If it dries up enough to plough my remaining fields, I would definitely do it and hopefully frosts and weathering will turn it into a seedbed by the springCan't make my mind up to be honest. I will need 5 good drying days to even attempt direct drilling. And as said, it's what happens weatherwise after drilling that has just as much effect. So really a 10 day window needed and a calm dry leaf day to spray it off and slug pellet pre-drilling. We need a blocking high pressure system to settle in and we could do somthing. I don't like ordering seed without having some certainty that I can drill it. We carry all the risk as usual but C'est la vie.
Ploughing might work but it will still need time to dry off the surface a bit before ploughing then it will have to weather and dry a bit after ploughing. Won't combi straight in. Then if it rains heavily after ploughing it's game over till spring. If it rains heavily after ploughing and drilling some considerable patches will turn to slop, run together and drown. Ploughed and drilled land won't travel well here either. Spraying it would be a nightmare. Then there are the slugs.
Direct drilling is the least damaging and least expensive, least time consuming option if it fails. Ploughing could either be very good or a disaster. It's expensive and high risk here and has the potential to do more damage than a quick rush over with the direct drill
That's why I am going to do one field ploughed, the other direct drilled, but it does need to dry up a bit for either to stand a chance.
Then I also need to start harvesting beet. When does the factory close? March, I hope.