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Every year seems to be different when it comes to the challenges that face our cereal crops. 2012 was a difficult year disease wise, notably for Yellow Rust, Septoria & Fusarium Ear Blight. A wheat crop showing Fusarium graminearum 2013 threw up different problems, not so much with disease but a shortened grain filling period and high temperatures. For crops to reach their full potential they need as much disease free leaf area to capture the... 

Its hard to believe its 2 months since I did my last blog the time has just flown by and in another 2 months it will be full steam ahead with harvest! Its been a very busy 2 months! The Bateman has been busy flying up and down doing fert which am now pleased to say is now finished for the 2014 season, the n-sensor performed very well as always does with no problems as well. Then t0 and t1 was to do, this was straightforward in doing for a change it... 

While a full on war hasn’t quite broken out the situation in eastern Ukraine continues to teeter on the brink of something tense but no one seems quite sure what. Various official buildings and offices are being taken over by pro-Russian, pro-separatist groups who rally around a single issue agenda of self-rule and have a general distrust of the interim Government in Kiev. Shots have been fired with several deaths reported, journalists have been... 

Spring has sort of sprung, and as we only have oil seed rape in the spring portfolio it’s a bit of a damp squib … It has long been clear SOSR plantings will be well down on last year, and actually, well down on a ‘normal’ (whatever that is) spring season – there’s still a month to go though so we’ll see. At least the sun is shining and it looks like a good (long) weekend ahead. The threat of a bank holiday usually stirs up a few ‘must... 

In a spring where you would be better off planting rice than any other crop, it will be with some trepidation that some farms will be waiting for the waters to subside and the fields to dry out to see what state their grassland is in. Some fields maybe that badly damaged that a total reseed will be necessary but hopefully many of them would be in a reasonable enough state to recover from the floods but could maybe benefit from a bit of a refresh.... 

Today, 7th January, is Christmas Day in Ukraine, Happy Christmas Ukraine. According to tradition, this evening people will tuck in to a 12 course vegetarian supper started as the first stars appear in the sky. Carol singers, Christmas trees and decorations, street entertainers, mulled wine and sausages all make the town centre a very festive and fun place to be at the moment the only thing missing is snow. We have no snow!  It is like spring at the... 

“What do you want to do today kids, swimming, play park or join the revolution?” Not the normal Saturday morning family breakfast time negotiation but it is what I found myself saying last weekend. Ukraine hit the headlines this week as a demonstration turned in to civil unrest and then an attempt to replace the government. The spark was an abrupt about face by the Ukrainian government signing an EU Association Agreement that would have paved... 

A cold and wet start to October brought wheat planting to a dead stop and nothing moved for the first ten days of the month. The news reports went in to doom mongering mode with stories of a catastrophic harvest, food shortages and empty shelves, the minister of agriculture called farmers to arms with rallying calls that all tractors, planters and peasants should be pressed in to action in scenes reminiscent of the soviet days. Then the weather changed. ...