In this issue... Believe in barley pages 18 & 56 The agronomy and the inside view on hybrids

Transcription

1 SPECIAL Quality Wheat Supplement inside In this issue... Believe in barley pages 18 & 56 The agronomy and the inside view on hybrids Rust distrust page 26 New way to spray page 32 Switch over to the precision path Blight essentials page 80

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3 Opinion Volume 18 Number 3 April Talking Tilth A word from the editor. Smith s Soapbox Views and opinions from an Essex peasant.. Last Word A view from the field from CPM s technical editor Technical Tom Allen-Stevens Olivia Cooper Ted Fleetwood Nick Fone Editor Tom Allen-Stevens Technical Editor Lucy de la Pasture Sub editor Charlotte Lord Writers Melanie Jenkins Lucy de la Pasture Mick Roberts Design and Production Brooks Design Advertisement co-ordinator Peter Walker Publisher Angus McKirdy Business Development Manager Charlotte Alexander To claim two crop protection BASIS points, send an to assistant@basis-reg.co.uk, quoting reference CP/37178/1415/g. *the claim best read specialist arable journal is based on independent reader research, conducted by the National Farm Research Unit 2014 Editorial & advertising sales White House Barn, Hanwood, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY5 8LP Tel: (01743) angus@cpm-magazine.co.uk Reader registration hotline Advertising copy Brooks Design, 24 Claremont Hill, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY1 1RD Tel: (01743) fred@brooksdesign.co.uk CPM Volume 18 No 3. Editorial, advertising and sales offices are at White House Barn, Hanwood, Shrewsbury SY5 8LP. Tel: (01743) CPM is published ten times a year by CPM Ltd and is available free of charge to qualifying farmers and farm managers in the United Kingdom. In no way does CPM Ltd endorse, notarise or concur with any of the advice, recommendations or prescriptions reported in the magazine. If you are unsure about which recommendations to follow, please consult a professional agronomist. Always read the label. Use pesticides safely. CPM Ltd is not responsible for loss or damage to any unsolicited material, including photographs Disease control - Saving on fungicides not an option As the T1 timing approaches, programmes are likely to be geared as much to protect SDHI chemistry as to control disease. Theory to Field - Quest underway for resilient strategies What will be the relative impact of resistance management strategies and how will septoria populations evolve? Barley agronomy - Treat barley varieties as individuals Hybrid barleys may need you to tear up the rule book. Innovation Insight - The fungicide that earned its fanfare What gave BASF such confidence in Xemium and took it to market leader? Rust - Expect the unexpected as rust evolves The arrival of the Warrior race of yellow rust in 2011 was a game-changer and the pathogen is continuing to evolve. Oilseed rape - Yield benefit from keeping OSR green With disease levels in oilseed rape crops already high, the priority is now switching to late season management. Machinery Precision spraying - Nozzle control improves accuracy The ability to switch output and classification instantly is just one of a number of benefits offered by advanced individual nozzle control systems. Innovation Insight - The compatibility to mix and match A truly transferable system between tractors that offers full operational control in has been something of a Holy Grail in precision farming. On Farm Opinion - Sprayer tech hits the spot Moving from a self-propelled sprayer to a trailed rig has resulted in increased output and improved accuracy for one Sussex grower. On Farm Opinion - Combination spreads the load When the farm that hosts the Glastonbury Festival in Somerset came to change its sprayer, it was time for new technology. On Farm Opinion - Sole pass brings soil benefits Low-disturbance drilling is being hailed as a wonder technique for tackling blackgrass and improving soil structure. Features Insiders View - Sights set on RL top spot A look at what s on offer from Syngenta s new hybrid barleys. Insiders View - The Exception that makes the rule DK Exception s solid performance and strong vigour is making it stand out. On-farm innovator - Crowd-sourced science A two-way knowledge exchange is how one Rothamsted Research scientist believes growers will make the most of integrated pest management. Pea grower profile - Putting goodness in the ground The first year of growing marrowfat peas has been quite a learning experience for one grower in County Durham. Roots Potatoes - Biofumigant crop complexities With uncertainty over Vydate production, trials looking at biofumigant cover crops are proving their worth. Tech Talk - Exploitive and aggressive crop threat Following a wet and mild winter, potato blight will take advantage of any weakness in control programmes. crop production magazine april

4 Do we need science? I have a bit of an issue with great crested newts at the moment they ve taken up residence in a quarry we have on the farm. My issue isn t with the creatures themselves I think they re great. If anything, I m flattered my hospitality is appreciated so much these endangered newts have decided to stick around I m clearly doing something right. The problem is with the science that surrounds them. It s a working quarry, just reaching the end of its life, so various scientific surveys have to be done to assess this colony of GCN and to make sure they re safe. The result of one of these surveys was to stick a load of newt-proof fencing round the settling ponds in the quarry so that no wandering reptile would get scooped up by a digger or mashed by a bulldozer. That was all fine until mid-summer last year these are settling ponds, so the first hint of dry weather and the ponds turned to a parched desert, which is hardly a healthy environment for the GCN. The scientists were informed and they duly requested we make holes in the fencing. But then this exposes them again to the mashing and the scooping. The absurd thing about all this is that these poor creatures probably never wanted to end up in my quarry at all they were probably basking around quite happily in one the other ponds on the farm, went for a wander and fell into the quarry. Now they re stuck, and probably desperate for someone to move them to a kinder habitat. But we re not allowed to because our laws about moving protected species prohibit such measures. What this highlights to me is how little I know about these hapless creatures. I just want to do what s right, but I m torn in different directions by authorities and scientists with conflicting views, many of which don t seem to make any sense at all. I m no newt specialist and haven t the time nor the inclination to become one, so I m in no informed position to decide what to do. And that s not great if history then remembers me as the farmer responsible for allowing Oxon s last colony of GCN to wither and die. So with such ecological apocalypses in mind, here at CPM, we ve done our best this month to ensure our readers can see through the technical fuggle and conflicting views and make the informed decisions. In this issue, we ve delved a little deeper into the science behind some of the challenges growers are facing at the moment, not because we want CPM to appear clever and aloof, but because they are real challenges there are present threats, and responding in the time-honoured fashion may not just be the wrong reaction, it could have dire consequences. Take septoria, for instance. We ve drawn the latest advice from the field on how to protect crops in the light of recent findings on resistance (see p8). But we ve gone further, and talked to the scientists evaluating the changes in the pathogen population (p14). We also have a full report on the UK Cereal Pathogen Virulence Survey for yellow rust (p26). Prepare yourself for these reports it s a job to get your head round efflux pumps and the virulence of Warrior 4 (red). You could argue, it s a level of detail you don t really need, but I d dispute that as our Tech Talk on blight this month (p80) shows, an understanding of the A1 and A2 genotypes is crucial for potato growers building a robust spray programme. Yet a decade ago, before 13_A2 came to prominence, few growers would have known the significance. How long will it be before CYP51 and SdhC variants become part of the cereal disease-control vernacular? When it comes to spray application, automatic nozzle selection is one advance offering significant benefits. But you d be unlikely to appreciate these without an understanding of the science that lies behind it, which is why our report (p32) goes into a fair bit of detail. With variety choice, hybrid barley represents a technical step forward that again can offer significant benefits. In Insiders View we ve looked in detail at one of the newcomers to the AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds Recommended List (p56). We ve also delved into the agronomy that ll ensure you get the best from hybrid varieties (p18) prepare for a rethink on some of the rules. As farmers and land managers, we can t be expected to be experts at everything we rely on good science and good counsel from those we trust. It s when that advice conflicts, when circumstances change, when broad-reaching regulation takes no account of local variation that s when you re left vulnerable and exposed. Those who have first-hand knowledge of the technical detail are therefore the ones who have the upper hand. Tom Allen-Stevens has a 170ha arable farm in Oxon, and a number of great crested newts that may be looking for a new home, if anyone s interested. tom@cpm-magazine.co.uk

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6 Hedging your bets One of the delights of holding office in the NFU is the train line from St. Pancras International to Le Gare du Midi in Brussels. It s a very swift service and sometimes I ve felt a mere two hours to get from the centre of two capital cities is rather short it can take longer to find a parking place at Colchester station. Being a bit of an agro-anorak, rather than doing my homework on the train by pawing my way through Eurocratic papers designed to make binary code look relatively exciting, I m usually gawping out of the window casting an eye over the French arable agriculture as we speed through the Pas de Calais and beyond. It s always striking how the landscape changes for the worse as you disappear down a hole in the beautiful Garden of England in Kent and emerge on the other side in the dull featureless, grey countryside of Northern France. The difference is striking so don t let anyone tell you that British farmers aren t good custodians of their farmscapes. Trying to gain an in-depth understanding of the political economy of French agriculture is probably not best done travelling through it at over 100mph, but that doesn t stop me concluding that the French seem somehow to have been exempted from the greening obligations of the CAP. The lack of hedges, margins and trees seems very pronounced. But having said that, I ve noticed from my Eurostar seat that recently this might be changing. Many of the large, featureless fields between Calais and Lille now have lines of freshly planted young trees marching through them. My guess is that this might be agro-forestry, which some feel is the future of farming while others dismiss it as the latest fad the French government are wasting money on and French farmers are cashing in on. I m no expert of agro-forestry but, as readers will know, lack of knowledge doesn t usually stop me talking about a topic. The principle seems to be that by farming 20-50m wide strips of crops between rows of trees you create rich bio-spheres of genetic diversity which in turn deliver a greater abundance of food per ha. The biodiversity harboured by the trees helps keep the crops clean of disease, pests and weeds and vice-versa. There are also benefits for the soil in that erosion is limited and leaf litter replenishes organic matter. You also get more spray days as lines of trees provide shelter from the wind. The presence of trees reduces overall crop yield through physically occupying space in the field but the harvest from the trees whether it s from wood or fruit compensates for this. The argument is you re making more use of the environment through tree height and deeper rooting whereas simple arable cropping only exploits the meter above the ground and the meter below. This is all very interesting, if not a little perverse for a man of my generation, who can remember as a boy that widespread and common farm activity that was called hedge grubbing. Around my parts of Essex it largely took place in the 1960s, so it s in my boyhood memory banks along with JFK, Bobby Charlton, Jimi Hendrix and Neil Armstrong. The principle behind hedge grubbing was that the larger the field the better the cropping. Suddenly, 50 years on it now seems to be the other way round. But as someone who has never actually grubbed a hedge but has planted a few I recognise it s actually a bit more complicated than the larger the field the better the profits. For starters new hedges can be planted in geometric patterns that better allows the use of modern agricultural machinery which was the prime reason why hedges were taken out fifty years ago. The spider webs of small fields could be turned into comprehensive manageable blocks. Today when we plant hedges things are done in straight lines rather than in the way they seem to have been done during the enclosures when they weaved their convoluted way around medieval rights of way and a myriad other legal complications. Despite the hedge grubbing of the 1960s and 70s, England remains the most hedged landscape in the world with half a million miles of hedges. So the question is: does the presence and proximity of the hedge suggest advantages you might get from agroforestry? My experience suggests the closer you get to the hedge the lower the yield. It s usually where the rabbit damage is greatest and in most years the hedge tends to drought the land by drawing moisture. There s also the expense of maintenance. But then again there s no income contribution from the hedge unless you re into selling sloes or blackberries. The main income I get from my hedges is by virtue of their greening contribution to my BPS obligations. Which brings me back to the changing landscape of Northern France. You suspect it s government schemes and payments that s driving agroforestry rather than scientifically proven advantages from combining arable agriculture and silviculture cheek by jowl. Guy Smith grows 500ha of combinable crops on the north east Essex coast, namely St. Osyth Marsh officially the driest spot in the British Isles. Despite spurious claims from others that their farms are actually drier, he points out that his farm is in the Guinness Book of Records, whereas others aren t. End of. your comments and ideas to gsmith2692@aol.com Will silvoarable agriculture draw more interest from farmers, or simply draw more rabbits onto arable land and moisture away from crops? 6 crop production magazine april 2016

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8 Saving on fungicides not an option It would be foolish not to employ the best tools for the job. Technical Disease control As T1 timing approaches, programmes are likely to be geared as much to protect SDHI chemistry as to control disease. CPM gathers agronomists thoughts on T1 and T2 fungicide applications. By Lucy de la Pasture With grain prices low, it s a kneejerk reaction to cut back on inputs. In a low disease season, it could be argued that triazoles applied alone, with multisite inhibitors or as azole mixtures could be the way to save money, particularly with wheat at 100/t or thereabouts, says independent agronomist, Sean Sparling. But this is definitely not a low disease-pressure season, he counters. The growth of crops and diseases alike have carried on almost uninterrupted since last autumn, with septoria very easy to find and widespread within the canopies of most varieties. 8 crop production magazine april 2016 It comes as no surprise that the same resistant septoria mutation discovered in Ireland has now arrived in the UK it was always just a matter of time before it blew downwind to us. Which is why it s even more important to protect the SDHI chemistry we have available and which is working well for the time being at least, he adds. The combination of the discovery of these new resistant strains and the high disease pressure, means it would be foolish not to employ the best tools for the job SDHI, triazole and multisite fungicide mixtures, he believes. Total failure Hutchinson s Dr David Ellerton agrees growers should adopt anti-resistance strategies now so that they don t get into the position of total failure that happened with the strobilurins. SDHIs are crucial to our fungicide programmes and it s vital to protect their activity. It s important not to overuse them in order to reduce selection pressure and to apply them at a rate appropriate to the disease pressure. Ideally growers should adopt a timely, preventative approach to keep on top of The growth of crops and diseases alike have carried on almost uninterrupted since last autumn, says Sean Sparling. septoria and avoid the disease getting established. But in high disease-pressure situations, such as experienced so far this season, higher rates of more expensive products such as SDHIs will be needed, even though this increases selection pressure on the SDHI chemistry, he explains. Clare Bend of Agrii says fungicides are arguably the most cost effective input and can make or break the profitability of a crop. Work carried out in the past by plant

9 Disease control pathologists has confirmed that the optimum dose rate of a fungicide is affected little by grain price until you get to the extremely low levels of 60-70/t. With grain prices where they are, the driver to reducing cost/t is yield. We ve analysed our trials and the best fungicide programmes drive cost/t of production down, while maximizing margin over fungicide cost, she advises. Agrii has been advising growers to move away from very septoria-susceptible varieties to those with better ratings, to reduce pressure on chemistry and cash flow, she adds. Independent consultant Niall Atkinson reckons the present economics of wheat production require a much greater emphasis on all round cost control, with every potential input from a cultivation to spray application scrutinised. Choice of varieties becomes ever more important as growers look for better inherent septoria resistance, he believes, adding that careful variety choice forms the start of disease control programmes. I ll be looking to tailor disease control more specifically to varieties in the ground coupled with weather information and the growers ability to react and cover the ground quickly. So when it comes to what s going in the tank, is the backdrop of possible septoria insensitivity and low grain prices going to make a difference? David Jones of CCC Agronomy doesn t think so. It s easy to panic about the discovery of septoria isolates with reduced sensitivity to SDHI fungicides in Ireland and recently in the UK, but it shouldn t make any difference to our approach to septoria control. Explaining his reasoning, he says, We ve known since the strobilurins were introduced in the late 90s, that single-site modes of action are very vulnerable to resistance, and this is why as an industry we ve had a strong focus on minimising this risk through sensible advice on fungicide use. Worst case scenario He agrees we should all be following the FRAC guidelines to try to prevent, or at least delay, the worst case scenario of widespread SDHI resistance. Using different modes of action, such as chlorothalonil (CTL) and triazoles with SDHI chemistry, keeping dose rates appropriate and, if at all possible, using fungicides in protectant situations will all help. SDHIs will continue to form the corner stone of my fungicide programs at the T2 timing. But with more septoria-resistant varieties, such as Skyfall and Crusoe, I ll be David Ellerton says adopt anti-resistance strategies now to avoid total failure of the SDHI chemistry. looking to use much less of the new generation SDHIs at T1 this year, if disease pressure allows, says David Jones. Cutting back on fungicide spend in most years will reduce yield and increase cost/t, believes Clare Bend. crop production magazine april

10 Niall Atkinson will be tailoring his disease control more specifically to varieties in the ground. Early disease prevention will be vital this year to manage septoria effectively, believes Dr Paul Fogg of Frontier. To achieve this, we ve advised careful variety choice to reduce disease risk, which will now be followed by a front-loaded programme to gain control early on but which can also be adapted later should disease pressure fall, he says. Robust levels T0 sprays were built around CTL and, given the rust pressure common in many varieties, a triazole is also likely to have been included. Timpani, for example, delivers robust levels of CTL and tebuconazole. ProCam trials show using triazoles with CTL at T0 is a good foundation for the programme, says Dr Tudor Dawkins, ProCam technical director. Even the inclusion of cyflufenamid, where mildew is present, has helped control septoria as a side benefit. An important part of early Procam advice was selecting the right triazoles to use at T0. It s essential to ensure we don t condition the septoria population to adverse selection pressure to the azoles we want to use later, he explains. Both tebuconazole and prochloraz have a role to play at T0 in association with CTL. In years of high disease pressure, like 2014, we saw an extra 1t/ha of yield from this approach and this year looks very similar so far. The starting point for Steve Cook of Hampshire Arable Systems, was multisite CTL at T0, applied when leaf four was emerged. Explaining his rationale, he stresses the need to adopt a protectant strategy. Septoria races have changed rapidly in the past few years to reach a point where triazoles no longer give reliable curative activity. The only real curative activity we have is from SDHI chemistry. The situation which will lead to the largest selection pressure for resistance is applying an SDHI in curative situations, because no other mode of action will help eradicate disease, so effectively it s an SDHI on its own. The best way to protect SDHI chemistry is to try to keep control protectant. Sean Sparling believes strobilurins may still have a role to play in programmes. I included CTL with a strobilurin rather than a triazole at T0, because reduced doses of triazoles, even at the T0 timing, can increase the frequency of resistant strains. I ll also be adding CTL to my T1 to further protect the new growth of the canopy, as well as giving added protection to the triazole and SDHI T1 base. There s general agreement that strobilurins, and pyraclostrobin in particular, is still giving some help on septoria in a protectant situation, as well as good rust activity. Paul Fogg says, While strobilurins no longer have a strategic role in controlling septoria, we consistently see that the pyrclostrobin in Ceriax adds to the levels of control delivered by fluxapyroxad+ epoxiconazole (as in Adexar) on its own. One possible explanation for this may be the germ-tube suppression afforded by pyraclostrobin as reported by Kildea et al Sean Sparling plans to use SDHI plus triazole at T1 and T2 this season, the driver behind the decision being the high level of septoria in the field, but he

