North: Low soil nitrogen prompts fertiliser applications

And they’re off! Diesel, muck and metal everywhere and in true March style, everyday can contain all four seasons. The cooler weather has certainly slowed things down and produced a rainbow of colours in the fields, as plants are stressed by the varying weather conditions. Soil mineralised nitrogen (SMN) figures are on the whole very low and crops are now ready for their first dressing of fertiliser.

Oilseed rape crops have yet to elongate, so Galera (clopyralid + picloram) and Shield (clopyralid) programs are still able to be completed. There is an alarming amount of flea beetle larvae damage on leaf petioles, although this is unlikely to affect yield, the potential beetle number for next year could be huge. Light leaf spot refuses to go away, and my wish for the pigeons and cold weather to delay the need to spray is rapidly diminishing. The main priority, however, will remain fertiliser applications.

Winter barley crops have adopted their normal late winter colour of bright yellow and would certainly welcome a dose of fertiliser. It is well worth remembering that barley produces all its potential grain sites by early April. Therefore early nitrogen is vital and the majority should be applied by early April. The frosts have killed many of the outer leaves but mildew remains active.

In Scotland a T0 fungicide in barley is common, less so in England, but high levels of early mildew would justify an early treatment. Autumn weed control has been excellent and there is little to mop up. The majority of my crops will have a SDHI-based T1 spray early in April, with a comprehensive growth regulator program.

Wheats on the whole look well, despite losing their early winter bloom and having it replaced with a purple haze. Gout fly is easy to find in the early drilled crops, but that is probably more of a benefit rather than a hindrance! Blackgrass control on the whole has been good and reaffirms that the more actives involved, the better the control. The white flag has been raised on an odd patch, but not many at all.

Nitrogen again is now due on these, and dissecting plants I can’t see T0 being applied until the back end of the month. Arthropod buffer zones have been exercising my mind as more labels have this as a statutory requirement. We thought having grass strips against watercourses was sufficient, but now this strip also needs an arthropod buffer zone! At the current rate of progress, many of my small fields will have a sprayable area the size of a tennis court.

Beans also look well and good grassweed programs coupled with the later sowing date, have helped keep blackgrass levels very low. Spring beans will be receiving a mix of pre-emergence herbicides, with the backbone being pendamethalin.

Spring barleys are just being drilled and for the first time more will have pre-emergence herbicides. This means that the new BBC weather computer is redundant, as I have initiated the driest spring on record by this action!

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