Weather: Rain in the last few days put a halt to field work, but there is dry weather forecasted. This should allow more people to make their way to the fields to plough, plant beans, spray glyphosate and get fertiliser out onto winter crops.

Oilseed rape: See page 53 of this week’s paper for some advice on fertiliser on oilseed rape. Use a green area index application on your mobile phone to help to decide what nitrogen fertiliser is needed. Crops with low levels of green area need nitrogen in February. Anyone who wants to clean up weeds with the herbicide Korvetto should remember it cannot be used until 1 March. Astrokerb can only be used up until 1 February so that product cannot be used now. If the GAI is less than one then you will need about 70kg of nitrogen per hectare.

Fertiliser: As we approach the end of February it is getting near the time to be applying nitrogen and compound fertiliser to winter cereal crops. The first split should be applied at the end of February or early March. Be cautious of weather and do not apply if heavy rain is forecast. Some farmers have gone with a little bit of nitrogen already and will top up to fulfil compound requirements in March. Teagasc research shows the optimum time to apply nitrogen to cereal crops is in early March when growth is underway.

Growth regulators: Many farmers will be keen to even out crops. Temperatures are very low at present and so generally unsuitable for growth regulators. Applying in bad weather could add stress to the crop and cause a set back or disease later on in the season. If you are travelling in crops in the coming weeks with a herbicide or when it warms up with a growth regulator apply trace elements that are needed at this time so that the crop is not deficient.

Herbicides: There are still plenty of crops that need weed control to be looked after and there are options out there. Discuss this with your agronomist to make sure you are targeting the widest weed spectrum possible. For those of you with brome in wheat, Broadway Star is still an option, but this product has got an upgrade. A newer version, called Manhattan still controls brome, but also has a wider broad-leaved weed spectrum so it might be worth a look. For annual meadow grass control you need to look at products like Alister Flex or Pacifica. Some of these products work well with a bio-stimulant like Delfan Plus which contains organic nitrogen and amino acids and can help to reduce stress.

Tillage payment: The Minister for Agriculture announced last week that the €100/ha tillage payment for crops planted in 2024 would issue in the coming days. Some payments look to have landed in bank accounts on Tuesday of this week, but reports to the Irish Farmers Journal ahead of printing were that this payment had not arrived in many bank accounts so if you have not received it, you are not the only one. Keep an eye out in the coming days as it could arrive.