Crop Watch: Warm weather encourages weeds and disease – Farmers Weekly

Warmer weather is giving crops a welcome growth burst, but with it creates the perfect conditions for populations of weeds, pest and disease to take hold.

Timely spray applications will be critical to keep these in check.

At long last the weather has settled, and progress has been made.

It is amazing how some good weather and the countryside starting to green up improves your mood and outlook. Stronger prices might also be helping).

There has been a huge amount of work achieved in the last 2-3 weeks, with spring crops now in the ground and looking well.

Generally, at this time of year, we start to tick crops off the list and the spraying reduces. However, with the large area of spring crops in the ground, I can see our busy period running on much longer than normal.

I think I have 10 different crops on one farm this year, which should keep me out of trouble.

With the large variation in wheat crops, I have tried hard to adopt a flexible approach and treat each on their merits, but also not expose their potential to disease.

We have some wet weather forecast still, which, while welcome, will increase septoria risk at T2. We’ve had several sea frets along the east coast which will increase yellow rust pressure.

The better crops will see newer chemistry, while the poorer crops will still need protection, but from older actives to manage spend.

I’m fortunate that we have a huge range and can adapt to the crop condition in front of us. This is the year for getting crops to harvest as best we can.

Oilseed rapes and winter barleys are all but finished with until harvest. The barleys don’t look too bad considering they aren’t known for their ability to handle wet and poor conditions.

Some of these new two-row varieties look to have potential.

There is a lot riding on the spring crops this year, and they are off to a great start. Typically, they are sown into less-than-ideal conditions, but not this time.

Some warmth and plenty of moisture means they’ve come through the ground well.

Next on the to-do list will be weed control and nutrition to keep up the momentum.

Often, spring crops are thought of as the poor relation, but if pushed and managed well they can return some very impressive yields.

I would encourage anyone who is looking for straw and feed to not hold back, especially if we do get some rain to keep moisture levels topped up.