October 2009 Archives

Similarly, in barley, where chlortoluron is in the mix, it is best to wait until the three-leaf stage. But by the time backward plants have got there weeds in forward areas may be getting too big. Aphicides are being applied along with herbicides where seed was not Deter dressed.

Slugs have caused some problems particularly in cloddy areas and crops following oilseed rape. Regular inspections are vital until the crop is well established.

October weather has been very kind in this area. Most have finished drilling and even recent sowings are coming through very quickly. After the last two very wet autumns it's great to be given a chance to get crops established properly allowing the roots to maximise their potential in undamaged soils.

A few oilseed rape crops are acting as a reminder of how wet it was a couple of months ago. The worst were drilled during the first week of September and heavy rain that followed caused soil slumping and capping which reduced plant vigour.

Due to the slow harvest, much oilseed rape was drilled in mid-September. Most of these crops have two to four pairs of leaves and good root development so the canopy should be ideal come the spring. (If the pigeons can be kept off!)

If not already done, a fungicide for light leaf spot protection should be applied soon and I will be favouring Proline (prothioconazole) or Punch C (carbendazim flusilazole) applied at three quarters rate.

Most fields have had a pre-emergence herbicide for grassweed control but due to very dry and warm soils, good control has been difficult.

Now soil conditions are warm and moist so Atlantis (mesosulfuron + iodosulfuron) and adjuvant, Biopower are being recommended. Slug levels are lower than last year but still need close monitoring.

The majority of oilseed rape crops are now looking stronger at four to six true leaves. Slug attack has remained low and nitrogen has been applied to seed-beds which has helped growth. Leaf minor can still be found on older leaves of early-drilled rape, but newer leaves and later drilled crops are fine. Because of the very dry weather Phoma has been difficult to find. But pressure is starting to increase and close monitoring is advised. Flushes of difficult blackgrass will need to be addressed soon when soils become wetter and cooler. Pigeons are present in other crops but yet to be a problem in rape.

Like the wheat, barley has been slow to emerge. With fewer actives available, grassweed control in barley is extremely difficult. The most reliable approach is to use pre-emergence or early post-emergence applications. This job must take priority as contact grassweed products are very limited.

But patience is required as although these crops don't look very pretty at the moment, I think they will be OK.

This patchy emergence is made all the more frustrating as seed-beds are generally good.

Thoughts are already turning to how we can tweak cultivation methods and timing as necessary in future autumns in order to conserve moisture.

Slugs have been an issue in places since the rain arrived. It is Important to protect the aforementioned wheat seed that is emerging but is lacking in vigour.

Wheat and barley crops are slowly filling in as crops finally begin to emerge on the heavier land.

Slugs have started to become an issue and are causing the most damage in wheat following oilseed rape.

Thankfully seed-beds are generally much better than last year, which is helping to reduce damage. Pre-emergence herbicides have been activated since the rain, and any emerged weeds now showing signs of chemical uptake. A key issue to consider soon will be Atlantis timing for blackgrass control. This will have to be delayed in some cases until the later-emerging parts of fields reach a sufficient growth stage.

Volunteer beans have been emerging exceptionally fast. They are requiring prompt treatment as they are smothering wheat crops almost as soon as they emerge. There are plenty of options for broad-leaved weed and meadowgrass control in wheat and barley. Since the demise of IPU, chlorotoluron the most obvious substitute if the variety is approved.

Late-drilled crops that caught some moisture have chitted and are emerging well. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for early-drilled crops. Some fields that were planted at depth have only just received enough moisture to chit and I fear a lot of seeds will not grow. Slugs, conspicuous by their absence until it rained, have now shown up.

But with the exception of wheat following rape, damage levels are very low. If you have cloddy seed-beds beware. I did find some bad seed hollowing on one block following rape.

Early-drilled crops that emerged well are now at early tillering and if they where not treated with Deter (clothianidin) will require an aphicide very shortly. With the odd exception, blackgrass levels are low at the moment, but rain forecast this week will no doubt change that.

Thankfully, this got down to seed which had been sitting in dust for a similar period of time.

Drilling has carried on apace with some farms drilled up and seed-beds in the main pretty good.

Winter barley is 90% drilled with most forward crops at GS21. All are looking a bit tender and would like some cold nights to harden them off before we start spraying, which I would like to start this coming week.

Disease levels are very low so there is no pressure to apply an early spray. Weed control on the whole is good, despite the dry conditions. Fields with a known grass weed issue will be targeted with either propyzamide or carbetamide as temperatures drop.

Pre-emergence weed control in cereals is a real mixed bag, with dry conditions meaning some programmes have been abandoned. Recent rain will no doubt lead to a large weed flush and a subsequent re-adjustment to our strategy. There is no doubt that this is when doing your homework counts. Correct grass weed identification is critical along with a good memory.

Soft and feed wheats dominate the drilled acreage, with the major concern being the area sown with the varieties vulnerable to yellow rust. In relation to which a wet March and April would not be appreciated.

Over the last ten days we have had some very welcome rain after a drought of nearly six weeks.

Oilseed rape crops are very uneven and patchy due to lack of moisture.

The most forward plants are at the six-leaf stage and some are at merely the two-leaf stage, however with nearly 15mm of rain the crops should grow fast and even out. Surprisingly, winter wheat drilled in the third week of September has emerged fairly evenly and is at the one leaf stage.

All the winter rape has now been treated with a graminicide to control the volunteer cereals. Any crops not treated should now be treated as a matter of urgency since with the rain the volunteers will grow rapidly and compete vigorously with the small rape plants.

Since my last report, we have been dry, apart from one day with light drizzle. This led to a satisfactory conclusion to the harvest for many, with little or no need to dry grain. The fact that at no stage in the summer did we run short of moisture has led to another good year for the bean crop, with several crops coming in at well over 5 t/ha.

The dry spell has allowed a rapid turnaround into new crop plantings. Although we have been dry, there has been sufficient moisture in the seed-beds to allow germination and the rape crops have emerged with little or no slug activity.

Many rape crops now have a bigger green area index than the corresponding crop of last year had in March. Pre-emergence herbicides appear to be working well despite the dry conditions.

Cereal volunteers will need to be removed fairly quickly. There is concern a further flush will appear after we have rain. Unless the rain comes soon, this is a risk we will have to take as the volunteers will soon become too competitive.

Drilling is progressing very rapidly in this area and a lot of growers are anticipating completion by the end of week. If good conditions continue, I think growers will continue to plant wheat due to uncertainty over spring cropping, which will put pressure on barley market supply.

Earlier, seed-beds were drying out quickly and were difficult to achieve. Following the recent moisture, conditions have changed and they can be well consolidated.

Because dry conditions meant we could consolidate, slug pressure is very low and metaldehyde use is at the lowest I have seen. After moisture, it will be interesting to see what traps show this week!

Benign conditions have allowed us to progress with cereal herbicide applications as planned. We are seeing growers getting on with pre-emergence flufenacet and pendimethalin or flufenacet and diffufenican applications, although in reality some of these are actually at the peri-emergence stage. Because we are using reduced rates of these products targeting annual meadow grass, we need to boost the broad-leaved weed control, using DFF or Lexus depending on situation.

Dry and windy weather has been relentless in the south east.

Oilseed rape crops in the driest areas toward the east of the region have needed irrigating for germination to take place and some crops drilled into moisture have struggled to achieve three to four true leaves.

Early-drilled, forward crops have suffered badly from leaf miners even in insecticide-dressed seed.

The larvae burrow down into the leaf petiole and can result in abortion of infected leaves.