04 December 2015. This the first week of winter still feels more like autumn. Phoma needs monitoring as crops in the South see a resurgence of the disease. Mildew in winter wheat crops is easy to find across the country.

Phoma still main disease in oilseed rape.
Flea beetle larvae in eastern crops.
Aphids in cereals at low levels.
Slugs damage variable
Mildew evident in many crops of wheat and barley.

Winter Wheat

South. Wheat drilling all but finished – still the odd field to be drilled after late harvested maize. Earliest sown (15th to 20th Sept) wheats now at 4 leaves to 2 tillers, with bulk of fields now at Gs13-21.
Mildew: low to moderate levels evident in Solstice, Skyfall and surprisingly Crusoe, particularly on lighter soils.
Aphids: none seen.
Slugs: following recent run of mild days and nights, there has been a resurgence in slug activity, primarily in fields after Oilseed rape and mainly juvenile hatchlings – these areas have required re-pelleting.
Weed control: blackgrass survivors now evident (generally at low levels) in earlier sown fields that have had pre-em applications, though overall levels of control look to be high, particularly where Avadex stacks/sequences have been deployed.

Eastern Counties. Earliest drilled wheats at GS 26 approximately., some at GS 30. Last drilled are 22/23. Recent wet weather has put fields close to capacity, drains running. Crops are generally still growing.
Slugs: some activity mainly after rape still continues in problem patches.
Weed control: blackgrass continues to emerge quickly. First Atlantis recommendations imminent on bad fields.

East Midlands. Generally forward crops at GS 14-21 with later crops at GS13 and late after maize at GS11-12. Many fields very wet now with localised headland ponding. Combination of rain and/or wind has brought things to a halt.
Brown rust: trace levels on susceptible varieties.
Mildew: mainly on susceptible varieties eg Solstice, Claire, Kielder, Santiago, Conqueror, Leeds and Beluga.
Septoria: traces on all varieties on older leaves.
Slugs: no problems and most crops now ahead of any damage.
Weed control: blackgrass emergence slowed now. Hot spots have largest populations but it is now noticeable in missed areas how well the flufenacet products are working especially in a stack with Avadex.

West Midlands. Crops range from emerging through to mid tillering. Now getting somewhat wet!! Rained heavily last night and if we get the rain forecast at the weekend then I suspect we may not get any more spraying done! Give or take probably only about 500 acres of wheat has not had any autumn residual. Manganese, quite a lot of light land ground has already been sprayed once or twice and some looks as though it could do with a third application (generally the very early very forward crops).
Mildew: early September sown Grafton has very high levels. Other varieties with mildew include, Skyfall, Crusoe, JB Diego and Leeds these all sown later and nowhere near as bad).
Septoria: early sown crops full of septoria on the bottom leaves.
Slugs: no more pellets applied since the last report, but quite easy to find 2-3 slugs / plant on the big crops.
Weed control: Bromes starting to appear

North East. Crops range from GS 11 to GS 22. Windy and wet weather has prevented spraying on most days over the last two weeks. Fairly mild for this time of year.
Opomyza: a few fields badly hit.
Mildew: low levels in forward crops.
Septoria: just starting to appear.
Slugs: activity slowed.
Weed control: blackgrass control: encouraging results seen so far from pre emergence programme.

Winter Oilseed Rape 

South. September sown crops are now generally around 5-6 leaves, with August sown crops around 7-8 leaves. Continuation of mild days and nights has encouraged some new growth.
Flea beetle: no new damage.
Phoma: has been a rapid resurgence of leaf spotting in crops sprayed 4+ weeks ago, particularly those with resistance ratings <7 with levels ranging from 10-20% up to 30-50% plants with leaf spotting.  
Aphids: aphid nymphs on underside of leaves of crops in more coastal areas.
Slugs: most crops finally appear to be getting away from slugs now.
Weed control: significant flush in many fields with history of blackgrass.

Eastern Counties. From 5 – 12 + true leaves.  Oldest leaves now senescing and rotting away. Fresh leaves still emerging. Now wet, drains running. Soils now cooler at depth.
Flea beetle: larvae now found in stems on grazed crops mainly though not exclusively.
Light Leaf Spot: none seen.
Phoma: easy to find. All varieties affected but more so on Picto, Charger, PR46, Sesame and Fashion. Fungicides are working reasonably well.
Aphids: very hard to find.
Slugs: low levels only.
Weed control: Charlock prone fields now being assessed for numbers present.

East Midlands. No change in crops apart from that they continue to get bigger but slowing down now.
Flea beetle: not really a problem re establishment now.
Aphids: none seen.
Phoma: almost all phoma sprays on now and no more sprays planned this side of January.
Slugs: generally crops now too big for slugs to have any effect.
Weed control: Charlock is main concern – some very big plants.

West Midlands. Crops just continue growing such that there are very few crops where you can now see any soil.
Aphids: very low levels - no action to take.
Flea beetle : very low damage.
Slugs: still very few problems and early sown crops are now out of danger.
Phoma: crops that were sprayed do have signs of phoma coming back in but crops are very big so if it goes cold sooner rather than later then hopefully not an issue!
Weed control: fair percentage of crops( approximately 10-15% ) that have hedge mustard in them even where specific pre-em herbicides applied.

North East. All crops range from 5 leaf to 9 leaves. Still have active growth with mild temperatures and wet soils.
Flea beetle: no longer a problem on 95% of crops.
Aphids: a few found..
Slugs: activity decreasing..
Light Leaf Spot: none seen yet.
Phoma: fungicide applications under way.
Weed control: propyzamide sprays have started, some good control of blackgrass with earlier spray programme observed.

Winter Barley.

South. Crops range from 3 leaves to GS22. No disease present yet.
Eastern. Earliest drilled crops GS 26/30 Crops are starting to yellow a little now especially in waterlogged areas.
West Midlands. Crops range from 2 leaf to early tillering. Mildew now starting to kick in on most varieties that have 1 or more tillers, light land worst and Glacier standing out as the main variety with the most mildew.
East Midlands. Generally at GS14-21 and looking well.
North East. Crops range from GS 11 to GS22. No disease present yet.