Harvest slowly comes to an end.
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South East: Peter Cowlrick reports that crops of Claire drilled 7-10 days ago just beginning to emerge. Drilling of Claire, Viscount, Solstice and Alchemy now mostly been completed, with Robigus, Xi19 and Einstein now being sown. Most first wheats will have been drilled by end of this week (except Soissons and few crops after grain maize/potatoes). Second wheat Einstein/Cordiale dressed with silthiofam, also being drilled from now on. I hate to say it, but some rain would now help to produce improved seedbeds on heavier ground where soil ploughed/moved 10-14 days ago and now dried out.

Aphids: None seen

Leather jackets: Low-moderate levels being found in fields after long-term grass (3-5 years)

Slugs: Very high slug populations being found in fields after oilseed rape, particularly where stubbles have not been disced/cultivated twice pre-drilling

Weeds: Blackgrass - useful flush in few stale seedbeds that have actually been achieved, otherwise generally very little has appeared pre-sowing this year, indicating either good control in previous seasons or delayed germination of any shed seeds from this years harvest

South West: Stephen Harrison reports that drilling started when the weather improved in late September. Seedbeds are reasonable except on some heavier soils. Earliest sowings have coleoptile just emerging. Heavy rain on Tuesday has halted drilling progress. Water filled ruts on stubbles are a reminder of what we went through over harvest. Where straw was baled and carted some fields are in very poor condition. The worst damage is in very wet fields taken out of setaside to cash in on the expected rise in cereal prices which now seems to have disappeared as quickly as input costs shot up.

East Midlands: Martin Eudall reports that, very few fields sown yet - main varieties are Solstice, Oakley, Einstein Robigus, Alchemy and some new Duxford and Viscount. With wheat yesterday at £83/tonne some farmers considering whether its worth planting wheat. Very wet underneath - many fields now being ploughed - any further heavy rain will cause problems.

Aphids: None seen

West Midlands: Bryce Rham reports that, early sown wheat is at one leaf. About half of the crop following oilseed rape is now sown but only about 20% of expected acreage is in the ground.

Aphids: None seen

Slugs: No major problems yet but be vigilant

Weeds: Pre-emergence herbicides have been applied

Eastern Counties: Brendan Butterworth reports that, early drilled at 1-2 leaf stage, majority still yet to emerge and some still to be drilled, majority yet to emerge. Wide variation of conditions from fine tilth to cloddy seedbeds.

Slugs: All fields after oilseed rape and those with known slug problems treated post drilling

Gout fly: On early drilled, grazing by rabbits, pheasants, moorhens

Weeds: Blackgrass low levels emerging where no pre-emergence herbicide

North East: Earliest sown crops emerging well now, and have some first wheats in full row at GS 11-12. Many crops just germinating, and still probably 50 % of wheat to drill yet. Priority is being given to first and continuous wheats, but a number of farms are onto their second wheats now. Even over a small area there has been a big variation in rainfall levels. In south Holderness cultivations are going well and many farms have completed all drilling. Only 10-15 miles north there has been much more consistent heavy rain and there the rape crops have only just been sown and cereal drilling is only just starting, and then only if there are some good drying days to make ploughed land workable. Main problem is even if the top 3inches are dry enough, the land below is very wet and soft making some fields impassable even for tracked machines.

Slugs: Crops after rape are very high risk. Most have been dressed with clothianidin, but if have large numbers of slugs present then applying pellets to reduce population

Weeds: Where been able to get on early we have seen some successful stale seedbeds which have been sprayed off with glyphosate prior to drilling. This has not been possible for many farms, so much of the wheat will go in straight after ploughing and so expect high levels of Blackgrass to be controlled in the growing crop

Oilseed rape establishment is patchy.
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Area Sown as percentage of planned:
SE - 80%.       SW - 85%.       East - 100%.       East Mids - 60%       West Mids - 85%.       NE - 80%.
A lot of crops yet to emerge or only at cotyledon stage.

South East: Cotyledon to 6 true leaves - bulk of crops are now around 1-2 true leaves. Around 80% of planned acreage was drilled between 24th August and 24th September! Much of earlier September sown acreage was min-tilled into wet seedbeds and is looking either backward, uneven, patchy or all of these in the same field - I think perhaps 10-20% of these crops will not make it and I'm holding back with costly inputs for another few weeks as oilseed rape is now costing around £450-500/ha to grow, so there needs to be a worthwhile crop to invest in first! Rightly or wrongly, many farms away from mild coastal belt decided not to drill beyond 20th September.

