Temperature fall: Ground conditions remain variable, but many of you have managed to get out on land over the past week and to get a lot of spraying done. There was also some planting on freshly ploughed ground.

The arrival of much lower temperatures and frosty nights signifies the real arrival of winter and will likely result in a huge slowdown in growth, making recently planted crops slow to emerge. This could mean that they will need more minding, with crows and slugs the most likely enemies, but one could also get hit with rats and mice beside the ditches. They can hit the first two to three meters badly by eating the seeds post planting. And you can also expect rabbit grazing.

Aphids: They becomes a real dilemma once temperatures drop – to spray or not. Emerging crops obviously have no issue unless they were sown into a very ‘grassy’ stubble which was ploughed down. There is a possibility that the aphids in the soil will make their way back up again and possibly feed on the plants underground as they emerge.

Whether there is anything one can do or not is less than certain because it is still highly unlikely that there will be a build-up of aphids on any infected plants from here on. Perhaps a spring aphicide is the best compromise in the event of a mild winter.

Many growers have applied a second aphicide over the past week when ground conditions allowed. This remains important where a first aphicide was applied four to six weeks earlier, or where no aphicide had yet been applied to crops that were treated with Deter.

Ground conditions: Rainfall amounts have been variable over the past month and soil conditions are now equally variable. Some land is in reasonable condition underneath, but a bit messy on top. To sow now, or not, remains a difficult decision – the ability of the field to drain is most important. But if you cannot get a good seedbed, perish the thought.

Spraying: Most spraying is now likely to be done and the biggest pressure to get out on the land is where BYDV risk is known to be high. If you can’t get out then you have no choice. If sprayers are out then some herbicide should be applied to knock down weeds or to help prevent them from appearing.

Standard treatments like IPU + DFF (2-3 + 0.25 l/ha), Defy + DFF (2.0 + 0.1 l/ha) (add IPU where grass weeds or wild oats are a big problem) or PDM plus IPU should be considered. Any of these options will control the majority of autumn weeds, but they will also make any subsequent treatment more effective.

For those chasing sterile brome in wheat who have already applied PDM or IPU some time ago, these crops could now be sprayed with Broadway Star. Don’t forget trace elements.

Grass weeds and volunteer cereals need to be killed in winter oilseed rape. This can be done with Kerb-type products at this stage or using specific graminicides like Stratos, Fusilade etc. The addition of Salsa would help control charlock and some other weeds but this needs growth to work.