11 emphasises that full consideration must be given to protecting both fungicide groups. Leading azoles That means applying a minimum 75-80% triazole dose, using one of the leading azoles such as prothioconazole or epoxiconazole with the recommended dosage of SDHI plus a multisite, he says. Frontier programmes are also likely based on SDHIs at T1 and T2 given the amount of disease potentially threatening yields, reckons Paul Fogg. T1 options will be either penthiopyrad (Vertisan) plus Manitoba (epoxiconazole+ folpet), or Ceriax plus CTL. The Vertisan mix works well, as the straight SDHI gives us some dose rate flexibility based on disease pressure at this stage and Manitoba adds the essential multi-site, as well as an 80% dose of epoxiconazole. David Jones believes Keystone (epoxiconazole+ isopyrazam) could have a useful role at T1 in more septoria susceptible varieties in a protectant situation this season, offering cost-effective protection with a robust dose of both SDHI and triazole. Where he judges disease pressure doesn t justify the expense, a minimum of a 75% dose of epoxiconazole and 1 l/ha of CTL will form the basis for T1 septoria protection. Boscalid and strobilurins will be brought in where eyespot and rusts are also a risk. Paul Fogg advocates a front-loaded programme to gain control early on, which can also be adapted later should disease pressure fall. David Jones doesn t believe the discovery of SDHI resistant septoria isolates should make any difference to the approach to septoria control. That s the sort of approach Niall Atkinson concurs with. If conditions at T1 are favourable towards septoria deveopment and timings are compromised, then robust rates of SDHI will be required. But if conditions for disease development are low and timely applications can be practiced, then cheaper azoles, at a robust rate, together with CTL will be an option giving good protection through to T2. For Steve Cook, T1 applications will be timed at leaf three just fully emerged and will include an SDHI plus triazole and CTL. Triazoles will be important in the program to keep the protectant element as high as possible. I m considering CTL on leaf two because this is the leaf which will be most vulnerable, possibly relying on eradicant activity to keep it clean, so a protectant added when leaf two is just emerged will help, he reckons. There s also evidence that CTL will reduce eradicant activity of the SDHI, so moving the CTL to an earlier timing could help. This may mean an extra pass but could fit with a late growth regulation application, he suggests. In Clare Bend s opinion, strategies should be a mixture of two or three modes of action at T1, depending on risk. At T1, inclusion of an SDHI is important where disease risk is high, as omitting a T1 SDHI only exposes the T2 SDHI to greater curative pressures, she reasons. At T2 inclusion of an SDHI is

12 Disease control Select the right triazoles to use at T0, points out Tudor Dawkins, to ensure the septoria population isn t conditioned to the azoles you want to use later. essential, with the top three SDHIs, based on our data, being fluxapyroxad, bixafen and penthiopyrad. Adding multi-sites both folpet and chlorothalonil as each has strengths and weaknesses will be at the core of strategies, she explains. These should be applied two or three times in the season, depending on disease threat, but most particularly at T0 and T1. We re reluctant to include CTL at T2 if bixafen (in Aviator Xpro) is to be included as the SDHI of choice, because of antagonism, although the extent of this appears to vary between formulations, while folpet seems fine as a mixer. Imtrex (fluxapyroxad) with CTL doesn t seem to be an issue, she notes. According to Agrii trials, formulation is as important as selection of the rate of active ingredient applied, and can make a big difference, believes Clare Bend. Leaves are difficult to penetrate and, unless you can get the active ingredient to the target site effectively, you won t get the most from the products you re applying. Good formulation Imtrex is a particularly good formulation, she adds, and when put with a good triazole formulation, such as Brutus (epoxiconazole+ metconazole), easily and consistently outperforms Adexar. Some formulations can be improved by using a separate adjuvant, especially where the target is challenging. Ear disease, brown rust low in the canopy and high application speeds are examples, she suggests. Using an SDHI plus azole at T2 is a given, with every agronomist believing there would have to be a particularly good justification for omitting the combination at this timing. But what about how the azole should be used within the program? Clare Bend says that Agrii advise both stacking and alternating triazoles as strategies. With the plethora of azole-resistant strains out there, susceptible to a greater or lesser degree to different azoles, keeping septoria guessing must be the name of the game, she says. We know that continued use of the same azole in a programme effectively selects a population resistant to that azole. Triazole formulation is important too the yield benefit of stacked azoles such as Kestrel/Prosaro (prothioconazole + tebuconazole) and Brutus were backed up by HGCA AFD data when the products were first introduced. What we ve found is that the benefits over single azoles have increased over time, from +0.2t/ha in the mid 2000s to +0.8t/ha now. We think part of this is the better formulations but also because we re hitting septoria with a blend of two azoles. Switching from one azole mix to another at each fungicide timing is important, she stresses. But David Jones doesn t completely buy into that approach. I m less convinced by azole mixtures; having reviewed the science from a range of researchers over the winter and from the AICC own trials data, I believe that mixing triazoles neither reduces resistance risk or markedly improves disease control however key triazole (epoxiconazole/prothioconazole) rotation within a T1/T2 programme is potentially a sensible strategy, he believes. Frontiers achieve this by basing T2 sprays on either robust rates of Skyway Xpro (bixafen+ prothioconazole+ tebuconazole) or Ceriax (fluxapyroxad+ epoxiconazole), with or without CTL (depending on what was used at T1), explains Paul Fogg. Using Skyway means we can alternate SDHI activities and also brings in a further triazole in the form of prothioconazole. Tudor Dawkins emphasises that protection is the name of the game and T2 mixtures must be designed to protect yield-generating leaves. ProCam trials have again demonstrated the benefits of using triazoles, strobilurins and SDHIs in combination, to achieve this. If disease pressure is less, as in 2015, it s better to fine tune doses at this stage rather than drop actives from the programme altogether, he adds. Steve Cook says his T2 fungicides will be SDHI plus triazole again and maybe a further CTL addition if well timed. But if it s delayed, the CTL will be left out and doses of SDHI increased. T3 fungicides will be timed for fusarium protection and will include further triazole to top up septoria protection. Sean Sparling sums up the danger to SDHIs: Overuse, reduced rates and poor protection of the SDHIs will lead to a rapid rise in resistant isolates in the field, so no more than two SDHIs should be applied in any one growing season. We may be fighting a losing battle with resistance, but while these products are still working, we have to look after and protect them for as long as we can hindsight is no good to anyone.

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14 Quest underway for resilient strategies Growers are spending money they don t need to spend and driving resistance at the same time. Guidance on how to use SDHI fungicides may be clear, but what will be the relative impact of resistance management strategies and how will septoria populations evolve? CPM asks key scientists for an update. By Tom Allen-Stevens The Pesticide Usage Survey for 2015 suggests the highest ever number of fungicide treatments were applied to wheat crops last year. Nearly all of them received four applications, with the biggest rise being seen in the number of sprays applied at the T0 timing. And yet septoria levels in crops last year were the lowest recorded in recent times. This has served to increase concern that fungicide applications are not matched to the actual in-season disease risk faced by wheat crops, notes Dr Paul Gosling of AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds. Growers are spending money they don t need to spend and driving resistance up at the same time. So this a double whammy that threatens the profitability of growing wheat 14 crop production magazine april 2016 in both the short and medium term. What cements the worry is the finding, announced in Feb, of a key mutation with the potential to confer high levels of SDHI resistance in UK septoria populations, detected at a field site in southern England, and discovered as part of an AHDB monitoring project, led by Rothamsted Research. This could have implications for SDHI fungicide efficacy, he points out. It s difficult to say at the moment just how significant this finding is. We don t think the effect will be as dramatic as the spread of septoria resistance to strobilurin fungicides, and believe the mutation may carry a fitness cost that will limit how fast the isolates develop within the population. AHDB has now approved an extra 30,000 of research specifically to monitor this new mutation. This will allow 48 sites to be sampled over the season and will build up a good picture of how this isolate has spread, and the speed with which it is developing, he reports. But this is quite specific and will be carried out alongside ongoing research into azole sensitivity. Meanwhile, a significant industry-funded project looking at the consequences of intensive fungicide use is now drawing to a conclusion (see panel on page 17). It s Paul Gosling says an extra 30,000 of AHDB funding will go towards research specifically to monitor the new sdh mutation. clear that resistance must be taken seriously azole sensitivity is going in only one direction, and it s the intensity of azole use that s driving it, stresses Paul Gosling. A new project, part funded by BASF, is now underway that aims to quantify how cultural control techniques, such as choice of variety, can contribute to overall disease management. The previous project has shown they make a difference, although it s still relatively small there s not much scope in the resistance of current varieties.

15 Theory to Field But the two new wheats on the AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds Recommended List with a rating of 7 for septoria is a step in the right direction. If the SDH mutation does turn out to be significant, as with herbicide resistance, cultural control will play more of a role and growers will need reliable information so they can plan how to use varietal resistance to best effect. The use of multi-site fungicides should also remain the backbone of disease control programmes, he adds. They are powerful resistant-management tools. It s clear growers are shifting the start of fungicide programmes to earlier in the season, which is where multi-sites fit in well. But a straight azole at T0 and T3 is a very unwise choice. Last year, around 1200 septoria isolates from wheat leaf samples taken at 16 sites across the UK were analysed by researchers at Rothamsted. The main purpose was to monitor changes in the CYP51 protein that bring reduced sensitivity to azole fungicides, explains lead researcher Dr Bart Fraaije. We ve stepped up the monitoring and included four samples from France and two from Germany to improve our understanding of new azole-resistance mechanisms and CYP51 mutations that resistant isolates may have developed. Efflux pump Among these is increased efflux pump activity, often due to overexpressing of the transporter MgMFS1, whereby the pathogen cells develop the ability to expel chemicals. Whether that s an azole, QoI (strobilurin) or SDHI, the fungicide is pumped out before it has the chance to reach the target. This could increase resistance by up to ten times, depending on the fungicide being used. Another worrying development is the identification of strains combining all three resistance mechanisms: CYP51 Follow the FRAG guidelines To limit the spread of septoria resistance to SDHI fungicides, growers should: 1. Follow the statutory requirement to limit the number of applications to two SDHI fungicide-containing sprays. 2. Always use SDHI fungicides in mixture with at least one fungicide from an alternative mode of action group which has comparable efficacy against the target pathogen(s). 3. Not tank-mix two SDHI fungicides this is not an anti-resistance strategy. mutations, CYP51 overexpression and increased efflux pump activity. The incidence of increased efflux pump activity is still low in septoria populations currently at 0-6% across most UK and French locations sampled last season although in a sample from Scotland and one site in N Germany, 20-33% of isolates displayed this property at the start of the season, reports Bart Fraaije. Increased efflux pump activity is found in different CYP51 variants and the impact on fitness needs further investigation. With regard to CYP51 mutations, no new variants were found in What researchers did find, however, could be far more sinister as far as SDHI sensitivity is concerned. Three of the 195 late season isolates tested from one site in southern England showed medium to high resistance to SDHI fungicides. They ve been on the look-out for the tell-tale mutations and have identified a range of different mutations in lab experiments that can confer resistance, he explains. SDHIs work on three different sub units of the succinate dehydrogenase protein (SdhA, B and C), and you have to sequence all three genes to establish if target site changes confer resistance. One of the mutations we re particularly interested in is the one causing C-H152R (amino acid histidine replaced by arginine at position 152 of the SdhC protein). The alarming thing about this target site change is that it gives the pathogen a much higher resistance capability. That s the key mutation we ve now identified from the field sample, and this was also reported in Ireland. In addition to C-H152R, seven other Sdh mutations conferring lower levels of resistance were also found for the first time in the UK in What they don t yet know is whether the mutations carry a fitness cost. The reason QoI resistance was so dramatic was that the mutation that conferred it (cytochrome b G143A) was associated with very high levels of resistance and didn t affect the pathogen s ability to survive and reproduce in any way. Whether the C-H152R mutation affects SDHI performance and carries a fitness penalty is exactly what we hope to find out through the extra monitoring and testing this year, he notes. Sampling at both the start and end of the season at 48 locations, mostly carried out by NIAB TAG, SRUC, ADAS and Teagasc in Ireland, will build up a picture of how this new threat is evolving. We ve also developed in-field diagnostic tests for CYP51 and MgMFS1 over-expressing Bart Fraaije has identified strains combining all three resistance mechanisms: CYP51 mutations, CYP51 overexpression and increased efflux pump activity. strains, and hope to be able to demonstrate them at a future Cereals event. But the point about finding resistance is that it shouldn t, in itself, change your approach in the field, according to Dr Neil Paveley of ADAS. The strategies that are most effective at slowing resistance before you find it are also the most effective at keeping its spread minimised. So the key objective is to find out what these strategies are. That s been the aim of a four-year project led by ADAS that draws to a conclusion this year. Four different fungicide treatment regimes have been applied to three wheat varieties, with a low, moderate and high septoria-resistance rating. Selection for azole-insensitive and efflux strains of septoria has been tracked and the economic response of the varieties to the fungicide regimes compared. The surprise finding of the trials is just how well a low-intensity fungicide programme has performed financially, even in a high disease year such as 2014, notes Neil Paveley. The startling result from the 2015 season was the strong performance of the untreated plots, albeit on varieties where yellow rust was not much of an issue (see chart on p16). But that s all with the benefit of hindsight. Growers started their 2015 fungicide What researchers don t yet know is whether the resistant isolates carry a fitness penalty. crop production magazine april

16 Theory to Field Economic response of varieties to different fungicide strategies The surprise finding of the trials is just how well a low-intensity fungicide programme has performed financially, notes Neil Paveley. Margin over fungicide ( /ha) Untreated Low Moderate High Fungicide intensity Crusoe Cubanita Conqueror programmes with the high disease pressure of the previous year in mind. Although the severity of septoria does not relate to the severity in the previous season, few would have risked a low-intensity programme. High gross margins But more disease resistant varieties produce high gross margins and reduce the risk associated with lower intensity fungicide programmes, points out Neil Paveley. Because disease epidemics grow more slowly on less susceptible varieties, disease forecasting works better, to match inputs to the season. The project has shown that Margin over fungicide ( /ha) Untreated Low Moderate High Source: ADAS; mean of five trials per year; wheat price 100/t Cougar Zulu Gallant Smarter approach needed as resistance evolves Velcourt technical director Keith Norman reckons it was only a matter of time before septoria isolates with resistance to SDHI were detected in the UK. We ve been doing our own sampling work across our trials sites and have picked up another isolate this time in Suffolk with a different mutation to the one found in southern England earlier this year, he reports. SDHIs have a similar protection mechanism to strobilurins, so this development was inevitable. However, the newer chemistry works on three sub units within the pathogen, rather than just the one site targeted by strobs, so resistance is not black-and-white, and I think we ll see a slower degradation. It will be crucial for growers and agronomists to be kept informed of how the resistance picture evolves, however. The AHDB-funded work in this area is vital, and it s good news that extra resources have been allocated to monitor this new development we need a truly independent system. But I d like to see more monitoring and wider sampling on a national basis, and feel government funds should be used for such an approach, maintains Keith Norman. We need the extra strength of SDHIs there s no doubt about it, as when the chips are down as they were in 2012 and 2014, it was clear that the azoles just don t have the edge you could once rely on. But we should be wary of overuse if your crop is clean at T1, why not save the Rolls Royce chemistry for just one application at the T2 timing, for example? Overuse of azoles will also drive resistance, he points out, although use must be appropriate to the individual situation. This puts the emphasis on better monitoring adopting a pragmatic approach, where you regularly check on disease levels will help tailor a programme and identify where, for example, just chlorothalonil at T0 would suffice. Current AHDB-funded research will help growers and agronomists choose the right prescription of inputs for a given set of circumstances, he believes. But what s still lacking is a smarter approach to forecasting. There are technologies such as in-field tests and drone-mounted spectral photography that hold Keith Norman would like to see government funds spent on more monitoring and wider sampling on a national basis. some promise in how they can help here, which may ensure the chemistry is better used to best effect in future. 16 crop production magazine april 2016

17 Theory to Field Research round-up AHDB project , Consequences of intensive fungicide use or integrated disease management for fungicide resistance and sustainable control, runs from Jan 2013 to Sept Its aim is to quantify the effect of integrated disease management on selection of fungicide-resistant pathogen strains, translate this into implications for the effective life of fungicides, and interpret the implications. Its total cost is 691,546, and the project has industry partners Adama, BASF, Bayer CropScience, CRD, Defra, DuPont, Limagrain and Syngenta. AHDB funding amounts to 40,000, with the research carried out by ADAS and Rothamsted Research. AHDB project , Combining agronomy, variety and chemistry to maintain control of Septoria tritici in wheat, runs from Aug 2015 to March Its aim is to compare the value of cultural control measures as part of a disease management programme, specifically sowing date and disease-resistant varieties and to quantify this in terms of yield, disease control and margin over fungicide cost. Led by ADAS, its total cost is 359,163, funded by AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds, BASF and Teagasc. AHDB project , Identification and characterisation of azole sensitivity shifts in Irish and UK populations of Mycosphaerella graminicola (Zymoseptoria tritici) sampled from AHDB fungicide performance winter wheat trials, runs from April 2011 to March Its aim is to identify changes to the CYP51 gene targeted by azoles in field populations of septoria leaf blotch, to link these to field applications of fungicide treatments, and to establish if alternative resistance mechanisms are evolving. Its initial cost was 60,000 funded by AHDB. An additional 30,000 has been granted to monitor septoria isolates with the SDH C-H152R mutation. The research is led by Rothamsted Research, with partners ADAS, NIAB TAG, SRUC and Teagasc providing samples. AHDB Information Sheets 48 and 49 have been updated with the latest fungicide activity and performance in wheat and barley. To download them, go to cereals.ahdb.org. uk/publications and search publications for IS48 (wheat) or IS49 (barley). The new project is very farmer-focused and will give growers a clear picture on how to adapt strategies. the combination of resistant varieties and appropriate fungicide inputs does slow down fungicide insensitivity. Most growers would want some reliable facts and figures on which to base any change in strategy, however, argues Catriona Walker of ADAS. That s the aim of a new set of trials that ll run over the next three years on four sites across the UK plus one in Ireland. The aim is to deliver direct information on how cultural control techniques interact with different fungicide programmes it s a very farmer-focused project that will give growers a very clear picture on how to adapt strategies. In the event septoria develops significant resistance to SDHIs, we hope we can help growers adopt financially proportionate fungicide programmes, she says. Three varieties KWS Santiago, JB Diego and Revelation have been planted at mid-to-late Sept and mid-to-late Oct drilling dates at high and low seed rates. Four fungicide treatments, from untreated to high intensity, will be applied. It will build into a regional picture on best economic return for fungicide use. But importantly it should equip growers with information how to optimise control, however septoria populations develop.

