Frost heave in new grass leys 2011

This ley was sown late September, not overly late for North Devon in normal years, but given the very cold conditions in December with the very rapid thaw in January, the result is this above. Where the grass has died, the soil is very plumby, soft, almost like a sponge, whilst where it is thriving, the soil is firm and well consolidated holding the roots firm. Just shows the differences in soils and how spending the time really consolidating the seedbed is vital in grass establishment.

Frost damage/heave in Winter Wheat.

With the price of wheat futures rising well over £200/ton and the November price at over £170, things in he arable world are looking quite promising for this season. However, the recent very cold weather has played havoc with some wheat plantings here in North Devon, especially the poorer, wetter lands. With temperatures plunging down to -18C in places near Okehampton in the week before Christmas (I saw -13C at Exeter airport on Christmas eve), things got pretty chilly down here for a while, especially as the daytime temperatures struggled to get above -5C.

This prolonged cold spell for the whole month of December, followed by a very rapid thaw just before New Year has left us with some scenes like this below. There is hope yet that the damage can be salvaged later when Growth regulator is applied with a additional foliar feed of Multimax to boost additional root development and allow some plants to survive. A very cold dry spring won't help though if we have similar weather to last spring.

Fortunately I haven't come across any of my customers with total, or near complete loss of autumn seeds. Nickerson Original seed does come with a filmcoat package that both protects the seed from phytotoxic effects of seed dressings, as well as stimulates root and root hair development in the first 6 weeks of growth, something which is key in getting good autumn establishment. Yes it costs a couple of pounds an acre more, but with a winter like this last one, it certainly is going to pay off.

My seed in the foreground, the 2 fields on the bank directly behind aren't and have 50-90% losses. This below is a neighbours field of grass seeds...... Not Circle Leys, which would have come through OK given they have the same film coat.