Desiccated fields

[Buddy london]

I drove up the m1 out of London and from what i could tell some fields seemd to have been desiccated.. is forst stubble round the corner? Anyone else seen this..

[JDog]

Were they cereal fields? From desiccation to harvest is normally about two weeks.

[Buddy london]

Yes Jdog.. pretty sure were cereal fields... guessing rape should not be too far off.. it was just after junction 8.. would be good to know other areas.. we could be on stubble very soon

[Buddy london]

I drove up the m1 out of London and from what i could tell some fields seemd to have been desiccated.. is forst stubble round the corner? Anyone else seen this..

It seems like I

 

Yes Jdog.. pretty sure were cereal fields... guessing rape should not be too far off.. it was just after junction 8.. would be good to know other areas.. we could be on stubble very soon

 

It seems like I was right on both the above according to the Farmers Weekly. We should be in full swing in days!

http://www.fwi.co.uk/arable/harvest-2017-early-winter-barley-cut-as-osr-is-desiccated.htm

[Catamong]

Yes Jdog.. pretty sure were cereal fields... guessing rape should not be too far off.. it was just after junction 8.. would be good to know other areas.. we could be on stubble very soon

 

That's my shooing patch, between Junctions 8 & 9, but the rape is still too early to be dessicated as the ground in these parts is heavy clay, not light gravels as you find in low lying parts of Berkshire, however some of the Barley is well on and will be cut a fair bit sooner than last year.

 

The birds are also on the standing Wheat, which is still very green, I was watching a number of birds tonight dropping in to a field of standing wheat, nowadays they seem to be able to "float" on the top of the crop, which, in days gone by, would normally flatten under the weight of the bird, but I guess the modern varieties now grown must have stronger stems..?

 

Cat.

[Dan7626]

We are dessicating our rape this week.

It'll be 3 weeks until harvest then.

[getthegat]

Never heard of desiccating fields and I thought this country didn't grow coconuts. That's global warming for you I guess

[Catamong]

Wheat and Barley are not dessicated, but the tendency is nowadays for Rape to be dessicated by spraying a couple of weeks before it is combined.

 

When Rape was first grown around these parts, it was cut into rows by a swathing machine, then left to dry naturally before combining, nowadays most farmers seem to prefer to dessicate.

 

Cat.

[JDog]

Wheat and Barley are not dessicated, but the tendency is nowadays for Rape to be dessicated by spraying a couple of weeks before it is combined.

 

When Rape was first grown around these parts, it was cut into rows by a swathing machine, then left to dry naturally before combining, nowadays most farmers seem to prefer to dessicate.

 

Cat.

That is not the case.

 

Rape, what and barley are all now desiccated on a regular basis by the most organised farms and estates. It is an attempt to get the crop to ripen

evenly and to prevent regrowth in the ear in wet times.

 

This is a relatively recent practice and is causing some concerns as residues of the spray (glyphosate based) is being found in bread, beer etc.

[kyska]

Wheat and Barley are not dessicated, but the tendency is nowadays for Rape to be dessicated by spraying a couple of weeks before it is combined.

 

When Rape was first grown around these parts, it was cut into rows by a swathing machine, then left to dry naturally before combining, nowadays most farmers seem to prefer to dessicate.

 

Cat.

Until recently our rape was swathed, pigeon shooting was something different then. Our fields are processed so quickly now the window of shooting is days at best.