18 Treat barley varieties as individuals It s very important to protect these lower leaves and start fungicide programmes early. Not all barley is the same, advises Iain Hamilton fungicides should be tailored to variety and disease risk. Technical Barley agronomy When it comes to barley varieties, they re definitely not all the same. Hybrids actually need you to tear up the rule book when it comes to fungicide timings. CPM seeks guidance. By Lucy de la Pasture According to the AHDB early-bird forecast, the winter barley area is estimated to be down this year, in contrast to last year s trend. But within that area, hybrid barley varieties have increased their share to capture about a fifth of the planted area. Barley s no longer the poor relation to wheat and it s increasingly important to get the agronomy right to make the most of its inclusion in the rotation. 18 crop production magazine april 2016 According to Iain Hamilton, Syngenta field technical manager, historically there s been a tendency to treat all barley varieties in the same way but to get the most out of them there s scope for tailoring inputs. One of the fundamental differences between barley and wheat is that in barley, the lower leaves and stem make an important contribution to yield, he points out. In barley successive leaves diminish in size, with the area of the flag leaf being half that of leaf two and a quarter of leaf five in conventional varieties. As a result, as much as 30% of the yield contribution comes from leaves four and five so it s very important to protect these lower leaves and start fungicide programmes early, with a T0 spray often justifiable. We talk a lot about diseases in winter wheat and matching fungicide programmes to varietal strengths and weaknesses, but exactly the same applies for barley, he says. Equally, using mixtures and sequences of active ingredients from different chemical groups as part of a resistance management strategy is paramount. Varieties can be broadly grouped according to their RL ratings for the main barley diseases; net blotch, rhynchosporium and brown rust. You can then tailor fungicide programmes to the risk of disease in your locality, with ramularia much more significant in the north of the country and rhynchosporium predominant in the wetter western counties, reckons Iain Hamilton. Careful management Net blotch is increasingly requiring more careful management, with the strobilurin group of chemistry not always fully effective against the disease because of resistance. The resistance mutation isn t as absolute as with septoria resistance in wheat, but there s still a very marked reduction in efficacy, he explains. Iain Hamilton recommends using an SDHI at both T1 and T2 timings, adding that Cebara (cyprodinil+ isopyrazam) consistently performs well in trials, particularly on net blotch. It has the added benefit of containing a partner product with a unique mode of action supporting the SDHI, without over reliance on the azole group of chemistry, he points out. Where rhynchosporium is the main problem, adding prothioconazole (PTZ) to any SDHI programme is advisable. Ramularia requires the addition of chlorothalonil to the tank mix to help protect against the pathogen, with T2 being the key timing for ramularia control, he adds. When it comes to timing fungicide applications on the hybrid varieties of winter barley Bazooka, Belfry and Volume they re a completely different kettle

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20 Barley agronomy Unlike in conventional varieties, T2 is equally as important as T1 because hybrids have a bigger flag leaf and canopy. of fish to conventional barleys, says James Marshall-Roberts, Syngenta s technical crop expert for hybrid barley. The hybrids have much bigger flag leaves and a bigger canopy, so make much more of a contribution to yield. Unlike in conventional varieties, T2 is equally as important as T1 and we re finding there s a benefit from pushing the fungicide timings back a bit, he comments. A Robust and persistent T1 should be applied at GS32 following a T0 if it has been required. If ramularia is a risk, applying a protectant fungicide, such as Bravo (chlorothalonil) with your GS37 application of Terpal (mepiquat+ 2-chloroethylphosphonic acid), may be beneficial. The hybrids generally have good rhynchosporium resistance but may be susceptible to brown rust and net blotch, particularly the older varieties, he says. In trials we ve found using a Cebara (cyprodinil+ isopyrazam) plus PTZ programme and delaying the T2 application to GS45-59, rather than the usual GS39-45, helps to retain Green Leaf Area. This allows the Hyvido variety to absorb as much sunlight as possible. Clean ears and awns maximise grain set, all of which convert into yield and good specific weights. Fungicide management also has an important role to play in preventing varieties from brackling, believes James Marshall- Roberts. Volume, in particular, has a tendency to brackle in delayed harvest years and high rates of Cebara plus PTZ help prevent this. This is due to the greening effect of the SDHI which prolongs photosynthesis keeping the plant in good health and maintaining upper stem strength. Net blotch warrants robust approach in spring barley Barley varieties to keep a watch on Disease Varieties Rating Net blotch Cassata 3 Flagon 4 KWS Tower Cavalier 5 KWS Infinity KWS Orwell Pearl Surge Rhynchosporium SY Venture 4 KWS Cassia Retriever KWS Glacier 5 Pearl California Brown rust Pearl 5 California SY Venture Source: 2016/17 AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds Recommended List The days of a cheap n cheerful approach to spring barley disease control may be over, believes Devon agronomist, Arthur Marshall. He s been forced to increase his winter barley disease control programme to help manage the threat of net blotch in spring barley crops. A series of recent mild winters has seen a surge in the disease and his spring barley programme is now a three-spray strategy, with SDHIs at the core. With few cultural options to help quell the disease, he feels he has little choice but to rely on more robust foliar programmes. Variety choice is driven by markets, yield reliability and straw. In my area Propino and Sanette dominate. Both have reasonable resistance to rhynchosporium but appear a little susceptible to net blotch. Clearly there are varieties that are a bit more resilient against the disease but they don t provide the same opportunity for growers. Winter crops get two applications of Siltra Xpro (prothioconazole+ bixafen) following a cyprodinil at T0, a programme he is now extending to spring crops. Early on, rhynchosporium is the main target but the T0 helps with net blotch too, plus it brings in an alternative mode of action. That s important because the level of net blotch pressure we ve been experiencing over the past two years is forcing us into using more potent chemistry, he says. The move to a more robust spring barley programme doesn t concern Arthur Marshall, even with the lack of sunlight restricting grain fill in many seasons. The problem here is our maritime climate. It s too warm and wet, fuelling disease and often limiting crop potential. Some of my fields have water on three sides and even a moderate net blotch infection can take 20% of crop yield, which can be critical for crop going for feed use. But well managed crops will still achieve 7t/ha, justifying the higher disease-control spend. And when we do get those seasons where the weather is favourable, then yields typically hit the 8t/ha mark and with careful N applications, there s the bonus of better premium market opportunities. Another agronomist who shares his concern about net blotch is Steve Cook of Hampshire Arable Systems. He has seen more evidence of the disease in the autumn but feels the situation is under control. He agrees that it s increasing prevalence is due to cycles of favourable weather throughout the year and a resulting build-up of inoculum ahead of the following season. He s turned to two applications of an SDHI, but feels Fandango (prothioconazole+ fluoxastrobin) still has a place. T1 is a good opportunity to get on top of the disease, so we go down the SDHI route at early stem extension, especially as spring crops don t get a T0 and there are other targets such as mildew, rusts and rhynchosporium. Good disease control at T1 gives you a bit of flexibility at T2 and the chance to use prothioconazole with alternative modes of action, he points out. Bayer s Tim Nicholson feels part of the net blotch problem could be rhynchosporium. He says growers can be forced into going too early at T1, extending Where rhynchosporium is the main problem, the addition of prothioconazole to any SDHI programme is advisable. the gap to T2. I think the favourable weather has resulted in higherrhynchosporium pressure earlier in the season for both winter and spring crops, resulting in T1 sprays being brought forward. But with growers trying to hold their T2 sprays until full awn emergence in spring crops, the gap is becoming too stretched, letting in net blotch. Where growers have to apply T1s early, the potency of an SDHI such as bixafen is invaluable. But even then, make sure the gap to T2 doesn t get stretched beyond four weeks, he warns. Arthur Marshall agrees and also points out that for mixed farms other priorities may contribute too. If you re TB testing then it really can intensify the pressure on farm resources. Even though it s a short season for spring crops, application timing is still critical. No product will work as well as it was designed if it s poorly timed, even more potent SDHIs, he concludes. 20 crop production magazine april 2016

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22 When we took people into the field, what they saw hit them between the eyes. The fungicide that earned its fanfare Technical Innovation Insight Xemium was launched with one of the biggest marketing campaigns for a fungicide seen in recent years, but what gave BASF such confidence in the product which quickly became market leader in its sector? CPM tells the story. By Tom Allen-Stevens These days, an innovative addition to the chemistry toolkit is a relatively rare occurrence. It makes the introduction of a new fungicide not only significant, but truly a landmark event. 22 crop production magazine april 2016 When BASF launched Xemium (fluxapyroxad) in Oct 2011, it was given the fanfare warranted by just such an innovation. A broad-spectrum SDHI fungicide, positioned at the main cereal timings, the potential market was huge and Xemium s marketing campaign would have left few growers in any doubt about its suitability. We were really very excited about Xemium, recalls BASF crop protection field sales manager Steve Dennis. It was clear early on that we had something quite special. Its potential wasn t just big in sales terms Xemium had a real technical edge, and that sort of product doesn t come round very often. What particularly excited the sales team was how well Xemium was performing in pre-launch trials. It was doing something to the crop that, at that point, you just couldn t explain, but the difference over standard strobilurin/triazole-based programmes was very obvious. Although we couldn t reveal too much about the material, we couldn t resist taking people into plots to give them Xemium was launched with a marketing campaign would have left few growers in any doubt about its potential to be a leading fungicide. a sneak preview, and they were equally amazed. Xemium is now sold worldwide, with approvals on over 100 different crops. In 2013, it received the BASF Innovation Award for a product across the company s business that has achieved outstanding results, and in the same year BASF increased the peak

23 Innovation Insight For Steve Dennis, Xemium wasn t just big in sales terms it had a real technical edge. sales potential for Xemium by 200 million to more than 600 million. In the UK, Adexar (fluxapyroxad+ epoxiconazole) is now established as the biggest SDHI product applied to wheat at the T2 spray timing. In independent trials conducted by SRUC, NIAB TAG and ADAS, Adexar and Librax (fluxapyroxad+ metconazole) have yielded an average of more than 0.2t/ha over Aviator (bixafen+ prothioconazole) across 73 comparisons from 2014 and 2015, delivering an average margin benefit of 20/ha. Original SDHI So where did this innovation originate? The story for this group of chemistry started some decades ago, explains Markus Gewehr, who led the research team for Xemium at the BASF R&D headquarters in Limburgerhof, Germany. The carboxamide fungicide benodanil was used as a seed treatment, while in 2004, boscalid was introduced for use on oilseed rape, cereals and speciality crops. The chemistry works by blocking the activity of the succinate dehydrogenase enzyme within the mitochondria of the fungus. These are the fungal energy factories, and without the enzyme, the mitochondria can t function and the pathogen shuts down. Boscalid is good, but its activity is limited in terms of the pathogens it will control. Robust treatments needed against septoria and rust Markus Gewehr was convinced sdh inhibitors held great potential, and was part of the team that looked for a new active ingredient. But we were convinced there was greater potential to these SDH inhibitors, so in 2001, a new research project started looking for a new active ingredient. Our chief targets were Variety choice and a robust fungicide treatment form cornerstones of a strategy designed to keep disease in check for Ron Gabain, who manages the Stetchworth Estate near Newmarket. Septoria is always our primary target, together with rusts and eyespot, he notes. Already we re seeing both septoria and rust in the bottom of the crop this season, as a result of the mild winter conditions, and we need to make sure we keep on top of these diseases as they re more difficult to cure and easier to protect against. The Stetchworth Estate has 1200ha of arable crops on soils split roughly one third heavy and two thirds medium, all over chalk. On the heavier chalky boulder clay, winter wheat, spring barley, linseed and beans are grown and on the lighter land sugar beet, spring wheat and peas come into the rotation This year, Ron Gabain is growing 200ha of winter wheat and 100ha of spring wheat, some of which is late autumn drilled where conditions allow. He chooses his varieties carefully so that they bring good disease tolerance into the strategy. Otherwise you increase the risk of a serious disease outbreak if the weather breaks down, he notes. So Skyfall is one of the wheat varieties grown, while Crusoe and KWS Lili also have a suitable disease profile, he says. Following a mild winter with a lot of over-wintering septoria inoculum, he s concerned that warm wet conditions with rain splash could cause the disease to spread rapidly in the spring. If you don t keep on top of it, without a robust strategy in place you could be fighting a losing battle. So he feels there s a strong place for SDHIs in his fungicide programme and, while there are a number of good SDHI products available, has chosen Xemium over the rest. I think Librax and Adexar probably have the edge. The metconazole in Librax complements the Xemium and helps with the rust, septoria and eyespot control. In particular metconazole has a good profile on rusts and I think it may be least affected of the triazoles by resistance in septoria. So the combination of Xemium and metconazole in Librax works well together. I use Adexar at T1 as it partners one of the best SDHIs with one of the best triazoles, epoxiconazole, particularly against rusts. I find that a low rate of a morpholine can be helpful in the control of rusts and mildew too. At the T1 timing I d start with Adexar plus chlorothalonil, followed up approximately three weeks later at T2 by Librax and chlorothalonil with the objective of keeping septoria off the flag leaf. Ron Gabain is well aware of the SDHI septoria resistance reported recently, but the way he uses At the T1 timing Ron Gabain starts with Adexar plus chlorothalonil, following up at T2 with Librax and chlorothalonil. SDHIs in his programme is consistent with the FRAC guidelines of just two SDHI applications per crop and in coformulations and tank-mixes with multi-site fungicide chlorothalonil. The farm has hosted a number of independent and manufacturer s trials over many years. This brings Ron Gabain, who does most of his own field walking, valuable experience and knowledge of a range of products. I ve chosen to use Xemium fungicides because I believe them to be one of the best performing. I ve seen excellent trials results and I expect the best yields and the best disease control from Librax and Adexar, he adds. crop production magazine april

24 Innovation Insight They discovered a molecule with a far stronger performance at the later stages of the septoria pathogen s life cycle, which came initially as a complete surprise. septoria and Asian soybean rust, he recalls. More than 1100 analogues were synthesised by the research team and most of these were taken to small pot tests in the lab and field trials. Sure enough, there was one particular molecule that surfaced with outstanding activity against septoria. It came initially as a complete surprise, continues Markus Gewehr. Previously our work with SDHIs had shown they were only active at the very early stage of the pathogen s life cycle, yet here we had a molecule with far stronger performance at the later stages. We needed to know more about this remarkable discovery. There were hints that this novel efficacy was down to mobility. It was behaving differently to other SDHIs in how it reacted to different substrate within plant tissue. What they discovered was that the molecule changed its conformation (see panel below). This depended on whether it was moving in the wax layers of the leaf and through membranes of the fungi, requiring a lipophilic conformation, or travelling through the water-based cells, walls and vascular system, where a hydrophilic combination was better. Polar performance The different conformations change the molecule s polar properties. The most polar part of the molecule is the amide group, and this can be shielded by other parts of the molecule, making it lipophilic, or exposed, reducing the lipophilicity by around 100 times, explains Markus Gewehr. It means Xemium can move smoothly between lipophilic and hydrophilic environments within plants and fungi. This is unique, and we realised it was this mobility that was delivering the molecule rapidly to its target site with such efficiency. The next step was to develop a formulation to carry the active ingredient, notes BASF European technical manager Dieter Strobel. We d made a lot of progress with the development of Brutus (epoxiconazole+ metconazole). This know-how we transferred into Xemium and the resulting formulation ensured quick Molecule mobility Xemium adapts its conformation and complete coverage of the leaf surface and further improvements in mobility. The combination of its inherent mobility and its formulation gives Xemium systemic movement through the leaf, while its lipophilic property ensures it s taken quickly into the leaf s wax layer and is rainfast, he adds. However, we found 70% of the applied active stays in the wax layer and forms crystal-like depots that prolong the activity of the chemistry. The dossier for Xemium was submitted in 2009 just five years after the initial discovery was made and the product was launched in Oct It normally takes ten years to bring a new active to the market, but Xemium was developed in less than eight years, notes Dieter Strobel. The plan was to introduce Xemium to the market over several seasons prior to the launch in the UK, recalls Steve Dennis. When we took people into the field, what they saw hit them between the eyes they were completely blown away by the standard of disease control compared with what they d seen from a strob-triazole mix. The trials results were also showing a solid performance, with 2011 wheat trials at Teagasc delivering a 0.6t/ha yield benefit over Aviator. In barley in ADAS trials it gave a 0.3t/ha advantage over Siltra (bixafen+ prothioconazole) where rhynchosporium was the target, and it equalled Siltra s performance on net blotch. The yield responses were good, but it was delivering these even in the absence of disease, notes Steve Dennis. We were keen to explore some of the properties that we were seeing in the field what was the greening doing to the plant? Was there a difference we could measure for nitrogen and water-use efficiency? BASF asked ADAS to investigate these properties a three-year project was led by Julie Smith. I d seen Xemium in trials, and was aware this was a very strong product. Source: BASF The scientists realised it was Xemium s unusual mobility that was delivering the molecule rapidly to its target site with such efficacy. 24 crop production magazine april 2016

