Weather: There has been plenty of rain recently and it was welcomed by most. Many crops are at their final spray timing or have received it in recent days.

Head sprays on spring barley and oats and winter wheat are all on farmers’ lists. Strong enough breezes prevented spraying some days, but there were opportunities between the wind and the showers to get fungicides on, and most people are now starting to get up-to-date.

Spring crops: Finish off fungicides on spring barley and oats in the coming days. You will need folpet, along with an SDHI and a triazole. Apply foliar potash where straw is weak or has not received a growth regulator. Some growers will apply magnesium at the head spray to help with grain fill. Be sure that the trace elements that you are applying will mix okay with the other products in the tank.

Beans: If you are applying a second fungicide to beans it should be done around mid-to-late flowering, but if you delayed your first fungicide then you should also delay the second. Products like Signum and Elatus Era can be applied.

Winter wheat: Keep an eye on winter wheat crops to see if septoria is moving. Recent weather has been ideal for disease to develop. Head sprays on winter wheat will be needed this year, and consult with your agronomist before applying to see if you will need to apply something stronger than usual.

Assess crops as you walk them to see how different fungicides worked, maybe you applied different products in different fields at different timings and it is worth looking at disease levels where management was different.

Crop walks and open days: There are plenty of crop walks coming up in June. Get out to some of them if you can to see what’s happening in the fields or on other farms. Crops and Technology, a partnership between the Irish Farmers Journal and Teagasc, will be held from 10am on Wednesday, 25 June in Oak Park, Carlow. It is free to attend and you can see all the latest research. There will be three technology demonstrations in the exhibition arena throughout the day, looking at technology on sprayers from retrofitting and basic models to spot spraying.

Weed testing: On pages 38 and 39 Teagasc’s Vijaya Bhaskar is writing about resistance to herbicides in weeds and testing weeds for resistance. It is free to carry out these tests at present, so use the service while you can. If you suspect any weeds on your farm of being resistant to herbicides then you should collect seeds.

If weeds have survived after being sprayed, then they are suspects of having resistance. VJ explains what to do on page 39 when taking a sample. You should not leave grass weeds in crops. Leave a few plants to get a sample, but the remainder should be pulled or destroyed before they go to seed in the coming weeks.