Words by Bill Cabout, Ruralco Chemical Manage
This month we’ll cover crops, autumn sown crops, grass grub control in pasture, and monitoring stored grain.
For crops planted after harvest we need to look at drilling with diazinon granules to help control grass grub. There are plenty of Diazinon Granules available this season.
If there is a lot of trash in the crop, we need to look at slug control, especially if the crops have been irrigated. We have a range of slug baits available in store. For effective slug control, the key is applying enough bait per square metre.
Controlling slugs and insect pests when we drill crops helps to ensure successful establishment of the new crop. Otherwise by the time we realise we have a pest problem, it is too late, and the crop will have to be redrilled. It is cheaper and easier to control the pests from the start, rather than having to buy new seed and redrill.
Autumn Sown Crops
Depending on the crop we need to look at the use of pre-emergence sprays to control weeds going into the winter.
Wheat: If hairgrass is a problem, we need to use Firebird or Invado, the choice of which is dependent on the other weeds present, as Firebird also has diflufenican in it. These chemicals are also often used with Terbuthylazine for control of a greater range of weeds.
If wild oats are an issue, Avadex Extra can be applied pre-sowing to help with control. It’s a useful alternative when wild oats are difficult to manage later in the season. We also have Sakura, a herbicide from Bayer, for controlling autumn germinating ryegrass, vulpia hairgrass, annual poa, soft brome, and barley grass, plus it also gives suppression of ripgut brome, prairie grass and wild oats. It can be used instead of Firebird or Invado.
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 is for wheat and triticale only and can be applied from GS13 to GS31. If you are applying to control brome it can be applied twice, otherwise apply once only. It is available in a 2kg pack, and the rate used is 100g/ha plus 250ml non-ionic surfactant /100lt water. Please check the withholding periods for planting following crops as it is up to 12 months currently on some crops.
This season we have a new pre-emergence herbicide for wheat and barley from Adama called Tower. It contains a new active ingredient for the New Zealand market called Chlortoluron, it also contains Pendimetalin and Difluenican. It controls a wide range of broadleaf weeds and selected grass weeds and is suitable for use in both autumn sown and spring sown crops. The rate used is 2.5Lt/ha. Please contact your Ruralco Representative for further information.
Barley: Firebird or Invado can be used as above to control weeds pre-emergent.
Clover. After drilling, Armada or Preside gives good control of certain weeds without concern about clover size. Propyzamide (Kerb) can be applied to white clover seed crops during the winter months from June to August to control grass weeds and some broadleaf weeds. Weeds not controlled by Propyzamide can be controlled by other products depending on the weed spectrum during July and August. Contact your Ruralco Representative for options.
Ryegrass. Most grass seed crops have been sown by now. With the good growing conditions this year an early post emergence spray could be worth looking at to control any weeds that have appeared before winter. What to use will depend on your weed spectrum.
Grass grub control in Pasture
We are at the time of year to control grass grub in pasture using Diazinon liquid. This must be applied to short pasture and needs to be washed in by at least 12mm of rain before it dries on the foliage for best results. This season we have plenty of stock.
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.