Wow, what a harvest. Incredible yields have been recorded across all crops and for many are the best crop averages ever recorded. What has been pleasing is that such high yields have been achieved across whole farms, not just one or two fields which performed particularly well. Comments such as “I don’t have enough storage space” or “I thought the combine yield meter was playing up” have regularly been made. Nice problems to have when prices are so low. Beans will soon be ready to harvest, so lets hope they can continue this spectacular run.

Oilseed rape has all been drilled, but a much higher proportion has been sown later than planned where it was following wheat. Thankfully there has been plenty of moisture and crop establishment from earlier crops has been good so far. Consider applying up to 30kg/ha of nitrogen on these later sown crops, if not already done so, to aid establishment.

Flea beetles are having a nibble, but damage so far has been relatively low. Slugs have been much more of an issue, with regular rain events and mild weather providing ideal conditions for them. The wetter conditions has also served to allow plenty of blackgrass to germinate. This will no doubt mean earlier use of graminicides rather than having to wait for rain to stimulate later flushes.

Winter wheat drilling is underway, along with the annual battle to discourage early sowing on blackgrass infested fields. Seed-beds have been good, but robust pre-emergence herbicides have been required for these early sown fields when targeting grassweeds. Aphids have been easy to find on volunteer cereals in OSR, so where the wheat does not have Deter (clothianidin) seed dressing, be on the lookout for them in these early sown crops.

When deciding seed rates for cereals this autumn make sure the thousand grain weight of the seed is known, as there are some high numbers in some seed lots. If you drill by weight alone without taking notice of the thousand grain weight, then the actual seed rate could be much lower than ideal this year. Keep monitoring crops for slugs, especially those following oilseed rape, and observe the Metaldehyde Stewardship guidelines.