June 2009 Archives

As I write we've just endured 39mm of rain in under an hour.

Fortunately, there was no wind, so the fear of flattened corn hasn't materialised as yet.

Winter barleys are turning rapidly. On light land crops have burnt out in patches, but on the heavier soils they're ripening naturally. I've no idea how yields will go, as the ears are quite full, but tiller numbers are lower than last year.

Spring barley is very thin after the prolonged period without rain just as it was tillering, although it looks better than it should in many fields in this area. Late N uptake may cause problems with malting quality.

Harvest is rapidly approaching and winter barleys on light land that escaped the showers are turning quickly. Heavier soil types that had plenty of rain are faring better.

Some of the indifferent wheat crops now look superb and are full of potential.

While disease levels are generally lower than last year's, problems are beginning to show.

I have a field of Oakley that had a small spray miss at T1 resulting in total defoliation by yellow rust. Another customer did the same at T2 on Solstice and now the upper canopy is defoliated.

This new race seems very aggressive and we all need to think long and hard about next year's variety choices; ideally, restricting susceptible varieties to an area that can be sprayed in one day.

We are just tidying up the last head sprays on wheat. They're always a must for us, as we have a longer growing season, and although we're not high risk for fusarium, talk of wheat rejections is topical.

Given the generally lower yield potential, and growers wanting to keep within a budget, we're seeing a lot more tebuconazole-based T3 sprays.

Despite the lower potential wheats generally look better than I expected. We've managed to keep on top of disease and haven't noticed any yellow rust. But we used a robust septoria programme, which takes care of it.

I don't think we'll see too many growers altering their variety choice on back of this, but the seed season is only just starting.

Most combinable crop spraying is almost complete, although some wheats are still receiving T3 treatments to top up foliar disease control.

Some oilseed rape crops this year will cause desiccation problems due to their uneven development and maturity. There will probably have to be some fiddly part-field spraying with glyphosate at different times to accommodate this variation.

An alternative is to apply a pod sealant and then follow up with glyphosate once the more backward areas of the field have reached the appropriate stage for treatment.

The sealant will help protect the more mature areas of the crop from damage when the sprayer travels through it. But this technique will require careful selection of water volumes and nozzles to avoid the pod sealant preventing full uptake of the later-applied glyphosate.

Many winter wheat crops look promising after recent showery weather. Until the rain arrived some were looking stressed with flag leaves starting to curl. Most have had a full fungicide programme applied in good conditions which has kept septoria levels down on the lower leaves and produced clean flag leaves.

Orange blossom midge numbers were monitored, but thresholds were reached in only a small number of cases for treatment with Dursban (chlorpyrifos).

Mildew has remained at low levels but can readily be found in Claire.

Yellow rust has arisen only in untreated areas or where timings have been stretched, particularly in Robigus. Brown rust has been absent, but the risk will increase if the weather becomes hot and dry.

Rain on Saturday and Sunday was a welcome relief; we had 15-20mm. Until then the weather had been terrific for people on holiday, but not so good for those growing crops.

We'd had temperatures of 24C plus, and with no more than 16mm of rain in the previous three weeks and constant wind, soils had badly cracked and dried out.

Winter wheats are at full ear-emergence to mid-flowering (GS59-65). Most have had a T3 fungicide and the rest will be treated this week.

The T3 application should be considered an extension of the flag leaf spray and is a critical part of the fungicide programme in disease-prone varieties.

Winter wheats have improved greatly over the past month and now appear more likely to have potential to produce good yields.

With T3 fungicides being applied, continued rust pressure has meant slightly more robust ear-wash treatments have been required on susceptible varieties, often involving the addition of a strobilurin such as pyraclostrobin.

Orange blossom midge activity has been generally low, just one or two hotspots requiring treatment. Aphids are increasingly easy to find so consider an insecticide to mix with the T3 fungicide if populations exceed threshold levels.

Spring barleys still look "clumpy" on heavier land and later-emerging plants from dry seed-beds are still catching up with early-emerged areas. As awns are emerging, it's time to consider the T2 fungicide. Crops are looking fairly clean because T1 fungicides worked well, so the T2 should merely serve to top up foliar disease control.

All but the most backward winter rape crops are either at the end or close to the end of flowering, and unless we have an aphid invasion the next time field gates are opened will be to desiccate.

The spring crop is a different matter and varies from Ritz, which is mostly bad or a crop failure, to the very good. There are large numbers of pollen beetles in most crops and, given that spring rape is less able to compensate than winter rape, these are being treated with insecticide.

Spring barleys look well, although some are very short. The most forward are just at awns emerging and will receive a second fungicide based on prothioconazole this week.

Winter beans are a mixed bag, with some late-emerging moisture-stressed crops of Wizard still only 12in tall and flowering. Earlier-drilled crops on moisture-retentive clays are 3ft tall and look well. All have received one fungicide so far and a follow up will be applied three to four weeks after the first. If the weather stays dry, more emphasis needs to be on bean rust control with the second spray.

Two wet harvests have taken their toll on soil structure. Fields appear in a mosaic of patches with their colour reflecting the degree of abuse. The dry, cool spring has compounded cropping problems, with winter crops 15cm shorter than normal and few tillers. But rain has at least improved the look of crops.

Winter wheat is now a shade of deep green and a perfect backdrop for yellow rust on Oakley, Robigus and Glasgow. Septoria is alive in the base of the canopy and triazole rates will have to remain high to keep a lid on further development.

Open crop canopies have encouraged weed growth and I can't remember having to spend so much money on weed control. Take my word, there will be some dirty crops around. But, given good weather, wheat could yet produce a fair yield. The danger is that with only a tiny root ball in most crops, a long, hot period could still spell disaster.

Beans have had chocolate spot sprays and some Basagran (bentazone), in a probably vain attempt to control weeds. Maize is up and running and loves the warm weather, visibly growing daily.