Spring drought 2020

[Bossfarmer]

Things look okay here but will need some rain within 3 weeks otherwise it will be 5t/ha of spring cereals. The rape looks the best crop. Winter wheat late drilled pretty rubbish.
It’s such a rollercoaster at the moment I’ve got some crops which look amazing then go into the next field and it’s a bag of sh!t!

with you being mostly a contract farmer the landlords will have paid the inputs and given you your contracting fees so surely its not a disaster if you get poor yields?

 

[glasshouse]

with you being mostly a contract farmer the landlords will have paid the inputs and given you your contracting fees so surely its not a disaster if you get poor yields?

Hahaha
Landlords dont like losing money

 

[Northern territory]

Spring crops really going backwards here after good establishment in the main. I don’t think it has ever got hold of much or any N.

 

[glasshouse]

Spring crops really going backwards here after good establishment in the main. I don’t think it has ever got hold of much or any N.

Where

 

[Northern territory]

Where

North Yorks

 

[glasshouse]

North Yorks

No n in seedbed?

 

[Northern territory]

No n in seedbed?

Never bothered. Don’t think it would have made a lot of difference.

 

[ajd132]

with you being mostly a contract farmer the landlords will have paid the inputs and given you your contracting fees so surely its not a disaster if you get poor yields?

Cfa agreements contracting charges do not cover overheads, you are supposed to have incentive for profit. We will still be in profit even with lower than usual yields 90% of spring crops I think look really good now I’ve compared them to many others on this forum. Spring milling wheat will also probably be more profitable than winter wheat. Our osr looks good compared to most and the winter barley is okay. As glasshouse said landlords want profit and we have a good track record when I benchmark results against strutts and business average returns for the east of England. A great excercise to do comparing each contract farm to the area average.

,

 

[glasshouse]

Never bothered. Don’t think it would have made a lot of difference.

Thats the number one rule i never break
50 units n on the ploughing

 

[ajd132]

Thats the number one rule i never break
50 units n on the ploughing

N down the spout for spring crops is vital imo. I’ve done a trial where I put 80kgs N down spout and left it at that, the farm standard is 30kgs down spout then 90 after drilling. I got an N tester recently and it is showing more N in the plant where it was all down spout and had 40kgs less overall. Might be exacerbated because of the dry weather though

 

[teslacoils]

The digestate crew followed the rolls out of the field. Can still see the lines of the dribble bar in the barley. That's how dry it has been.

 

[Ivorbiggun]

Things will go down hill rapidly I suspect with no rain forecast and temps 20 degrees or higher from now on.

 

[yellow belly]

Rain by 10 June will give us a good crop
but Thank fully we have had more rain since March than any where else crops are grown

2011 had spring rape crops drilled end of March that were 6 weeks before it rained then had less than 20 mm per month

 

[MrNoo]

Countryfile forecast looks dire, no rain at all with high temps to 27C Fri but mid 20's all week.

 

[snarling bee]

Cfa agreements contracting charges do not cover overheads, you are supposed to have incentive for profit. We will still be in profit even with lower than usual yields 90% of spring crops I think look really good now I’ve compared them to many others on this forum. Spring milling wheat will also probably be more profitable than winter wheat. Our osr looks good compared to most and the winter barley is okay. As glasshouse said landlords want profit and we have a good track record when I benchmark results against strutts and business average returns for the east of England. A great excercise to do comparing each contract farm to the area average.
View attachment 881274,

I don't think its difficult to consistently beat the agents published figures for cfa agreements. It could be that they take too much out? Mate of mine pulled out of one deal because the agents where taking all the cream.

 

[ajd132]

I don't think its difficult to consistently beat the agents published figures for cfa agreements. It could be that they take too much out? Mate of mine pulled out of one deal because the agents where taking all the cream.

I have farms with those agents so can compare more realistically.

 

[snarling bee]

At the moment there is still moisture at 6" down. Can almost roll the clay into a ball. Lennox spring wheat leaf 2 emerged.

 

[50ShedsofHay]

Thats the number one rule i never break
50 units n on the ploughing

Dead right. Three fields I didn't get to pre springtines, due to faffing about with f'ing Isobus problems on a new drill. The difference is night and day, nothing can be done now to compensate with this damn weather.

 

[glasshouse]

I

Dead right. Three fields I didn't get to pre springtines, due to faffing about with f'ing Isobus problems on a new drill. The difference is night and day, nothing can be done now to compensate with this damn weather.

my drill doesnt have isobus

 

[Chae1]

N down the spout for spring crops is vital imo. I’ve done a trial where I put 80kgs N down spout and left it at that, the farm standard is 30kgs down spout then 90 after drilling. I got an N tester recently and it is showing more N in the plant where it was all down spout and had 40kgs less overall. Might be exacerbated because of the dry weather though

Do you think zero tilled soils hold moisture better?


I've no experience of it, but think they should as your not powderising the soil with a power harrow.