CROP CRACK -  11.11.07
By WENDY FEARON
Clarendon Agricare - Vermin Control

We have experienced one of the best autumns for many years. Winter cereal acreage has increased this year partly due to ground conditions but the increase in feed prices has been the key to a lot of beef farmers planting cereals this season. Slugs are still working away even with the dry spell and crops must be monitored closely. Some winter barley crops are already showing signs of manganese deficiency. Although temperatures have been mild up to now, reports show that both rat and mice infestation is already posing a real problem.

FARM BUILDING VERMIN CONTROL

Farm buildings should be checked and sealed to prevent access by rats and mice who will be seeking shelter for the winter. Make buildings as impenetrable as possible by sealing off possible entry points, and set traps to gauge whether any vermin have managed to already gain access to buildings.

Look for signs of rats and mice, there will be regular runs between food and nest sites. There will be tracks in mud or dust and gnaw marks will be evident around entry holes. Rats will leave greasy marks as they like to press their bodies against walls as they run.

Rats are prolific breeders. They are sexually mature at 10 weeks, producing 6-8 litters per year and 8-10 offspring in each litter.  Females become fertile again within days of giving birth. In ideal conditions a pair of rats can lead to 2400 rats in one year.

STORM bait should be placed close to runs and holes where rats are active. If the bait is covered with boards or lengths of pipe it gives the rat a feeling of security when feeding and also protects the bait from the weather and hidden from other animals, children or livestock. Ideally use a specially designed bait box.

Mice do not move far from their nests which are usually indoors. Place smaller quantities of bait within a few meters of nesting sites.

Unlike inferior poisons that rely on multiple feeds just one little nibble of STORM delivers a lethal dose. STORM is over 200 times more powerful than warfarin, 7 times more active than difenacoum and 5 times more active than bromadiolone based baits.

STORM is extremely palatable and both mice and rats will eat the bait even when other food sources are available.

STORM is available as a waxed block in 1kg, 3kg or 10kg packs and is resistant to moisture, mould growth and attack by insect pests.

WINTER CEREALS

The application of a well timed broad spectrum residual herbicide in the autumn is still the most cost effective and reliable way of achieving complete control of annual meadow grass and broad leaved weeds.

Grass weeds can be controlled with herbicides containing IPU up to early tillering and are therefore only effectively controlled by spraying them in the autumn.  Likewise broad-leaved weeds are best controlled when small along with any grass weeds using autumn residual products such as ENCORE, AUTUMN KITE or PANTHER.

ENCORE is a post-emergence herbicide which contains the two active ingredients IPU (Fieldgard) and pendimethalin, PDM (Stomp) both of which have high activity against grass weeds, including wild oats.  The combination of PDM with IPU also controls a very wide range of broad-leaved weeds including chickweed, fumitory, poppy, pansy, mayweeds and speedwells. Cleavers are controlled from pre-emergence up to one whorl and PDM remains active in the soil well into the spring months.

PANTHER contains the active ingredients IPU and diflufenican (DFF). It maybe used from early post-emergence up to second node (GS 32).DFF and Fieldgard may be mixed to make up Panther.

AUTUMN KITE which contains IPU and trifluralin provides good control of grass, broad-leaved weeds and useful wild-oat control.  It must be applied post-emergence before six leaf stage of the crop.

Where grasses and chickweed are the only problem weeds, FIELDGARD which contains IPU alone can be used.  IPU has both contact and residual activity but its broad-leaved weed spectrum is limited and must only be used post-emergence.

CRYSTAL is being widely used this season, it contains flufenacet and pendimethlin.CRYSTAL has both contact and residual activity and may be used on both winter barley and winter wheat. The active ingredients in CRYSTAL are taken up mainly by developing roots and shoots. Best results are achieved when applied pre-emergence, with weeds being affected as they grow through the treated soil.

Manganese deficiency symptoms may be visible in some advanced crops as pale, floppy leaves which develop brown spots arranged in lines.  Such crops are more prone to frost damage and should be sprayed with a chelated formulation rather than inorganic manganese as the former is absorbed more easily and cause no scorch.

Slugs have become a problem in recently sown crops of winter barley and wheat and pose a serious threat to cereals drilled into leys, potato beds or grassy stubbles. Loose unconsolidated seed beds are most at risk where slugs can move up to and down from the soil surface as moisture conditions dictate. Typical damage is hollowing of the seed and irregular shredding of the emerged leaves. Draza slug pellets which contain methiocarb give the fastest kill of all the main slug species and are equally effective in moist conditions.

Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) is a disease passed on to the crop by aphids when they feed on the young plants in the autumn.  Once plants are infected nothing will prevent the development of BYDV and therefore it is essential to use preventative measures by applying insecticides at the correct time, usually with a herbicide.

There is always a risk to emerging crops particularly those drilled before the end of October. Inspect your corps regularly for the presence of aphids and apply SUMI-ALPHA, HALLMARK or TOPPEL in early November or when aphids are first seen in the crop.