Planting: The last few days of September provided good planting conditions for many, and a relatively safe timing for winter cereal planting. Rainfall amounts were generally low for the month, leaving good ground conditions.

It seems likely that many areas will see planting interrupted for a few days now, given the broken forecast, but freshly ploughed land may still be workable.

There is no right or wrong for sowing either wheat or barley first – the field and rotation should be the main factors in that decision. But spring oat varieties should be sown much later to minimise problems. While there is a lot of planting done already, fields further south and closer to the coast might be held back for a week or two yet due to BYDV risk. Consider Latitude on seed for second wheat slots after a good break crop and delay planting those until the second half of October.

Drill conventional winter barley at 350 seeds/m2 or 157-196 kg/ha (10-12.5 st/ac) for 45-56g thousand grain weight (TGW) seed. It is useful to have an idea of the TGW of your seed as there can be significant variation. There are reports of some incredibly high TGW values of above 70g for some varieties.

Drill winter wheat at 200-250 seeds/m2, around 100-130 kg/ha (6.5-8.2 st/ac) for 50g seed, where establishment is likely to be good. Hold off on oats for another week or two, depending on location. Some growers report relatively low germination levels on home-saved seed so get germinations checked and compensate on seed rate. Do not plant low germination seed late in the season and plant carryover seed first.

Slug numbers are high in some fields so make sure and roll well and apply slug pellets if necessary.

Poultry litter: The break in the weather may provide an opportunity to apply poultry litter ahead of planting, but be aware of risks to neighbouring stock. If possible, spread on a damp drizzly day to minimise dust movement during loading and spreading dry product, especially with broiler litter. Fields should be well cultivated immediately after spreading and ploughed as soon as possible after that.

Even greater care is needed using non-inversion systems. The Department of Agriculture continues to emphasise the need for good practice when using poultry litter and for all involved to be aware of the risks regarding its safe handling and use.

Soil testing: Now is the time to get up-to-date soil tests done to guide fertiliser use. Fields low in P and K should have had some fertiliser applied in the seedbed to feed autumn growth, especially with winter barley.

The legal time for applying P has passed so only organic sources can now be used up the middle of October. But remember that lime and soil pH are very important, especially for barley, rape and beans.