Crop Watch: Rapid spring growth and weeds in sugar beet – Farmers Weekly

As the mad month of May (in the agronomy world) comes to an end, the crops in Devon and Cornwall, overall, look reasonable. We were lucky, unlike other parts of the country, to get rain in April.

Winter barley crops had their T2 applications earlier in the month. They are generally clean, with only some rynchosporium lurking about.

I have been pleased with the job that Verydor (fluxapyroxad and mefentrifluconazole) did at T1.

The dilemma of how hard it is to go with growth regulators in the dry conditions is evident, with some crops a little leggy, but overall, it was just about judged right.

Winter wheat looks as clean septoria wise as I have seen in a number of years, the later drilled crops particularly so.

Using Poquet (fenpicoxamid) and Yanila (mefentrifluconazole + prothioconazole) at T1 seems to have done a good job and, along with low spring rainfall, has contributed to helping disease control.

Hopefully, some rain will appear, as at the moment my wheat crops are short enough and straw yield is an important crop on the mixed farms in the South West.

Maize drilling has been straightforward. As soon as Easter passed, it started in earnest, and by the middle of May the crop was in the ground.

I persisted with pre-emergence herbicides in dry conditions, as in my experience the pre-emergence can justify itself, and the odd spray miss has already illuminated that.

Maize is now flying with some crops at the six-leaf stage.

Most will get a post-emergence herbicide, chasing problem weeds and ensuring a clean stubble post-harvest to enable a quick turnaround into cereals or grass.

Fodder beet is also growing rapidly, which is helpful, as the sooner it can meet across the rows the sooner weed pressure diminishes.

With weeds waxing up in the dry, it is taking some meaty herbicide programmes to knock them over.

Spring barley, depending on when it was drilled and how much rain it has received, is variable. Rain is needed to turn most crops into something meaningful.

T1s have been applied, with weather conditions determining whether a T2 is justifiable. The weather in June will be a critical factor for this crop.