Weather

It seems that this year may continue to be dominated by weather events in the fields and in the markets. It’s generally not wise to look for rain in this country, but...

It’s difficult to know what overall proportion of crops are very badly impacted by the dryness but it’s too much for the sector to be able to endure. We are not too bad on winter crops and some spring crops but spring barley on heavier land or on soils that are not well structured has suffered badly.

Such crops are thin in terms of stem number so ear count is likely to be quite low, even if we do get rain to help bulk up the foliage. Whatever crops look like now, we do not want a bunch of late tillers appearing which will make the crop late as well as poor. This is a real risk given that so many farmers responded to the initial paleness but applying more nitrogen which is still waiting to be used.

Land that got rain is certainly showing the benefit. There are some really good spring crops out there with terrific or even excess density. Most crops show some level of yellow leaves. Some of this may be BYDV but more of it may be related to damage resulting from chemical application in hot conditions.

Winter barley

While many crops still look to have a lot of life in them it is likely that the current warmth will speed up both maturity and ripening. Grains do not look big but that is not unusual in a season where there is not excess water about. Hopefully it will result in high specific weights.

There is increasing evidence of patches dying off in both winter and spring barley fields due to the dryness. Crows are getting increasingly interested in winter barley that has variable growth stages. Early crops will soon be past their most vulnerable stage but later ones could still be targeted. The risk is greater where patches are lodged. Do what you can to keep crows out. Kites can work very well in lodged patches as long as there is some wind.

Final sprays

Final fungicides need to be applied on spring barley during awn emergence. This spray must include chlorothalonil (Bravo) for ramularia control. Final sprays should be put on oats once the bulk of heads have emerged and there are some crops at this stage already. Spring wheat should be finished at early flowering using triazoles for ear blight control. A contact fungicide might be considered on wheat as it seems to control a number of troublesome diseases should the weather turn wet during grain fill.

Weeds in patches

The location of any patches of weeds should be mapped or noted now so that action can be taken in the future to deliver some cultural control. You need to know where any specific weed is and what exactly it is. Take care to note if there is more than one weed present.

Obvious problems include patches of wild oats, sterile brome, bits of meadow brome, blackgrass, poppy, cleavers, etc.

Control of the seed bank should begin once fields are cleared to help reduce long-term weed pressure.