
18 October 2024
Shay Phelan, Crops Specialist at Teagasc, discusses the current status and management practices for winter barley, wheat, and oilseed rape crops in mid-October 2024.
Winter barley
Winter barley drilling is now complete with many early drilled crops now at the 1-2 leaf stage, establishment rates in most of these early drilled crops are reported to be very good as they were planted in ideal conditions. However there are reports of slug damage in some crops so continue to monitor them over the next week or so and if there is significant damage then apply some slug pellets.
In the crops that have only been drilled in the last few days there is still time to apply a pre-emergence herbicide, these have been shown to give better control of key weeds that waiting until the 2-3 leaf stage when applying an insecticide. Products containing flufenacet (Firebird etc.) prosulfocarb (Defy etc.) or pendimethalin (Flight, Stomp etc.) will work better at controlling grass weeds when applied pre-emergence, although they will still work quite well when applied post emergence. The addition of DFF (Diflanil) will broaden the weed spectrum or increase the effectiveness of the mixture. Avadex Factor will give good control of grass weeds when used in a programme with flufenacet, but it must be applied as a pre-emergence option.
Early drilled barley will be at more risk from BYDV even the tolerant varieties. There is a temptation not to apply an insecticide to the likes of KWS Joyau, Molly and KWS Orcade as they are seen to be less affected than conventional varieties, however where these are planted in September they may benefit from an insecticide application. If they have been drilled in October then, generally, there is little benefit in applying an insecticide. September drilled conventional varieties should receive two insecticides, although not ideal, while October drilled varieties should only need one. Over the last number of years some growers have decided not to apply insecticides and in some years have not seen mush impact from BYDV, so the decision whether or not to apply an insecticide will depend on your attitude to the risk of infection.
Winter wheat
With the exception of the south and southeast winter wheat drilling has progressed well over the last few weeks with many farmers now finished. The exception are those waiting on break crop, like beans, potatoes, maize and beet to be harvested. Most growers continued to drill and get crops into the ground and not worry about herbicide applications as there are more choice for post emergence applications in wheat. However, similar to barley per-emergence applications generally work better and we also have the growing threat of resistance both in grass weeds and broadleaf weeds, to post emergence herbicides. So where possible opt to apply a pre-emergence herbicide the options are similar to barley. Over the last number of years there has been a trend to apply herbicides, such as Pacifica Plus, Broadway Star, Monolith etc., to winter wheat in the spring, however we are seeing more cases of resistance developing to these products each year so growers would be advised not to rely on them solely for weed control.
When drilling into late October or early November remember to keep seed rates up as ground conditions will start to deteriorate and establishment rates will begin to drop. Typically for a variety of 50 TGW seed rate for the last week of October and into early November should be 180kg/ha (11.5 stone/ac) plus.
Winter oilseed rape
Crops are growing well in the last few weeks and the higher than normal temperatures have helped crops to catch up despite the later drilling. Phoma is evident in many crops and treatment with Proline 0.4 l/ha will be needed if it continues to spread. Many crops will also get a graminicide as volunteers and grass weeds are competing with the crop at the moment. Many crops have not yet received a herbicide with many growers intending to use Kerb or Astrokerb when temperatures drop later in the season, remember grass weeds will be competing with the crop and should be treated as soon as possible, even though Astrokerb will also control grass weeds. Based on last years experience, when these products became very scarce order your requirements as soon as possible.
Tillage Edge Podcast
With harvest complete, farmers now have a clear understanding of the grain they have available for sale. While many have already sold their grain in forward market positions, others are considering deferring sales for several weeks or months.
James Nolan, a grain trader at Barnett-Hall, is on this week’s Tillage Edge to discuss the current market outlook and what farmers should expect as we move forwards.