The spell of dry but dull weather has allowed farmers to catch up with wheat drilling, with some November seed-beds looking better than those last month.

This week, our agronomists look at top-up herbicide applications along with managing phoma in OSR crops.

See also: Why Scottish regen farming business added beans to rotation

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West

Antony Wade
Hillhampton Technical Services (Hereford/Shropshire)

We are in a “mad, mad” world when early November seed-beds trump any of those produced in October, completely against the expectation we had a month ago.

Some of the wheat drilled in mid-October, especially after potatoes, can’t really be called seed-beds – they are more like slots with seeds in them which may or not be covered.

As a result, there was no way I could recommend pre-emergence herbicides so we have had to wait until early post emergence to apply any herbicides.

Despite the poor soil conditions, they are emerging OK so far.

Fortunately, due to the pest control and amount of cultivations in the potato crop, slugs aren’t usually a problem which is a relief given the state of the seed-beds.

Mid-October drilled cereals that went in just prior to the 80mm of rain on 16 October have an element of deja-vu, with some fields having similar patchy emergence to what we endured in autumn 2023.

I have more hope of even emergence with crops that have been drilled more recently in “dry” overhead condition, if not drying conditions, with all the recent anticyclonic cloud and mist.

Top-up herbicides

Some wheat crops are getting additional top-up residual herbicides which are necessary given the reduced efficacy from pre-emergence herbicides due to the amount of rainfall received mid-September to mid-October.

Oilseed rape has generally, and perversely given the reduced area this season, established well, with little flea beetle concern.

Without the complication of cabbage stem flea beetle and wondering whether crops will make it, I have used more clethodim as a graminicide to deal with volunteer cereals, but also for it’s more efficacy on ryegrass, blackgrass and annual meadow grass that we have had following poor control in open previous cereal crops.

Following this, more recent recommendations for Belkar (halauxifen + picloram) for broad-leaved weed control have been issued which have, where applied, look to be having a good effect.

Phoma incidence is high so a fungicide has been included on susceptible varieties.

I am waiting for soil temperatures to cool further before recommending propyzamide applications for residual grassweed control.

I would rather delay so that we have a longer persistence of this residual active rather than reconsider what options are available in December following an early application to warm soils.

Winter beans have recently been drilled into pretty good seed-beds, with pre-emergence herbicides recommended.

This has become more costly with the current loss of Extension of Authorisation for Minor Use removing some cheaper options, which seems ridiculous with co-forms allowed.

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North

Patrick Stephenson
AICC (Yorkshire)

I like the quote “The climate is what you expect; the weather is what you get”. We have now had a long settled dry period and in my part of the world, most jobs for the autumn are now complete.

Although we have had little or no rain recently, they have not been drying days. We have lost areas of crop due previous deluges, primarily headlands, but even some of these have been redrilled.

The first manganese patches are starting to show, and the final spray passes of the season will address this.

Autumn aphicides used to be a standard for most of my crops, but with the arrival of the Sustainable Farming Incentive, many growers have agreed to an insecticide-free policy (CIPM4).

In my part of the world, we are generally a low-risk area for aphids and the subsequent barley yellow dwarf virus, but I have now become paranoid that every crop is at risk and spend hours crawling around looking for them.

The mild, still autumn days do not help, and I am hoping for some much colder weather to at least ease my concerns.

The early-drilled winter wheats are now well established and have thrown off the leaf whitening pre-emergence herbicide symptoms.

Top-up grassweed applications have been applied and the programmes appear to be working well.

Winter barley

We continue to have a reasonable winter barley acreage enabling farms to spread harvest and give an early entry for next year’s cropping.

Unfortunately, the gross margin is often like a Hammer horror film and must be balanced with the profitability of the rotation overall.

Brome in barley is my major headache, and our armoury of herbicides is at best limited. If the establishment practice is min-till then it can be a nightmare.

I hesitate to say this, but OSR crops look fantastic, and any poor areas are largely due to either slugs or pigeons.

We are applying propyzamide-based products on oilseed rape crops now, and I accept it is still very warm – unfortunately our target weeds are also growing.

We currently do not have an epidemic of phoma, but those crops with low disease ratings are being treated.

In my part of the world, we have escaped the worst of the seasons weather, and we are nearly finished with the autumn workload.

