weed growth in some fields post herbicides and it is important to know if these were not killed in the autumn as distinct from weeds that may germinate between here and spring.

Nutrient plans

This is a good time to calculate nutrient allowances for the year ahead and to check last year’s. Cross compliance inspections require you to have an accurate and up-to-date nutrient plan for N and P.

But a nutrient plan should not be for an inspector. It should be used to guide the application of nutrients onto each individual field to help long term productivity.

Your entitlement needs to be calculated on the combined allowances of each individual field to calculate a farm allowance for N and P. In doing this a soil test cannot be more than four years old and an out-of-date Index 2 result defaults to Index 3 which will change your official allowance.

Soil testing

This is essential both for nutrient planning and crop performance. As stated previously, a soil test needs to be less than four years old to be valid and there needs to be a specific soil test result for every four hectares (five in uniform ground). So have your test results up to date to guide good farm practice.

It is important to realise that additional fertiliser on a crop will generally not fully compensate for low soil fertility. Soil fertility and health must be built up over time and such land will always have higher yield potential.

So get tests taken now so you can get the results back in time for fertiliser and lime application as required in spring.

Sprayers

With land in many areas now too wet to travel it may be time to consider putting away this important tool. Check that everything is in working order before you put it away and that you have a valid sprayer test certificate if you need one. Also, don’t forget the antifreeze in the sprayer lines and to circulate the liquid through all of the recirculation, pressure and boom section pipes before you park it up. This could be very worth your while if we get a hard winter.

Protein aid

With the balancing BPS payment now being paid, the numbers should be available to calculate the protein payment for 2018. This has not yet been announced but the reduced protein area is likely to result in a payment level of around€350/ha.