25 Innovation Insight Initially Julie Smith was sceptical, but found the greening resulted in an additional yield benefit of around 1t/ha. But like any scientist, I was sceptical of these greening claims, she says. We set about establishing first whether there were yield benefits above what could be explained through just disease control, and if there were, exactly what was going on. To be robust, these effects had to be expressed under field conditions. Trials were set up to measure healthy area duration (HAD). Previous research had established this as a robust method of quantifying the green leaf area over time, from ear emergence to canopy senescence, which could then be related to yield. We just looked at Xemium, compared with untreated, and wheat treated with epoxiconazole, boscalid and pyraclostrobin no other new SDHIs were tested. But we found there was an additional yield benefit, BASF was were keen to explore some of the properties seen in the field, such as greening and water-use efficiency. of around 1t/ha, which was a surprise. Not only did the crop canopy stay greener for longer, it was a deeper green, she adds a SPAD meter confirmed this. Under the microscope, we found there was less cell damage to plant tissue treated with Xemium compared with other treatments. Most striking results But water use efficiency tests proved to be the most striking, she recalls. We measured stomatal conductance the amount of water vapour the leaf surface loses through its pores. Xemium-treated crops have a slightly lower stomatal conductance, and this result was very consistent. While an untreated crop needs 380t of water per tonne of grain on average, one treated with Xemium needs just 300t. Further trials looked at the effect of Xemium on the pathogen. These showed it had an effect on septoria at every stage of its life cycle. Significantly, this includes good activity during the latent period. This results in a longer latent period, potentially having the effect of slowing down resistance by reducing selection pressure, notes Julie Smith. We also measured septoria ascospore populations in the winter between two successional wheat crops. Where the first crop was treated at both T1 and T2 with Xemium, spore numbers were lower and disease severity was less in the following crop. Below ground, Xemium also appears to have an effect on rooting. In trials carried out at Brooms Barn, wheat in polytunnels was subjected to extreme drought. Those treated with Xemium had 50-60% more root growth at 1m depth, and up to 10% more chlorophyll in leaves. We don t fully understand why Xemium has this effect, and the result isn t always consistent. But it does have a beneficial influence on a wheat crop and it s an effect you can measure, concludes Julie Smith. Meanwhile, Xemium has now been partnered with metconazole in Librax, a product that has equalled or even improved on the control offered by Adexar in 2015 AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds fungicide performance trials. Dieter Strobel puts this down to formulation, again. We ve had an extra two years to refine the formulation and the result is a product in which the uptake of the metconazole is optimised the two actives perform better together than they d each contribute on their own. Librax fits well in the T2 spray slot, he says, where the timing may have been delayed bringing in the chance of disease, You shouldn t underestimate what can be achieved with tweaks in formulation, notes Dieter Strobel. particularly on the lower leaves. The broad spectrum of Adexar, and its strength on eyespot make it a good choice for the T1 timing. There s further innovation to come, he assures. BASF has recently unveiled a new triazole Revysol. Although no new triazole has been brought to market for over ten years, the new fungicide, recently submitted for registration, has been designed to meet both the highest level of regulatory standards and outstanding biological performance, claims the company. Librax is far from the last product you ll see from the Xemium family we have a very strong discovery pipeline and you shouldn t underestimate what can be achieved with a targeted optimisation of the tweaks in formulation, notes Dieter Strobel. What started as a quest for another SDHI evolved into the leading fungicide for cereal disease control. Xemium s set to retain that position for some time to come. Innovation Insight CPM would like to thank BASF for kindly sponsoring this article, and for providing privileged access to staff and material used to help put the article together. crop production magazine april

26 Expect the unexpected as rust evolves Technical Rust The arrival of the Warrior race of yellow rust in 2011 was a game-changer. CPM finds out how the pathogen is continuing to evolve and what that may mean to growers. By Lucy de la Pasture Yellow rust (Puccinia striiformis f.sp. tritici or PST) has gone from being a relatively simple pathogen to a very complex one with a massive shift in terms of population genotypes and pathotypes in just a few years. Fortunately for growers there s no fungicide resistance, yet, so current chemistry is effective but the game is forever changing as the pathogen overcomes varietal resistances and new 26 crop production magazine april 2016 There s so much genetic diversity out there, you can t be entirely sure what you re dealing with. races emerge. The Warrior race came to the fore in 2011 but the latest buzz has been all about detection of the Kranich race in the UK during Emerging picture Last month, the UK Cereal Pathogen Virulence Survey (UKCPVS) reported their most recent findings from analysis of samples of cereal diseases received during the 2015 season. Scientists from other European countries also gave their results and the emerging picture seems to imply that PST is going to continue to prove to be a challenging pathogen as populations become even more diverse. According to French work, some strains now appear to be able to adapt to regional climatic conditions, significant because it s something that hasn t been identified before in Europe. Prof Mogens Hovmøller of the Global Rust Reference Centre at Aarhus University, Denmark, explains that until recently there were at least six distinct genetic groups of yellow rust worldwide, one of which was present mainly in Europe. The European group had low genetic diversity despite the presence of many races, which generally emerged by mutation of existing ones. That meant the races had a similar genetic background but different virulence. In Europe, there was a massive change in yellow rust epidemiology between when the Warrior and Kranich races emerged. These are both non-european in origin, probably arriving by airborne spores over large areas, and they represent a completely new genetic package. The new yellow rust population has higher genetic diversity and within a year almost entirely replaced the old population of the pathogen. The Warrior race is genetically most similar to populations in the Himalayan area and the Kranich race is also similar, but less so, he says. To make matters more complicated, the new races of yellow rust, as well as being entirely different to the old European pathogens, contain large diversity within them. This means pathogens within the same race can be highly related in terms of genetics and pathology but have difference virulence on commercial varieties. That s a problem that UKCPVS Dr Sarah Holdgate is encountering with the Warrior race and has led to a reclassification within the group for 2016 to reflect their genetic sequencing data, provided by Dr Diane Saunders at the John Innes Centre, and their ability to cause disease. There are now three groups Warrior 1 (pink), Warrior 3 (blue) and Warrior 4 (red) replacing the old system of Warrior group 1-4 and Solstice, she explains. A potentially confusing anomaly of the new system is that Warrior 4 (red), the main group in the UK representing 65% of the isolates tested in 2015, is avirulent or doesn t cause disease in the variety Warrior. One of the key findings was a pathotype within group 4, not previously observed in the UK. Samples were taken from unusual sightings of yellow rust in Scotland, Essex and North Yorks, some of these sites were RL untreated trials. Pathotyping results revealed virulence to the genes Yr1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 17, 25 and 32, as well as virulence on varieties Spaldings Prolific, Robigus, Solstice, Cadenza and Apache, explains Sarah Holdgate. It s too early to tell if this new pathotype

27 Rust caused the high yellow rust levels but our adult plant tests this summer will help provide an answer. This shift in the pathogen population doesn t necessarily indicate a change in race but it s possible that this is what s happening. Another group of isolates appears to be similar to the old Solstice race, dominant in the UK population before the Warrior-type races, based on seedling tests in However, the visual symptoms and genetic sequences suggest that these isolates aren t the original Solstice race but are more closely resembling the Warrior race. However, further investigations are needed to resolve this issue. Twist in the tale This is clearly another twist in the tale but not altogether unexpected considering the results of genetic data provided by John Innes Centre. It confirms that some of the isolates collected since 2013 with the old Solstice pathotype should be assigned to the Warrior 3 (blue) subgroup, says Sarah Holdgate. This group of isolates may also be behind some of the unusual yellow rust findings in Once again, we ll investigate this in 2016 to provide a clearer picture. The subgroup, Warrior 1 (pink), closely related to the original Warrior race, was present at high levels in 2011 but has since decreased significantly to just 3% of isolates tested, another indication of the speed at which things are changing. It s evident that even within each of the Warrior subgroups, there s a lot of variation, reflecting the highly diverse nature of the current yellow rust pathogen population, believes Sarah Holdgate. As reported in 2015, this diversity means Warrior-type isolates affect varieties in different, and often unpredictable ways and close crop monitoring is essential. Reassuringly 19 out of the 36 current RL varieties were resistant to all isolates tested in adult plant trials last year, she adds. Susceptibility to all of the isolates tested was seen in KWS Kielder, Solstice, Gallant, the RL candidate variety Amplify and the control variety Hobbit. Moderate levels of disease were seen in Skyfall and Cubanita when challenged with all of the isolates tested. There s been a lot of noise about the Kranich race, detected in 2014 at a single site in Oxon. But in 2015, no new Kranich isolates were found in commercial crops. It s probable that Kranich will be found again in the UK since it was found in Oxon, it s likely to be present elsewhere but hasn t been tested. A clearer picture is likely to emerge this summer as results from adult plant tests are reported, says Sarah Holdgate. The significance of the Kranich race is that some of the varieties are more susceptible. New varieties, Spyder and Graham, both with excellent RL resistance ratings for yellow rust, show symptoms of infection when inoculated with the Kranich race. Other varieties, Myriad and Evolution, also showed some symptoms though at low levels. The Kranich race is virulent on host resistant genes Yr1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 17, 25 and 32 as well as varieties; Robigus, Solstice, Warrior, Ambition, KWS Sterling, Apache and Kranich. Notably Yr4 isn t affected or Spaldings Prolific, a key determinant of the Warrior population. So what does this all mean for growers There was a massive change in yellow rust epidemiology when the Warrior and Kranich races emerged, says Mogens Hovmøller. and advisors? NIAB technical director, Bill Clark, stresses that the new strains we re now seeing are exotic, originating from outside Europe. It means yellow rust isn t the same as it used to be and doesn t crop production magazine april

28 Rust Bill Clark reckons yellow rust is set to become the most important disease we re facing and needs to be taken seriously. behave in the same way. It s set to become the most important disease we re facing and needs to be taken seriously. The rapidly developing population means that wheat varieties in the field may not behave as expected according to their RL resistance ratings, he warns. Resistance ratings are likely to continue to change, with some varieties becoming more susceptible and others less so as the pathogen population continues to change. If cultivars with RL ratings for yellow rust of 8 or 9 start to show high levels of disease then a number of things could be happening. The variety may be seedling susceptible, meaning that the true adult plant resistance hasn t come into effect yet. There may be a new race or a change in virulence, or occasionally the variety isn t the one you thought it was. In any case, it s important to react to what you re seeing in the field and control the disease. There s a lot of yellow rust being reported in crops at the moment. Some may grow away from attack and in some cases, adult resistance may kick in later. But that s not something you can afford to rely on happening because there s so much genetic diversity out there, you can t be entirely sure what specific yellow rust pathotypes you re dealing with. Sarah Holdgate qualifies this adding, There s a good chance that the adult plant resistance may be more durable and stand up to lots of different races of the disease, both now and in the future. We ve no way of predicting which will last or which will be overcome by the next race change, so we have to rely on monitoring to give us the most up-to-date information. In Denmark, the Global Rust Reference Centre are reporting two completely new races. One affects triticale and possibly some spring wheats. With virulence to Yr2, 6, 7, 8 and 9, the new triticale race has arrived with a high impact on triticale but not winter wheat. Similar to the pattern for Warrior, it appeared in many countries for the first time in the beginning of just a season. Perhaps of more interest to UK growers is the discovery of a second unique pathotype with virulence to Yr2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 25 and 32, termed the Hereford race, which has been found in Sweden. The varieties affected are three of the most widely grown wheat varieties in Sweden Hereford, Julius and Ellvis, explains Mogens Hovmøller. The significance to growers is that Hereford is a variety that has been widely used in many breeding programmes, even in the UK. Samples taken from unusual sightings of yellow rust in Scotland, Essex and North Yorks revealed a new pathotype, reports Sarah Holdgate.

29 Yield benefit from keeping OSR green Late N applications this season may be crucial to keep feeding canopies. Technical Oilseed rape With disease levels in oilseed rape crops already high, the priority is now switching to late season management. CPM gathers some advice. By Lucy de la Pasture This season it s all been about light leaf spot (LLS). According to ADAS senior research consultant, Dr Faye Ritchie, the levels of LLS are worse than any seen over the past ten years. LLS isn t inhibited by cold conditions but the mild winter provided ideal conditions for it to keep cycling in and infecting the oilseed rape crop. Disease levels do vary widely from field to field, she says. Pod infection can cause yield loss, therefore further treatment may need to be considered before and during flowering if the LLS is present and weather remains favourable for disease development. ADAS plant pathologist, Julie Smith, believes we have a timing issue with LLS and compared with other OSR diseases, it s something that s not being well controlled. Historically we ve been very focused on phoma, where timings are easy to predict and good models are available. LLS isn t as well targeted, it s not always spotted in the early stages and a threshold for treatment hasn t been defined. There s been an assumption that if you ve applied a phoma spray then it ll also take care of LLS. The trouble is that if LLS gets hold then it s very difficult to treat in a curative situation, she says. With sclerotinia sprays just around the corner, it may be a good time to switch out of azole chemistry as part of a good resistance management strategy. Greening effect Fungicides containing the SDHI, boscalid (in Pictor, Tectura, Filan) have long been noted to sometimes produce a greening effect and it s something else to bear in mind when considering sclerotinia treatment, believes Clare Tucker of BASF. We noticed that across our data set, generated from trials work over the past few years, there was consistently a yield response of 0.28t/ha on average over 48 trials. What was interesting was that this response was seen in trials where there were no visible signs of foliar disease and Pictor (boscalid+ dimoxystrobin) was used as a sclerotinia treatment. That indicated that something other than disease control was responsible for the yield response, she explains. ADAS have been looking into this unidentified effect further and have seen a similar yield response of 0.23t/ha over the The levels of LLS are worse than any seen over the past ten years, says Faye Ritchie. past three years, also in the absence of visible disease. Julie Smith has been using Healthy Area Duration (HAD) to look for physiological effects under normal field conditions that may explain the yield responses. HAD is an integral of green leaf area index (GLAI) over time so essentially is an indicator of how large and green the crop is and for how long it stays green. We measured GLAI over the critical period from mid-flowering to green seed, she explains, adding that it s an important distinction that they re looking at leaves rather than the whole canopy. In 2014 there was a significant yield increase where crops were treated with Pictor at mid-flower and we weren t unable to account for this through disease control. What we found was that a small increase in crop production magazine april

30 Oilseed rape A small increase in GLAI equated to a 5% increase in intercepted light at the end of flowering and ultimately a yield response of around 0.3t/ha, says Julie Smith. GLAI (0.2 units) equated to a 5% increase in intercepted light at the end of flowering and ultimately a yield response of approx. 0.3t/ha. In the 2014 season, each unit of HAD increased yield by approx. 0.04t/ha showing the effect of keeping the leaves greener for longer so it can intercept more light. One of the effects noted when Pictor (boscalid+ dimoxystrobin) was applied was an increase in water use efficiency which could potentially act as a buffer against some of the factors that might reduce yield, such as water stress. Clare Tucker explains that the OSR crop isn t good at dealing with drought stress. OSR plants under stress have poor stomatal control and tend to shut down, reducing photosynthesis. Leaf senescence occurs and ultimately there ll be increased pod loss and shatter. Asked what the findings mean to him, Oxon OSR grower James Price is impressed enough to give Pictor a try this season. Historically, sclerotinia treatments on the farm have been cheap and cheerful, based around Prosaro (prothioconazole+ tebuconazole). Protracted flowering We usually apply one treatment at flowering unless it s a season with a very protracted flowering period, when a second sclerotinia spray will go on. Much of our soil is drought prone, so the possible buffering effects of Pictor is something I m interested in, he explains. If we can help increase HAD and the plant can then withstand a degree of moisture stress without losing yield, then that would be of benefit to us particularly as we tend to get a dry May and June. The only way to find out is to try it, he says. A further benefit of using Pictor at the sclerotinia timing this season is it has good efficacy on LLS, so is a useful top-up treatment to prevent it from reaching the top of the pod canopy, adds Clare Tucker. Yara agronomist, Ian Matts, agrees that when it comes to the canopy, it s not all about size but about how long it lasts. The longer the canopy remains green, the more energy goes into pod fill and ultimately yield. Late N applications this season may be crucial to keep feeding canopies, especially where early N was significantly reduced because of canopy size. Where plant numbers are high and the canopy is dense, then there s more competition between plants for N and a possibility that crops may run out of steam, he explains. We could see a more exaggerated effect this season because crops were soforward into the spring. Unlike in cereals where late N doesn t usually equate with increased yield responses, Fungicides containing the SDHI boscalid have long been noted to sometimes produce a greening effect, notes Clare Tucker.

