Anyone tempted to wait a little longer before drilling??

[Warp Land Farmer]

Early in wheat around here looks patchy and struggling for even germination, I'm guessing due to a lack of the wet stuff over the recent weeks.

October long range forecast seems settled, warm and dry.

Original plan was to start drilling 1st weekend in October but now really considering holding off until 3rd week.

Madness or......???

 

[B&B Pig Man]

Early in wheat around here looks patchy and struggling for even germination, I'm guessing due to a lack of the wet stuff over the recent weeks.

October long range forecast seems settled, warm and dry.

Original plan was to start drilling 1st weekend in October but now really considering holding off until 3rd week.

Madness or......???

Thinking the same here.....

Was going to put the drill on this weekend for a Monday start - not sure if I should wait s bit longer now though.
Barley not wheat too.

 

[Muddyboots]

Thought it was just me who hadn't started! , was going to make a start on Monday but with current conditions and no rain in sight will leave for another week.

 

[E_B]

We haven't drilled anything yet. Not necessarily deliberately but as it is so dry we might hold off a bit longer until there at least is a suggestion of some rain on the horizon. Got maize coming off this week on light land which we may well disc, drill barley into and roll as soon as we can.

 

[Flat 10]

Drilled what I can on nice ground. On stiffer stuff where I'm stirring clods with power harrow I am going to leave. First wheat too but hey ho early yet. If no rain in a fortnight I will be getting twitchy......

 

[Green oak]

Not started. Blackgrass coming though now said to father give it a week and it will be a carpet. Pre -em need moisture and it felt like summer today and wheats £97t madness.

 

[franklin]

I have drilled one block of 125ac, and will do another of 75 tomorrow. Good amount of moisture in the ground as it has been rolled tight, and good crop of volunteer rape keeping it alive. But the last block of first wheats will wait another week.

 

[Flat 10]

I have drilled one block of 125ac, and will do another of 75 tomorrow. Good amount of moisture in the ground as it has been rolled tight, and good crop of volunteer rape keeping it alive. But the last block of first wheats will wait another week.

I think that the volunteer rape that I had deliberately left as a green manure is what has over dried my stiffer stuff. Oh well I'd do the same again.......

 

[Lincsman]

Might wait 12 months, crystal ball says wheat is £80 Nov 15 due to massive surplus.

 

[jack6480]

Everything cultivated, just waiting for sign of rain!!!! My drill man is pushing me like mad, he must have nothing to do! Ha

 

[B R C]

Same here, not started, plan for Mon but may get put back if no rain in sight, feels a bit strange waiting while all the big outfits are just about finished.

 

[Green oak]

Will guys useing contractors make money this year. My third pass will be the drill.

 

[franklin]

I think that the volunteer rape that I had deliberately left as a green manure is what has over dried my stiffer stuff. Oh well I'd do the same again.......

Nah, there is good moisture here. Shoved the wheat fairly deep in too.

A lot of wheat here is going in after oats, and we have had so little rain that the volunteer oats have barely begun to grow. Only three days first wheats left to do, and that will be down to two on the home farm after tomorrow.

Rolls have been my most used cultivation tool this year. Good thing too after the huge slug carnage this morning where I pelleted some land due to go in with wheat later on.

 

[Steevo]

Will guys useing contractors make money this year. My third pass will be the drill.

Just goes to show how expensive some crops will be to grow:

Contractors doing all the work
Buying new seed in
Using distributor agronomist
Using AN

All could easily add quite a bit to the cost of production if you were in that boat.

 

[DrWazzock]

Finished drilling here. No wheat, just barley. Dilemma really. on the ploughed up sand,,if we wait longer and it does not rain we would just lose even more moisture. Drill now and you at least might get some germination of the seed in the moisture there is, and get a cover to avoid a sand blow if the wind picks up . Drilled into nice moisture on well rolled land.

The preems won't work though, but it was a sort of split dose with the other half going on post emergence so all is not completely lost. Gambled and sprayed them on in the hope of rain on Thursday as forecast but it never materialised. never mind, getting on with the spuds now and getting rid of old sows on Tuesday.

 

[Wombat]

Rightly or wrongly we are going to go this week and will do our bit upto the last 16acres which has a lot of BG on it and will then decide what to do.

An inch of rain and a temp drop would see us out the fields till April, so don't want to wait too long. Quite a lot of moisture in the cultivated stuff so think it should be ok.

Amazing two years ago we got 45mm in the day and then didn't get back in till the 11th April. Today it was very warm and more like July.

 

[rob1]

have got a good chit on grass seed in some westerwold I sprayed of three wks ago may spray it off later in the wk and drill as its two really wet bits, the rest has a bit of bg coming now and as its still dry the pre ems wont work so keeping a close eye on the weather and will slap it in, loads round here who are mintilling have lovely lumpy seed beds despite the rain we had ten days ago at least strip tilling I havent got that problem

 

[Muddyboots]

It's so dry here if I go next week I will never find moisture. Don't know what to do for the best. My heart says leave it till either the promise of some wet stuff or even wait for a rain, my head says get it in for fear of looking like a twit when all the neighbours are finished and I am up to my backside in mud! Now where's that crystal ball?

 

[Minesapint]

Nothing drilled here yet (600 acres to go in), and with only 1mm of rain in September it is like a desert. Very little BG has chitted. If rain was forecast in next few days there would be a chance of waiting for a chit, but with dry suggested for 2 weeks, I will probably start this week into bone dry seedbeds. Some OSR plants are starting to give up now, and there weren't enough to start with.

 

[David.]

A few have bottled it around Northampton/Castle Ashby area today.