Crop Watch: Rising disease pressure and hungry crops

With April fast approaching, discussions about progress and a frequent change of plan have been a regular occurrence.

Some warmer and windier days have started to dry the lighter fields out and given us some hope, although this has been quickly dampened by more rain.

Last week saw some progress, with those that could venturing out with the first of the nitrogen onto all crops for many. A quick reminder, that non-inhibited urea can’t be applied after 31 March.

Something to also bear in mind is that urea, especially in cold wet soils like we have at present, is very slow to break down and be taken up by crops.

You could be looking at two-to-three weeks from the application date before crops start to see any benefit.

This is important to remember, as crops are hungry and that will only get worse.

I am advising to think about going back in with the second split ammonium nitrate now, to kick these crops on and maintain tiller numbers.

Particularly in winter barley, as tiller numbers is the driver for yield.

By the time your second split timing rolls around, the urea will be there for the crop and thus save you a pass.

With spring workload greater than ever, it is difficult to know which way to turn and what to do first.

If nitrogen is on, then I think it’s important to let this take effect and allow the crop to pick itself up before looking at any spraying.

Light leaf spot is quite high in OSR crops, so a stem extension fungicide is important.

I would also use this opportunity to apply foliar nutrition and potentially look at a product to encourage branching, if the crop is thick and leggy.

I would certainly allow wheat crops to perk up before applying any grassweed chemistry and consider some foliar nutrition with this to help lessen the impact on the crop.

The advantage of the cold soils has been that wheats aren’t moving quickly, so growth stage 30 might be a little later than normal.

Barleys will want to shoot for the heavens, so some early plant growth regulator, nutrition and if needed, disease control, would be a good starting point, assuming you aren’t at growth stage 31 yet.

This helps to lighten the load of the T1 tank mix, which can get quite heavy if you’re trying to tackle everything in one go.