31 Applying late N this season is likely to pay dividends, advises Ian Matts. Yara trials have consistently demonstrated benefits of 0.35t/ha from mid-flowering foliar applications, according to Ian Matts. The only time we ve seen a detrimental effect on yield is when N applications were made when it was too hot and the crop was stressed, he clarifies kgn/ha is the optimum dose for a late application, with the higher dose likely to be necessary where N was restricted in early spring to prevent the canopy over-developing, he says. N at this timing helps feed the OSR plant, which can t mobilise carbohydrates around the plant as effectively as cereals and isn t as able to take up N from the soil as efficiently after mid-flowering. Historically, late N was timed at the end of the flowering period to avoid coating petals with nitrogen that ll then drop to the ground and become unavailable to the plant. Recent trials indicate there isn t a stand-out timing and applications during early, mid and late flowering all give similar results, meaning application can be timed from flowering onwards, reckons Ian Matts. That means you can time application to mix in with the sclerotinia sprays and avoid having to make an extra pass through the crop. But what if you re getting close to the N-max limit? Should you knock a bit of N off the spring dose to allow room to put extra N on at flowering? In a normal season I would usually say no but this year my advice is changing on this. Crops are growing under a completely different set of circumstances than in a more normal season and applying l ate N this season is likely to pay dividends. However, with the forward crops this year, the risk of breaching the N-max limit is reduced. If James Price can help increase HAD and the plant can then withstand a degree of moisture stress without losing yield, then that would be of benefit. Yield as a function of HAD Healthy Area Duration (HAD) is an integral of green leaf area index (GLAI) over time so essentially is an indicator of how large and green the crop is and for how long it stays green. Source: ADAS, 2014

32 Nozzle control improves application accuracy Machinery Precision spraying The ability to switch output and classification instantly is just one of a number of benefits offered by advanced individual nozzle control systems. CPM looks at what they can do. By Mick Roberts While many sprayer operators are content with the economic and environmental savings auto-section control offers, an increasing number of users are looking for ultimate accuracy, down to 50cm or less, from individual nozzle control. These systems, once occupying the realm of specialist retro-fit equipment, are now becoming available as factory-fit options from mainstream makers such as Amazone, Horsch, Tecnoma and others. The firms say the developments are in response to an increasing number of customer requests here and abroad. The main drivers for change are the increasing number of application restrictions, which require operators to change droplet size or classification to meet LERAPs and buffer zone requirements, combined with wider booms. Nobody likes getting out to 32 crop production magazine april 2016 turn 72 holders on a 36m boom, knowing you need to change them back in a few minutes, when you could do it at the flick of a switch. Plus, operator contamination risk also needs consideration. Droplet classification After fitting the systems, usually for one of the reasons above, operators soon discover other benefits the biggest being the ability to ensure the products are always being applied with the correct droplet classification. The best spray operators recognise that you can t get the ideal application performance by using the same nozzle for everything, says Dr Clare Butler Ellis of Silsoe Spray Applications Unit. The ability to switch nozzles automatically particularly with wider booms is going to make this easier and potentially improve work rates. What s more, switching nozzles during an application for example to use a LERAP 3-star rated nozzle for the swath nearest a watercourse, and then revert to a finer spray to get the best efficacy for the rest of the field becomes no problem. Automatic nozzle selection can also help with delivering a uniform dose over the whole field. All nozzles have a working pressure range. It s worth noting that on most modern sprayers, with flowrate control systems, pressure is not constant, she continues. You can t get the ideal application performance by using the same nozzle for everything. The output is regulated by changing the pressure. This will alter the droplet size, making sprays coarser when the machine slows and finer as the pressure rises to match higher speeds, she explains. It can also change the spray pattern, so low speeds can result in very poor Automatic spray controllers alter the pressure to maintain the output, but this can mean nozzles are working outside their pressure limits, says Clare Butler Ellis.

33 Precision spraying distribution of liquid under the boom if the pressure drops too low. So operators need to know and consider the working range and ensure they do not work outside the pressure limits. When it hits these limits there will be a need to change nozzles to maintain the correct dose, and that s where the more advanced control systems have a role to play, she explains. And the best systems will maintain spray quality too Changing nozzles manually of a wide boom can be a chore, especially if you know you need to change them back in a few minutes. One for all Ian Griffin of Horsch UK, says up to 90% of all its sprayers are now sold with the optional 25cm nozzle spacing and the MultiSelect system. This is because the narrower spacing, often using 80 nozzles, improves coverage and reduces drift. But the boom must be controlled at a lower height than the standard 50cm in order to achieve this, he says. Smaller nozzles usually create a finer spray quality, which improves coverage significantly. The trade-off is potentially more drift, so the boom needs to be run lower to compensate. To allow this to be done safely and accurately we offer Boom Control Pro, or Pro-Plus which automatically controls the boom height above the spray target, he notes. The optional MultiSelect system provides up to four nozzles at 50cm and two nozzles at 25cm on a single sprayline, with the ability to control each independently from the cab. Nozzles can be selected to spray individually, or in any combination, to suit the required spray quality and application rate. By fitting the nozzles at the 25cm spacing and running the boom lower, we Advanced nozzle control systems allow operators to select different nozzles, from the cab, to comply with LERAPs and other restrictions. can use smaller nozzles, such as 02 or 025 to apply the same rates as an 04 or 05 at the normal 50cm spacing, he explains. The MultiSelect system also allows for an Auto Jump facility to be used, which automatically changes nozzles as speed increases. This is being used to provide greater efficacy by maintaining the droplet size required automatically. The target could be to apply 100 l/ha at 12km/h with 025 jets at 3 bar pressure. But if speed increases to 14km/h then the pressure will rise to 4 bar to achieve this, but

34 Precision spraying Nozzles at 25cm or 50cm spacing on Horsch sprayers can be set to spray individually, or in any combination, to suit the required spray quality and application rate. some operators won t even notice because the 100 l/ha output will stay the same. With AutoSelect the system can be set to change at, say 3.25 bar, up to a 03 nozzle and a lower working pressure, he explains. Amazone s individual nozzle control system, called AmaSelect, is also now an option for work at spacings of 25cm with 80 nozzles or 50cm with standard jets. The system provides individual electronic control of a four-way quad nozzle carrier, which enables the jets to be switched on/off or over to another. This provides the benefit of being able to switch over to any of the four nozzles from the cab. But it also offers the facility to do this automatically, explains the firm s Simon Brown. All the operator needs to do is input the optimum pressure range for each of the nozzles and the system switches over automatically when that limit is reached, he says. This also includes the option to either Essex farmer switches to higher accuracy switch on another nozzle and use two to maintain the desired output, or change to another entirely. Amazone AmaSelect provides individual electronic control of a four-way quad-nozzle carrier, which enables the jets to be switched on/off or over to another. Essex farm manager, James Faulkner, quickly appreciated the flexibility that the ability to switch between four nozzles provides. When James Faulkner upgraded to an Amazone Pantera 4502 self-propelled sprayer with 40m wide booms, he specified the AmaSelect option because he felt it would make it easier to switch between applying liquid fertiliser and pesticides. But he s since discovered many more benefits. James Faulkner manages R Davidson and Son s farms at Peldon, Colchester, Essex. This is right on the east coast and the 1500ha of arable land is generally quite heavy, but also has some lighter soils. Cropping includes winter wheat, oilseed rape, marrowfat peas, sugar beet and maize as well as land rented out for potatoes. The Amazone sprayer replaced two, 24m wide Batemans and its purchase coincided with a switch to liquid nitrogen. I wanted to use dribble bars because they reduce the risk of scorch, and I also wanted to keep them on throughout the spring. So, the AmaSelect system on the sprayer made sense, he explains. With four nozzles, switchable from the cab, it means I don t need to even get out to change over, which would be quite a task on a 40m wide boom. I planned to fit the BFS AutoStreamer liquid nozzle and keep it in position all spring, even if that meant sacrificing one space for a standard size nozzle. Then I could switch quickly from one job to another and even between nozzles for early grassweed or fungicides. But then I discovered I could still also fit four because the Defy angled nozzles will still spray over the fertiliser dribble bars without interrupting their pattern. So I can still have the choice of four different nozzles, he says. Having delivered the required fast change-over, he soon realised the ability to switch between four nozzles offered further flexibility. The system can not only switch at the operator s command, it can be set to also do this automatically. Currently he s using the AutoStreamer, an 03 Defy, 03 Amistar and an 04 flat fan (or air-inclusion nozzle). I could be using, say an 03 Defy nozzle at 1-2 bar, but if conditions change move up to the air inclusion or another. But I can set the system to change automatically up to the 04 if the pressure increases beyond the current nozzle s working range. Then if the sprayer slows down it will go back to the 03. It s also possible to run two nozzles at the same time, for example an 02 and 03 together to make an 05, he says. Droplet size is also important. We re in a difficult blackgrass area and the quality of the application will make a difference to control. We try to use a fine spray, but that can be difficult in some conditions if sea breezes get up, but in this case it s possible to switch to a more appropriate nozzle, without compromising the timeliness. It also helps when spraying products that require buffer zones and with LERAPs restrictions. The operator can program the system to recognise these areas and change to different or low drift nozzles on the outer sections at the width required. With AmaSelect the sprayer effectively has 80 sections, which with the auto-section control has greatly improved accuracy. When we went to 13-section control we saved 4% of the area. Now we have gained another 3% saving, which goes a long way to help pay for the system, he says. This is on top of the advantages that come from being able to quickly change between liquid fertiliser and pesticides, saving the time it actually takes to change and the ability to switch between nozzles for best efficacy or environmental protection. Plus, it reduces the risk of operator contamination from changing nozzles in the field, he adds. The optimum pressure range is set for each nozzle, and the system switches over automatically when that limit is reached. 34 crop production magazine april 2016

35 Precision spraying The pulse of change Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) control is another system for controlling droplet size and output, while retaining the nozzle s spray pattern. PWM has been used for years in the USA but is still to take off in the UK. It s ideal for operating at lower pressures and providing high drift control to higher pressure with more effective smaller droplets, all with the same single nozzle. TeeJet offers its DynaJet Flex, which uses PWM to enable one nozzle to provide a wide range of flow for different applications. It s designed to be easy to retro-fit, without having to change the entire spraying system. It works with all standard spray nozzles, apart from air-induction, because they use a venturi, he adds. Instead of switching between separate nozzles, PWM controls the flow to a single nozzle by using a solenoid to turn it on or off at 10 times/sec (indicated as Hertz, so 10Hz). The switching is alternated between two nozzles fitted side by side to prevent skips. Pulsing the output of the nozzles maintains the flowrate with only a very small variation in pressure. The output in the required litres/sec is maintained by the length of time the nozzle stays open varying this, instead of the pressure, maintains the output to match the speed. At the same time, it maintains the droplet size and does not affect the angle, explains TeeJet s Martin Baxter. This also means it preserves application accuracy when, for example, applying variable rates. Demand for individual nozzle switching is rising and TeeJet is working on the ability to control up to 100 individual nozzles or sections. But if you turn off just one nozzle, with a standard system you compromise the application you need a minimum of three for effective coverage because of the overlaps. A PWM nozzle can do this on its own, he adds. Pulse Width Modulation systems turn the nozzles on/off, ten times/sec, which maintains the flowrate and spray quality. TeeJet is also working on turn compensation using PWM to regulate the nozzles on the inner and outer sections of wide booms. This will maintain the proper application rate and coverage by compensating for the difference in speed of the outer edge, which will be moving much faster than nozzles closer to the vehicle while turning. Individual nozzles can also be grouped to form sections of any working width. This enable operators to, for example, use different, possibly low drift nozzles, on the outer parts of the boom and the standard nozzle on the sections away from the headland. Contractors operating a wide boom with AmaSelect can also work in narrower tramlines by simply configuring the boom to whatever is required.

36 The compatibility to mix and match It s an extremely versatile piece of equipment. Plug-and-play compatibility has been one of the leading objectives behind imonitor2, to reduce the clutter of equipment needed to operate effectively in the field. Machinery Innovation Insight A truly transferable system between tractors that offers full operational control in the field has been something of a Holy Grail in precision farming. CPM follows the story of Agrosky, which is claimed to deliver it. By Tom Allen-Stevens 36 crop production magazine april 2016 The promise of plug-and-play technology is that you can link up any implement to the back of your tractor and operate all functions, from variable rate control to auto section shut-off, from just one console, and that s the one that also operates all your tractor functions. The reality is rarely that straightforward, however. When ISOBUS was launched, it was supposed to herald a new era of plug-and-play compatibility, says Graham Barnwell, marketing manager for Deutz- Fahr UK. What actually happened was that a number of manufacturers wanted to keep users within their own proprietary systems. But for us, compatibility is crucial. This has been one of the leading objectives behind Agrosky. The precision farming technology was launched to UK users just two years ago, at LAMMA 2014, and is now available across the Deutz-Fahr 6, 7 and 9 Series tractors. But it s based on some of the most widely tested and trusted technology in the sector, and this ensures compatibility with the implements of all renowned manufacturers, says the company. The path to Agrosky was set in motion at Agritechnica in Same Deutz-Fahr developed a partnership with TopCon to supply the precision farming hardware across the SDF range, recalls Graham Barnwell. TopCon is a global market leader in this technology the company has done a huge amount of development in its hardware and software, so it makes sense that we should deal with the best operator in the sector. The roll-out of the system across the tractor range was held back, however. TopCon was in the process of upgrading its receiver from the AGI 3 model to AGI 4. One of the major differences was that this would add tilt correction to the unit, keeping implements on track as you traverse a slope. There were also improvements in speed of reaction and consistency. AGI 3 was already a market-leading system, but technically AGI 4 was the one worth waiting for. The new receiver came on stream in The other crucial piece of hardware is

37 Innovation Insight the console that sits in the tractor cab and acts as the interface between operator and all the functions of both tractor and implement. This is handled by the imonitor2 a 12-inch slab of touchscreen, based on TopCon s X30 console. The imonitor2 has immense capacity, notes Deutz-Fahr UK product specialist Dave Jefferson. It puts you in easy reach of all the tractor functions, although this is only 10% of what it can do. The lay-out is intuitive and colour-coded and everything can be tailored to the operator s requirements. It s also very easy to use the X30 has a good reputation as a user-friendly device, and we ve found operators feel completely at home with it after just 30 minutes of use. Stipulate preferences The imonitor2 provides the interface for the operator to bring up all the tractor controls, he explains. You can also stipulate preferences and recall previous settings from last years work. This can include all the settings for a drill such as hydraulic flow rates, timings and operating speeds in conjunction with the headland management system applicable to that machine. You can retrieve all this in a matter of seconds." Plug an implement into the nine-pin ISO socket and the imonitor recognises it, populating the screen with operating information that would normally appear on a separate implement control box. "You can even assign a joystick control to operate a function on an implement, where usually you d have to use a spool valve. This is ensured through the true ISOBUS compatibility of the system. Same Deutz- Fahr is one of the core members of the Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation (AEF) the body set up in 2008 to resolve compatibility problems and set up reliable tests to determine conformity to the ISOBUS standard. This means the imonitor2 allows full functionality of implement controls including auto section control and variable rate control. But there s no expensive unlocking of the equipment to do the imonitor2 is instantly compatible, notes Dave Jefferson. Auto guidance is provided through Performance Steering, if the tractor is fitted with the electronic Orbitrol unit. But Assisted Steering can be retro-fitted, replacing the steering wheel with one that s operated through the imonitor. There are also three levels of accuracy from the basic, free EGNOS system to the subscription Omnistar and RTK (Real Time Kinematic) level. There are different levels of Agrosky available, but rarely do customers go for lower than RTK and rarely less than Performance Steering. All new 7 and 9 Series tractors come with the imonitor2 as standard and are complete with the electronic Orbitrol unit. TopCon is a global market leader in precision farming technology, says Graham Barnwell, so it makes sense to deal with the best operator in the sector. The system is optional on the 6 Series tractor, although the entire range is ISOBUS compatible. Along with its hardware partner, Deutz-Fahr UK has also teamed up with The roll-out of the system was held back for the new receiver that includes tilt correction and improvements in speed of reaction and consistency. crop production magazine april

38 Innovation Insight The imonitor2 what can it do? The intuitive and colour-coded imonitor puts you in easy reach of all the tractor functions, notes Dave Jefferson. LH-Agro to provide sales and technical support. The company has three decades of experience in precision farming and is the UK distributor for TopCon and its X30 console. Ten years ago it was all about satellite guidance, says managing director Richard Precision farming accuracy proves key in busy drilling season The accuracy and ease of use offered by the guidance system saves a lot of time and is a great help to David Stephen. The latest developments in precision farming from Deutz-Fahr s Agrosky system are offering significant benefits for farmer and contractor David Stephen, based at Kirkton of Forglen, Turriff, Aberdeenshire. There s a 160ha mixed-farming enterprise on the home farm, plus 500ha of contract drilling, harvesting and silage work. It s a busy workload, and efficiency is especially key in the spring, when most of the barley is established using a one-pass system of an Amazone combi-drill with front fertiliser hopper on ploughed land. It s a short season as we often don t start drilling until the first or second week in March, so the accuracy and ease of use offered by the guidance system saves a lot of time and is a great help, explains David Stephen. In 2014, a Deutz-Fahr 7250 TTV tractor with imonitor precision farming console was purchased the fourth Deutz to work on the farm and taking its place in the fleet alongside a Deutz 650 and three other power units. It s the first time we ve had a tractor with guidance, but everything we purchase from now on will be at least guidance-ready, as it s where the demand is and helps the second-hand price, he comments. David Stephen also specified a Topcon base station giving a high precision RTK correction signal with 5-6mm accuracy, and crucially, all-day, every-day reliability. I ve friends who use other satellite systems because they thought that the RTK base station was too expensive, but I can t afford to have to wait for a signal. As long as the battery is kept charged, the RTK base station gives an instant, accurate signal whenever I want it. In the cab of the Deutz-Fahr 7250 TTV, the imonitor offers colour touch-screen control of both precision farming and tractor functions. As well as the guidance, the screen shows all the spool valve and pto settings, and its exactly where you want it, integrated with the armrest. We still have a separate control box for the drill, but as it s an ISOBUS terminal, if we upgrade to an ISOBUS-compatible drill in the future it could all be on the same screen. On the contracting side, David Stephen maps the land before he starts with a new customer, giving an accurate record of field size, so he can order precisely the right amount of seed for the following year. There s no wastage of fertiliser, seed or sprays as tramlines are exactly the width they re meant to be. Seed spacing is precise and there s no overlapping. He adds that the accuracy proved itself in the first season. Having once set up the disc spacing on the drill, we didn t need to alter it despite working on 11 different farms in all soil types from flat land to steep banks. Deutz-Fahr offers fully automated data management, and David Stephen reports some customer interest in job records, but sees the greatest advantage from being able to download field records and maps to the farm office pc via a memory stick for use the following year. I load up the map, set the A-B line and go into the field and the previous year s map comes up on the monitor. Then I simply update the job to the current date and start work. It does take some time to map the field initially but once it s done, setting up is so much quicker. Installation and set-up of the system was seamless, he reports,with support from Deutz-Fahr dealer Mark Garrick and Top Con supplier LH-Agro the Deutz-Fahr Agrosky precision farming partner. It s very straightforward you need to allow some time to set the drill up but then it s so much quicker. My father isn t technologically-minded, but in our peak season he did shifts on the drill and within a couple of fields he d got to grips with the mapping, he comments. 38 crop production magazine april 2016

