Weather: The past week has been welcomed by tillage farmers and has helped put a big dent in the workload. Plenty of cereal crops are still being planted, the majority from the midlands and further north, while maize and beet planting is in full flight in all parts.

There are some showers in the forecast so there will be a rush on to get crops planted and some fields still to be planted needed this time to dry out.

BYDV: If you are applying an aphicide to reduce the risk of barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) then it should be applied at the two to three-leaf stage. The three-leaf stage is probably ideal as you will have more leaf available for any trace elements or foliar feeds that will be applied.

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Nitrogen: On spring barley, you can bring total nitrogen up to 135kg/ha (108units/ac) on index 1, 100kg/ha (80units/ac) on index 2, 75kg/ha (60units/ac) on index 3 and 40kg/ha (32units/ac) on index 4. Index 3 and 4 apply to crops after grass. If you have proof of higher yields in the past three years you can apply more. The reference yield for spring barley is 6.5t/ha (2.63t/ac). If you yielded 1t/ha higher than that then you can apply 20kg/ha more nitrogen (16units/ac) or if you yielded 0.5t/ha higher you can apply 10kg/ha more nitrogen.

Nutrition: Aside from the main fertiliser elements crops should be treated for any deficiencies early in the season. Manganese, magnesium and zinc are generally known deficiencies and should be treated as early as possible. If they are not tackled earlier the crop will be behind. These products may also help with root growth or phosphite type products could be applied, see tillage page 38.

Weeds: Some farmers will tackle weeds early. Just be sure that the weeds are up. There is some rain due over the weekend and it should help to bring on a flush of weeds. Wild oat sprays can go on at this time, but if canary grass is a target then you might need to leave it another few days to make sure it is emerged. It’s a fine balance between having enough weeds up and not having too much crop coverage.

Oilseed rape: Crops at full flower should receive a fungicide. Shepherd is a good option at this time of the year. The spray should protect against Alternaria and Sclerotinia so needs to be applied from full flower or just before first petal fall. Apply boron at this time and other trace elements if needed.

Winter cereals: Winter cereals are fairly well under control. Most winter wheat crops have received or are receiving their T1 fungicide, while some winter barley is still receiving growth regulator and some fungicide. Awns are out or emerging on some winter barley, the time for final sprays to tackle ramularia. There may be some leeway depending on distance since last spray, but ramularia is high-risk this year. Some oat crops are still at the T2 timing needing growth regulator with an SDHI + triazole based product.