Whats the weather like near you?

[Stubby]

18 minutes ago, Billhook said:

With my farming hat on, I too have seen nothing like it in over fifty years of farming.  Wheat fields decimated and hardly a Spring crop sown.  My Miscanthus contractor has not cut even one acre anywhere and he covers a large area in the North.  Pools of water, mud everywhere.  Approaching Cuckoo barley territory now. Cannot go in the woods without making a filthy mess and even winching logs out from the roadways has the same result.  At least managed to bring enough logs back to the yard to process under cover.

Can I pop your farming hat on for a second ? Round here , on the chalk , its usually barley . Crops are rotated of course but predominantly barley . Thing is there seems to be an abundance of oil seed rape everywhere this year . Is the price per ton expected to shoot up come harvest ?

[doobin]

1 hour ago, Stubby said:

Can I pop your farming hat on for a second ? Round here , on the chalk , its usually barley . Crops are rotated of course but predominantly barley . Thing is there seems to be an abundance of oil seed rape everywhere this year . Is the price per ton expected to shoot up come harvest ?

I’d say it’s block cropping and it’s just all the fields near the road this year. OSR is always a gamble with regards to the weather and establishment and even more so without flea beetle seed treatments after the ban. 

[Stubby]

1 hour ago, doobin said:

I’d say it’s block cropping and it’s just all the fields near the road this year. OSR is always a gamble with regards to the weather and establishment and even more so without flea beetle seed treatments after the ban. 

Its not just the fields near the roads Rubin . From Lavant  village all the way up to the top of St Roches hill is OSR .

[5thelement]

After Biblical rain on Friday, the weather has settled so today is bright and breezy.
Just walked the dog down to the river to check out the flood levels and saw the first Swallows of the year. 

[Billhook]

8 hours ago, Stubby said:

Can I pop your farming hat on for a second ? Round here , on the chalk , its usually barley . Crops are rotated of course but predominantly barley . Thing is there seems to be an abundance of oil seed rape everywhere this year . Is the price per ton expected to shoot up come harvest ?

Probably because it was drilled early and was established before the rains really came down and had its head above water especially over chalk hills.  Cannot see any particular reason why it would make more money since there is so much of it

Wheat and Barley however another matter and if this goes on the poor buggers trying to put their potatoes, Spring Beans and Barley, Beet and Veg in will be really suffering 

[doobin]

On 31/03/2024 at 11:13, Stubby said:

Its not just the fields near the roads Rubin . From Lavant  village all the way up to the top of St Roches hill is OSR .

Depending upon the layout of the farm tracks etc, that could still be considered block cropping.

 

Possibly the estate have decided to up their planting area based upon a good forward price?

[Stubby]

1 hour ago, doobin said:

 

 

Possibly the estate have decided to up their planting area based upon a good forward price?

That is what I was hinting at . What do mean by " block cropping " ?

[doobin]

17 hours ago, Stubby said:

That is what I was hinting at . What do mean by " block cropping " ?

Block cropping is simply planting your combinables in fields all in the same area. As different crops require inputs (fertiliser, spraying) at different times, as well as needing to be drilled and harvested at different times, it makes sense to keep all your OSR in one block and all your barley in another. It reduces time spent on the road considerably.

[Stubby]

34 minutes ago, doobin said:

Block cropping is simply planting your combinables in fields all in the same area. As different crops require inputs (fertiliser, spraying) at different times, as well as needing to be drilled and harvested at different times, it makes sense to keep all your OSR in one block and all your barley in another. It reduces time spent on the road considerably.

Understood bud . Makes sense . 

[Whoppa Choppa]

Unbelievable.

Ridiculous.

Jinxed.

Fubar.

Relentless.

Insane.

Extreme.

Incomprehensible.

Staggering.

Nonsensical.

Lamentable.

Cursed.

Horrible.

Evil.

Abominable.

Abysmal.

 

In other words, HELL. 

 

And the forecast for April is the same.

 

Doomed!

Edited April 2, 2024 by Whoppa Choppa