What a fantastic three weeks of weather. It is a pity we cannot say the same about the politics of this country, or the rural economy. 

It is nice to have a dry March after the last two seasons of continual rain. We applied the first doses of nitrogen onto the rye and the winter wheat at the end of February.

We have also managed to spread digestate across the rye in the past week and this has responded very well.

See also: How tech trial is helping Lincs estate improve wheat inputs

Weed control has finished on the rye, with a couple of fields with bur chervil and blackgrass needing tidying up.

Drilling has finished with the spring cereals; we have managed to plant all the spring wheat after the wild bird food.

This was either lightly Carriered with the cross-cutter discs and then drilled with the Sabre Tine, or Terranoed and drilled with the Vaderstad, depending on ground conditions.

About the author

Robin Aird

Arable Farmer Focus writer Robin Aird manages 1,500ha on the north Wiltshire and Gloucestershire border, with a further 160ha on a contract farming agreement. Soils vary from gravel to clay with the majority silty clay loams. The diverse estate has Residential, commercial and events enterprises. He is Basis qualified and advises on other farming businesses.

Contact:

Email: robin.aird@charltonpark.estate

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We also patched spring wheat into the bare patches of the late November drilled winter wheat and filled in a few small areas in the rye. I am hoping that in a few weeks we should have green fields without the brown patches for a first time in a while. 

Contractor Paul Joseph’s team have also been busy applying digestate to the maize land, and we have also started working this down.

This is a little too early, but I am always a fan of getting ahead of the curve.

We are about to go and roll the winter wheat which will, hopefully, get it to tiller more. We have just put the second dose on the winter wheat, so when it does warm up it should motor away.

All the winter cereals are looking lovely and clean so, hopefully, they will continue like this.

I am just waiting for the Rural Payments Agency inspector to arrive as I am having a Sustainable Farming Incentive inspection this week.

Fingers crossed that I have dotted the Is and crossed the Ts.