Agronomy Update - July 2021

The end of what has been a season that has given us everything mother nature has to offer is drawing to a close and the run up to Harvest is beginning.

Cereal crops have put in an incredibly strong finish to the growing season, pushed on by the sunshine and showers there is arguably the best potential out there that we have seen for a while, we just need the temperatures and sunshine to come back to seasonal levels to complete the all-important grain filling phase. The recent wet weather has tested crop protection strategies to their limits but well constructed programmes and timely applications plus the huge step forward new chemistry has given to us has kept disease well down in the bottom of the crops.

The battle of the grass weeds is over for another year, with varying degrees of success! Wont be long before we all engage in this one again, I cant wait!

There are still some late season treatments left to address with disease levels in pulses still needing to be monitored looking particularly for Downy Mildew or Rust depending on which crops you have, please don’t forget to look for Aphids, our water traps are showing some very high levels caught each week. The continuing humidity is also giving very high Potato blight pressure with crops needing continual monitoring, as with the cereals the right programmes and timely applications will see us through.Later sown spring barley crops may also need a fungicide top up again close monitoring is required.

The final decision for all crops is dessication (if required) below are a few reminders for the main Arable crops;

Oilseed rape

The first decision here is whether to apply the pod sealant separately or in conjunction with the Glyphosate, if applying separately then you need to do this within a fortnight of the likely dessication date to minimise shatter losses that may arise from the dessication spray operation. If applying together, please follow the guidance on the product labels and your recommendation.

Correct timing for Glyphosate

1 Pick 20 pods randomly from middle of main stem

2 If two-thirds of seeds in at least 15 pods are changing from green to brown, the plant is at earliest correct stage for spraying

3 Sample from several areas of the field

Spraying too soon can reduce oil content and increase the number of red seeds in the sample.

When applying Glyphosate please ensure the correct water volumes and spray quality is used and quite often there is a better result from a spray applied in the morning or the evening when all the plant pores are open, rather than spraying in the heat of the day.

Cereal crops

If you are considering desiccating your cereal crops then there are also some key considerations to be made. The grain content must be 30% or below, which can be quite tricky to judge as this relates to the most backward parts of the field and not the most forwards, the “thumb nail” test is a very good guide if you push your nail into the grain and it leaves a mark with no moisture then you are there.

While many Glyphosate products are approved It is vitally important to check with your grain merchant that it is accepted for your end market, particularly relevant for malting barley.

I would like to wish you all a safe, swift and bumper harvest.

If you want to get in touch with our agronomy team, call 01243 755610.

Find out more about what we have to offer in our Agronomy package HERE.