The rain has finally stopped here in the South, leaving us with full slurry lagoons, waterlogged soils, struggling wheat and no more “inside jobs” on the to-do-list.

It has left me with a tight window to get some wheat sown on the lighter land, in the hope of freeing up valuable spring barley seed to take the place of some failed wheat.

See also: Application conditions vital for herbicide success in February

About the author

Charlie Cheyney

Arable Farmer Focus writer Charlie Cheyney farms more than 480ha land in Hampshire in partnership with his father. They run a mixed arable and 450-cow dairy enterprise, growing cereal and forage crops on varying soils, from chalk to heavy clay.

Read more articles by Charlie Cheyney

I have learned that drilling and cultivating on a frost is a dark art. There is a fine line between doing a lovely job and a slippery mess.

The new Sustainable Farming Incentive options have reignited my interest in precision agriculture. This is something I have in the past been a bit disillusioned with.

On paper, the idea of variable-rate inputs, zonal soil sampling and using yield maps and satellite imagery is a no-brainer, but from experience it’s been a pain. It is never as easy as the salesman says.

You spend hours on the computer trying to work programmes, to find out you need yet another outrageously expensive add-on, only to spend half the day in a field because you can’t make it work.

There is something to be said for keeping it simple; it makes it easy for everyone to operate and is easily repeatable. Complicated systems need to be worth it.

However, I am ready to take the plunge (again). We have quite a bit of satellite data that I would like to be able to make better use of. The next step is more in-field crop and soil sampling, and then we will finally be able to target inputs.

Looking more broadly, we could use it to target cultivations and cropping. I am particularly interested in organic matter testing to precision-apply solid manures and fix poorer areas.

Simplicity can be maintained. Variable-rate maps don’t have to be computerised rainbows, but a simple map with two or three application rates that can easily be followed, with significant results.