Mild spell: The weather continues to be very untypical with growth taking place in land that is extremely dry for the time of year.

Conditions are great for ploughing and there is some planting taking place.

But I see some very dirty ploughed ground which may need to be sprayed off even before cultivation.

This time last year we still had crops to cut and a lot of straw to bale.

The general mildness is also a worry.

Mildew has become bad in some winter barley crops, BYDV is an unquantifiable issue for January and there is a bit of yellow rust about.

Crops are generally in great condition with some cause for concern as they may be too forward.

Whatever about rain, we could really do with a significant drop in temperature to take the growth out of crops.

If not we could be looking at very unseasonal timings for fungicide and growth regulator.

Disease: Mildew is a significant issue in some winter barley crops and yellow rust is present in some wheat corps.

Any decision to spray now must be carefully considered as it is not necessarily a paying proposition.

While there may be more mildew in early sown crops, these may be able to ‘carry’ the disease better than a later sown crop that may not yet have adequate tillers, etc.

In this latter instance one cannot afford to lose any tillers or grain sites – the opposite may be the case in excessively dense crops.

There is little to guide us in this scenario.

Mildew may not be a particularly yield robbing disease but its worst consequences can be early in the season.

If you do spray use a straight mildewicide like Corbel, using at least half rate.

If you have yellow rust that is moving within a crop then you have little choice but to spray.

A strobilurin like Modem/Comet or Amistar should be the product of choice.

Planting: It has long been said that January is a dormant month and not a season for planting.

But we had somewhat predictable winters back then and it is much more difficult to know the right thing to do in a season like this.

Any decision to sow must be weighed up against risks from subsequent water-logging or frost.

But the really big issue for planting now is likely to be crows.

As long as it remains mild with growth they may be happy patrolling grass fields and stubbles.

But it the weather gets hard and hungry they could be a serious challenge in freshly sown crops.

Numbers were high last backend and nothing has happened since to decrease them.

There have been winter wheat, bean and spring barley crops planted this week.

More acres spreads the risk so what your neighbours are doing might influence your decision.

But you will have little choice but to add a bit of extra seed for the birds if planting now.

There is a gamble around planting now but if you are going then you should really target up to 380 seeds/m2 for spring barley and possibly up to 350 seeds/m2 for wheat.

In my opinion oats is a bit too risky for the current situation.

Beans must be a runner if you can get them down deep enough to protect them from the crows.