Crop and estate management
The lack of rain dominated our thoughts. Less than 20 mm fell between harvest and the end of October. Very little of the oilseed rape that had been sown in late August had emerged by the end of September. Three fields had virtually no germinated seed and we decided to write it off.
We were faced with the option of sowing now with winter beans, waiting until the spring and sowing with a spring break crop (cereals didn't fit the rotation) or setting the land aside. Spring sowing would be very risky. A nearby farmer had grown spring rape this year as a pilot arable stewardship scheme option.
Poor germination in the dry spring meant he had harvested not much more than half a ton per hectare. That did not look an attractive option, especially as we would not be receiving the stewardship payment. Broadcasting beans and ploughing them in was the option with the least risk and this was chosen.
The 'first' wheat was drilled in mid September into a dry, dusty and lumpy seedbed. Germination and emergence was slow and patchy but it looks as if they will slowly thicken out. At this stage we do not expect such a poor stand that it will have an effect on our continuing trials of our deliberately created patches in these wheat fields.
It was not until the end of October that the rows of seedlings had filled out sufficiently to make the undrilled patches easily visible. The 'second' wheat was drilled in mid October. We kept waiting for that forecast of substantial rain but it did not come. The decision was made to press ahead with drilling into the dry seedbed. It was better to have the seed in the ground waiting for the rain than risk being caught out by a deluge, sodden soils and no seed sown at all.
We had planned to sow some experimental grass margins this autumn but the lack of rain has meant that this will be postponed until the spring. This sowing will be of a series of blocks of different grass varieties from different sources.
There is a suggestion that the caterpillars of brown and skipper butterflies do not thrive on some commercial grass cultivars - exactly those cultivars that a farmer is most likely to sow in his grass margins. The result could be 'green concrete', great as a buffer zone to keep farming operations away from the field boundary, but useless as a wildlife habitat.
Birds and biodiversity
There have been up to 100 linnets feeding on the cultivated rape stubble in September, presumably searching for fallen rape seed. Two birds had been notable by their absence over the late spring and summer - the grey partridge and little owl. Both have now re-appeared with regular sightings.
Lapwings and golden plovers also appear to be more regular this autumn with small numbers seen on the fields as well as passing over. A late hobby in October and two bramblings feeding with the chaffinches marked the change over of the seasons.
Both round-leaved and sharp-leaved fluellens (Kickxia spuria and K. elatine respectively) were found in the grass margin that was sown this spring. The latter is new for the farm and unexpected on such heavy soil.