Weather: There was a nice bit of work done over the weekend in some parts. Large areas of beans went in, while some spring cereals were planted and ploughing was in full swing.

Rain on Sunday stopped progress for many, but this rain came heavier in some areas more than others. In Wexford and Carlow for example, farmers were back in fields on Monday ploughing, sowing and doing other fieldwork.

In the midlands rain halted work and showers on Tuesday morning further delayed things.

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As we enter April there looks to be rain in the forecast for the weekend that is significant, but given the late start to the season progress is good and a week of dry weather would see a lot of work done. Get fertiliser into the seedbed to get crops off to a good start.

Rollers have been out in fields. In some fields the work they have done is very visible. Careful with this machine.

Use it in dry conditions and where needed. Seed to soil contact is needed, but not at the expense of leaving a hard surface on the ground. Patience is important this season. That goes for all aspects of the jobs being done. Be patient and stay safe in the busy season.

Winter cereals: Get fertiliser out onto winter cereals quickly. Some crops are really struggling so feed them well. The next job then is disease prevention. Some have applied fungicides to crops, while more will be doing it in the coming days and weeks.

If you are planning on a two-spray programme you need to try and delay application, but if disease is present you need to go with the first fungicide and adjust your plan accordingly.

On winter barley the first spray can consist of prothioconazole and a strobilurin. Whatever the products there needs to be a mix of fungicide actives. Some will use an SDHI at T1 as well.

Add in nutrition where needed and some growers may be adding a plant growth regulator to the mix, but don’t do this in a stressful situation with frost in the forecast. Stress leads to more disease. Adding Axial to a mix with PGR will make it hot.

There is some disease in winter wheat and some rust reported. Rust is easily treated so a strobilurin application will help to prevent rust, but where disease is active you need to knock it down with an azole like tebuconazole or prothioconazole. Sulphur will be a help here too.

On winter oats, disease has been in crops a while, but like all crops cold temperatures has helped to keep disease present under control. Early on you are applying a triazole and a mildewcide in general.

Delaro Forte is now an option on oats for the season ahead this has a strobilurin, triazole and spiroxamine which can control mildew.

Crop Protection Magazine: The Crop Protection Magazine will be published with next week’s paper – on Thursday, 9 April. Make sure to pick up your copy. It will have all the registered plant protection products on the market along with their rates, PCS numbers and other details. It is a must keep guide for the year to have in the tractor and with your crop records.