All winter barley crops all looking well and the gates are now closed until desiccation takes place in the coming weeks. Most winter wheat crops have received their T3 earwash with a few later drilled crops still to be sprayed. Tebuconazole is the most effective triazole for Fusarium in particular and an important active in its own right at this time. The addition of a strobilurin is essential to maximise the persistence of the triazole, to strengthen activity on Yellow Rust, and delay early leaf senescence. Good grain fill is totally dependent on retaining green leaf area for as long as possible, and the addition of the strobilurin extends the retention of green leaf tissue.
Aphids in cereals
As the grains begin to fill the aphids begin to feed at its base on the ear, drawing off the sugars that should be filling the grain if left unchecked. Growers need to continue checking crops for aphids right up to early milky ripe stage (GS73) in barley, late milky ripe (GS77) in wheat, and spray if present in numbers. Where aphids are not present, unnecessary application should be avoided as any insecticide application at this time is not bee friendly. Of the aphicides approved for use for this purpose, SUMI-ALPHA is the least harmful to bees.
Pre Harvest Glyphosate
Winter barley crops are ripening well and thoughts will now turn to grain quality, moisture levels, and ease of harvesting. Pre harvest application of glyphosate is an essential tool to improve the efficiency of harvesting, giving a range of benefits. It looks like propionic acid is going to be unavailable this year so there is even more need for pre harvest glyphosate.
Independent trials carried out over a number of years in GB, looking at the effect of using Roundup in various replicated treatments consistently show moisture contents being reduced by 2.0-2.5% at harvest compared to plots where no treatment is applied.
Application should be made once the grain moisture gets down to 30% or below, ideally 10-14 days (and not less than 7 days) before cutting. An easy and reliable test to estimate this 30% moisture level is to press the thumbnail into a number of grains; if the indentation holds on all the grains the crop is ready for spraying.