Spring drilling is well under way across the UK and crops are generally going in pretty good conditions.

This earlier start is being welcomed after last spring when hardly any fieldwork was possible in March.

In the South, winter wheat T0 fungicides are are going on forward crops, and across all areas disease levels are generally low, but it’s still early days.

See also: Strip-till cultivator brings big maize establishment savings

East

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

The weather can’t make its mind up which season we are in. Locally, we have had snow flurries, sleet showers, bitter winds and stunning sunshine – and that’s only in the past 10 days.

On the whole, winter cereals are entering the spring in good shape. Biomass is slightly down on average, but this would correlate with high rainfall and low sunlight since drilling.

Disease levels in the crops at the moment are low. Both yellow and brown rust can’t be found yet, but that’s not to say they will not appear in the normal varieties such as Skyfall, Zyatt and Crusoe.

The use of azole chemistry at this timing will help to reduce rust pressure. Tebuconazole or metconazole would be suitable for this.

The addition of a strobilurin at T0 will help to give added persistence to the rust protection.

Earlier drilled wheats do have some low levels of septoria on the decaying leaf which should watched. The addition of Folpet at T0 would help to keep the upper canopy clean.

Tiller numbers are down on average, and even more so on later drilled wheat crops. These will require some gentle manipulation from trinexapac-ethyl to suppress apical dominance and encourage rooting.

This, combined with either a biostimulant or a phosphite application, can have good effects on canopy manipulation.

Spring cereals

Wheat, barley and oats have been drilled in recent weeks, most of which have gone into well-weathered seed-beds which have been rolled down to conserve moisture and prevent pest problems.

Some spring crops have been cut straight into Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) covers, which will require ongoing monitoring for slugs as they are very prevalent in these crops.

For those still-to-drill spring crops, understanding seeds/sq m and all the losses associated to achieve adequate target plant populations are very important to achieve successful yields.

There are murmurs of sugar beet drilling starting, but growers should be reminded of variety choice and bolting numbers associated.

If soils remain cold then establishment could be slow and a pre-emergence herbicide might be considered. This should delay the first post-emergence herbicide and allow the beet to get away.

The main options would be around metamitron, quinmerac and ethofumesate. But remember that there is a limit of 1,000g/ha ethofumesate in any three-year period.

West

Antony Wade – Hillhampton Technical Services (Hereford/Shropshire)

Recent weather, with spring sunshine and drying ground conditions, has allowed some fieldwork to be progressed.

An earlier start to spring has been welcome, especially after last spring when we hardly turned a wheel until after the end of March.

However, some of those November-drilled wheat crops that went into surprisingly good seed-bed conditions never had a chance to emerge and will be replaced in some cases with whole-crop forage.

First splits of fertiliser were the first priority for fieldwork. With the erratic nature of the last few springs, taking any opportunity to get fertiliser on has become imperative.

It was nitrogen and sulphur blends for most crops, but some backward crops that needed a boost had straight nitrogen or urea to try to pick them up.

Many wheat crops in my area didn’t get autumn herbicide, so they were the next priority.

On bright sunny days mesosulfuron products were deployed, depending on grassweed present and flurasulam added, if necessary, for additional broad-leaved weed control.

There are limited products we can tank mix with the above. But on forward crops that are carrying significant septoria, I am using laminarin, the septoria elicitor, as a start to the disease-control programme.

What I follow this up with at T0 will depend on the weather and disease development over the next two weeks. As yet, I have not found any yellow or brown rust.

Barley

Barley crops have started to take the usual March yellow hue, but recent fertiliser is starting to green them up.

Foliar nutrition has been recommended with Canopy (mepiquat + prohexadione) early season plant growth regulator for tillering and a low rate of fungicide as a T0, as tiller numbers are the most important factor to optimise yield.

Oilseed rape crops are in two camps, the first being strong plants with a green area index of 2-3 and are starting to stem extend so a PGR and fungicide has been recommended.

In the other camp are plants that are just surviving having been hammered by pigeons. These are getting foliar nutrition and amino acids to try to help them recover.

I am hoping that, unlike last season, these backward crops do have a chance to recover.

Spring drilling has started. With beans, barley and oats going in pretty good condition this is at least three to four weeks earlier than last spring.

So, generally, crops are in a lot better position than last season, although that wouldn’t be difficult.