39 Innovation Insight Reed, who set up the company in Then it was Autosteer. The trend now is what else will it do? People want variable rate control and more advanced applications such as real-time scanning and applications in one single pass. Variants of the TopCon console are used by farmers wanting to adopt precision-farming techniques. It s an extremely versatile piece of equipment, says Richard Reed. Platform kits are available for almost any make and model of tractor, he says. It doesn t matter whether it s Autosteer ready or whether it requires a hydraulic valve to be installed or even whether it s an electric steering wheel with a motor in the hub you can use it all the same. This has cost benefits to the farmer. We ve customers who probably have four tractors but through financial constraints can only run one system. They can fit a kit on the tractors which means they can use one receiver and one screen between all vehicles. Plug an implement into the ISO socket and the imonitor recognises it, populating the screen with essential operating information. Farmers have a great mixture of all makes and models of machines. They don t want to be tied to one manufacturer. They want compatibility that enables them to mix and match. It isn t always easy to quantify, but return on investment is a crucial consideration, says Richard Reed. These are not toys for the boys or for wealthy farmers, they re tools that can help farmers economise and make the whole operation more efficient. Return on investment Individual requirements will vary, which will have a bearing on payback. Variables such as weather and soil compaction will all impact on final crop yield, so return on investment can be hard to assess exactly. Typically, though, the transition from a manual-driven cultivation system to one on full RTK will result in a save of about 15%, he suggests. Savings in excess of 5% alone can be made by adopting single-nozzle section control and RTK on a 36m boom. The overall return on investment can be substantial when you consider the agrochemical bill on a large farm. You can be talking about payback within 12 months. Advanced recording systems allow operators to analyse everything from fuel burned to input usage. If there s an extreme amount of overlap when you re doing fieldwork, it s a waste. But precision-farming eliminates all that, says Richard Reed. One relatively new aspect the system is set up for is Tractor Implement Management (TIM). It s a neat configuration that works with a Krone baler, for example, and stops the tractor automatically when the right bale diameter is reached and it s time to start binding. Height of the three-point linkage, pto control and other tractor functions can also be taken over by smart implements All new Deutz-Fahr 7 and 9 Series tractors come with the imonitor2 as standard and are complete with the Orbitrol unit, including the 9340 (pictured). through the console. Fault diagnostics and remote assistance is handled through the imonitor, notes Dave Jefferson. You can be in the middle of a field, and if you have a problem, a technician from Germany can remotely access the system, trace the fault and set it right, with minimal downtime. The system is relatively future-proof, notes Graham Barnwell. One unknown is often whether a new implement will work with a console. But that s up to the implement manufacturer to ensure the kit meets the required standard, and there s now a register of all those that do. Innovation Insight CPM would like to thank Deutz-Fahr for kindly sponsoring this article, and for providing privileged access to staff and material used to help put the article together. crop production magazine april

40 Sprayer tech hits the spot Machinery On Farm Opinion Moving from a self-propelled sprayer to a trailed rig might be seen by some as a backward step. But for one Sussex grower it s resulted in increased output and improved accuracy. CPM reports. By Nick Fone Will Tupper is a man focused on efficiency. Growing 650ha of arable cropping plus a further 120ha of permanent pasture with 500 ewes running across it, he s kept pretty busy. Although he has help on the livestock side of things, he does all the drilling and spraying himself so the pressure can mount at busy times of the year. There are certain pinch points when the workload really starts to pile up, he explains. Because of that I need to have kit that I can comfortably cover the ground with. On paper our machinery probably looks a bit over the top but it means we get things done in good time with minimal manpower. 40 crop production magazine april 2016 Extra output Until two years ago the spraying was done by a 2007 Househam AR3000 with 24m booms but with the loss of a member of staff and the consequent need for extra output, the decision was made to go to wider tramlines. We d been thinking about moving to 30m booms and switching from granular to liquid fertiliser. I also wanted to upgrade to the latest technology to improve accuracy and make sure we were making the most of chemical efficacy. We d been suffering in that department with our old fixed-boom sprayer because we had to keep it high on our undulating downland to stop it clashing with the ground. That meant chemical wasn t landing where it should and we weren t getting the effectiveness we should we needed variable geometry and auto height control. So the search was on for a high-spec bells-and-whistles machine that met the Tupper criteria. However after a bit of research it became apparent that another self-propelled machine was going to be hard to justify. Replacing the Househam like-for-like was going to cost a huge amount. We just Will Tupper has seen output and accuracy improve massively by swapping his self-propelled sprayer to an ultra high-tech trailed machine with all the toys. couldn t stretch to it but we had to do something, says Will Tupper. Searching for a more affordable option, I started to question why we needed a self-propelled machine. We d had a Knight front and rear tank setup previously and crop clearance wasn t that much of a problem later in the season but we needed more capacity. We d run a Chafer trailed machine as our back-up for a while and I was happy with that format but just wanted more capacity and extra spec.

41 On Farm Opinion clinch the deal. The sprayer is controlled via a Greenstar 2630 ISOBUS touchscreen which also takes the satellite position feed and uses a mobile network correction signal to provide RTK-level accuracy of between 2-5cm pass-to-pass. This means that not only is the tractor kept on track, but the boom s ten 3m sections are switched on and off automatically as they pass over sprayed and un-sprayed areas of the field. The mobile RTK system has worked really well for us, especially as we re now trying to run repeatable tramlines year-on-year, says Will Tupper. Previously we were running with a lot of drill overlap but that s no problem now. It can lose signal for up to 15 mins and With an RTK-correction signal provided by the mobile phone network, John Deere s autosteering system provides inch-perfect positioning pass after pass. still maintains its accuracy so we haven t really had any major problems with mobile reception. I wanted to upgrade to the latest technology to improve accuracy and make sure we were making the most of chemical efficacy. So he started looking into the options more closely. Having had John Deere tractors for several years, the Tupper family had plenty of experience of the back-up from local dealer Farols. Consequently it was the green giant s sprayers that were first in the firing line. Tank size had to be 4000 litres to make a significant contribution to increasing output but any bigger and the weight would cause issues on the farm s steep banks for the 210hp tractor that would act as tug for the new rig. First we looked at John Deere s 900-series sprayers but they were significantly heavier so we opted for the lighter weight M740i. Being an i-spec machine it has virtually all the extras you can hope for critically including GPS section control which has been upgraded to RTK but has a tracking drawbar instead of steering axle. It was the integration of Deere s GPS steering and section switching that helped to crop production magazine april

42 On Farm Opinion Ultra sonic sensors on the boom monitor nozzle height and lift/lower the frame accordingly a third sensor in the centre section would improve things, reckons Will Tupper. Mounted high up on the central boom frame, a bolt-on Vapormatic camera system makes backing up to trees and poles easier and travel on the road safer. It s no full-on controlled traffic system but Bignor Farms approach provides a practical compromise in minimising the impact of compaction from sprayers and spreaders. During harvest the Greenstar rig is moved over to the farm s Claas Lexion 750 combine which works at 20 to the tramlines to spread the chaff evenly. Cultivations are then performed on the opposite 20 angle and the drill then runs back up the original mark. Although the Greenstar system has worked well in providing automatic section control and placing the tramlines in the same place season after season, there s one criticism for its performance on side slopes. With the receiver mounted on the tractor roof and the controller working to try and position the sprayer boom in the centre of each run, the tractor ends up running above the tramline wheelings when working 42 crop production magazine april 2016 across banks, explains Will Tupper. I can t understand why the tracking drawbar can t be used to correct the natural crabbing of the sprayer without the expense of a second receiver to keep both the tractor and sprayer running neatly within the tramline. The sprayer s performance on banks is his biggest gripe. Steering axle Because we opted for the lighter M740i we couldn t have the steering axle as we had on our old Chafer trailed machine. The tracking drawbar is nowhere near as good it means we have to turn very steadily to stop the booms whipping and in the wet on a slope it can be lethal it just wants to jack-knife all the time. The bigger tractor is essential, not only for its power but also for safety and traction. That said, when we originally looked around at trailed sprayers I thought the John Deere was the most stable machine on the market. That stability is brought about in part thanks to the decision to opt for a high-level wagon hitch. With the coupling set above the pto, it s that much higher than a standard pick-up which Will Tupper believes adds to its surefootedness. Being hung rather than low-slung, it not only improves crop clearance, but also means the sprayer has less of a tendency to be top heavy. The set-up did provide an initial glitch however. We ordered the sprayer with a Schmarmuller ball-and-spoon coupling on the wagon hitch but found we had to run it on its highest setting to avoid it clashing with the pto. That meant the whole machine sat too high and ended up leaning back so we had to revert to a standard clevis and pin to get it running level. With that sorted, the M740i has otherwise performed faultlessly over the past two years. Having section control, digital tank level monitoring and GPS field-mapping means the spraying work is down to almost inch-perfect accuracy. With returns from the spraylines sent back to the suction side of the pump as the tank nears empty, there s hardly ever more than 30 litres left after each block of crop is covered. It also means the pump is never drawing air, cavitating or losing pressure. However wash-outs aren t quite as convenient as Will Tupper had hoped. Being an i-spec machine, I can in theory set it to rinse out via the 2630 screen but the tiny electric clean water pump takes so long to draw through 350 litres of liquid that I m better off to get out and do it the old The high-level wagon hitch comes in over the top of the pto to couple with the tractor just below the top-link bracket. fashioned way with the manual valves. On the boom I would have liked a rinse system that runs right to the nozzle bodies but the system on this machine just runs to the section valves so I have to draw through and squirt out some liquid to wash it through. At the time the full recirculating washout system wasn t an option but, slightly annoyingly, I now understand it s on the pricelist for M-series machines. For filling, the low-folding induction hopper is good for loading granular products and large containers but when there are multiple small cans all that stooping can bring on backache. That said, the sprayer s ability to maintain rinse pressure when the hopper venturi is running is seen as a real strength. On all our previous machines you d lose rinse pressure when you opened up the valve to empty the hopper. The way the John Deere is plumbed means it doesn t suffer that issue and so you can properly clean out cans while loading the chemical. With turnaround times critical in John Deere s Greenstar 2630 touchscreen terminal sorts out all the GPS functions, such as auto-steering and section control.

43 On Farm Opinion The M740i is only available with a tracking drawbar, which can make turns in the wet on steeply sloping Sussex downland a slightly hairy experience. maintaining sprayer output, this year Bignor Farms machine has had an upgrade to speed up filling with liquid fertiliser. Previously loading the 740i with 4200 litres of liquid took about 25 minutes. That s fine when you re busy adding chemical but Deere s standard boom lights were swapped for an 80 pair of off-the-shelf LED spotlights. Farm facts TR Tupper (Bignor Farms) near Chichester, West Sussex Farmed area: 810ha Cropping: Winter wheat 324ha, spring barley 120ha, oilseed rape 120 ha, winter linseed 40ha, spring linseed 40 ha, permanent pasture and woodland 160ha Soils: Predominantly chalk downland with clay caps plus lower lying areas of silty clay loams Elevation: m ASL Mainline tractors: John Deere 6210-R, 6170-R, 6930 and 6200 Combine: Claas Lexion 750TT with 7.5m header Loader: Merlo P28.7 Drill: Horsch 6m Sprinter Sprayer: 4000-litre John Deere M740i with 30m booms Staff: Will and Tom Tupper plus one other full-time and part-timers as required (incl.contract shepherd) when it s a load of fertiliser you re just stood about twiddling your thumbs. So this year we ve had a 750-litre/min Hypro centrifugal fast-fill pump fitted that s slashed fill times to about six minutes. It s massively improved my output I can easily do four loads in a morning when I would have done three before. With increasingly narrower spraying windows, that easily offsets the 1000 cost of the pump. Operational efficiency To aid in increasing the sprayer s operational efficiency, block cropping is now based around its capacity. With the arable ground spread fairly far and wide, crops are parcelled into blocks no bigger than 40ha so that one 4200-litre tankload (with plenty of no-foam ) will do the lot at 100 l/ha. Any bigger areas have their own water supply so that a return trip to the yard isn t required. To further stretch the M740i s working abilities into the night it was ordered with John Deere s boom lighting system but it didn t quite come up to scratch, says Will Tupper. To be honest, the worklights were hardly better than candles. You couldn t physically see the end of the boom let alone what the nozzles were doing. I ve since swapped them for a pair of UTV Products 80 LED spotlights which are literally brilliant. LED boom lights are available as an option for the M740i, points out Mark James of John Deere. These boom lights are the same ones used on our wider-boom models and they are quite capable of illuminating the full 40mm width. But in terms of capacity, the 650ha covered here, with both liquid fertiliser and pesticide applications, is at the top of the envelope for an M740i sprayer. We d normally recommend the higher capacity M900 or R900i PowrSpray machines in this situation. A Vapormatic reversing camera mounted up high on the central boom frame is another useful add-on,says Will Tupper. Primarily a safety feature for when running on the road, it has also proved its worth when backing up to telegraph poles and trees in the field. Plugged directly into the back of the 2630 Greenstar screen, the image it captures is displayed on one of the sprayer homepages. With so much clever electronic gadgetry crammed onto one machine, is it really worthwhile? Having 1000 litres extra tank capacity and 30m booms have undoubtedly had a massive impact in upping output, The induction hopper drops almost to floor level great for loading with powder, but not so good for lots of repetitive filling with small cans. For liquid fertiliser, fitting one of Hypro s fast-fill centrifugal pumps has cut fill time from 25 mins to just six. concludes Will Tupper. But it s all the extra bits that mean we re doing a much better job than ever before. The GPS technology and boom height control means we re far more accurate and you can see that clearly with the liquid fertilser work. With no overlaps we no longer get any flat patches or yellow areas as we did previously. We have far more precision so we re producing better crops and saving money. Video to see footage of the Tuppers sprayer in action from the air and other videos of the business machinery, log in to YouTube and search for Bignor Farms. crop production magazine april

44 Combination spreads the load Machinery On Farm Opinion When the farm that hosts the Glastonbury Festival in Somerset came to change its sprayer, it was time for new technology to take centre stage on the front and rear combination. CPM finds out how it performed. By Mick Roberts It s always best to plan machine purchases, rather than react to an unexpected breakdown. But when it comes to widening tramlines it s vital the replacement sprayer is purchased in time for the new season. So after making the decision to move up to 24m tramlines, Michael Christensen, from Steanbow Farms, Pilton near Shepton Mallet, and sprayer operator, Alister Henson had time to investigate what they 44 crop production magazine april 2016 needed to take over from an 18-year-old Knight front and rear combination. The sprayer covers about 2800ha/year on our land plus some contracting. Going to 24m tramlines would improve efficiency with wider tramlines at home and, at the same time, conform with other local farms where the wider bout width is becoming more common, says Michael Christensen. Latest technology We also wanted to take advantage of the latest technology on the machine, adds Alister Henson. As well as extra capacity, we also felt we needed auto-section control, boom-height control and other automatic functions. Michael Christensen concurs, adding that he also sees the benefit of improving accuracy, particularly how maintaining the boom at the correct height ensures more chemical goes into the crop and isn t lost as drift. This is good for the farm and environment. Although they were happy with the Knight, as well as its front and rear configuration, they did consider other options. A new self-propelled was, cost wise, out of the question and a used machine was quickly discounted, because neither owner nor operator could see the point of buying another, unnecessary power unit. The spraying tractor is a fairly new 175hp, Massey Fergusson 7618, which has a Dyna-VT (continuously variable transmission), ISOBUS terminal, nice cab and few self-propelleds can match its other specifications, explains Alister Henson. A trailed sprayer wasn t considered suitable either, because there are some steep fields and some fairly heavy clay A combination provides a much better balance, which improves traction in wetter conditions.

