Variable conditions

Rainfall amounts have been variable over the past week, ranging from good for planting to very marginal and too wet for min-till in places. But progress has been generally good, with big demand for seed and early sown crops now well up. The expected fall in temperature this week will slow growth and emergence, and should also not be healthy for aphids. While cold and even frost will not alleviate the risk if we get back into warn growth conditions, it will certainly slow aphid activity and reduce the risk.

Planting

Continue to get planting done while conditions are good enough. With a cold week in store it seems inevitable that soil temperature will drop and that will slow emergence. There is a lot of rain forecast for next week so consider conditions suitable for all crops now, but it might still be a little early for spring malting barley varieties.

Plant winter barley at around 200 kg/ha (13 st/ac) to target 350 plants/m2 (50g seed). Seed size should be taken into account because smaller seeds need less weight to get to target seed numbers. Depending on ground conditions and seedbed quality, establishment may be reduced and that should signal a slight increase in seeding rate.

Plant hybrid barley at 220-225 seeds/m2. This crop is more resilient to lower establishment so there should be no need to up the seed rate yet. Drill oats at 350-380 seeds/m2 or 125-140 kg/ha (8-9 st/ac) for 35g seed, assuming good establishment conditions. Plant winter wheat around 250-275 seeds/m2 – 125-140 kg/ha (8-9 st/ac) for 45-50g seed. Again, up seeding rate by 10-15% where conditions at planting are not as good as you might like.

As things cool down it is likely that crows and slugs could become a bigger problem. The fact that there is a lot of sowing being done should spread the risk from crows. Slug numbers are very variable so watch emerging crops, especially following rape. Pellets should be considered if you see signs of feeding – do not wait for the crop to be thinned out to move, as some damage will be permanent. But equally, there is no point in applying slug pellets where they are not needed. Planting into take-all risk fields should be relatively safe at this point, but there is always a risk. It is safer to use Latitude, especially where the risk is known to be high.

Soil testing

Soil samples should be taken around now to guide spring fertiliser application on both winter and spring crops. Tests are only regarded as valid for four years for official purposes. So, if you were applying P at the rate for Index 1 or 2 soils, this defaults to index 3 rates if your test is out of date. Also, a test is required for every 5ha so take the samples from areas that show variable growth.

Organic manure: Application of slurry ahead of planting is no longer allowed. However, application of poultry manures is still allowed up to the end of this month for anyone organised to get them applied and incorporated.