Members of the Phosphite Biostimulant Stewardship Group (PBSG) are urging regulators in Brussels to review the terms of the recently adopted Fertilising Products Regulation (EU) 2019/1009

Eight actives remain available for annual broad-leaved weed control in conventional sugar beet following the loss of desmedipham. However, it is possible to cover the weed spectrum with the ones which remain.

Industry has applied for renewal of the approval of the fungicide, mancozeb in Great Britain.

Farmers deciding to enter the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) pilot scheme later this year following a recent call for expressions of interest will have the choice of eight ‘standards’.

Differences in soil management are likely to account for N-min testing results that have either been not as low as expected or extremely low, following a wet winter, according to Dick Neale, technical manager at Hutchinsons.

South American weather and its potential impact on corn production from Argentina and Brazil remains a key market factor in the near term. 

Spring barley is expected to return to a more normal area of 700,000 hectares in 2021 compared with more than one million hectares planted last year.

With growers able to choose more disease-resistant varieties and aim for later sowing dates to mitigate disease, one of the biggest fears is the weather in the season ahead.

Millers are fearful about the size of the future UK wheat crop, which is likely to decline for political and cost reasons, a trend that could be exacerbated by greater consumer demands concerning sustainability.

While, in some cases fields may be beginning to dry off on top, wetter soil at depth means patience is needed before cultivating to avoid creating poor seedbeds for sugar beet.