As more unsettled weather arrives, our Crop Watch agronomists welcome some moisture to help spring crops establish and boost pre-emergence herbicide efficacy.

One downside of the recent cool, dry spell is that yellow rust has enjoyed these conditions and concerns are growing of a new race, with reports in the North that resistant varieties have succumbed to the disease.

See also: Research reveals critical two-month period for potato yields

North

Patrick Stephenson, AICC (Yorkshire)

What has been a very benign five weeks has meant my clients have got on very well drilling, fertilising and spraying unhindered.

The north-east wind has resulted in slow crop growth, and many crops are shy of tillers. You would think “all should be rosy in the garden”.

However, farming is very much like a Tom and Jerry cartoon, where around every corner there is a frying pan for us to run into. This year that frying pan is yellow rust.

The first thing to go was the Recommended List ratings. Beowulf (9) and Typhoon (9) wheats both with juvenile resistance are sadly casualties.

It does not stop there, and the list of varieties with yellow rust looks like the fallers in the Grand National.

Only time will tell what has happened and, hopefully, we will be better informed going forward.

As it is this has caused a rush of T0 spraying and a run on tebuconazole. T1 sprays are now being left with a cautious eye on rust development.

Most crops will not reach leaf three fully emerged until late April, and I believe it is critical that we do not go too early with this spray.

As for the options, they are multiple, with twin packs only muddying the water further.

Each week I change my mind as to the combinations I will recommend. I think there is an opportunity to save at this T1 timing, but all disease bases should be covered.

Although rust is now an issue, the dry weather has meant septoria levels are very low, ranging from 5-15%.

Many of my colleagues will shout: “It is not the weather now, but what is to come.”

I get that, but with wheat prices around the £170/t mark, my Yorkshire pocket sees a reduced spend as the way forward for T1.

Spring barley

Spring barley crops drilled early look well, with good emergence. With limited rain in the immediate forecast, I fear the fields drilled later will struggle.

Winter beans are growing slowly. This to me clearly indicates the low soil temperatures, but they are at last moving.

Spring beans drilled early are also well established, and I am crossing my figures that the residual herbicide is working.

In the later drilled crops, which have received no water, I fear that the residual herbicides will struggle, and I will have to renew my love affair with bentazone.

Oilseed rape is now coming into flower. Check areas that are slow to grow away as this could be pigeons, but cabbage stem flea beetle or clubroot may be the cause.

At the moment no rainfall, low temperatures and no petal fall mean that there is very little sclerotinia risk. At full flower, most crops will justify a fungicide and once again, there are many cost-effective options.

West

Antony Wade, Hillhampton Technical Services (Hereford/Shropshire)

Well, they always say never farm on last year. After the wet winter was a repeat of last autumn, in fact wetter, we probably feared the spring would also follow.

How wrong we were to make that assumption.

Spring cereal drilling has been, in many cases, completed according to the calendar before we even started drilling in spring 2024.

Despite the dry conditions, they have emerged well, although the rain forecast for the week this article is published will be welcome to help these crops grow on.

Wheat crops are a mixed bag depending on drilling date and how many times they got hit by autumn rainfall.

A lot of early-drilled crops that did look good at the turn of the year are showing some significant gout fly infection, with multiple tillers infected, making crops ragged with the main tiller being lost quite commonly. 

This has resulted in these crops not being as advanced as you would expect.

The cool wind and nights with ground frost on a several mornings has also meant crops are not romping away. Slow uptake of applied nitrogen in dry conditions is probably also a factor.

A dry March has meant septoria, which was prevalent on lower leaves, has dropped away as these older leaves have senesced.

But you can be sure in my area this will soon change once we have some rain.

Yellow rust, however, is the opposite – it has enjoyed these dry and cool conditions.

I have found it in only in the usual suspects in the feed wheat category Gleam/Graham/Extase.

I have not found any in unsuspecting varieties, unlike reports from AHDB/Niab, with concerns of a new strain.

However at T0, I have covered most varieties with a 50-75% dose of tebuconazole with or without a strobilurin depending on brown rust rating.

Winter barley

Most of my winter barleys have had a T0, as early season inputs are so important on this crop

Most are still only just at growth stage 31, but T1 recommendations have been issued.

The first plant growth regulators have done a good job, but with rain forecast, I expect a bounce in growth so a further plant growth regulator is included in T1 plans.

