Let Battle Commence

The annual battle of farmer v's slugs has resumed this week. High tech farmers armed with heavy machinery, slug pellets, a strategy to reduce the slugs invasion and lots of careful watching of the fields. The felon armed with an ability to lay eggs and reproduce faster than even the randiest of rabbits and an insatiable need to eat Oilseed Rape seedlings and newly planted wheat seeds.

Our latest deployment is to pull our two sets of rolls along one behind the other. This is effectively rolling the fields twice but only using one tractor and one pass. This speeds up the operation and reduces the cost. Time is always in short supply at this time of year. With the land consolidated (rolled) the slugs find it harder to move around looking for tasty snacks. We will have to follow up and apply a light dressing of slug pellets to try and protect the crop as it emerges. If germination is even and the crops establishes (grows) well then one application should be enough.