Still the weather is making the headlines. I am somewhat frustrated when I see a certain advert suggesting that potatoes love water. They may well do, but there is a limit, they also love sunshine too and with that in short supply I fear yields and quality will be extremely variable. Tramlines are now full [...]
This is the season that just keeps on giving. Just when you think it can’t get any worse – bang! Hopes of a bountiful harvest are rapidly retreating as the sun refuses to appear. Crops are starting to lodge, but bearing in mind the incessant wind and rain surprisingly the damage is limited. However, this [...]
The atrocious weather shows no signs of letting up and the lack of sunshine and high disease pressure will surely limit grain fill. I recently went to look at some very interesting fungicide trials. The fungicide treated plots looked reasonably well, but the untreated trials were awful. Most varieties had virtually been defoliated by either [...]
Oilseed rape desiccation should have been underway this week. In the majority of situations desiccation will rely on glyphosate mixed with a pod sealant. Where crops have lodged it has mainly been due to root-lodging rather than kinking of stems. Larger canopied hybrids and crops with high plant populations have been more affected by lodging [...]
As I write the rain is lashing against the back of my house and the forecast says it’s set to continue for the next three days. The heady days of cracked soils and hosepipe bans seem a lifetime away. The thermostat in my sitting room is telling me I really should have my heating on. [...]
Oilseed rape desiccation timing is approaching. The majority of crops will be treated with glyphosate, although with increased levels of lodging this year, there will be an increase in diquat use. This is because glyphosate does not translocate well if the stem is kinked. If a basic glyphosate is to be used with an additional [...]
With June being largely dull and wet then plenty of sunshine is now required this month for grain filling. In winter and spring cereals aphids will need monitoring until the crop has reached the milky ripe stage. After this point yield responses to insecticides are seldom worthwhile. The threshold is two thirds of tillers infested [...]
Summer continues as before, with rain most days and localised torrential downpours. Temperatures have picked up though, which should help maize crops, most of which look pale and unhappy. Winter oilseed rape is approaching the time for pre-harvest glyphosate. Most growers will use a pod sealant as well. For some laid crops, those where the stem [...]