Weed control is more difficult, with the lack of germination in the past three weeks coming from a lack of moisture.

Where autumn weed control has generally done a good job, it is difficult to justify including any herbicide. But with the T2 likely to be at the paintbrush stage, you have to hope we don’t have a late flush.

Oilseed rape crops have had fungicide at green to yellow bud, which will, hopefully, cover any early sclerotinia risk if rainfall initiates spore release.

Crops are just starting to flower, so the next two weeks will be critical in whether this disease will be impactful on eventual yield.

South

Oli Pilbeam, CCC and CLM (Kent and Sussex)

After the horribly wet autumn and winter, we thought the rain was never going to stop, but at the end of February, it finally did.

There’s been negligible rain since and pretty perfect drilling conditions, with spring barley, beans, oats and canary seed all going in on time.

By the second week of April, many will have been planting peas – about a month earlier than last year.

Fingers crossed it doesn’t suddenly go cold again and, dare I say it, a little rain wouldn’t go amiss. Be careful what you wish for.

Milling winter wheats have had their second larger pass of nitrogen, taking totals to between 160-190kg/ha, with the next application due towards the end of the month.

I’m pleased we were proactive with early N this year.

T0 sprays have gone on most wheats, with yellow rust the main target. It’s particularly apparent in varieties such as Skyfall and Zyatt.

I’ve even found some in Extase, which is worrying as it’s previously shown good resistance.

The disease is noticeably worse this season, sparked by temperatures of 10-15C and the cool, damp conditions that come with morning dews.

In response, we’ve been aggressive with T0 fungicides based around tebuconazole which forms a relatively cheap control, but the situation requires regular monitoring.

If we lose this active ingredient, we’d be snookered.

T1 sprays

T1 spraying started in mid-April, with most to take place over Easter and the week after.

Most of my programmes are focused around isoflucypram (Vimoy), which has good broad-spectrum control across key diseases.

I will be making the most of different distributors “box sets”, as there are very cost-effective ways of getting the actives you want while using partner products on other crops.

Always a frustratingly fiddly exercise, but cost effective.

Growth regulation approaches have also involved some head-scratching, with crops ranging from growth stage 29-32 due to varied drilling dates, so programmes will be with or without trinexapac-ethyl.

Oilseed rape that survived flea beetles and pigeons looks great, so we aren’t scrimping on a flowering fungicide.

However, this will be an incredibly tough financial year for many growers, which will focus attention even more on cost management.

It’s easy to spend £120/ha or more on fungicides, or apply the usual nitrogen rates on what could be a below-average wheat crop but, with my consultancy hat on, my advice is to be realistic about a crop’s potential before throwing the kitchen sink at it.

East

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

Well, what a difference a month makes. Four weeks ago soils were cold and wet, and we were having regular frosts – now it’s akin to the Sahara desert.

The weather challenges certainly don’t make the life of a farmer or agronomist easy. Needless to say I shall be out there doing my finest rain dance.

In general, T0 applications are drawing to a close with the latest drilled crops just being finished off.

Forward wheats are looking well and aren’t too affected by the lack of rainfall, but if it continues then the light-land crops will start to struggle.

Our focus switches to T1 fungicides in the main, with lots of different options available – tailoring product choice and rate to variety and drill date certainly takes some thinking about.

When it comes to disease pressure, growers are reminded to focus on the potential weather after T1 rather than the conditions running up to T1.

With the potential to have stressed crops over the next few weeks, it would be advisable to split jobs apart to reduce big tank mixes and increase water rates where possible.

Sugar beet

Last time I wrote we were concerned about early drilling and bolting. Had we all known what the weather was going to do we could have held off.

However, despite this, sugar beet drilling is done and into good conditions, which unfortunately have got drier and drier.

Most fields have every growth stage imaginable, from seed sat in dust and not yet cracked to expanded cotyledons.

Of course, to make things exciting weeds are still flushing despite dry conditions. Growers should be checking beet across the whole field area and treat according to the smallest plants.

Early mixes of phenmedipham + ethofumesate + metamitron are supported at any growth stage, which can be used as holding sprays until the beet are big enough to increase rates and incorporate different actives and oil. 

Peas and beans have established well and are enjoying the sunshine – they almost grow in front of you.

With the dry weather, pre-emergence herbicide activity might well be limited so follow-up herbicides, albeit limited, could be required this year.

If crops are moving fast through growth stages, don’t get caught out and miss the boat.