Keeping a black-grass diary

Richard Hinchliffe of Dikes Marsh Farm in Yorkshire takes a zero tolerance approach to black-grass. One of the ways he prevents seed return is by hand rouging and he’s been keeping a detailed black-grass diary since 2016 so he can highlight the worst fields for weed populations and any mark down any areas that are too dense to rouge and need spraying out. The diary also includes man hours per field. It’s a great way to measure how weed populations are changing and how much progress we’re making to keep black-grass at manageable levels and increase yields and farm profitability.