Written by cpm
For many growers, it’s the burden in the seed-bank that poses the biggest threat from blackgrass. CPM joins the Task Force engaged in helping one Shrops grower put a plan in place for his spring barley. Andrew’s clearly managing the population well, but he’s on a knife edge. By Tom Allen-Stevens Glance across one of Andrew Williamson’s fields of wheat or spring barley and you’d think he doesn’t have an issue at all with blackgrass. But that’s not how he sees it. “It’s managing what you can’t see that’s critical for me – the blackgrass that’s in the seedbank,” he says. “You walk a field and you may come across only three or four plants, but that’s only because there’s a population being actively managed.” His aim is a blackgrass policy that keeps the arable cropping profitable and sustainable. “We’ll never get to 100% control, but I’m also aware that we’re never more than a season or two away from a serious grassweed problem that’ll take over, so we can’t afford to let things slip.” Andrew farms 320ha of silty clay loam soils based at Upper Overton Farm near Bridgnorth, Shrops. A “fairly standard” combinable crop rotation has seen…
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