North

Patrick Stephenson – AICC (Yorkshire)

Like a cruel tease the weather gave us one beautiful weekend with glorious sunshine and matching temperatures. Then, as March does, winter was back with cold temperatures and snow flurries.

Field conditions have improved, and the first drilling of spring beans and spring barley is well under way.

Most crops have received some nitrogen now, and, with National Uninhibited Urea Spreading Day rapidly approaching (31 March), I prioritise the crops that can receive further early nitrogen applications.

These are, in essence, winter barley, oilseed rape, second wheats and some late-drilled wheats.

Winter wheat crops look remarkably well and full of promise and, as if on cue, yellow rust has appeared.

At this point my response tends to differ from the pathologists who would say treat as you find.

I will try and resist spraying until later in the month at a more traditional T0.

While a generally depressive atmosphere hangs over the arable industry at present, a glimmer of brighter light can be seen in the price of fungicides.

We are spoilt for choice. For those of you with long memories it’s like being in Woolworths at the pick-and-mix counter.

Not all options are to my Yorkshire pocket, but seeing generic prothioconazole, tebuconazole, and azoxystrobin at the buy-one-get-one-free price range puts a smile on my face.

Autumn herbicide programmes have worked well. It certainly has been a good year for the new actives.

Despite this good performance bromes, ryegrass and wild oats are still in the mix for controlling in the spring.

Broad-leaved weeds

We are also approaching the time to start the spring broad-leaved-weed tidy up. The chervil species are now becoming a major problem in more areas and early control is very important.

Winter oilseed rape crops have started to sit up and flower buds can be seen. The pigeons appear not to be suffering from bird flu and are causing serious damage in some fields.

High erucid acid rape crops always seem to be the first out of the blocks. These, coupled with very early drilling, will see a yellow tinge in the next warm spell.

Early spring disease control in rape always leaves me short of enthusiasm. But where crops have been early drilled a robust rate of tebuconazole can combine growth regulation with some disease protection.

Winter barley crops still look very well and will be the focus of attention in the coming weeks. The first fungicide and growth regulator will be applied before the first week in April.

The availability of cost-effective generic products makes the barley programmes more interesting. Good disease control may be achieved without breaking the bank.

Pre-emergence spraying for spring barley is a common question that keeps coming around. 

Field weed history and drilling date tend to be the steer as I balance crop check with field efficacy.

Winter beans have also wintered well with odd grassweeds combined with spring germinating wild oats the remaining problem.

Spring beans have been sown into great conditions and, hopefully, will perform well.

South

Oli Pilbeam – CCC and CLM (Kent and Sussex)

Half of my walked wheat area wasn’t planted until the first week of November, so most growth stages are behind what we’d expect in a normal year.

To try to kick it on, we put on early nitrogen to encourage tillering, applying 40kg/ha of N on the more backward crops in mid- to late February.

By early to mid-March we were in these crops again, with the first big dose of nitrogen and sulphur.

By the time you read this, we will be busy – or will have finished – putting on a T0 fungicide and growth regulator on the more advanced winter wheats (tebuconazole + chlormequat with or without some trinexapac-ethyl). But we’ll wait until T1 on later-planted crops.

Yellow rust is my concern to date, although so far it only seems apparent in very late-drilled Zyatt.

It’s early days, but there are few spectacular wheat crops, so minimising costs should be a priority.

Seed-beds dried out amazingly in late February and early March, so we had good conditions for sowing spring beans, oats and barley.

Given the prospects for some wheats, we’ll be more reliant than usual on spring crops.  Barley can provide an attractive margin as it’s cheap to grow and attracts a malting premium.

Oilseed rape

The oilseed rape that survived the flea beetle pandemic and onslaught of pigeons is looking good, even if the incessant sound of gas- and rope-bangers has made it sound like a Russian invasion in this area at times!

It’s all had a fungicide (prothioconazole + tebuconazole) for light leaf spot and phoma and, on some more forward crops, we’ve put on growth regulator and are looking to cut back on nitrogen through green area index calculations.

A lot of spring barley went in behind overwinter cover crops, which were part of SFI agreements. Frankly, Defra’s approach to SFI is a shambles.

The halting of new applications, combined with the lack of Basic Payment Scheme payments, plus rises in labour and machinery costs, is horrendous for cashflows. All farmers can do is try to further trim overheads.

The importance of existing SFI payments means farmers can’t afford any penalties. So however understandably frustrated people feel, it’s important to continue keeping the necessary documentation.

Carrying out the right practices at the right time in the right way.