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August Agronomy Update by Bill Cabout, Ruralco’s Ashburton Store Manager

This year the winter period has been wet earlier on and now with a series of frosts this is keeping growth to a minimum. This weather has impacted on both grass and arable crops growth. A lot of arable crops have been impacted with grass grub damage and gaps where areas have been flooded out. A lot of autumn sown crop did not get planted due to the weather conditions. These will be planted with spring sown options over the next couple of months. With our current weather conditions it looks as though it could be a late spring.

Autumn Sown Cereal Crops

Seed treatment only persists for a certain amount of time after planting until the start of tillering (GS21) Those crops drilled before mid-April will now not be protected from aphids. Aphids can carry the disease barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) which if your crop gets at this early stage will severely damage yield. It is a good idea to apply an approved insecticide even if numbers of aphids are low as this often proves to be good insurance. Depending on what the aphid numbers do (Dependent on weather, cold and wet means less aphids) will decide if we need to follow up 3 weeks later with another spray. A good way to check up on aphid numbers is to check with Aphid Chat » Aphid Chat and look at the traps from your area.

This year there are large numbers of grass grub about, and this can decimate a crop before you realise. Diazinon granules at drilling will provide up to 5 weeks’ protection from grass grub so this protection will also be wearing off. Check your crops and if grass grubs close to the soil surface are found your crop may need spraying to control these with liquid Diazinon. This is ideally put on during rain, so it washes into the soil where the grubs are. If you have drilled with Suscon Green you should be covered for the life of the crop.

Slugs have been an ongoing issue in some crops throughout the autumn and early winter. Monitor your crops closely and if need be, apply more slug bait.

If you have some early weed strike not controlled by your pre-emergent spray, it is ideal to clean this up while the weeds are small. Which product to use is determined by what weeds are present. Talk to your rep for the best options.

For the control of Brome grass, we can use Rexade (Pyroxsulam + Arylex). This combination controls wild oats, rye grasses and brome grass as well as many significant broadleaf weeds such as fumitory, chickweed, cleavers, field pansy, speedwell, shepherds’ purse, white clover, and volunteer linseed. It can be applied from GS13 to GS31. If applying to control brome it can be applied twice otherwise once only. The rate used is 100g/ha plus 250ml non-ionic surfactant /100lt water and is available in a 2kg pack.  Please check the withholding periods for planting following crops as it is up to 12 months currently on some crops. This product is for wheat and triticale only.

With all the wet weather some cereal crops are suffering so a good idea is to give them a pick me up with a liquid fertiliser such as Wuxal Grano, Headland Multiple Pro and Yara Gramitrel.

White Clover Seed Crops

Kerb 500F can be applied to white clover seed crops during the winter months from June to Aug for the control of grass weeds and some broadleaf weeds. Weeds not controlled by kerb can be controlled by various products depending on weed spectrum during July and August. Contact your rep for options.

Ryegrass Seed Crops

 An early post emergence spray is worth looking at to control any weeds that have appeared in the paddocks over the last few months. What to use depends on your weed spectrum. Contact your rep for options.

Fodder beet

Sowing time for this crop is approaching fast. For a high yielding crop, good weed control is essential.

If possible, the use of the stale seedbed technique before planting is a good idea. Poor plant numbers mean a reduction in yield so for good germination of fodder beet a good seedbed is essential. For further information on growing fodder beet please contact your Ruralco seed rep.

Pasture Gibberellic Acid

We can increase the grass growth on pasture in late winter /early spring by using gibberellic acid. For this to be successful there must be sufficient fertility and moisture to support this extra growth. It is often applied with liquid nitrogen to help this. Both granular and liquid versions of gibberellic acid are available. It needs to be applied 3-5 days after grazing and grazed 3 to 4 weeks after treatment to capture maximum response. We have liquid nitrogen available in 1000lt pods to go with the gibberellic acid.

Monitoring Stored Grain

Monitoring grain during storage is a valuable tool in maintaining quality. This becomes more important the longer the grain remains in storage because deterioration in seed quality early in storage is slower and insects are sparse and not easily noticed. Temperature and seed moisture content are important indicators of grain quality that influence insect and mould activity.  Once grain is in storage, monitoring for insects and mould once a month will give early notice of any problems occurring and action can then be taken to control these problems.

With all the above scenarios talk to your Ruralco representative for the best options for you and your situation.