Wheat expectations?

[Oliveau]

I have a very unhappy neighbour here in Central France. The contractor's Lexion 770 has 600 ha of wheat to do & isn't going to get back here for a while, Plus one of the drivers is hospitalised at the moment [I volunteered to come out of retirement!], He's busy trying to line up another contractor as our 10 day forcast is 'merde'.What wheat he has cut is doing about 6t, as opposed to a good average here of 8t. Reported as 'Catastrophe' {That's Catastroff as opposed to Catastrophee.] He puts it down to a dry April, very hot late June, then storms which have flattened the crop. It didn't help that I said "When I was young we could get down to laid crops with a 10ft header, but now with your 40' header you have to go over the top of it."

 

[Feldspar]

Started wheat today. 21 percent. Forcing it, but economics work and the sample is decent and it threshed fine actually. 20 Oct drilled Extase. Not ridiculously light land either. Picked out the fitter bits. Yield probably 10% below what I thought this field might do. Going to try and run it to a lab for protein (+ hagberg) in the morning.

Protein 10.9 to 11 with 220 kg/ha N and no protein N top up. Hag 300. Hectolitre weight was 74 at 20.8% moisture. Yield 8.9 t/ha over the first 9ha. Thought it might do nearer 10 at my most recent guess. Last year Extase was 2 t/ha down on what I was expecting so it might be it under performing again, or more reflective of the loss of potential with the less than ideal conditions from flowering.

 

[Feldspar]

Similar story here, started some Firefly yesterday afternoon at 21% got down to low 18% in the wind and sun.
Broke down before we finished the field but I expect we’re running a bit under 9t/ha and I hoped for a bit over 9t/ha.
Much better stuff to come so not a disaster but not how it looked 6 weeks ago.

Yes, seen fusarium developing in some blocks with noticeably shrivelled and white grains.

 

[Breakthru]

Protein 10.9 to 11 with 220 kg/ha N and no protein N top up. Hag 300. Hectolitre weight was 74 at 20.8% moisture. Yield 8.9 t/ha over the first 9ha. Thought it might do nearer 10 at my most recent guess. Last year Extase was 2 t/ha down on what I was expecting so it might be it under performing again, or more reflective of the loss of potential with the less than ideal conditions from flowering.

Cold May affected pollination in a lot of crops. Extase in the North suffers from sterility and that is maybe what you are seeing.

 

[bankrupt]

mostly it’s small grains not enough sunshine ☀

Same here - probably not very good news for specific weights.

Oats, which don't ever need much sunshine, now 56kg - much better than the worst of the barleys.

Hopefully, we'll still be able to blend the wheats up to average 72.

 

[Brisel]

Well that's even more innacurate. And expensive

Tissue testing is a tool in a big toolbox. You really need to do a few every year for a few years to build a picture of nutrient status. Yes, it adds up when they are circa £40 per sample but it helped my chalk land yields when low boron and potash issues were consistently identified and addressed.

 

[ollie989898]

The simple answer is no. We haven’t used any bagged P & K since 2006 - 15 years. Up till 2012 we used compost. We tried some AD digestate in 2017 applied to the crop leaf (wheat). We test fully (GPS) every 5-6 years but also do routine test if we have a concern. We haven’t noticed any large drop in soil index levels.
We have rotated various cover crops in front of spring down crops as well.

I think the whole soil index system is massively outdated and almost irrelevant to be honest. Testing plant tissue surely is the way forward.

So you have been applying P and K in the form of digestate. There should be very few situations where people are having to apply bagged P and K to land with the sheer number of digesters and livestock units around along with sewage and the like being available.

 

[Chalky]

What he said. We often show late season low zinc, so apply Manzi @GS39. This year pre T3 tests(4) to cover soil/rotational differences and if our additions had proved successful, showed low copper. That was a first

 

[Honest john]

We have lost a good 150 kg/ha from the hail So far.
no cutting weather on forecast dull damp no sun or wind on 7 day.

Going to start at 20-22%

 

[bankrupt]

Going to start at 20-22%

Same here.

Fortunately, due to the constant wet, it's all north of 25% currently, allowing for some badly-needed catch-up time in the pub.

Where I don't like much to mention the small matter of our remaining 150 acres or so of oats, all having been well steamrollered by Evert.

 

[Flat 10]

Same here.

Fortunately, due to the constant wet, it's all north of 25% currently, allowing for some badly-needed catch-up time in the pub.

Where I don't like much to mention the small matter of our remaining 150 acres or so of oats, all having been well steamrollered by Evert.

It’s nice to see you back posting cheery harvest messages

 

[Against_the_grain]

Another 15mm here today...I'm not sure what it's like around the rest of the country but quality and potentially yields will start to slip soon

 

[Flat 10]

Another 15mm here today...I'm not sure what it's like around the rest of the country but quality and potentially yields will start to slip soon

I just want to finish the last few acres of flat winter barley and rapidly retting winter linseed

 

[warksfarmer]

So you have been applying P and K in the form of digestate. There should be very few situations where people are having to apply bagged P and K to land with the sheer number of digesters and livestock units around along with sewage and the like being available.

Once.