Dealing With Wet Holes

[The Fenster]

We took on some new land last Autumn , it was wheat stubble. Land is Well bodied black land, good land but relatively high clay content , but still grows good potatoes , onions etc. Despite the relatively dry 2021/22 winter it had several wet holes where the wheat had died. We had all the land surveyed for levels, P,K and pH. The landlord paid for under draining to be completed as recommended in the autumn, lime was spread as recommended, we then subsoiled and ploughed before leaving to over winter. In the spring we applied NPK again as recommended and then power harrowed and drilled with sugar beet which went in well and germinated evenly over the entire entire fields. Now 80% of the land has a cracking looking crop of tall and healthy looking sugar beet , but those wet holes look terrible, beet are small ( maybe only 5 inches high) yellow and look like they will die any minute. We paid particular attention to ensure we applied sufficient NPK and lime to the wet holes and they did not lay wet in the winter or spring, so any idea what the problem is and how we can sort it? Or are they permanently damaged.
I'm not fussed about losing the beet in the holes as I don't think it will come to anything if there is anything you think we should drill in them now, or if you think we should cultivate it. But the beet harvester will probably drive over them when they harvest rest of field.
Any advice appreciated , thanks in advance

 

[Wesley]

I believe @Bald Rick is the resident expert on wet holes…

 

[Chris W]

We took on some new land last Autumn , it was wheat stubble. Land is Well bodied black land, good land but relatively high clay content , but still grows good potatoes , onions etc. Despite the relatively dry 2021/22 winter it had several wet holes where the wheat had died. We had all the land surveyed for levels, P,K and pH. The landlord paid for under draining to be completed as recommended in the autumn, lime was spread as recommended, we then subsoiled and ploughed before leaving to over winter. In the spring we applied NPK again as recommended and then power harrowed and drilled with sugar beet which went in well and germinated evenly over the entire entire fields. Now 80% of the land has a cracking looking crop of tall and healthy looking sugar beet , but those wet holes look terrible, beet are small ( maybe only 5 inches high) yellow and look like they will die any minute. We paid particular attention to ensure we applied sufficient NPK and lime to the wet holes and they did not lay wet in the winter or spring, so any idea what the problem is and how we can sort it? Or are they permanently damaged.
I'm not fussed about losing the beet in the holes as I don't think it will come to anything if there is anything you think we should drill in them now, or if you think we should cultivate it. But the beet harvester will probably drive over them when they harvest rest of field.
Any advice appreciated , thanks in advance

Done any soil and leaf tissue testing in the wet holes vs field average?

 

[serf]

Not the content that was expecting.....

 

[JockCroft]

We took on some new land last Autumn , it was wheat stubble. Land is Well bodied black land, good land but relatively high clay content , but still grows good potatoes , onions etc. Despite the relatively dry 2021/22 winter it had several wet holes where the wheat had died. We had all the land surveyed for levels, P,K and pH. The landlord paid for under draining to be completed as recommended in the autumn, lime was spread as recommended, we then subsoiled and ploughed before leaving to over winter. In the spring we applied NPK again as recommended and then power harrowed and drilled with sugar beet which went in well and germinated evenly over the entire entire fields. Now 80% of the land has a cracking looking crop of tall and healthy looking sugar beet , but those wet holes look terrible, beet are small ( maybe only 5 inches high) yellow and look like they will die any minute. We paid particular attention to ensure we applied sufficient NPK and lime to the wet holes and they did not lay wet in the winter or spring, so any idea what the problem is and how we can sort it? Or are they permanently damaged.
I'm not fussed about losing the beet in the holes as I don't think it will come to anything if there is anything you think we should drill in them now, or if you think we should cultivate it. But the beet harvester will probably drive over them when they harvest rest of field.
Any advice appreciated , thanks in advance

Firstly do you know the cause of the wet holes? Springs? Old Drains? Grade (Is it surface depressions holding water when wet, then surface capped not letting water seep away)?
All can be cured, at a cost.

 

[chester]

We have bits of peat on the farm and have had them drained twice. It’s great for the first five years and then the wet spots start to appear. I think the problem is as soon as you start to dry peat out it starts oxidising, think how a dung heap shrinks down. So the pipe goes down with the peat and they stop working. The bit nearest the ditch doesn’t seem to go down as quickly, I assume because that it’s already shrunk down. This might be your problem as you say you are on black land. I don’t think peat is sustainable to be arable cropped as you have to think why it was formed in the first place, ie it’s vegetation which has failed to rot down because no oxygen was available for the process.

 

[JCfarmer]

Careful what you wish for.......