Five insights into jobs Yorkshire growers may face in August

Soil moisture crucial for OSR establishment

There are two big questions about oilseed rape for next season: are you going to grow it again and is it worth the risk?

If your answer is yes, then read on.

I’m a big believer in drilling oilseed rape early to get “pigeon proof OSR” by Christmas, and that’s even more important with the ever-increasing threat of cabbage stem flea beetle in the north.

But there are some important factors to consider with early drilling of OSR: we need soil moisture. Over the past three years, we have struggled to get that early establishment right, due to excessive heat or prolonged dry weather, but this year, if I may say, I don’t think we need to worry about moisture retention in the soil.

If you are going for it, I’d still stick with a strategy of establishing your oilseed rape as soon as practically possible once there is enough soil moisture. I’d also still stick with lower disturbance establishment methods rather than ploughing. However this might not be the correct choice if your land is still saturated from the onslaught of wet weather we’ve seen.

As before, and always with OSR, varietal choice plays a major role in maximising your yield potential combined with good establishment and nutritional inputs. Bayer’s Dekalb varieties offer a number of new generation hybrids with yield protecting traits.

DK Exstar is the one of the main line varietal choices for early drilling and vigorous establishment while limiting over-rapid autumn development, whereas for those in time critical positions and later drilling in August, the variety will still have sufficiently rapid development.

The variety has great agronomic traits with double Phoma resistance, high light leaf spot resistance, good pod shatter resistance, and high oil content.

For those looking at later establishment, and good turnip yellows virus resistance, DK Exposé provides the most flexible option as it has excellent combination of characters for early drilling with the flexibility for sowing into September while still maintaining high oil content, light leaf spot resistance, and double Phoma resistance.

Weed control kicks off with harvest

Weed control…. dare I say this or open pandora’s box on this topic, considering last season’s debacle?

Well, I’m going for it…weed control for next season starts when your harvest season kicks off.

Poor machinery hygiene is sometimes an overlooked factor in spreading grass weeds around fields and onto farms, especially when using contractors. Make sure all machines are blown down and cleaned if moving from a dirtier area to a clean field, or when contractors come onto farm.

Once harvested, in most situations it is worth shallow cultivating stubbles as soon as possible with a stubble rake, discs or tines to encourage a weed chit. Again, moisture will be helpful for germination.

Plan whether you will need one or two hits with glyphosate depending on likely amounts of grass weed germination. If it is two, allow a decent population to form before applying glyphosate. If there are any survivors, another shallow cultivation will be required to remove them to avoid increasing resistance risk.

The final application should be made just before drilling. Maximise efficacy of these sprays by concentrating on application technique – boom height of 50cm above the target, forward speed of 10-12 kph and the correct nozzle choice. Make sure you use the correct dose for the target weed.

Start thinking about tuber blight in programmes

Potatoes are near enough into the stable canopy phase of crop growth and we will soon be at the end of the season, where the focus switches more to tuber blight control, as well as foliar blight.

Blight pressure has been relatively high this season due to the wet, warm, and humid conditions we have seen so far.

Infinito (fluopicolide + propamocarb) is a good choice for the back end of the programme, giving good protection against tuber blight and foliar blight. In total, you can use four applications of Infinito during the programme, but no more than two in succession.

If the weather reaches high temperatures then think about applying products away from the heat of the day to minimise any crop damage potential.

How to time glyphosate desiccation in cereals

Where you are planning to use glyphosate on cereals, remember do not treat crops intended for seed production or use treated straw as a horticultural growth medium or mulch.

There are several quick tests to make sure application are correctly timed. One test is looking for the peduncle, situated at the top of the stalk, immediately below the ear loses its green colour, and turns brown. When this happens in wheat and barley the moisture level should be ideal for spraying.

A second method is to collect 20 grains from various areas in the crop, taken from the centre of each ear and press your thumbnail firmly into grain. If the indentation holds on all the grains the crop is ready for spraying. This test applies to wheat, barley and oats.

Finally in wheat you can also cut grains in half to confirm moisture content. If 75% of the grains have a dark brown pigment strand in the crease, the grain has reached 30% moisture. If all the grains are marked, moisture is less than 30%.

Think about cover crop species choice

Cover crops are becoming more attractive for many reasons, not least their impact on soil health, and overall contribution to your rotation with payments available through the Sustainable Farming Incentive.

In practical terms, there are a number of factors to consider when establishing your cover crop. One of the key factors is what species of cover crop are you establishing?

This equally, plays a major role in timing of your sowing, which ultimately is driven by soil types, so know your soils to choose the best cover crop species, and what crop they can follow. Most of the time, a cover crop can be established quickly following an early harvest.

Good soil and seedbed conditions are key when establishing cover crops. The broadcasting options tend to suit smaller seeds on lighter soils, whereas drilling works better on heavier soils in order to help with seed/soil contact. If you are using seed mixtures, make sure you mix the seed regularly in the hopper to minimise settling out of the differing seed sizes, or you could be caught out.