Preparing land for potato planting will be tricky in many areas given the wet winter.

With the spring planting period approaching, many growers, especially those in areas worst affected by heavy winter rainfall, may well be wondering how land can be prepared in time.

This year more than ever, patience will be vital when it comes to spring cultivations, says Lincolnshire-based agronomist, Will Sharpe.

“Working any soil when it is too wet is likely to create problems, notably compaction, that will restrict crop growth and could take years to rectify.”

The weather is still hindering operations as we move towards the spring.

Storm Ciara – while bringing good drying winds among the rain which allowed seed-beds to dry – denied growers the opportunity to spray off seed-beds pre-drilling. Storm Dennis, however, has topped up these areas again with more rain.

Failed oilseed rape that received autumn nitrogen will not impact on Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) limits for any replacement crop sown in the spring, advise agronomists.

The issue of crop failure has unfortunately been more common in some areas this season due to high levels of cabbage stem flea beetle damage, exacerbated by tricky weather during establishment, Lincolnshire-based Farmacy agronomist Charles Wright says.

With soils in many areas still very delicate after the very wet autumn, Matt Ward, services leader, with Farmacy believes there is an opportunity to avoid impacting not just on the 2020 harvest but also that of 2021.

In their current condition many soils cannot be travelled on without causing long term damage and even by the spring may not be in any better condition, he says.

“It's important to recognise that the long term costs of establishing a crop on fragile unproductive soils will be far greater than leaving an area of the field fallow.”

Despite drilling his winter wheat in November, Mark Stubbs managed to deliver 16.3t/ha. Louise Impey finds out how he managed this alongside OSR at 6t/ha.

Award-winning winter wheat and oilseed rape yields are being produced by Lincolnshire grower Mark Stubbs from a farm that just six years ago was seeing yields being strangled by a bad blackgrass problem.

This year's winner of the cereals YEN, with a winter wheat yield of 16.3t/ha, Mr Stubbs has made a number of changes since taking over at A&C Stubbs & Sons and has been rewarded by an almost doubling of yields.