A large proportion of the clients that we deal with manage heavy land.  These farms typically have high annual rainfall.  The last six months (August 2017 – January 2018) has seen remarkably high rainfall at 968mm, as summarised in the table below;

* Rainfall data for Carmarthen Town.
** Rain days are determined by precipitation of 0.1mm or above in a 24hour period.

Managing livestock and field operations has proved to be incredibly difficult on farms which are already challenged.  It is interesting to note that even our farming clients on drier farms with lighter soil types have found this winter difficult and have often asked, ‘how do farmers in high rainfall areas cope?’

If you have struggled to cope with this year’s rainfall and manage wet land, here are a few questions that are worth asking yourselves;

1. Have open ditches silted up?  Are they deeper than the field drains?  If so, these open ditches need to be dredged in order to make sure that the outlets are clear of any silt and allow water to flow easily.
2. Do you have a map/drainage plan of the farm showing where field drains are located?  If so, check to see if there are any obvious wet patches in fields that appear to be in-line with an old drain.
3. Do these field drains need clearing/jetting?  Are there obvious areas that are blocked?
4. Is there any remedial work that could be carried out to blocked drains in the summer months which could improve drainage?
5. Can mole-ploughing or sub soiling help by increasing water-flow to field drains.
6. Can the silt/spoil from ditching be spread away from the ditch to stop a damning effect?
7. Has any field work exaggerated a drainage problem?  Can moving a gateway or track potentially help the situation?

Remedial work to field drains can often be done for very little cost without it turning into a big job, and simple steps such as moving gateways and diverting water before they reach fields can often have beneficial results.

Now is the time to consider these options to allow sufficient time to prepare for next winter.

To discuss the management of wetter land, please contact your local FCG office or Huw at huwthomas@fcgagric.com