2017 - Disease management in Dorset
With the majority of winter wheat crops currently sitting between T1 and T2, we thought it would be interesting to look at how one of Adama’s YEN (Yield Enhancement Network) growers is approaching disease management this season.
Iain Robertson is Assistant Arable Manager for David Foot Ltd in Dorset. The mixed farming business consists of two farms totalling 1,600 hectares. A herd of 970 dairy cows is supported by a rotation of Wheat – OSR – Maize – Spring Barley – Winter Barley – Beans, grown predominantly to feed the expanding dairy enterprise.
This year, Iain has entered 8 hectares of Dickens winter wheat into the YEN 2017 competition.
The south facing field (chosen for the YEN competition due to its ability to capture as much sun as possible) is dominated by clay soils. It was drilled on 8th October at a rate of 159kg/ha following a crop of forage maize having been treated with an application of cow slurry prior to being cultivated using a Horsch Terrano.
Iain has reported that the crop currently looks very promising, especially considering the lack of rain – the application of slurry helped to get the crop going and went some way to compensating for the shortage of rain.
In common with so many, Iain explains that the crop’s main disease threat has been, and continues to be Septoria. “Septoria has been present throughout the season, but a robust, early and well-timed spray programme (see below) has controlled it well, with no signs of the infection spreading up the plant.
“The ongoing disease threat is very much dependent on the weather, but as things currently stand we’re pleased with the level of protection provided by the products we’ve chosen.”
As an added level of crop management, Iain is also taking regular tissue samples this year. “It's been an interesting worthwhile exercise and we’re hopeful of achieving 12 tonnes per hectare: that will be a significant improvement on recent years as our five year average is 8t/ha but we’ve recently been nearer to 10t/ha.”
A well-timed, robust crop protection programme has provided good Septoria control – there is a low level of disease on leaf 4, but leaf 3 and leaf 2 remain perfectly clean. Leaf 1 is yet to emerge.
Iain Robertson’s 2017 fungicide programme (to date):
Timing |
Growth stage |
Application |
T0 |
BBCH 30 |
1.5 l/ha Orius P (133g/l tebuconazole and 267g/l prochloraz) |
T1 |
BBCH 31-32 |
2.0 l/ha Manitoba (50g/l epoxiconazole and 375g/l folpet) |
Fertiliser applications:
- Cow slurry: 30m3 per hectare applied in spring via umbilical system
- Urea (46%): 110kg/ha applied in March
- Suplhate: 80kg/ha applied in mid-March
- Urea (46%): 330kg/ha applied early May