Difficult to react to weather patterns: Recent weather patterns make crop management decisions difficult to react to. Dry and warm spells force thoughts of fertiliser application and then occasional cold snaps perish this thought. Many fields are now showing the effects of incessant wet and travel is highly unlikely in some areas. Headlands are now looking the worst for wear in some fields where continuing wet has taken its toll.

We are now in February and crops continue to try to grow. If we could guarantee no growth for the next few weeks fertiliser would be best left in the shed. But with growth taking place then plants will tend to scavenge on themselves in order to feed new growth and this is what causes crops to look yellow – dying leaves. Barley is the most susceptible crop in this regard as hunger can result in reduced tiller survival.

In my opinion crops have taken a pounding over the past few months but they don’t necessarily show it except where patches have been wiped out by waterlogging. But plants have been trying to grow all through winter and this may have unexpected consequences.

Be ready with fertilizer: Winter rape is a hungry crop in spring and so needs more nitrogen early to drive canopy growth. Again, it is very much a matter of judging timing against signs of visible growth in crops and this is more serious depending on whether crops have been grazed by pigeons or not. Grazed crops need more canopy growth and so need more nitrogen early.

The urgency of fertilizer application is influenced by where you are in the country, the condition of your crops, your ability to travel and the likelihood of growth following application. But it is time to make the decisions as to what you are going to use. And sulphur must be part of this decision process.

Where P and K is already applied a simple solution for early N and sulphur would be to use granular sulphate of ammonia (21%N + 24%S). Two bags per acre would kick-start the crop and supply enough S for the season. Alternatively use ASN (26%N + 14%S). It may prove sensible to split the canopy forming nitrogen so as not to have too much on until the weather settles down.

Winter barley: Most crops might benefit from a small application of nitrogen shortly just to keep them ticking over. Despite their advanced nature, my inclination is to apply a small amount of nitrogen onto winter barley crops as soon as possible. But a small amount would be about 12 kgN/ha or 10 units per acre just to keep the crops ticking over during this period of very uncertain weather. The main nitrogen first split might then be applied 2-3 weeks later when (if) the weather settles down but in the meantime we need to ensure that crops are not hungry during periods of intermittent growth.