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‘KEEP YOUR NERVE’ ARABLE
Date added: 04/10/04 |
Despite the wet summer, late harvest and dry windy weather during
September delaying drilling opportunities in many parts of the country,
producers with severe grass weed resistance problems may now have to hold
off drilling some winter wheat fields for as long as they feasibly can, warns
agronomy group ProCam.
“Don’t take short cuts with weed management or seedbed preparation for the
sake of a few extra days delay in drilling,” says ProCam technical director Dr.
David Ellerton.
“Our 4cast data from the last 5 years consistently shows that the financial
benefits from appropriate weed management, either through cultivations or
herbicide treatment, will always outweigh the potential yield loss from delaying drilling the extra few days.”
Many growers on heavy soils have struggled to get good seedbeds this
autumn due to the dry windy weather hardening the top few inches of soil
despite all the rain in July and August. This has resulted in poor cloddy
seedbeds unsuitable for pre-emergence treatments, Dr. Ellerton says.
In addition, the lack of rain has stopped the growth of grass weeds so vital for the production of sterile seedbeds making it impossible to deal with these
through glyphosate or cultivations.
The latent weed threat is considerable in many areas, particularly those where
herbicide resistance is a growing problem or where Brome species have
increased over recent seasons.
“Last week’s rain could have done with being two weeks earlier, but it has
opened up the opportunity for proper seedbed preparation and preemergence treatment. It also means weeds will now germinate and so these can be dealt with appropriately as long as the weather stays mild.
“Despite the problems with harvesting and the lateness of the season, our
advice would be to give priority to first wheats and fields with lower weed
burdens and hold off drilling on high risk fields until you can be sure of a good seedbed and that pre-emergence applications will be effective.
“Holding off final seedbed cultivations or glyphosate applications until there is sufficient weed growth and delaying drilling as late as you can is now
definitely the right approach for this season on these high risk fields.”
The 4cast data shows that certain varieties can tolerate later drilling and this
should be borne in mind when deciding which fields may suit delayed drilling.
If you are in any doubt, consult your agronomist, Dr. Ellerton adds.
“One benefit of delaying drilling of second wheats until mid October can be to
lessen the damaging effects of Take All and 4cast data shows that this can
often be well in excess of one tonne per ha.” |
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