Improving crop values means the key this year is to identify crops with good potential and invest in them.

Those who are able to achieve this may do very well despite the challenging weather conditions.

Wheat growth stages are very mixed. The earlier drilled crops on free-draining soil look fantastic. They have had a T0 and T1 on time, which has kept on top of any disease, and we expect T2s to go on around the 10th of May. In contrast, later drillings had their T1s at the end of April.

There is talk of some significant group one premiums this year, so we are paying attention to milling wheat to ensure it fulfils its yield potential and hits the contract specification.

Our nitrogen plans factor in a late application at early ear emergence, but we are having some conversations about a further foliar application after this. Milling premiums could mean £500/ha or more is at stake, so we have to do everything we can to get the correct protein levels. So far, yellow rust has been as much of a concern as Septoria.

T0 seems to have been crucial this season. Where it was missed, yellow rust has reared its head prior to T1. The damp and cool conditions following a mild winter have favoured it. However, rising temperatures will mean Septoria cycles quicker and becomes more of a threat than it already is.

Oilseed rape continues to look promising, its pods are setting well, and all crops have received a flowering fungicide spray. Most crops are shorter than usual, but considering the lack of rooting, this may help manage the lodging risk.

Some crops have great potential, and for those, we will consider a second fungicide at the end of flowering. This will be a mix of azoxystrobin and prothioconazole, targeting light leaf spot and Alternaria and encouraging crop greening. 

There is still a long way to harvest, and we want to ensure the best crops fulfil their promise. Apart from a few very wet fields, all the planned spring crops have been drilled.

Growth stages vary from tillering on the early drilled fields to crops still yet to emerge. A lot of the latter was drilled into heavy land at the end of April, and the seed beds were relatively dry because of the high winds.

Unusually for this season, the heavy rainfall that followed was very welcome. To encourage our spring barley to get going as quickly as possible, all of our crops will receive a PGR, phosphite and manganese at tillering.

We have found this to deliver significant benefits to root development and tiller production. We used some pre-emergence herbicides on the very worst blackgrass seedbeds, but less has been used overall because of our concerns about crop safety.

Inevitably, we will use more contact graminicides this season. Some of the earlier plantings will soon receive their broad-leaved weed herbicides alongside their first fungicide. 

These crops have impressed since drilling, and our focus on encouraging tillering and root development seems to be paying off.