As the weather becomes calmer, slowly but surely more acres of winter wheat are going into the ground. Bean drilling started in the east.

Warm conditions have increased the threat of barley yellow dwarf virus from aphids.

Farmers are advised to check their winter grain crops, and aphid spraying is planned for some plants in the East in the coming days.

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North

Chris Leslie – New writer

AICC/Cloud Farming Groundswell (central and southern Scotland)

It’s easy to say it’s been a tough season and throw out the usual excuses; I started to master these subjects.

Some even seem true, such as “good crops produce good crops the following year” or “bare areas will need to be improved.”

And there is something always worth remembering: “what is well sown is half grown”; This means making sure that whatever drilling technique you use, the seedbed is suitable.

Overall the 2025 crop is off to a good start.

Early plantings experienced some difficulties, such as seed bed clumping and moisture retention, especially after rain delays in September that delayed both harvest and planting operations.

Rain dashed hopes of oilseed rape that month.

I say a lot, “Don’t plant small seeds with R in them in one month”; This has been the answer to many questions regarding establishing turf, OSR and cover crops.

Fortunately, cabbage stem flea beetles haven’t been much of a problem this year. Maybe he doesn’t fancy a chilly Scottish summer, just as shorts haven’t been showing up much this season.

But while flea beetles are quieter, slugs have taken center stage. We see slug eggs in the roots of most bean and OSR crops, so a slug boom seems imminent; The pellets are ready.

Some interesting products have come to light, such as the sea-to-soil fish hydrolyzate trialled by Niab TAG.

It seems to have a response to flea beetles and possibly slugs as well. And judging by the smell, I can see why.

Wheat

Winter wheat, sown on the first Monday after the first Sunday in September, looks strong for those who clear their fields in time.

Early shallow tillage of previous OSR stubble to cut off flea slug seems to be gaining traction around here and may have helped reduce slug pressure as well.

Pre-emergence applications do a solid job of weed control, so we probably won’t need to do much post-emergence touch-up.

Autumn planting still remains after potatoes, which are delayed due to their small size. These crops will need increased seed rate to offset what is to come.

Some of the earlier potato fields unfortunately caught the tail end of the September rains, which ranged from 18mm to 63mm; the latter left few areas struggling to be settled.

Now that soil temperatures are starting to cool down, we are preparing for Border (propyzamide) applications in OSR.

Meeting season is about to begin.

I’m probably looking forward to our time with the Nutri-Tech group and I’m lucky enough to be with Sarah Kendall and Roger Sylvester-Bradley, both from Adas, to look at all our data from last season as we do now. Recognize the importance of texture and grain analysis to complement the season’s learnings.

South

Justin Smith

Procam (East Sussex)

It never ceases to amaze me how much growers can accomplish when a small weather window finally appears.

When the four days took place in early October, the countryside was abuzz with drills and horsepower.

Steady progress was made with little use of the plow, but with surprisingly good results. I wish good luck to those who continue to fight against nature.

I also appreciate that, with the best of intentions, some of this area would be better left until spring.

However, if a good seed bed can be created, I will continue to support winter wheat planting until the end of November. The important thing here is to pay attention to details.

Preemergence herbicides will often form the backbone of the most cost-effective weed control options.

However, for effective use, seed beds and conditions must be suitable; I urge farmers to resist the temptation to smash crops.

herbicide approach

If seed beds and conditions permit, my first choice of active ingredient for blackgrass and rye control in winter wheat was synmethylin (Luxinum Plus); The tank mix partner is more dependent on grass and broadleaf weed pressures. To present.

For example, Tower (chlorotoluron + diflufenican + pendimethalin) provides some useful actives for weed control, but also provides activity on tough broadleaf weeds such as groundweed.

Alternatively, in less challenging situations, plain or co-formulated options of diflufenican, picolinafen, and pendimethalin may offer some useful herbicide additions at a slightly cheaper cost.

In winter barley grass weed situations I prefer Cadou Met (flufenacet + diflufenican + metribuzin) as a starter alongside Tower or Avadex Factor (tri-allate) depending on whether brome, wild or domestic oats are available.

The goal is to pile on as much active ingredient as possible early in the program, in the absence of post-emergence or spring-based alternatives.