Flea beetle: Shot holing of leaves quite widespread on stonier soils in particular

Slugs: Early September sown crops on heavier and wetter soils have suffered significant plant loss in some areas despite two applications of metaldehyde pellets. Otherwise later sown crops drilled into better seedbeds seem to be establishing OK to date with single application metaldehyde pellets

Turnip Sawfly: Now finding low levels small larvae in few crops drilled in August

Phoma: None seen to date, even on volunteers in nearby rape stubbles - though next wet spell likely to trigger spore release which will then potentially infect many backward/small crops. In view of the backward and low vigour nature of many crops, will need to be very vigilant this year

Weeds: Significant flush of blackgrass in a few fields with history of blackgrass, with emergence coinciding with crop emergence - in general though, emergence to date has been minimal in many fields. Volunteer barley - large flush in min-tilled crops after spring barley in particular.

South West: Around 85% of anticipated area has been drilled. Of that 33% went in in late August and is now well established with up to 6 leaves. The remainder, drilled in late September has emerged and is now at expanded cotyledon to first leaf just showing. Drilling to emergence is taking around 10 days. Emergence has been even with high establishment rates. Rape seedbeds look well. Lighter soils were well loosened by tine and disc cultivators. Heavier soils damaged during harvest were ploughed. Establishment appears similar for both seed beds as soil did not dry out.

Slugs: We have not, as yet, suffered extreme slug damage in rape. Within reason, we placed seed bed quality as a higher priority than sowing date. Where pellets were applied we stuck with a high quality, high baiting point methiocarb pellet. This policy has paid off

Phoma: Seen at 5 to 10 % level in early sown crops and fungicide has already been applied. Vigilance needed in later sown small plants.

Eastern Counties: Pat Turnbull reports that 100% of intended land sown. 5% already re-drilled. A further 5% plus may still be abandoned and in addition very late drilled only just emerging and it will be sometime before we have established a crop. Range of drilling dates from 22nd August to 25th September. Early drilled fairly good up to 6 true leaves some slowing from heavy rain following pre-em application, purpling and stunting of rape (only where rape is struggling in areas of fields with difficult seedbeds). Several different methods of establishment, we do however plough a lot of our lighter land in Norfolk and these fields have established well. Heavy rain soon after drilling has caused some seedbeds to slump or cap. This has resulted in areas being re-drilled although slug activity was also high. Seedlings struggling in hard seedbeds, recent rains should soften soil surface. Seedlings also weak in areas where mats of straw lie, very pale and yellowing: N should help. Some fields were not rolled straight after drilling due to rain and this has led to greater slug activity. Some Mn deficiency where there is a loose seedbed. Just about all crops have received N as soon as they have reached expanded cotyledons.

Slugs: Bad especially where we could not roll and here is a lot of straw

Turnip Sawfly: Caterpillars present on advanced crops in East Anglia.

Phoma: Just beginning to see phoma spotting

Weeds: Several later drilled fields or those drilled in poor conditions did not receive Novall as a pre-em. Waiting for crop to establish before applying herbicide. Will go as soon as majority expanded cotyledons and we feel we have sufficient population to keep the crop. Need to apply as early as we can to get the best weed control

East Midlands: Area sown about 60% of expected but of that some fields yet to emerge or just showing so actual established level may be lower. Many crops will go into winter very small and may struggle to survive if heavy pigeon damage. No pre-em herbicides have gone on. Main varieties Castille, Catana and Komando. Winter barley, winter beans or spring rape will replace some of the lost acreage of rape and some will stay fallow. Where rape drilled into wet soils in mid September the following dry weather has baked it hard on top whilst like plasticine below. Compaction may well lead to reduced yields next harvest

Flea beetle: Non Chinook treated seed showing damage and needs cypermethrin now. Generally Chinook treated crops showing low damage.

Slugs: Pelleting as a mater of course has generally kept slugs under control - some earlier drilled crops into poor soils had bad slug damage, with some re-drilling needed

Phoma: None seen, but present on volunteer rape

Weeds: Good flush of volunteers particularly barley. Early post-emergence herbicides now gone on +/- graminicide, and cypermethrin for flea beetle.

West Midlands: About 90% of the planned acreage has been sown but some farms have a lot less rape in the ground than expected. Sowing of winter rape now stopped and winter beans or winter barley going in instead. Crops range from 4 true leaf to chitted and some resowing has already taken place, especially on earlier sown crops that capped after heavy rain.

Flea beetle: Only slight damage seen so far

Slugs: Very little damage seen

Phoma: Traces on crops next to old rape stubbles.

North East: Earliest sown crops have 5 leaves now, but there are many crops that have been drilled in last 7 days which are just germinating. I would say probably 100% of intended rape acreage has been sown now.

Slugs: Saw a lot of activity just as early sown crops were emerging, and some small patches were re-sown after slug damage as not enough plants emerged

Weeds: All crops treated at cotyledons expanded stage

: Winter barley starting to be drilled this week into generally good seedbeds.