NEVER write an article in the local paper telling farmers that the winter was basically dry. Particularly when four inches falls from the sky in March and then at least another three in April, writes Ben

Boothman, from Arable Advisor, in Pickering.

It is hard to comprehend as I sit here writing this that just over a week ago I was walking crops above Cayton Bay with four layers of clothes on in a sea fret, temperatures nudging an Arctic five degrees and my countenance was not cheerful.

Today, we hit 22 degrees and it’s boots on, no jumper, with the Ryedale valley looking stunning and I could not be happier. The amount of diesel and metal worn in the last week or so will be colossal, as everyone tries to capitalise on this good snap of weather.

It is difficult to imagine that in less than six weeks, wheat ears will be emerging, and even more worrying in three weeks winter barley awns will be peeping through.

Plants are driven by both thermal temperature and day length, so their internal clock is looking to ear emergence before mid-June.

This ensures that the plant captures the maximum amount of sunshine to convert into yield. A late spring means that many crop growth stages come quick and fast. Growers must be flexible in how they prioritise their workload.

Drilling still must be a priority and many growers have been asking how late can I drill spring crops? As you can imagine there is no easy answer to that question, as the later you drill then the later you will harvest.

Spring beans drilled now will not be ready to harvest until October. Spring cereals drilled now will be ready in mid-September.

On top of this delayed harvest the yield expectation is lower and the crops are very vulnerable to water shortages. You may laugh at this last point, but my track record at causing major weather changes is pretty good at the moment.

So my dry winter prediction followed by a wet spring, should mean a dry summer. Having been an agronomist for more than 35 years I can only remember one spring quite as bad as this one and that was 1983. I worked for ADAS in Bury Saint Edmunds and hardly an acre of sugar beet was drilled in April that year.

The sugar beet, potato, and vining peas drilling campaigns are only just beginning. Beet and potato crops are big harvesters of sunshine, so the quicker they can emerge and meet across the rows before the longest day the higher the potential yield.

Delays in drilling are then directly translatable into lower yield potential. The vining pea groups will have a logistical nightmare trying to co-ordinate late planting and harvest timings, but I am sure they will be up to the task.

On a positive note the potential lower potato yields should mean that market prices rise, providing a small crumb of comfort.

Oil seed rape crops will start to flower now, but many will have pollen beetles on the flowers and buds. As soon as the first flowers open the pollen beetle acts as a pollinator, prior to this they can graze the buds and cause damage.

For the vast majority of crops no treatment is needed and I urge farmers not to spray prophylactically, as the sprays used are non-selective killing many potential beneficial species.

We have found yellow rust quite easily in the local wheat crops, but with a relatively shorter growing period routine spray timing should enable us to keep control of the disease.

Only the late drilled crops, and water-logged areas have taken a hammering from the weather but these are now starting to perk up as they receive much needed nitrogen applications.

It is sometimes difficult for growers to understand that we are only a small part of the world cycle of food production. Spare a thought for my Canadian colleagues who are still having night time temperatures of -10ºC, or my Wisconsin friend who had to shovel a foot of snow of his drive this week, or indeed my Brazilian friend who has had a total of 75 inches of rain since January 1.

Ryedale’s not a bad place after all.