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All Crop Watch news

Agronomists from all areas of the UK report weekly on their crop management from establishment to harvest. Keep up-to-date with their progress and the latest crop developments as the growing season progresses and key decisions on disease, pest and weed control have to be made.

CROP WATCH

Crop Watch: OSR flowering spray and T1s in forward wheat

The weather forecast is finally looking slightly better, but the damage is done and there is a huge backlog of field jobs. Among these are flowering sprays in those oilseed…

CROP WATCH

Crop Watch: Time running out for spring barley drilling?

The weather continues to dominate with few spring crops planted and planned herbicide and fungicide sprays badly behind schedule. One question being increasingly asked as mid-April approaches, is “when is…

CROP WATCH

Crop Watch: Growers must prioritise pre-ems for spring crops

April has arrived with no let up in the showers. The T0 spray timing has arrived for some earlier drilled wheat crops and farmers are being advised to be aware…

CROP WATCH

Crop Watch: Rising disease pressure and hungry crops

Days are getting longer, but there is no let-up in the forecast, with rain set to frustrate farmers as April approaches. Some limited field work is being carried out on…

CROP WATCH

Crop Watch: Deadline to spread urea fertiliser approaches

This week brings the spring equinox, with days being longer than nights, and hopes for more spring-like weather. Many hard decisions are now being made on whether to redrill, keep…

CROP WATCH

Crop Watch: Mid-March arrives with drills still in the shed

The wait for a dry spell of spring weather continues with the priority being on feeding hungry crops once spreaders can roll. Frustrations are also growing as rain keeps drills in…

CROP WATCH

Crop Watch: N applications are top priority for most crops

With a slightly drier few days forecast, the immediate focus will be on nitrogen applications to most crops, especially the winter OSR which is now at or beyond green bud. …

CROP WATCH

Crop Watch: Early crop nutrition key to salvaging backward crops

One of the wettest winters in living memory has left winter-drilled crops in various states of health ranging from rotted off to OK, depending on soil type and drilling date.…

CROP WATCH

Crop Watch: Wet weather ruins cropping and herbicide plans

In our final Crop Watch installment of 2023, our agronomists reflect on what has been a grim autumn disrupting drilling and herbicide applications to wheat.  With wheat drilling unlikely to…

CROP WATCH

Crop Watch: Wheat crop failures and missed herbicides

The huge cost of week after week of rain is becoming apparent, with wheat crops rotting and being written off. Many of those crops that have survived have not received…

CROP WATCH

Crop Watch: Wet autumn sees rotting seed and missed sprays

The wet weather continues and, as one of our agronomists suggests, it is turning into one of the most trying autumns for some years.  Many of the planned autumn operations…

CROP WATCH

Crop Watch: Babet's rain holds up last of autumn drilling

Wet weather is disrupting the end of the autumn drilling season, with some growers struggling to get the last of their heavy blackgrass-infested land sown. Slugs remain a big problem,…

CROP WATCH

Crop Watch: Virus alert in cereals and phoma in OSR

This autumn has turned into an uninspiring start to the cropping season. The warm, wet weather means it's easy to find phoma lesions in the OSR crops that survived the…

CROP WATCH

Crop Watch: Slug invasion and less herbicides for winter beans

The wet autumn continues with barely a day without rain. As one of our agronomists points out, it is the first high slug pressure season since the loss of metaldehyde,…

CROP WATCH

Crop Watch: Turnip sawfly add to growing OSR pest pressure

Turnip sawfly larvae are back with a vengeance, with high numbers adding to the pest pressure in crops in the South and South West. There are concerns over the increased…

CROP WATCH

Crop Watch: Rain has stopped, but woes continue

Signs of drought are being seen in crops as the higher temperatures this week stress plants. One positive is that the lack of moisture is helping to suppress disease, leading…