The heat and sunshine of the week gone by has pushed crops through the growth stages. Spring barley moved from tillering and GS30 or GS31 to GS37 with flag leaves emerging at the end of the week.

Many spring barley crops are extremely short at present, particularly in parts of the country that did not get rain at key times.

Crops in the south of the country received about two inches of rain at the end of April and the start of May, but the midlands and northeast did not get this level of rain, with many reporting 6-8mm at the same time.

Rain did come in mid-May, which was a big help to crops. This rain really benefitted crops sown in March and April, but those sown at the end of April and into May are struggling. They need the rain forecast for the coming week, but may struggle to fill the plant counts that are missing.

As crops have pushed on, farmers need to make sure they are not missing key timings. At this stage most spring cereals should have received a fungicide.

Cereal crops which are short should not receive a growth regulator at present as they are under a certain amount of stress, but do keep an eye on crops. There is a big difference in crops so decide yourself or ask your agronomist what is needed.

Varieties need to be examined as well. Mermaid, Planet, Skyway and Lollipop have poor enough ratings on straw breakdown and lodging. Florence has the highest scores for straw strength.

Winter wheat

Winter wheat crops are also heading out or are headed out. You need to target the T3 fungicide at flowering. This is to prevent fusarium and also to continue to protect the flag leaf. The coming week of rain and mild enough temperatures is ideal for fusarium to take hold so the T3 fungicide will be important on crops this season. Some crops may already have been treated. You’re aiming for the flowering timing so when you can see the anthers out.

Beans

Early-sown crops are in flower, while many other crops are starting to flower. You cannot spray some graminicides on beans once crops are in flower. You need to move to Stratos Ultra.

Target the first fungicide on beans at the start of flowering. On the fungicide, late-sown crops may only be receiving one fungicide so target it at crops that are in flower and don’t just have a few flowers visible. It might be a case of crops receiving a fungicide after the rain forecast in the coming week.