Worse than 2013

[Robt]

With all this rain, field in the east look wet but most if nit all are green....
Is it worse than last year?
Any cold on the horizon, want to go night shooting but need a good frost to hold the quad up

 

[Andrew K]

With all this rain, field in the east look wet but most if nit all are green....
Is it worse than last year?
Any cold on the horizon, want to go night shooting but need a good frost to hold the quad up

We had 6" of rain this January Rob, i would wait for a frost as well.

 

[Gong Farmer]

This year it's at a more convenient time (assuming it stops soon). It'll be gone by the time most farmers return from their skiing holidays

 

[Clive]

much wetter here than last year (and that was a record) looking at Photo's in Dave thread of someone slurry injecting yesterday it looks like a different country ! and we are far dryer than the poor sods under 4ft of water for the last 4 weeks

wont be an early spring IMO - if it stopped raining right now it would be a month before we were on land

 

[hindmaist]

much wetter here than last year (and that was a record) looking at Photo's in Dave thread of someone slurry injecting yesterday it looks like a different country ! and we are far dryer than the poor sods under 4ft of water for the last 4 weeks

wont be an early spring IMO - if it stopped raining right now it would be a month before we were on land

My field are all saturated and the drains are running full,as they very often are in February.It is winter time,after all.We will probably have a lot of frost and snow to come before the Spring.We generally get some in February.But a week of drying Spring winds will see the land in good order for sowing,no matter how sodden it is just now.Spring is March,April,May.Summer is June,July August.Autumn is September,October,November.winter is December,January,February.If your crops are all there and looking ok,what's the worry?

 

[cotswoldcs]

Our winter crops are looking OK. For us in the Cotswolds 2012 was worse than 2013 with more rain. However between October 1st 2013 and end of January we've had over 600mm rain. This is wetter than I can remember (and probably everyone else here!). More rain than the whole of 2011! This winter has been so mild and we've had few frosts and little snow (so far). I don't see it getting very cold this winter and I don't think there will be many spring crops sown in Somerset in March or April.

I'm not enjoying these wet winters we seem to be having.

 

[Feldspar]

much wetter here than last year (and that was a record) looking at Photo's in Dave thread of someone slurry injecting yesterday it looks like a different country ! and we are far dryer than the poor sods under 4ft of water for the last 4 weeks

wont be an early spring IMO - if it stopped raining right now it would be a month before we were on land

I was really surprised yesterday. I walked over a field yesterday in deck shoes without picking up any mud. Could have used our lightweight sprayer if it wasn't for the wind. The field was Claydoned late last autumn in pretty poor conditions and so it's surprising that it walked so well.

First time the quad wasn't sliding all over the place yesterday when out scaring pigeons.

 

[yellow belly]

I was really surprised yesterday. I walked over a field yesterday in deck shoes without picking up any mud. Could have used our lightweight sprayer if it wasn't for the wind. The field was Claydoned late last autumn in pretty poor conditions and so it's surprising that it walked so well.

First time the quad wasn't sliding all over the place yesterday when out scaring pigeons.

drying winds with no rain for a week would make travelling ok but will take a while for soil to be dry enough to work

 

[Clive]

My field are all saturated and the drains are running full,as they very often are in February.It is winter time,after all.We will probably have a lot of frost and snow to come before the Spring.We generally get some in February.But a week of drying Spring winds will see the land in good order for sowing,no matter how sodden it is just now.Spring is March,April,May.Summer is June,July August.Autumn is September,October,November.winter is December,January,February.If your crops are all there and looking ok,what's the worry?

did I say I was worried ? all I said was it is wetter here now than it was last year

 

[Chae1]

did I say I was worried ? all I said was it is wetter here now than it was last year

It will be alright. With direct drilling you will have no compaction so the water will be able to drain away. Oh and those fantastic worms will aerate the soil creating channels for the water to get further down! ?

 

[blackbob]

It will be alright. With direct drilling you will have no compaction so the water will be able to drain away. Oh and those fantastic worms will aerate the soil creating channels for the water to get further down! ?

Ohh... well I've read that direct-drilled fields hold 4 times as much water, I always thought it meant as ponds on the surface?

 

[Sussex Martin]

It's as bad as I can ever remember around here, there are lakes in fields that I have never seen a puddle in before. Some of my fields further down the valley you have a job to get enough traction to walk across them.

 

[smcapstick]

It's rather awful here, too. Drains full, river full, LR footwell full.

 

[Wombat]

Not a chance, last year I had 7 acre left in the ground. This year everything is in, looks well and is now growing again. Few small ponds about but that's normal for heavy land.

Yesterday was a beautiful day, 9 deg drying wind looked well. Today's crap but it is Feb

 

[Devil's advocate]

Not a chance, last year I had 7 acre left in the ground. This year everything is in, looks well and is now growing again. Few small ponds about but that's normal for heavy land.

Yesterday was a beautiful day, 9 deg drying wind looked well. Today's crap but it is Feb

Same here, more rain but less damage.

On the upside we are saving a fortune on heating gas for the potato shed & purple sprouting broccoli is usually frosted by early Jan, so another £100 a week is a small but welcome bonus from the mild weather.

Edit After watching news, yes we in the North are mostly ok. But some people really are having a terrible time of it. In Yorkshire it feels like a Cornish winter, in the SW it looks like the middle of the Atlantic.