Words by Nicola Pace, Ruralco Senior Agronomist
February delivered a welcome run of settled weather, allowing harvest to push ahead across the district. With short spells but long fine days, most farmers have been able to wrap up their harvest or are well on top of their harvest schedules.
Yields reports coming in have generally been encouraging (where not weather effected) and the lingering smell of burnt paddocks means we are turning our attention to the season ahead. Early plantings of ryegrass are underway, and some late sowings of brassica for greenfeed, are taking advantage of adequate moisture conditions and warm soils.
The unseasonably early snow on the mountains reminds us that winter is coming, and with that the new season planning is well underway. We have autumn harvest roundups this month with FAR, as well as their harvest snippets which are showing promising results for some cultivars.
As with any agronomy, for further in-depth discussions or plans, please contact your Ruralco Representative.
Paddock Preparation
Paddock preparation is the key to growing any successful crop. Any agronomy notes below are irrelevant unless we do not take the time to prepare the paddock for success.
This could be getting a good burn on a paddock, being mindful of trash left behind if minimum tilling or making sure paddock clods are not so large that a pre-emergent spray cannot get underneath.
This is also doing a soil test, digging a hole to check for grass grub or porina, and keeping an eye on slugs. When margins are tight on farm, establishment is key.
Wheat
With harvest mainly concluded, it is allowing some great discussions around varieties and their suitability for areas and farms. Although yields have been higher than expected, there is a lot of pinched grain around which reflects the poor weather at grain fill. Looking forward to new season plantings- it is important to reflect on fungicide and PGR programmes and how they worked on the farm. Also, what weeds were present at harvest and what can be done to control these earlier in the season.
As always being proactive rather than reactive, and pre emerges are key in our cereal programmes. Where vulpia hair grass, poa and broadleaf weeds are your key targets, a flufenacet + diflufenican product is key, you also get residual out of the diflufenican which is key for poa control and holding back any brassicas emerging.
If you are targeting a wider range of grass weeds and will use diflufenican later in the programme, then Sakura (Pyroxasulfone) is a far superior product than standalone flufenacet.
If you are saving your diflufenican for a later spray, it is important to not let the target weeds get too big, otherwise pre-emergence of the weeds is where its best fit is. We are seeing an increase in sprays being left too late, and poor kills because the weeds are too big for the label claim. Earlier is always better.
If you had pesky wild oats at harvest, even with a well-timed spray, it is important to identify when your wild oats are striking. If mainly autumn struck- then Avadex xtra pre-emergent is a great option as it also helps to rotate chemistry and means you can save your spring spray for when they have struck rather than having to chase the big autumn oats.
When sowing wheats, the plant is protected up until growth stage 21 (rather than 6 weeks) for BYDV as by this point the dilution of the seed treatment within the plant means it is no longer protected. This could be the gap in our programme which has allowed such high levels of virus in our most recent harvest. With temperatures lowering at this time, and a lack of beneficials around, an insecticide with residual is key in case you cannot get back on the paddock for a time rather than a fumigant insecticide which only gives an immediate knockdown.
Barley
Barleys have been the quiet achievers of the season; they have caused no drama and finished well.
We have fewer options for pre-emergent control in barley, with our best bang for buck being a flufenacet mixed with diflufenican. This gives adequate control and residual of grass and broadleaf control, which with later sowings is key in case the weather doesn’t allow for a timely spray. Autumn sown barley seed treatments of Systiva have given proven yield increases as well as keeping the lower leaves clean which with barley, all leaves contribute to overall yield.
Small Seed Crops
This year will be vital for being proactive with slugs to get small seed crops up and running, they are so vulnerable and paddocks can be wiped out overnight without careful monitoring. With many slug baits on the market being metaldehyde based, baits per metre square is key, and your best kill is done within the first 48 hours. Slugs will hatch from eggs every 14 days, or when it rains, so you should plan for 2 applications minimum to help break the cycle as well as careful monitoring.
Fodder beet
Fodder beets are tracking well, with fungicide applications being made currently. Insect pressure is low and any weeds now we will live with for the season. Weed control has been incredibly difficult this year, with multiple strikes from depth making it a challenge.
Brassicas
Leaf miner is the current pest of the season, with aphids following closely behind. White butterflies and diamond back moth are about but are not seeing many caterpillars or eggs yet. Some later rape sowings, we are seeing a lot of springtail damage so 25gm of Twinguard in with your early grass weed killer is an option.
Pasture Management
As above- keep an eye out for slugs and grass grub, if grass grub is present in established pastures, then other than mechanical intervention such as heavy rolling or hoof n tooth, then liquid diazinon needs to be applied with 10ml of rain to be washed into the soil profile.
Maize
Maize crops are past tasselling and are starting to have inspections to determine cutting timings, if you need your paddock checked at all, please get in touch.
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.
Seed Ordering
A reminder that Ruralco have access to all major company proprietary small seed and cereal seed at very competitive prices, we can put together seed mixes, deliver seed or an agronomy package to help reduce the cost of production on farm.
With all the above scenarios talk to your Ruralco Representative for the best options for you and your situation.