With cropping decisions being made, now is a great time to carry out soil sampling to plan your fertiliser regime for the coming season.
Good yields may have results in greater nutrient offtake which will need to be replenished to ensure your subsequent crops can reach their full potential. By soil sampling now you can also gauge whether there is a requirement for an autumn application of fertiliser.
The 2021/22 AHDB Recommended List sees several high-yielding varieties introduced in the wheat and barley groups. For maximum potential yield to be achieved, crops need to be provided with the correct balance of essential nutrients throughout the growing season.
For cost-effective weed control in root crops the emphasis must be placed on pre-emergence application of herbicides. Every year we receive a large number of calls from concerned growers who have applied no herbicide at all and who are concerned that their root crop is disappearing under a sea of weeds. By this point, it is usually too late to save the crop!
Fertiliser prices have increased significantly since the beginning of 2021, particularly for Nitrogen and DAP/TSP, and this upward trend appears to be continuing into spring.
The last three maize seasons have had the same result – a mixed bag of performance depending on region, drilling date and harvest timings. However, in 2020, growers had a new challenge to contend with.
The removal of the maize seed treatment Mesurol left a hole in the crop protection armoury, resulting in crops being at greater risk from bird damage, which in previous years would not be high on the list of issues for most growers.
Studying your silage clamp and looking at key indicators can benefit the quality of your silage at feed-out. This short video from Ecosyl highlights some of the top tips for assessing your clamp to help maximise the nutritional value of your silage.
The best electric fence is the one that is suited to your requirements. Our table outlines the 3 main types of electric fence structures as a starting point to help you identify which fence type best suits your needs.
Great Hares Head dairy farm is run by Alistair, William and Hannah Lawrence, who grew hybrid rye for the first time in 2020 to feed solely as part of the dry cow diet, and saw great results in the clamp.
Treating maize crops with a combined fertiliser and fungicide treatment at tasselling stage has been proven to pay dividends.
