Farmers are being urged to use the extended post-harvest window to assess soil condition and nutrient status before making routine fertiliser applications or undertaking cultivations.
Will Oliver, Warwickshire arable farmer and BASIS-qualified agronomist, says extreme dry conditions mean soils could be in a very different position to a typical year.
“Instead of focusing on what you’ve done historically, or what others are doing, let your soil dictate what action you take,” he says. “Rather than assuming hard ground needs remedial cultivation, go into each field with a spade, dig a hole and assess the structure.”
If the soil around the spade wobbles, he says this indicates the structure remains sound. “If soils were in good condition before, there’s no reason to assume they won’t recover once moisture returns,” he says. “Cracks and channels created by dry conditions can also aid water infiltration when the rain comes.”
After walking his own fields, Will sees little justification for subsoiling. “Deep cultivation in very dry soils will increase metal wear and machinery damage for little agronomic pay off. Where intervention is needed, light discing may be the better option.”
Sam Leadbeater, UK and Ireland sales manager for OCI, advises the same evidence-led approach to soil nutrition, especially for OSR. “Good nutrition at establishment is key, particularly ensuring phosphate, potash and sulphur availability. Use tissue tests or soil analysis where appropriate to identify any specific limitations rather than applying nutrients routinely,” he cautions.
He says there could be more residual nitrogen left in the soil than growers might expect. Which is why soil testing will be particularly important this year.
“With little rainfall, there’s been less leaching or run-off, while crops also matured much earlier, cutting nitrogen uptake short. However, this will not be the case everywhere, particularly where growers reduced applications earlier in the season.
“This year, soil condition and nutrient demand will vary field to field. Use the extra time to test, assess and base decisions on what each field actually needs,” he concludes.