45 On Farm Opinion Michael Christensen says the sprayer hasn t only increased spraying capacity, but also efficiency and application accuracy. land on the farm. When this gets wet t makes travelling difficult and that will only be made worse pulling a dead weight behind the tractor, adds Michael Christensen. A combination provides a much better balance, with the front tank acting as ballast for the rear-mounted sprayer, spreading the load on the four-wheel drive tractor, which improves traction in wetter conditions. So the obvious answer was to keep with the tried and tested, tractor-mounted combination, particularly as technology has moved on so much since the last time they were in the sprayer market. We had an open mind, but we did have a shopping list of essentials and nice to haves, adds Alister Henson. This included: 24m wide boom, more capacity, auto-section control, boom height control and other affordable beneficial technology. The pair looked at quite a few makes and models, including the serious consideration of a like-for-like Knight replacement. Eventually, however, they settled on an ex-demo Amazone UF 1801 with ISOBUS and FT 1001, front-mounted tank for a number of reasons. Automatic filling Firstly we like the way control of the FT 1001 front tank can be integrated with the rear so the two tanks act as one when it comes to automatically filling and transferring the mixed liquid at 200 litres/min. So I can treat the entire capacity as one mix I don t need to mix separate front and rear tank loads, explains Alister Henson. Although the front tank can hold clean water or a A move up to 24m wide booms from 20m was the main driver for change, bringing with it the latest spraying technology, including auto-levelling. different mix if required. The Amazone combination is also about 1t lighter than some equivalent sprayers, which is important. We did wonder if this was down to build quality, but we think it s simply due to modern manufacturing techniques. Local dealer support was also important, and when Andy Miller from Mason Kings told us he had an ex-demo sprayer, with ISOBUS and the exact specification, including DistanceControl automatic boom height system we wanted, it was clearly the best option, he explains. The new sprayer comprises an

46 On Farm Opinion Sprayer operator, Alister Henson, made these brackets that hold the transfer pipes and make it easy to swap the sprayer between tractors. Amazone rear-mounted 1920-litre capacity UF 1801 with 24m, Super-S boom, which has independent angling and folding for each side as well as rear folding to within 2.4m for transport. While the rear-folding boom, which tucks in behind the sprayer, wasn t initially on the shopping list, both operators now really appreciate the neat arrangement. Its narrow transport width, they say, is a real advantage when driving down lanes as well as on main roads. Up front is the 1000-litre capacity FT 1001, with Flow Control. This also comes with an extra 100-litre clean-water tank, which slots into a special place for it on the rear tank and integrates into the washing circuit. The sprayer set-up is normally mounted on a 175hp, MF 7618 Dyna-VT tractor with front linkage, with the ISOBUS-ready machine controlled through the tractor s compatible Datatronic 4 terminal in the cab. The connection to the sprayer was literally plug n play, says Alister Henson. All the sprayer s control is via the terminal s screen, without the need for a dedicated unit, which saved about 1,500, he adds. Although the tractor wasn t auto-steer ready, the farm had an existing John Deere GreenStar 2630 terminal with auto-section control software and SF2 receiver. Alister Henson sourced the necessary steering valves and John Deere fitting kit and adapted this to mount to the Massey Ferguson. ISOBUS link Now the GreenStar terminal runs the steering and mapping as well as the auto-section control, linked via ISOBUS to the sprayer, while the tractor s ISOBUS Mounting the combination isn t difficult thanks to existing front linkage and practical stands that include trolley wheels. screen operates the sprayer, including the DistanceControl automatic boom-height system. They also opted for the ISOBUS joystick up in the cab. Both operators agree that this provides a steady control unit, which makes it much easier to operate the sprayer s functions without trying to hit on-screen buttons. Michael Christensen says he was quite nervous about using the technology on the sprayer, rather than the completely manual predecessor. But I quickly got to grips with how it works and was pleasantly surprised how I took to using it quite quickly and easily. We specced it with all this equipment and we re using it all.

47 On Farm Opinion The 24m wide, rear-mounted booms can operate independently, are equipped with auto-levelling and fold to 2.4m wide for transport. I wouldn t want to go back to manual section control and switch boxes. I think the DistanceControl automatic boom height system has been really useful. In my experience I find however much you try to keep the boom down to 50cm above the target, in reality it s always too high. Also we now have seven sections and, even though we were pretty accurate before, I think even with the wider boom that ll only improve with the auto-section control, he says. Both operators are impressed with the automatic filling system, which is another option they wanted and was included on the ex-demo machine. This treats both tanks as one and all I need to do is dial in the required amount from 2800 litres down and the system fills whatever I require, explains Alister Henson. It just provides so much piece of mind when filling and allows me to concentrate on the mix, and not worry even if I m interrupted. This is one element in Amazone s Comfort Pack for ISOBUS terminals, which also includes automatic cleaning operated from the terminal. The cleaning cycle runs automatically, flushing the lines, tank and agitation system without having to leave the cab. It also controls the agitation, shutting it off when the tank contents are less than 5% of the volume. Flow Control for the front tank automatically transfers the liquid using level sensors. This helps maintain the balance across the machine by moving liquid (at 200 l/min) only when the rear tank drops to a third full. This can also be carried out manually. Capacity to expand The machine s workload comprises spraying mainly autumn-sown feed wheat, maize and grass, which are all consumed in-house as forage for the 500-head dairy herd or as feed for the 540,000 broiler chicken unit. It s also used on some stubble to stubble contract work as well as some one-off contracting and now provides the capacity to expand this area. The rotation also includes the Glastonbury festival, which each summer Massey Ferguson s Datatronic 4 terminal (right) runs the sprayer via ISOBUS, while The John Deere GreenStar looks after steering, mapping and section control. takes over more than 200ha of grassland. As any festival goer, or those who have seen it on the TV will know, this is sown on some quite heavy clay loams. Every five years there s a break in the music and about Sensors on the boom, supplied with Amazone s DistanceControl system, maintain the correct boom height. crop production magazine april

48 On Farm Opinion Alister Henson now uses his ipad to download and transfer application plans and records, synching it with Gatekeeper software by WiFi. 120ha is ploughed. The festival does present its own unique challenges, but o therwise the grass is just treated as a normal crop in the rotation, says Alister Henson. The biggest problem is metal usually discarded or un-retrieved tent pegs. These could seriously damage machinery and contaminate the silage, so a 4m wide Amazone s Comfort Pack option includes automatic filling, shut-off and rinsing operated via the ISOBUS Datatronic screen in the tractor cab. magnet is a very important part of the machinery fleet. This is operated very slowly using the auto-steer and mapping to make sure it s all covered. First wheat, this year Panorama, is sown after the maize, with JB Diego favoured for the second wheat position. Mycotoxin risks following the maize are reduced by the plough, power-harrow establishment, which also provides a more weatherproof regime, explains Michael Christensen. All the wheat straw is baled and used in house, with cow slurry and chicken muck applications replenishing the soil s organic matter. Spraying starts with pre-em applications soon after drilling and rolling, although at the end of the season, after maize harvest, the weather can deteriorate quickly. Alister Henson prefers to use 035 Defy nozzles, angled forwards and back, with the 150 l/ha output providing, he feels, better coverage than lower rates. Blackgrass isn t a big problem, says Michael Christensen, and they always autumn plough the heavy land, hoping for a good frost heave. But they re now looking closely at cover crops to control weeds and provide other soil benefits. Otherwise herbicide applications centre around pendimethalin-based products if appropriate and required. Fungicides start at T0, says Alister Henson, because they tend to get good growth through the winter and the crop is at risk from the wetter climate. He can easily cover the whole wheat area in three days with the new sprayer, he adds. Triple holders on the booms contain the Defy nozzles for early grass weed work, Alister Henson fitted this rear-view camera to help when reversing into corners and improve safety on the road. 03 standard flat fans as well as 03 GuardianAirs, which are used in less favourable conditions. Farm facts Steanbow Farms, Pilton, Shepton Mallet, Somerset Farmed area: 591ha Soils: Mainly heavy clay loams, with some areas of brash 2016 Cropping: Wheat 297ha, maize 80ha, grassland 214ha (for Glastonbury Festival) Other enterprises: 500 dairy cows, plus followers; 540,000 broiler unit Staff: 14 Tractors: Massey Fergusson 7620, 2x MF 7618, 2x MF6480, MF 5465 Combine: New Holland CR9080 Handlers: JCB 414, 2x JCB 310 Sprayer: Amazone UF 1801/FT 1001 Fertiliser spreader: Kuhn MDS crop production magazine april 2016

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50 Sole pass brings soil benefits You can already see improvements in the soil structure from adding in more organic material and restricting traffic to the tramlines. Machinery On Farm Opinion Low-disturbance drilling is being hailed as a wonder technique for tackling blackgrass and improving soil structure. CPM finds out if a Notts grower s 12m Lemken Solitair drill is delivering the goods. By Ted Fleetwood After years of beating his soils into shape with a series of heavy cultivation kit, Notts farmer Harry Barton decided to explore a lower disturbance method of crop establishment. In his old regime, the farm s predominantly medium clay loam soils were first ripped up with a 7m Simba SL to a depth of around 30cm. This opened up the soil structure, but also brought up plenty of lumps that then had to be knocked into a seedbed using a 12m Väderstad Carrier and a set of 24m Cambridge rolls. It also often required a couple of passes with said combination before the seedbed was fit enough for the farm s 8m Horsch Sprinter tine drill to come in. Despite being a 50 crop production magazine april 2016 tad labour intensive, the system worked and yields were good. However, concerns over declining soil condition and a growing blackgrass problem meant it was time for a change. We were spending so much time and money deep working the ground and then trying to get a decent seedbed, says Harry Barton. Meanwhile, it was making our blackgrass problem worse and it wasn t doing our soil structure any favours either. Shallow cultivation So for the 2015/16 season he decided to implement a new strategy of shallow cultivation and low disturbance drilling, combined with a CTF (Controlled Traffic Farming) system to reduce the impact of compaction from his heavy machinery. He also opted to up his spring cropping area in a bid to further hamper blackgrass. The first step was to sell the Simba SL and Horsch Sprinter and leave primary cultivations in the hands of the Väderstad Carrier. The plan was to use this to shallow cultivate straight behind the combine this would both provide ideal conditions for a blackgrass chit before drilling as well as loosen the topsoil to make conditions easier for the drill to work. He also wanted to direct drill crops on some of his lighter ground and gradually expand the area as the condition of his soils improved and they became easier to work. Next Harry Barton went in search of a low disturbance drill that was both wide enough so he could cover his 1500ha cropping area and was capable of doing some direct drilling when required. At the time I started looking, there were a few drills on the market that fitted our requirements, but we ended up going for the Lemken as it was relatively lightweight compared with the competition, he says. Lemken Solitair 12/1200 K-DS 125 tech specs Width: 12m Coulters: 96 double-disc units with twin springs Hopper: 5800 litres Row distance: 125/150 mm Weight: 5315kg Pulled by: Case-IH Quadtrac 535 or 620

51 On Farm Opinion So a deal was done on the 12m drill with local dealer Marsh Seward at Markam Moor, Notts and it was set to be delivered just in time for the autumn 2015 drilling campaign. As standard, the Solitair comes with a 5800-litre hopper, a hydraulically driven fan feeding eight seed distribution heads and a folding 12m seed bar with 96 independently mounted double-disc coulters. These are bolted on a parallel linkage to help with contour following and as standard come with one spring to control coulter pressure. One of our slight concerns was that the drill isn t really designed for direct drilling and we were worried that the single spring wouldn t give us enough coulter pressure to get the discs to dig into unworked ground, says Harry Barton. However, Lemken offered us the option to upgrade to double springs on each assembly, which so far has had the desired effect. After the drill arrived on farm, it was first put to work establishing winter oilseed rape. Most crops were planted into ground that had been worked with the Väderstad Carrier, but they also direct drilled 46ha into a wheat stubble on some of the heavy clay loam ground as a trial. Both crops established well and there were no problems getting the drill to penetrate into the fairly stiff unworked ground. But the most interesting trend was that flea beetle pressure was significantly lower in the direct-drilled crop, he says. I ve heard a couple of theories for why this might have happened, but I m not sure which, if either, is correct says Harry Barton. One is that the low disturbance drill doesn t interfere with flea beetle predators so they control the numbers, and the other is that the standing stubble potentially hampers the movement of flea beetles. The rest of the winter cereal crops were planted into ground prepared with one or two passes of either the Väderstad Carrier or a Väderstad NZA that had been extended to 12.3m. Harry Barton (left) and drill operator Rick Woods wanted a low disturbance drill that was wide enough to cover the cropping area and capable of direct drilling. crop production magazine april

52 On Farm Opinion The farm s recently adopted a 12m CTF system, which should help improve soil condition. We started drilling late to give the pre-emergence chemicals a longer effective working window on the blackgrass, but made good progress and somehow managed to finish around the same time View from the tractor seat as last year. It s still a little early to see the impact the new system is having on blackgrass populations, but it definitely seems as though less is germinating in the crop after planting, he says. The results we ve had so far are encouraging, but we ll have to wait and see how much of a difference the drill has made as the season progresses, he says. It s also as much about the changes we ve made to our whole system, rather than just the drill itself. Another of the drill s autumn duties was to plant cover crops into OSR stubbles that would provide ground cover until spring, says Harry Barton. This is part of an Agrovista trail called Project Lamport that The 12m Solitair has 96 double-disc coulters. the farm has been involved in for the past couple of years. It s partly looking at using cover crops and low-disturbance drilling to reduce blackgrass pressure. But the cover crops also have the added benefit of providing A radar would have been better than the old-school metering wheel that hangs off the back. Although autumn establishment was generally good, the drill did have a couple of niggly teething problems and it does have its limitations, says drill operator Rick Woods. The first thing we realised is that it really isn t a wet weather machine, he says. We took it out last autumn in some sticky conditions and we found that the coulters just blocked up and started smearing the soil. Part of the problem was that the drill was delivered with the wrong rubber-edged coulters that just weren t up to the job of scraping sticky mud off the discs. Lemken quickly replaced these with some metal-edged scrapers that do a better job, but it s still best leaving it the shed if conditions aren t ideal, he says. In some ways it s good that it won t go in the wet as it stops you mauling a crop in when we probably shouldn t. Another slight grumble is that the drill comes fitted with an old-school metering wheel hanging off the back, he says. To be fair, it seems to be reasonably accurate, but it clatters around on the back and has already broken one set of brackets. I think it would have been far better to fit a radar. As a work around, Rick Woods has hooked the drill up to the tractor s GPS signal and configured it so that it ll automatically switch back to using the metering wheel if the GPS signal drops out. But niggles aside, the drill fits in well with the farm s new establishment system, is simple to use and does a tidy job, he says. It tracks well behind the tractor and the hydraulic pressure equalisation system on the coulter bar does a great job of helping it float over the terrain, particularly for such a wide drill. Metal-edged scrapers do a better job than the rubber-edged ones the drill was originally delivered with. 52 crop production magazine april 2016

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54 On Farm Opinion The drill was upgraded to double springs on each assembly to ensure enough coulter pressure to get the discs to dig into unworked ground. valuable organic matter to help make our soils more friable. The root structures should also help open up the soil for us without the need to cultivate at depth, he adds. Building up soil organic matter is another part of Harry Barton s plan to improve soil health and fertility on the farm and increase his direct drilling area. As part of the new system he s been bringing in large amounts of organic material. This includes farmyard manure from a couple of muck-for-straw deals as well as imported sewage cake from Severn Trent and some locally sourced chicken manure. Since using this, he hasn t had to apply any potash (MOP) or phosphate (TSP) and he s already seen an improvement in soil workability. Because we re only working the muck into the top few inches of soil the nutrients are there exactly where the plant needs them, he says. It makes me wince when I see people ploughing all those nutrients into the bottom of a furrow. The farm s recently adopted a 12m CTF system, with everything from the cultivators to the combine now working at 12m (or multiples of this in the case of the sprayer). This should help improve soil condition further, he reckons. All machines are guided by mobile VRS (virtual reference station) RTK (real-time kinetic) signal and everything sits on the same wheelings, other than the combine and Horsch Titan chaser bin that track slightly wider. It s amazing, but you can already see improvements in the soil structure from adding in more organic material and restricting traffic to the tramlines, says Harry Barton. Now that the heavy kit is confined to the same wheel marks, the ground under them is being subjected to a bit of a beating. But in a bid to relieve any damage done, Harry Barton has invested in a Cultivating Solutions RLMHD tool carrier, which he s sandwiched between the Case IH Quadtrac and the drill. This is fitted with four subsoiling legs that sit in line with the farm s standard tramlines and the wider combine and chaser bin tracks. They can be lifted in and out of work hydraulically and will take out the wheelings while drilling, preventing the need to do a separate subsoiling job, he says. It s a brilliant tool I think anyone considering implementing CTF should have something similar. The switch to low disturbance establishment has also sliced a sizable chunk off the farm s fuel bill, particularly when direct drilling, says Harry Barton. For example, the old system of establishing OSR with a 7m Simba SL and seeder unit hooked to a Quadtrac 535 burnt diesel at a rate of around 20 l/ha. But in the crop that was established last autumn with the same tractor on the front of the 12m Solitair, fuel use plummeted down to just 3 l/ha. If you do the sums with diesel at 30p/litre that s a saving of 5/ha on fuel use alone, he says. Because the drill is so much easier to pull than the old one, it could have a considerably smaller tractor on the front than the 620hp Quadtrac. At the moment we need two Quadtracs for other jobs, so it makes sense to keep using it on the drill, he says. But as our soils get into better shape we might be able 0to get away with reducing our horsepower/ha ratio. The Solitair 12 s lengthy coulter bar is fitted with four linked pressure equalisation rams that allow it to float over undulating terrain. Taps on each ram allow the operator to adjust the amount of pressure in the system. Farm facts Barton and co, Hall Farm, Saundby, Notts Farmed area: 1500ha including 80ha of managed woodland Soil types: Mainly medium clay loam with some heavy clay loam and sandy clay loam. Staff: Four full time (one mainly works on the farm s cropstorage business) Cropping: Wheat, feed barley, oilseed rape, beans, linseed and peas (mix of winter and spring cropping) Five-year average yields (pre CTF): Winter wheat 10.4t/ha; OSR 4.5t/ha; hybrid barley 10.4t/ha (one year only); spring beans 4.6t/ha Mainline tractors: Case-IH Quatrac 620 and 535; Massey Ferguson 7726 Dyna 6; JCB Fastrac 4220 Combine: Claas Lexion 770 (to be replaced with a Lexion 780 this season). Drill: Lemken Solitair 12 Cultivations: Cultivating Solutions RLMHD tool carrier; 12.25m Väderstad Carrier; Brocks 24m Cambridge rolls; Farmet Fantom spring-tine cultivator; 12.3m Väderstad NZA Sprayer: Chafer trailed sprayer with 5500-litre tank and 24m boom Fertiliser spreader: Vicon RO-EDW 54 crop production magazine april 2016

