North Bedfordshire farm manager Andy Mahon took part in the most recent edition of the Tillage Edge podcast to discuss various aspects of the enterprise including the weather impact.
He provided a harvest update from his part of the world and a look ahead towards 2022/2023.
He told Teagasc’s Michael Hennessy that winter wheat is the predominant crop he grows.
“Winter beans also featured this season. However, they were planted far too late into November. Conditions were very late at that time. They didn’t thrive, for the most part, with crows and pigeons also having a major impact,” he explained.
“This year the ground was well set up for spring crops. We had established cover crops the previous autumn, which grew-on well.
“Spring drilling got underway in mid-March. We drilled 70ha of wheat and a further 70ha of oats at that time. We also under-sowed the spring wheat with white clover,” he continued.
“Initially, this seemed to be working well. But the clover was pretty much hit for six with the drought. We have just harvested the spring wheat and there is no sign of the clover at all.”
Weather impact
According to Mahon, the spring work of 2022 progressed as normal.
However, the first signs of the dry weather being an issue became apparent when full flag leaf on many crops a full week to 10 days earlier than would normally be the case.
“I had never seen that before. It was extremely unusual,” Mahon explained.
“Disease pressure wasn’t particularly high. Our fungicide programmes are developed to suit specific varieties.
“My other concern at the time was in relation to the cold. It wasn’t frosty cold. But through late May and early June, we didn’t see much sunshine; it was quite cloudy.
“But towards the end of June, the sun came out and it has been extremely hot ever since.”
Mahon confirmed that no rain has fallen in his area since the beginning of July.
“Spring crops have had very little rain falling on them,” he said.
“In some cases we are talking 70mm of rain, from planting through to harvest. So it has been a tough year for them.”
Cultivation
Mahon uses a no-till approach to crop establishment. This is regarded as one way of retaining moisture levels within soils.
“Our crops got away quite well in the spring,” he explained.
“However, it was pretty evident that those farmers who did cultivate, lost a lot of the moisture that was in the ground pretty quickly. But we still suffered from a significant moisture deficit, throughout the growing season as a whole.”
Mahon confirmed that the lack of rain took its toll on spring crop yields. “But winter crops held on well,” he commented.
Weed control and harvest
Where weed control is concerned, Mahon indicated that blackgrass infestations are accounting for a yield reduction of approximately 1t/ha across all cereal crops.
His optimal time window for drilling winter wheat is the first week of October.
Mahon commenced the 2022 harvest on the last Friday of July.
“And we haven’t stopped since. The spring wheats are the last crops to be combined and it looks like we will have the harvest completed within 10 days,” he said.
“Everything has been very dry. There has been no dew, whatsoever. I have never had a run straight through harvest like this; no stoppages at all. It has also been the earliest harvest on record with us.”
Mahon also confirmed that most farmers in his area are well through the entire harvest at this stage. In his case, yields are down 10%.
“We had a great year in 2021; yields were excellent,” he said.
“There is no doubt that the dry weather over recent months has had an effect. Bushel weights have been good and I am waiting for protein results to come back.
“Prices should make up for the fall-off in yields. This year’s crops were grown with fertiliser purchased at relatively cheap prices.
“We try to run a low cost / low output system. I am not chasing wheat yields of 12t/ha.”
Outlook despite weather impact
Looking ahead, Mahon is planning to include a liquid fertiliser spreading option with a disc drilling system.
“This should also allow us to include a range of other crop inputs at planting,” he stressed.
“My big worry is that heavy rain may well follow the ending of the drought. So the big question becomes – when is the best time to drill crops? Should we look at the end of September or hold off until the first week of October?
Looking ahead, Mahon has bought all his fertiliser for the 2022/2023 growing season. Where nitrogen (N) is concerned, he has bought a mix of urea, ammonium sulphate and liquid product.
“Prices have doubled relative to what I was paying last year. But it could have been a lot worse,” he added.
“Boosting nitrogen use efficiency will be a key challenge for the period ahead.”