As gates shut for winter, my thoughts start turning to spring and how I can control the input costs and maintain margins.

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South

Oliver Pilbeam
CCC Agronomy and CLM (Kent and Sussex)

I fear I have officially worn out the saying “next week looks better” this autumn.

In my defence, not only did spirits need lifting, but there was at least one point in every week since mid-October where it did look more promising… soon followed by disappointment.

The “next week” did eventually come on 4 November after which, in a week, a lot of farms moved from 30% to nearly 90% drilled.

“I’ll sleep in December,” was one of my clients’ comments.

Conditions were far from ideal, but it was the last chance to make the best of an incredibly challenging year.

Suboptimal conditions have resulted in a compromise in pre-emergence herbicide timings, with a change to peri- or post-emergence applications.

Inconsistent seed depths, often from the use of tine drills, was the main reason for this, with Luximo (cinmethylin) the primary weapon of choice for blackgrass and ryegrass control.

Follow-up programmes of flufenacet are also still planned, but as the weather deteriorates these may not happen, which could compromise blackgrass control.

That said, in most cases fields were sprayed off three or four times before planting, which was a bonus.

Slugs

The battle against slugs remains relentless, particularly on wheats following OSR and second wheats – in some cases having up to four applications.

Unlike in the days of metaldehyde, the pellets just don’t seem to be hanging around.

Applications of prothioconazole-based fungicides to control phoma have been made, with the disease multiplying quickly over the past few weeks.

Frustratingly, this year it will not coincide with the Astrokerb (aminopyralid + propyzamide) timing, so two passes will be necessary as soil temperatures remain above 10C.

The good OSR crops look really good (drilled from 10 September), but some earlier-drilled ones have been overcome by flea beetle.

If they’re in fields with a lower blackgrass burden and on more fertile soils, we will look to plant a third wheat.

Elsewhere it’s a far harder decision choosing whether to “stick” with a poor-looking crop or “twist” and go for plan B.

Growers can make slight savings on fungicides if they “stick”, but the cost of herbicides would be similar, possibly more, without a strong canopy.

In most arable businesses though, it’s machinery and labour where the biggest savings can be made, so the quiet field months of December and January are an opportunity to dig into budgets, assess overhead costs and properly portion them to enterprises to identify efficiencies.

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East

Rory Kissock
Farmacy (Essex, Herts, Cambs and Suffolk)

Hindsight is most definitely a wonderful thing, and since my last column on 15 October, conditions in the region have just got better and better for drilling.

Those with the nerve and patience to wait have certainly reaped the benefits of good blackgrass flushes and great seed-bed conditions.

The range of seed-beds this autumn have posed challenges when it comes to pre-emergence herbicides. The majority have gone well and sprayers have travelled with little to no mess.

Where the end result is slotted, open or shallow, herbicides have had to wait till after the crop has emerged to avoid any damage.

As drilling continues growers should be aware of the cut-offs for the actives involved, be it calendar date or growth stage.

Its also useful to remember large diurnal swings in temperature can stress young crops very easily and herbicide damage may be seen in these situations.

Without the risk of sounding like a stuck record I must remind you all of the barley yellow dwarf virus risk.

At the point of you reading this, early-drilled crops may well have gone through two 170 day degree cycles and the aphid threat still remains high.

Accurate recording of dates, monitoring of crops and looking at trap data are all important for an integrated pest management approach to the virus.

Oilseed rape

Oilseed rape is benefiting from the drier, warmer weather recently and is continuing to grow well. Inspection of leaf petioles show the usual scars from cabbage stem flea beetle and also rape winter stem weevil.

The only way to identify the pest present is to cut into the plant to reveal the larvae. Beetle larvae have a distinct head (black in this case) and three pairs of legs on the thorax.

Weevil larvae have a distinct head (brown) and no legs.

Phoma risk in OSR has been relatively low since the dry weather, however, it has been present in some crops. Monitoring of the disease will be ongoing and, if required, an application of prothioconazole will be given. 

I have been questioned recently about drilling spring barley or spring beans in the next few weeks if the conditions stay conducive to do so.

There are pros and cons of course, but in the eyes of the Chemicals Regulation Division, any crop drilled before 31 January is considered a winter crop despite having spring genetics.

My advice would be to wait, finish the last of the winter jobs and take a well-earned breather.