It just needed a good old fashioned Bank Holiday to bring on the rain. While a return to proper April showers came just in time for some of the crops, it does make spray timing more challenging. I suppose we were spoilt in the weeks leading up to Easter, when every day was good for fieldwork.

The crops, including the spring beans and oats, are all looking reasonable. Leaf three was fully out on the Gallant wheat when we returned after the Easter break and the barley was in need of its first fungicide application. The main dose of nitrogen on the wheat was all applied before the holiday, so as to take advantage of the predicted rainfall.

My T1 fungicide choice for the barley has been Siltra (bixafen + prothioconazole). For the wheat, mixes of Ignite (epoxiconazole), Comet (pyraclostrobin) and Bravo (chlorothalonil) or Proline (prothioconazole) plus Bravo, depending on their yellow rust ratings, have been applied. Cultivations for the maize have been completed and the muck was incorporated using just the discs, and the parts of the field that have had heavy traffic got subsoiled. Then the whole area got a pass with the Solo and press with the legs on a deep setting. Not exactly min till, but it works well for us.

I recently attended my FACTS update course, which will shortly be followed by an online exam. Although the two days were notable for the excellent company, I do question the need for it. Like BASIS, annual updating is one of the requirements to remain on the register. One snippet I picked up from a fellow student was the fact that organic manure cannot be used on a conventional farm, but under certain circumstances manure can go from a conventional system to an organic enterprise. Another triumph for EU regulation.

Farmer focus: Simon Beddows