Ground conditions

Recent rain has made further planting difficult, but there was some planting done in parts of the country during the fine days last week. Rainfall amounts for November to-date are generally between 25mm and 35mm, with more in parts of the south east and south.

Further planting: There may still be opportunities for planting. Land is damp to wet, but generally not saturated, so a few days without rain could give reasonable soakage, especially on stubble ground. Heavier land will be more challenging and it carries a higher risk if planted in marginal conditions.

As we move later into the year, it is increasingly important that planting conditions are suitable. While they will not be perfect, if the soil beneath the seedbed is wet, it will compact and increase the risk of winter losses in wet conditions.

There may still be a little winter barley to be planted and elsewhere there may be some growers still planting spring malting varieties. There is also some winter wheat and oats to be planted, plus winter beans.

Take precautions against crow attack with late planting. Having other crops sown locally around the same time is about the best way to help dilute the risk. Seed rate cannot be used to compensate for poor seedbeds.

Winter beans

Variable performance from spring beans is forcing more growers to consider the winter crop. In general, the winter crop does not bring major advantages in terms of yield or earliness, but it seems to be somewhat more consistent. However, it also brings additional problems in terms of crows, weeds and disease.

The basic husbandry is similar to the spring crop. It is best suited to heavier soils that have pH levels >6.5 and preferably closer to 7. A rotation interval of at least five years with other ascochyta or sclerotinia-prone crops is preferable. Avoid planting close to a field where beans were grown last year.

Sowing should ideally take place from mid-November to mid-December – earlier further north. Planting too early can bring bigger weed and disease pressures. For the variety Tundra, target 24-28 plants/m2 from 30-35 seeds/m2. Assume that establishment will be no better than 80% and use seed size to fine-tune seed rate.

Plant at 8-10cm depth to minimise crow damage, using Sumo or Claydon strip-till drills. Beans can tolerate rough cloddy seedbeds but not compaction. However, cloddy seedbeds will favour slugs and may impact on residual herbicides.

Winter beans are likely to branch and tiller where space is available. The crop can be drilled into stubble or into a standing cover crop, but herbicide will be needed prior to emergence. This might include glyphosate where the beans were sown into a catch crop, but Nirvana might be applied in all planting situations. Delaying herbicide application until just before crop emergence reduces the risk of herbicide leaching plus better residual activity. Trafficability should be better where crops are strip tilled.