Crops stay clean as flag leaves set to appear

In the fields - by Andy Doyle

The past week has been good for crop growth and things are moving on, sometimes faster than they might appear to be. Spring crops have emerged very well to date and most winter crops are quite clean at this point. However, disease is moving up on winter barley so it's time to get the protection on. And some winter wheat and oat crops are within a week of the flag leaf appearing.

I got a change to get out into fields in the north Kildare and Tullow (Carlow) areas over the weekend and most crops looked very well. I only came across one pocket of crops in north Kildare where establishment had been poor in winter wheat.

Judging by the growth stages I'd say they were mid to early October sown crops and had been established by min till. There was a lot of straw/stubble on top of the ground and it looked like slugs had been a contributory factor in the poor establishment. While there were relatively few bare patches there was a considerably bigger proportion of the crop area where the plant population was on the thin side.

Crops generally clean

One farm I visited was all continuous winter wheat sown in the first half of October. The varieties were Einstein, Robigus, Richmond and Savannah. The Einstein was sown about a week earlier than the other varieties and it showed in growth stage. This variety was at a strong first node while the Richmond and Savannah were only at a strong GS 30. Robigus looked the least forward at this point but it also looked more like wheat should still look at this time of year - covering the ground well with a nice broad leaf and moving well into stem extension.

All four varieties look very clean disease-wise at the moment. Were it not for the presence of Savannah as a comparison one might be tempted to suggest that the septoria resistance in Einstein and Robigus was really paying off. But the Savannah was also clean, thus indicating that it is the weather/season that is having the biggest effect. These observations hold for crops all over the country and six weeks ago all these crops were carrying a much higher level of septoria.

These crops were sprayed with Cougar and IPU and this appears to have done a great job this year. However, it is worth noting that the late October herbicide timing on the Einstein may have been a bit too early, as there are still a lot of cleavers in this field. This weed was controlled very well by the Cougar in the other varieties with a slightly later timing and sowing date.

Winter oats

There seems to be quite a bit of winter oats about the country this year and one wonders what this will do for price in four to five months time. The potential of the crop looks good and no major problems were seen in the crops visited this week. Except for the occasional poor patch because of wet or manganese things generally look well.

Mildew seems to be present on all crops regardless of location but levels are much lower than six weeks ago. Still, most of this will need some form of attention as we hopefully move into a more growthy time. And while I haven't seen any yet I expect that there must be some crown rust about in southern and coastal areas.

Stem and nodal development is slow with relatively little extension where growth regulators were already applied. However, even in a Meath crop the second-last leaf is now unfolding with the appearance of the flag leaf little more than 10 days away. This seems early for the location and forces caution on growth regulation, especially for CCC. Ceraide can be applied up to flag leaf emerging. Check your crop and peel back the leaves to see where your flag leaf is.

Winter barley

Winter barley crops are really only getting going now and are still not any more forward than second node. However, it is worth pointing out that one crop I visited outside Tullow did not yet show a second node but the second-last leaf was nearly fully out and was likely to be unfolding around this weekend. This also means that the flag lead will be appearing around this weekend in this crop. And no doubt there will be many other crops quite similar. This crop may well have received growth regulator(s) of some sort so remember that this always interferes with stem extension and our interpretation of node development.

This crop was quite clean disease-wise but I did notice some rhyncho right up at the top of the crop on the third-last leaf. This was only one lesion but it does send a warning signal that this disease never rests even in relatively good weather. One other comment on this crop was that there were a lot of leaves withering at the base of the crop and these may have carried a lot more disease at some point.

Another crop of Opal in south Meath showed no signs of disease at this point but there were a few unidentifiable large blotches on some of the leaves. This crop was at second node and had received growth regulators.

I hear reports of relatively severe brown rust in some winter barley varieties in Meath. This would need to be watched in the first spray.

Spring crops

This certainly was a year for early sowing. Wheat and barley crops around the country look very well. All the spring crops around Tullow looked very well and the rows are already meeting in the early drilled crops and tillering is underway. Many other fields around the country are just emerging, having been sown in late March.

There would seem to be a significant increase in the acreage sown to spring beans this year in the Tullow area. These crops are now heading for their second pair of leaves with lovely full and even establishment in most fields. I only saw one field where establishment was a bit uneven and the thinner patches may fill in yet.