South: Diesel the most effective slug killer
The hopelessly wet conditions continue and although it has been drier of late, soils are saturated to depth. A farming friend informs me that in the last 28 weeks he has recorded an average rainfall of...
View ArticleNorth: No let up in the “Battle of 2012″
Any thoughts that we might get a final weather window to see 2012 out in style appear to be like many soils – washing into watercourses the length and breadth of the country. As I write the rain is...
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East: Facing the harsh reality
A month has passed with very few opportunities to get on the land to do any sort of field work except yet more slug control! Visiting farms I seem to be the bearer of bad news, with the relentless...
View ArticleNorth: Conditions as bad as they get
The shutters have squelched down on autumn sowings. Conditions now are really as bad as they get. Will we ever achieve an economic crop value for next year? Who knows. Next year’s crops are never going...
View ArticleEast: Sieze every opportunity
Since writing last month, drilling and spraying opportunities have been scarce. However, growers have been determined to seize any opportunity to carry out field work, often in marginal conditions....
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South: Less haste when writing off crops
Don’t get too hasty to write off drilled crops yet. Many are far better when you walk across them, than they look from the gateway or headland. The photo below is a classic example. Yes it looks like...
View ArticleWest: Rain scuppers drilling and spraying for the rest of 2012
Well another month has passed and I think if we are honest with ourselves most are in a much better place than we were four weeks ago, frustratingly for some on the heavier land every time it got...
View ArticleEast: A brief flurry of activity
When I sat down to write my report last month snow was falling and a month on, snow falls once again despite temperatures of 15°C only 10 days ago. Fortunately though, the spell of drier weather has...
View ArticleWest: Weather finally closes in, in the south west region.
With some very heavy rain through the latter part of October and early-November, the ground has now become very wet in many areas throughout the region. Most crops, including maize for grain and other...
View ArticleNorth: Busy spraying period with crops looking very good.
The 60mm of rain we had in October seems relatively little compared to comments from fellow Cropwatch agronomists, who reported 150mm over the same time period elsewhere. Crops generally look very...
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