Agronomy Update - June 2021
Richard Harris - Bartholomews Agronomist
What a tale of two halves this spring has been so far. With nearly eight weeks dry weather for much of the south, the last two weeks of rain have been very welcome and certainly brought soil moisture up to saturation once again. With a backlog of spraying and fertiliser applications to do, let’s hope the rain knows when to stop!
Crops have taken up the macro and micronutrients applied over the last two months and are certainly looking like they have potential going into harvest, providing the leaves are kept clean, green, and healthy.
The recent rains have also brought a flush of BLW’s across a range of autumn and spring crops. Fortunately, we have chemistry within the cereal crops to deal with this problem, with the latest time of application at GS37-39 for certain products giving us flexibility. However, we do not have this flexibility in chemistry for winter beans and oilseed rape, so those weeds we will have to live with. In some instances, spring applied residuals have been reactivated, especially diflufenican, with some BLW’s showing yellowing and suppression, reducing the pressure on the contact material.
Spring cereals and pulses have hit the ground running since the rain and will soon be ready for their fungicide to protect the lush new growth. Diseases to watch this year will be chocolate spot and ramularia, both favouring wet, humid conditions and difficult to control with our reducing toolbox.
Winter Oilseed rape is looking promising and yield dependent, could make a resurgence this autumn. Although, we would not want to temp fate and talk this crop up, as it’s let us down before.
Winter barley’s are at the awns emerged timing and are looking vastly improved since the rains. Although the dry period in April reduced tiller numbers, most crops have regained a large amount of their yield potential. With crops shorter than we would normally expect and like, brackeling must be one of the main focuses at this timing. Actives such as Fluxapyroxad or PGR’s should be considered to minimalise losses at harvest.
The recent rains have brought septoria back into focus, which had almost disappeared in April with most over winter legions not showing any active pycnidia. With the latent period between 15-28 days, growers must have this disease as their primary concern. Our lower than average day/night temperatures will push the latent period back to 28 days, potentially leading us into a false sense of security with crops looking clean to the naked eye but septoria waiting to pounce. Chemistry with kickback, latent phase activity will be vital to keep everything in check.
If you want to get in touch with our agronomy team, call 01243 755610.
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