Agronomy

Spring barley is expected to return to a more normal area of 700,000 hectares in 2021 compared with more than one million hectares planted last year.

Much needed spring sunshine and some good drying days have allowed growers to get their spring drilling campaigns underway.

A combination of cabbage stem flea beetle larvae infestation and heavy frosts have knocked oilseed rape crops back in recent weeks.

Millers are fearful about the size of the future UK wheat crop, which is likely to decline for political and cost reasons, a trend that could be exacerbated by greater consumer demands concerning sustainability.

An Emergency Authorisation for the use of Vydate 10G (oxamyl) for the control of free living nematodes in the 2021 sugar beet crop has been approved by HSE.

The post-emergence herbicide bentazone is facing deregulation if growers do not start acting to reduce leaching into ground and surface water, BASF has warned.

All four emergency applications for the use of Vydate (oxamyl) in 2021 potato, carrot, parsnip, garlic and onion crops have been rejected by the Health and Safety Executive.

For oilseed rape crops, wet weather is one of the biggest risk factors for boron deficiency, with the micronutrient easily leaching out of soils.

Winter waterlogging and the recent cold spell has left soils slow to warm up as spring approaches and growers are being urged to monitor soil temperatures regularly for the most effective fertiliser applications.

It is looking increasingly likely that the virus level forecast for the end of February 2021 will be below the threshold for triggering the Cruiser SB (thiamethoxam) derogation in sugar beet, says BBRO.