Advice for weed control at this time of year

Dr Stephen Kildea, a plant pathologist in Teagasc and Ciaran Collins, a crops specialist in Teagasc joined Michael Hennessy on this week’s Tillage Edge podcast to discuss weed control at this time of year.

Ciaran began by discussing weed control in oilseed rape and he also explained that due to late planting and delayed crop development, weed control was even more important this year as crops will not be as competitive as normal this year.

Dr. Stephen Kildea said phoma is generally the first visible disease in oilseed rape.  There is some varietal resistance and the resistance along with canopy size can be used as a guide to determine the threshold for disease control with fungicides. 

Light Leaf Spot, a wet weather disease, emerges as a problem later in the season although not every year.  As Light Leaf spot can be difficult to see in the field, growers should take leaf samples regularly and put them into a ‘hot box’ to observe if the disease is present.  Control measures can then be determined.   

For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast go to   https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/crops/the-tillage-edge-podcast/