Tillage Update 10th June 2021

Shay Phelan, Teagasc Crops Specialist brings us this week's tillage update. Here, Shay discusses Septoria and Yellow rust in Winter Wheat, timing of final fungicide in Spring Barley, Beans approaching flowering, Beet crops struggling with cold weather, the staggered emergence of potatoes and more

(Photo above: Yellow rust is evident in Winter Wheat where the sprayer missed)

Winter Wheat

Wheat crops are under significant disease pressure. Septoria is the biggest threat in southern counties while yellow rust is a significant problem in susceptible varieties in the northern half of the country. Anywhere fungicide programmes have been compromised both diseases are taking hold on crops. The final head spray will be due ion crops in the coming weeks, this application will top up on the control already applied but will also target fusarium species. Teagasc recommends using an azole mix at this timing e.g. Prosaro, Jade, Magnello etc.

This application will be one of the last opportunities for some growers to use up stocks of products containing epoxiconazole e.g. Opus, Rubric, etc. so it is important to check out the chemical store and use up any products that are due to expire this season. See the video below from our recent webinar for details

Spring Barley

Early sown crops are approaching the awns peeping stage which is the ideal timing for the final fungicide. Options here include an azole plus a strobilurin or SDHI plus the multisite Folpet common product choices are Siltra + Arizona, Decoy/Comet pack + Arizona etc. Unlike wheat Teagasc trials have shown that half rates of chemicals will give adequate levels of control of the main barley diseases such as rynchosporium or net blotch however to control ramularia a full rate of products containing Folpet is recommended.

In the video below Ciaran Collins describes the timing of the final fungicide in barley.

Beans

Beans are approaching flowering and growers should be on the lookout for chocolate spot which is the main disease of beans. Options include Signum 0.5-0.75 kg/ha or Tebuconazole 0.5 L/ha + Amistar 0.5 L/ha.

Beet crops

Many beet crops have been struggling with the cold weather in May and are only starting to grow again now. Most crops have received their first herbicide and are in need of the second application if not already done so. This application will typically be based on Debut plus Betenal Flow, Nortron and depending on the weed species Venzar Flo or Goltix. Rapeseed oil will improve the level of control achieved and will not harm the crop. Mangold fly is also common at the moment these appear like blisters on the leaves as the maggot develops and eats away inside the leaf. Pyrehtroids have limited effect and should only really be considered in extreme cases.

Potatoes

Again reports from around the country seem to suggest that many crops are slow to get going and emergence seems to be staggered. This is similarly down to the cold weather experienced in the previous month. These crops will catch up when they get above ground. Unless the crop has low levels of nitrogen applied i.e. less than 80-100 kg per ha then avoid the temptation to apply extra nitrogen as this will delay crop maturity and senescence leading to later harvest.

For more Agronomy information check out https://www.teagasc.ie/tillagemonth/

The Teagasc Tillage Crop Specialists issue an article on a topic of interest to Tillage farmers every Thursday here on Teagasc Daily