With several areas reeling from the impact of Storm Babet and now Storm Ciaran, many farmers will have concerns about drilling progress and what to do if initial plans have fallen through. Frontier Agriculture's northern combinable crop production specialist, Ben Frost, looks at some of the options for getting a crop in the ground and off to a good start, despite the challenging conditions.

"The recent storms brought exceptional levels of rain in a very short window and it has saturated some parts of the UK," says Ben. "The impact on soil conditions is severe in parts, with some fields already destined for spring cropping as a result. Crops that were drilled recently have also been affected by waterlogging and significant runoff, causing ruts and even loss of seed."

Ben Frost
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In the event of a crop failure, often the alternative is to drill a spring crop once conditions improve. Ben continues: "Re-drilling in the late autumn and into winter may be possible on some land types, but there are important considerations to make around seed rates and variety choice.

"Growers drilling wheat from November onwards should increase seed rates to over 400 seeds/m2. When calculating rates, it's also important to consider a lower establishment percentage." In very poor conditions, Ben notes this can be as low as 50%.

Varieties to sow in late autumn/winter

If a crop is drilled well in January, it'll likely perform better than a crop forced into a poor seedbed in November. "The key thing is not to be led entirely by calendar date. Don't rush to sow crops now given conditions are as they are," says Ben.

'Drill date' trials carried out by Frontier have shown that drilling a suitable winter wheat variety through to February is still likely to out-yield a spring wheat variety drilled in the same period. "However, if the date for safely drilling winter wheat has passed, I recommend switching to a spring variety of wheat or change cropping plans."

Varieties such as KWS Extase, Skyfall, Champion and KWS Dawsum have all shown to be good performers in a later drilling slot. Skyfall in particular has the longest drilling window, which lasts to the end of February.

Drill date variety comparisons
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Graph showing Frontier drill date variety comparisons. Green = winter varieties, yellow = spring varieties.

Ben adds: "If drilling late into the season, I recommend the seed treatment, Vibrance Duo. It has been proven to consistently protect yield across multiple seasons, and in a delayed drilling situation it has delivered a 0.34t/ha increase in yield, providing faster and improved emergence."

More information about Vibrance Duo and how it performed Frontier's trials can be found here.

Cultivation considerations

The impact of recent weather also means assessing the effectiveness of herbicide performance and subsequent applications.

Ben explains: "If a crop with an applied herbicide fails but you'd like to drill another crop after it, you need to make sure you follow the label requirements to avoid any residual herbicides getting into the following crop. If it's a risk, you may need to deep cultivate or plough your fields.

"On wet soils, ploughing would be the preferred and more practical option. Direct drilling may be an option for some farms but again, if you choose to do this the label requirements on a previously applied herbicide must be considered."

Late-drilled crops that have been direct drilled can potentially suffer from open slots and smeared soil in the bottom of the coulter row. This can cause water pools which can eventually result in seed loss to slugs or water damage, as well as reducing overall herbicide safety.

"Although broadcasting seeds can be tempting in extreme circumstances, a Frontier trial in 2020 showed a 1.7t/ha yield drop using this method over drilling," says Ben.

Frontier trial results - broadcast vs. drilled
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The above graph shows the results from a 2020 Frontier trial assessing yield results when winter wheat variety KWS Extase was drilled vs. broadcast.

Late-drilled crops require extra TLC in the spring

Rolling a crop after drilling is an unlikely option if a crop is sown in November onwards. However, rolling in the spring is much more likely when conditions should be more favourable. "Rolling should be done before the crop reaches Growth Stage 30 in order to aid root-to-soil contact and encourage further tillering too. Doing it any later will potentially damage the crop," says Ben.

"It is worth noting that some varieties, such as KWS Dawsum, have slow development in the spring but have a high yield potential when drilled late. In other words, the speed of development does not necessarily determine overall yield, though it is something to consider when planning first nitrogen applications."

Ben explains that all late-drilled varieties will benefit from an application of phosphite at the earliest opportunity to aid root development. "A good option here is Gro-Plan P; it is a biostimulant made up of foliar phosphite and is suitable for a range of crops."

Ben warns that it's important to think about disease pressure too. "Varieties with poor yellow rust scores, such as Skyfall, will be more susceptible to the disease in the spring when drilled late."

More advice about varieties, including their performance and optimum drilling windows, can be found in Frontier's autumn seed catalogue:

https://www.frontierag.co.uk/crop-production/seed/autumn-seed-catalogue