Slugs continue to be present in all crops and oilseed rape in winter remains difficult due to uneven establishment, adverse effects of pests and weeds.

Despite all these challenges, I continue to focus on the things that are under my control and try not to let others negatively affect me too much. I’m still hopeful.

East

Ryan Baker

Border (Suffolk/Norfolk)

The cessation of heavy rains allowed drilling to proceed in all soil types; By the third week of October, most of the winter barley was in the ground.

Now thoughts have turned to herbicide supplements.

In wheat fields with the toughest blackgrass and rye grasses, aclonifen is now followed by cinmethylin in the early post-emergence period.

This will give us the opportunity to apply the best diversity of active ingredients, in optimal proportions and approved label timings.

In milder populations, administration of flufenacet at emergence will provide additional control.

At this timing, metribuzin may introduce additional activity on broadleaf weeds such as ground grass, as well as some additional contact activity on weeds that have already emerged.

Aphids are easily found in areas where the weather is milder and more settled. T-sum-170, the 170-day accumulation of degrees above the 3C threshold from the emergence of the crop, will be quickly reached, indicating the possible arrival of the second generation that will spread the virus.

This is the time to check for the presence of aphids in your grain crops.

Although barley is associated with higher losses than wheat, yield losses can be as high as 50%.

bean drilling

Drilling for winter beans has started. Propyzamide will form the backbone of blackgrass control. I’m going to try some acloniphene in beans this year to see how it performs.

Volunteer is stronger on oilseed rape, pansies and cranesbill, while Nirvana (imazamox + pendimethalin) has better activity on knotgrass, black bindweed and fumitory.

For those with a particular line problem, clomazone can be an effective addition to the mix.

Warm and temperate conditions favored the presence of foma in the OSR. It will be important to carefully monitor varieties with a resistance rating of seven or below.

Prothioconazole and azoxystrobin both have good activity.

Azoles such as tebuconazole and metconazole also have growth-regulating activity.

For most advanced crops, a growth regulator will improve stem neck thickness and rooting and reduce fall overgrowth.

Although we have the soil moisture required to apply propyzamide to oilseed rape, soil temperatures are not yet at this level.

Continue monitoring as autumn approaches and applications can begin when soil temperatures reach or drop 10C.

Weed load will determine whether to use Curb Flo (propyzamide) plus Belkar (halauxifen + picloram) or Astrokerb (aminopyralide + propyzamide).

Bird cherry oat aphid © Blackthorn Arable

West

Dominic Edmond

Matford Arable (Devon/Cornwall)

At the time of my last Crop Watch report, I, like everyone else, was hoping for a few weeks of good weather to make progress on corn harvest and fall planting.

Looks like someone was listening, because we can now expect at least 10 days of relatively good weather. There is a sigh of relief everywhere.

Corn harvesting has continued over the past few weeks despite the onset of rains, and crops have continued to yield very well throughout the year.

Unfortunately, one of several weekend storms decided to add high winds to the mix, causing some crops (especially crops planted later in the spring) to settle.

This made harvesting even more difficult, and the plow was the only way to store most of the remaining material.

Drilling was a stop-and-start job, but gradually more acres were buried in the ground.

Some of the crops planted a few weeks ago appeared in the field, albeit with some spots where the seeds had rotted. Spraying has also been sporadic.

winter barley

Winter barley appeared on large areas where no preemergence had been applied and where aphidicide had not yet been applied; most of them will receive their applications within the next 10 days.

Aphids cannot continue fast enough as aphid counts (especially bird cherry aphid) reveal high numbers and prove this to be the case in the field.

If the promised good weather conditions materialise, the winter barley, which will be dug in the next week or so, will be given a pre-emergent herbicide.

The old adage “if it’s dry enough to pierce, if it’s dry enough to spray” makes perfect sense, because if the weather changes the product cannot be relied upon to be post-emergent.

Slug pressure has increased over the last few weeks and there has been some damage to growing grain and grass crops.

Cereals are particularly problematic where they follow OSR crops or where the seed bed is a bit lumpy or has any debris on its surface.

Ever the optimist, I am confident that by my next Crop Monitor report all corn crops will be harvested and fall planting and fall spraying on crops will be completed. Don’t ask me to put money into this.