Words by Nicola Pace, Ruralco Senior Agronomist
The end of November, early December has finally brought some settled sunshine across the region, with the odd small pockets of rain helping to freshen crops without slowing progress. Most arable crops are now powering along with strong growth, and many are heading into the tail end of their spraying programmes for the season.
At the same time, winter feed crops are just kicking off their own spray timing windows, with early applications now critical for good establishment. Insect pressure is running high across multiple crops, so keep an eye on your crops for nysius, Argentine stem weevil, slugs and cutworm bring the main culprits. It is always better to be pre active in these situations rather than reactive when the damage is done.
Overall, conditions are shaping up well – plenty of warmth, enough moisture in places and crops responding nicely as we move into the busiest stretch of summer.
As with any agronomy, for further in-depth discussions or plans, please contact your Ruralco Representative.
Wheat
Most crops are now moving into their ear wash stage, and timing is everything. Applications need to go on just as heads emerge, if anthers are already hanging out, that key flowering window has passed. Often there is 2 weeks between flag leaf and ear wash spray. For crops still approaching flowering timing, a tebuconazole/prothioconazole mix remains a strong option, offering a solid blend of curative and preventative activity, teamed up with a strobilurin to support greening and defence against late season rust pressure.
Late herbicides can still be applied if needed, but these must wait until post-flowering to avoid any crop damage.
Barley
Most barley crops have now wrapped up their fungicide programmes, and the springs low disease pressure has helped them track along exceptionally well. Crops have moved quickly through their growth phases this season, but overall plant health and canopy structure are looking very strong.
Even though programmes are complete, its still worth keeping an eye on late season rust which we have spotted in some cereals already.
Ryegrass Seed Crops
Ryegrass seed crops across mid canterbury are now moving into their key reproductive window, with the earliest paddocks near full flower and later flowering paddocks coming into full ear emergence. We have had some good trigger mornings for stem rust with warm weather with heavy dews, so take care to pull the leaf sheath back and check for stem rust. If you do find spores, Prothioconazole every 14 days (you will have to disregard withholding periods) is key, otherwise there can be significant yield loses. Low rates of SDHIs are a good preventative tool, and as cost effective as a strobilurin, and with pyraclostrobin being so competitive in price now, it is also a superior product to azoxystrobin for rusts. Don’t forget about blind seed and ergot which require a strong prothioconazole at flowering (unless you have endophyte in the ryegrass).
Fodder beet
Fodder beet crops are still under immense pressure from insects, we are finding we are not getting enough legs out of any lambda-cyhalothrin products in regard to cutworm currently due to the pressure, so the addition of Exirel or Sparta for more residual is a good idea. Grass grub beetles are causing destruction, and even when applying lambda-cyhalothrin, the beetles must ingest the product to die (so still must eat the beet to be poisoned) unless you can time applying the spray with the beetle flight. We have had good success with our early pre-emergent programmes and have controlled the weeds well thus far.
White Clover Seed Crops
White clover seed crops are flowering, aphids are present, so tapping heads to check for aphids is important. When spraying to aphids, an evening spray is essential due to the foraging bees, and if early flower, using a boron foliar fertiliser as an adjuvant can increase the smell of the nectar to help increase pollination.
Pasture Management
With any new or existing pastures being sown, it always important to dig a hole and check for any porina or grass grub. Slug monitoring is also important as they can do a lot of damage. It is worth considering planting ryegrass on its own, as there is a greater range of weed control available with a straight sward, even for poa control, thistles, docks etc, and then once the ryegrass is established clover, plantain and chicory can be spun on. Often spraying a pasture with a mix, we must sacrifice wither the chicory or plantain to be able to achieve the weed control we need.
Brassica Planting
Kales are emerging well this spring, almost as good as the weeds, even with a good pre-emergent programme, with warm soils and adequate moisture weeds are striking from great depth. If you are waiting for multiple strikes of weeds, it may pay to look at any early insecticide as the pressure is high. There are a lot of beneficial insects showing up in crops, which means looking to an IPM friendly programme is worth it. There are some good specials this month on new products such as Sivanto prime and Twinguard which are IPM friendly and target a wide range of insects. Check herbicide labels as to whether an adjuvant is required, especially when mixing with an insecticide, as some already contain their own adjuvants.
Maize
Maize is growing well and enjoying the hot days, there is significant insect pressure around, cutworm and Argentine stem weevil are causing havoc. Weed sprays are being applied, which is important as maize also gets yield from the underside of the leaf which if weeds are present, it cannot. First applications of nitrogen are close to being applied and keep an eye out for any trace element issues as maize is about to set its kernel number with the first nitrogen application.
Soil Testing
Our full agronomy package allows us to have access to Ballance Agri nutrient specialist for soil testing, crop requirement plans and helping to get the best bang for your buck with your soil applications. Ballance have 7 self-service nitrogen silos placed around mid-canterbury which is ideal when the wind drops on a Saturday but before a rain to pop in and grab your prepaid nitrogen. For more information, please see https://ballance.co.nz/selfservicesilo or contact your Ruralco Representative.
Upcoming Events
• Methven A & P wheat competition 4th December
• Mayfield A & P wheat competition 11th December
• CPT trials tour 5th December
With all the above scenarios talk to your Ruralco Representative for the best options for you and your situation.