Farming weather forecast

This week, soils wet up most in Herefordshire (rain beats evaporation by about 22 mm) and dry out most in Tyrone and Fermanagh. Soil, water balance and fieldwork days for eleven farming areas across the UK.

The week ahead by farming area

Area	Soil temp, 6 cm	Soil moisture	Rain, 7 days	Evaporation, 7 days	Balance	Spray days
East Anglianear Norwich	9.0°C	25%	19 mm	4 mm	+15 mm	2 of 7
Lincolnshirenear Lincoln	8.6°C	46%	13 mm	4 mm	+9 mm	4 of 7
Kentnear Ashford	8.5°C	36%	15 mm	5 mm	+10 mm	2 of 7
Herefordshirenear Hereford	7.7°C	28%	26 mm	4 mm	+22 mm	2 of 7
Devonnear Crediton	8.0°C	34%	19 mm	5 mm	+14 mm	1 of 7
Yorkshire Woldsnear Driffield	8.8°C	37%	3 mm	4 mm	−1 mm	3 of 7
Cheshire plainnear Nantwich	7.7°C	34%	13 mm	4 mm	+10 mm	4 of 7
Mid Wales uplandsnear Builth Wells	9.0°C	32%	21 mm	4 mm	+18 mm	2 of 7
Scottish Bordersnear Kelso	6.1°C	36%	3 mm	2 mm	+0 mm	4 of 7
Aberdeenshirenear Turriff	6.9°C	25%	4 mm	2 mm	+2 mm	4 of 7
Tyrone and Fermanaghnear Omagh	5.2°C	35%	1 mm	3 mm	−2 mm	2 of 7

Source: Open-Meteo. Updated 4 Nov, 13:18. Soil moisture is volumetric water content at 3 to 9 cm; evaporation is FAO reference evapotranspiration

Farming weather: questions

What soil temperature do crops need?

Grass starts growing at around 5 to 6°C at 10 cm depth, and most spring cereals need the soil to hold above about 5°C to establish well. Maize and many vegetables want 8 to 10°C or more. The figure here is the model's soil temperature at 6 cm, at 9am.

What is evapotranspiration?

The water lost from soil and plants to the air, here the FAO reference figure for a well-watered grass crop. If rain is less than evapotranspiration over a week, soils are drying; if more, they are wetting up.

How do you pick spray days?

A day with under 0.5 mm of rain and gusts below 15 mph. Treat it as a first sift. The product label and the conditions in the field have the final say.