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56 Sights set on RL top spot Features Insiders View It s been a fair while since Volume topped the AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds Recommended List, but now Syngenta has two more hybrid barley varieties on the podium. CPM finds out what Bazooka has to offer. By Olivia Cooper Hyvido Volume has been one of the very few hybrid barley varieties to make it onto the AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds Recommended List since But now there are another two options from the same stable, and they re both extremely high yielding contenders. James Taylor-Alford of Syngenta says it s great to get hybrids back into the RL programme after four years outside it. The RL trials weren t conducive to growing feed barley at its best there was no emphasis on early nitrogen, which is key to 56 crop production magazine april 2016 both conventional and hybrid feed varieties, he explains. However, constructive discussions led to changes in RL procedures so that feed barley is now grown with an early nitrogen application. In addition, the baseline for automatic recommendation is now an average of the top hybrid and conventional yields, rather than treating them separately. It s a much fairer process, says James Taylor-Alford. Hyvido Bazooka is now the highest yielding barley on the RL and the top three positions are taken up by Bazooka, Belfry and Volume. Consistently outperformed James Wroth, hybrid barley breeder at Syngenta, says that in six years of trials Bazooka has consistently outperformed Volume on all soil types and across different growing years. It seems able to scavenge more widely for nutrients and water, and return a consistent yield year-on-year. The fact it s also performing well across the EU suggests it s really quite an adaptable variety, he says. Our breeding programme is EU-wide, which gives us reassurance that the Using hybrid winter barley as part or your blackgrass management makes a lot of sense. parents are widely adapted to suit different seasons and climates. Bazooka is a three-way cross, taking the best characteristics of two female lines and one male line, while Belfry is a straight two-way hybrid. James Wroth reckons Belfry is ideally suited to first-time growers of hybrid barley, with Bazooka better for those who know how to really push hybrids for yield. Belfry is more aesthetically pleasing in the field as a three-way cross Bazooka is always going to be slightly less homogenous, but the results are there. David Waite, northern seed manager at Frontier Agriculture, reckons Bazooka could take about 40% of the firm s hybrid barley seed sales this year. The only reason I don t think it ll take more is because I think we ll have limited seed availability. Although Frontier has sold other hybrid varieties in the past, Bazooka looks to be stronger than the rest. It s 3-4% higher yielding than Volume, which was pretty high yielding in the first place. The only criticism of Volume is its tendency to brackle halfway up the straw, so the ears end up very low to the ground but early data suggests that

57 Insiders View Bazooka doesn t have that trait. Hybrids now make up just over a third of Frontier s winter barley seed sales, and David Waite reckons that market will continue to grow. Six or seven years ago hybrids really started taking hold in Aberdeenshire and their popularity is spreading. Traditional malting barley growers will continue to supply that market on contract, but as demand for winter malting barley shrinks, more and more farmers will look to the feed sector, he adds. The yield gap between malting and feed varieties is approaching 20% now, so there s not a lot of point in growing malting barley for feed. Try a field Farmers who like two-row varieties should try a field of hybrid alongside you can mix it in the barn as it s all feed. That s what people have been doing further north, and that s why its popularity has spread. In the past, six-row varieties have suffered from low bushel weight and small grain size, but newer breeding and management has now bridged that gap. Bazooka s bushel weight is now on par with the two-rows. They ve sorted the straw strength, added yield and boosted grain size it really is a bit of a no-brainer. One of the only downsides is the price of seed. It s about 30/ha more expensive to buy than conventional barley, says David Waite. But if you get 10% more yield, at 100/t, that s 75/ha on the bottom line. Most varieties tend to have a downside but Bazooka doesn t really have any obvious weaknesses. The only thing is that it s likely to sell out by Cereals, so get your seed order in quickly. Despite the low feed barley prices, Jamie Marshall-Roberts of Syngenta reckons the return on investment makes growing a hybrid worthwhile. With low commodity prices you really need to push for yield and a hybrid winter barley is more attractive than a second wheat, especially when it comes to blackgrass control, he adds. That s one area I ve really enjoyed working on the reduction in blackgrass plants and seed is amazing. AICC agronomist Patrick Stephenson wouldn t advise sowing any winter cereal on a really bad blackgrass field. But using hybrid winter barley as part of your blackgrass management makes a lot of sense. Hybrids are slightly different to grow than conventional varieties, so farmers need to follow agronomic advice to get the most out of them, he adds. But don t be a disciple to the advised seed rate of 200 seeds/m 2 with hybrids the cost of seed is the largest stumbling block, especially with feed barley prices below 100/t. Farmers should consider the soil type and seedbed, and adjust the seed rate up or down accordingly. Getting in with an early nitrogen application is absolutely critical failure to get it on can slash yields by 15-20%, warns James Taylor-Alford. Even in a warm winter like we ve just had, where crops are looking really green, you still need to feed them. Although Bazooka has good disease resistance, Jamie Marshall-Roberts still recommends a robust fungicide programme featuring SDHIs to maximise the green leaf area, and therefore yield potential. But if you don t want such intensive inputs it s a very robust variety, that ll perform well in wet weather areas. The RL procedures have been changed so that hybrid and conventional barleys can be compared in a fairer way, says James Taylor-Alford. Hybrids tend to stay clean early on, as they have good net blotch and rhynchosporium resistance, which eases the pressure at T1, says Patrick Stephenson. However, you do need to keep an eye on mildew and brown rust later on at T2, hybrids have a bigger leaf and you want to

58 Insiders View David Waite reckons there ll be limited seed availability of Bazooka. use that for maximum grain fill. He advises redistributing the fungicide spend to 50:50 between T1 and T2, rather than typically 60:40 for conventional varieties. Bazooka is tall, so it ll require a full plant growth regulator (PGR) programme comprising early Moddus (trinexapac-ethyl) and Cerone (2-chloroethylphosphonic acid) later on. The use of SDHIs to minimise brackling is also very important if you re trying to maximise yields by applying lots of nitrogen, you do need to think about the risk of lodging, says Patrick Stephenson. In a high lodging year farmers might be better off with Belfry, which has shorter straw, says Barry Barker, national arable seed product manager at Agrii. There s very little difference between the two other than that. It s the crop s impressive consistency that helps to back up Syngenta s yield guarantee, whereby it will pay growers 60/ha if Bazooka fails to yield at least 0.5t/ha more than conventional varieties on three local split-field reference sites. I think the variety stands up in its own right and doesn t need a marketing gimmick, but if it s at no extra cost to the grower then it s a nice comfort blanket, says Patrick Stephenson. Straw yield For mixed farmers, the straw yield is a particular bonus, he adds. If you re producing 10t/ha of grain you re also producing 10t/ha of straw, which can be very useful. But if you min-till or no-till afterwards then that s something you need to be aware of. Gleadell Agriculture sold more Bazooka than Volume seed last year, according to seed manager Chris Guest. That was partly because Volume supplies were tight, but I think Bazooka will certainly maintain its position as the widest grown hybrid barley. Last year it took 28% of the hybrid market, with all hybrids making up about a quarter of the certified seed area of winter barley. Malting barley now makes up less than 15% of the acreage, and as people get more used to using hybrids they ll continue to take more of the market. Winter barley is useful under the three-crop rule and as an entry for oilseed rape. The only concern is Barley yields smashed for Derby grower the size of the market as a feed barley the market is limited, and we do need to export. Barry Barker reckons Bazooka is in pole position to replace Volume, which has been on the market for a number of years. The yield isn t vastly different, but it does have better disease resistance, particularly for rhynchosporium, and that s a hot topic at the moment, he says. Despite their similarities on paper, Bazooka looks considerably cleaner than Volume in the field this year, says Chris Jamie Marshall-Roberts recommends a robust fungicide programme featuring SDHIs to maximise the green leaf area. Charles Edwards, whose family farms at The Limes Farm, Lullington, Burton upon Trent near Derby, was already impressed with the previous generation of hybrid barley. Last summer, he smashed his typical yield of 7t/ha from conventional winter barley with Volume, grown for the first time. Now, with a number of improvements from Bazooka over Volume on the RL, he sees it as an even more attractive option. We re driven by yield, he explains. We can get 10t/ha from wheat but struggle to reach 7.5t/ha with barley. But the Volume did 10t/ha over a weighbridge. This year, all 30ha of the farm s hybrid barley are in Bazooka. And it looks even better in the field than Volume did last year, he says. It s tremendous. It looks more even. As well as its extra yield, the improved resistance to rhynchosporium and lodging of Bazooka are also welcome, as too is the fact that it shares Volume s early maturity. Volume was very early ripening we combined it on 12 July at 13% moisture, says Charles Edwards. It also stood up well that s very important because when a crop goes down it doesn t yield and it becomes a problem drying it. The less we have to dry the better, while earliness helps cashflow. With soil type varying widely on the farm, from light sand to red clay, the ability of hybrid barley to perform in different growing environments, thanks to its vigorous growth, is another benefit. If Bazooka grows as vigorously as Volume, another advantage is that we ve a blackgrass problem, and the Volume smothered it. It grew above it and completely closed the blackgrass out. In addition, improved specific weight from Bazooka is welcomed, though Charles Edwards says he wasn t disappointed with Volume. When you think where we used to be with six-rows, the Bazooka this year looks even better in the field than Volume did last year, says Charles Edwards. improvements are incredible. Volume produced 69kg/hl last harvest. I was amazed, he says. Another bonus to us is straw, which is of tremendous value as we also have suckler cows, sheep and pigs on the farm. We normally buy straw but I didn t buy anything last year. We had double the amount of straw we expect from barley. 58 crop production magazine april 2016

59 Insiders View Gleadell Agriculture sold more Bazooka than Volume seed last year, notes Chris Guest. Those looking to maximise yields by applying lots of nitrogen should consider the risk of lodging, says Patrick Stephenson. Guest. However, the past two growing seasons have been particularly benign, so farmers won t have seen the best that newer hybrids should have to offer. It s really their ability to perform in a challenging season that makes them stand out, although anyone growing malting barley in the same rotation may need to beware of six-row volunteers. Volume was really the first hybrid to have the yield and consistency that farmers are after, says Patrick Stephenson. Since then all the other hybrids have been variations around a theme but Bazooka is a real step forward. Looking at its disease resistance scores, the weakest appears to be for mildew, scoring a five on the RL, says Chris Guest. However, Glacier and Tower score three and five, respectively. There are some pretty good mildewicides out there so unless we lose a load of chemistry it s not too much to worry about. Farmers should also be aware that they won t be able to farm-save seed, warns Barry Barker. Any F1 cross will revert back to its parent type if sown again, so if the parents are very dissimilar to each other you ll get varying maturity, heights, and so on. You ll also lose the hybrid vigour whatever you sow, it won t be Bazooka. Although the marketing of new varieties was held up by negotiations with AHDB over the RL, Syngenta hasn t delayed its hybrid breeding programme. We ve invested 4m extra over the past three years and we re absolutely confident that it s going to bring some significant advantages, says James Taylor-Alford. There are some really exciting varieties in the NL1 and NL2 trials stages in two years time there ll be varieties with further significant yield advantages and improvements in specific weight. Bazooka at a glance Treated grain yield (% treated control) Untreated grain yield 89.6 Specific weight (kg/hl) 68.4 Screenings through 2.25 mm (%) 2.7 Resistance to lodging 7.8 Straw height with PGR (cm) Ripening (days +/- Cassata) -0.6 Disease resistance Mildew 4.8 Yellow rust [8] Rhynchosporium 7.5 Net blotch 6.3 BaYMV R Source: 2016 / 17 AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds Recommended List Winter Barley; [ ] limited data crop production magazine april

60 The Exception that makes the rule DK Exception has a high yield potential and consistent performance, which it s demonstrated in trials all over Europe, says Matthew Clarke. Features Insiders View A fresh-faced candidate variety, DK Exception may not have proven itself in the UK yet, but its solid yield consistency, high phoma score and strong vigour is making it stand out. By Melanie Jenkins. With a gross output of 104% of the control on the AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds Candidate list for 2016/17, DK Exception is set to draw some interest. The variety may be new to the UK, but it s already well established on the Continent, where it s been commercially available in a number of countries for several years, and has now become Dekalb s biggest selling variety across Europe. DK Exception has been a blockbuster seller in Europe. The hybrid oilseed rape newcomer offers a treated seed yield of 105 and an oil content of 44.6%, according to the Candidate RL. This comes with Dekalb s pod shatter resistance, while its double phoma resistance lands the variety a score of 9 on the candidate list. A light leaf spot (LLS) score of 6 makes Exception a tidy variety, says Dekalb breeder Matthew Clarke. It has a high yield potential and consistent performance, which it s demonstrated in trials all over Europe, from Southern France to Eastern Europe and further North. DK Exception has been a blockbuster seller in Europe. Based on its performance in National List trials and NIAB TAG members trials, Exception looks very promising, according to Simon Kightley at NIAB. Its gross output is on par with the best recommended varieties and what it really brings to the party is excellent stem canker resistance. This is an opportunity to start cutting back on autumn fungicide inputs at a time when growers are increasingly conscious of low crop prices and margins. However, Matthew Phillips of GFP Agriculture stresses that it s worth being aware that light leaf spot is becoming more prevalent across the UK and so growers making any variety choices need to keep an eye on disease scores.dk Exception has made an immediate impression on Tim Eaton at Anglia Grain Services, which has been growing it in scaled field trials since Sept I ve been impressed with its establishment and of the 18 varieties we have in the trials it s in the top two or three as far as establishment goes, he says. Drilled on 8 Sept, it excelled in difficult growing conditions, he adds, and has since got off well in the spring. Disease ratings It s an all-round hybrid that has done everything it could have possibly done so far. Varieties with such good disease ratings are what farmers need, so the market prospects should be good. Farmers also need cheaper varieties to grow as rapeseed prices are so depressed at the moment. It s relatively tall but has a stiff stem and will stand at that height, says Matthew Clarke. It also has moderate to early maturity, fitting into the mid-range portfolio. It has a vigorous establishment in the autumn and in breeding trials has indicated consistently high yields. In the past two years of trials in the UK, Denmark and Sweden, DK Exception has been either the top or the second best variety, he says. 60 crop production magazine april 2016

61 Insiders View DK Exception is well established in France and has shown an outstanding level of consistency from first registration to farm trials, according to Alexandra Cadet, the European technical specialist for Dekalb. It s a very flexible variety, is easy to grow and can suit poorer or heavier soil types. Vigorous establishment and resistance traits are the reason the variety is able to perform so well in any situation, she says. It s very impressive. We ve lots of varieties but this one is producing consistent yields everywhere. So far, Dekalb hasn t come across any variations based on region or soil type in trials. It s the first of our varieties that has performed well wherever we ve had trials. It s a variety that adapts to climatic and field conditions to give the best results possible, says Alexandra Cadet. Growers can sleep well with the knowledge that even if their crop management isn t perfect, this variety will perform as best as possible. In the north east of France, a good yield equates to t/ha, but DK Exception has been outperforming this and has averaged 3.8t/ha in trials against the trial mean of 3.5t/ha. In the north of France, a high yield is 5.5-6t/ha and DK Exception is able to achieve yields this high as well. It does well whether in poor or very good conditions, she adds. Though it has vigorous establishment, Alexandra Cadet points out that the variety won t have start stem elongation early so growers can safely drill it early. There s no risk of excessive growth and it s good in terms of pest pressures. There can be quite a problem with flea beetle in France, but as a fast growing variety, DK Exception has an advantage as it can grow away and limit flea beetle damage. After winter it s a mid to late hybrid, getting away from the end of Feb to the beginning of Mar. It s quite a tall variety and can sometimes be quite high at the end of the flowering stage but it has excellent lodging resistance to cope with this, she adds. PGR application In cases of intensive management or high nitrogen levels, she recommends a PGR application in early spring. If there s high nitrogen availability or high plant density (more than plants/m 2 in spring), plan to spray a PGR during stem elongation as part of regular hybrid canopy management. But if conditions are very dry, and nitrogen applications aren t so well absorbed, DK Exception will still yield well, says Alexandra Cadet. Dekalb has been trialling the nitrogen efficiency of its varieties across Europe for three years and has found that compared DK Exception has shown an outstanding level of consistency in France and adapts to climatic and field conditions, says Alexandra Cadet. Its phoma score makes Exception an opportunity to start cutting back on autumn fungicide inputs, notes Simon Kightley. crop production magazine april

62 Insiders View With the variety looking strong in Anglia Grain trials, Tim Eaton is excited to be involved with it. with other hybrids, Exception has better nitrogen efficiency. Decreasing the level of nitrogen input produced only minimal yield loss compared with other hybrids, but this is still being investigated. In terms of fungicide applications, DK Exception has a high phoma stem canker resistance, giving it an advantage. In France, fungicide spraying for phoma isn t high due to this resistance, says Alexandra Cadet. At the end of the crop cycle a regular fungicide programme will cover everything. An application at the flowering stage and then another, two to three weeks later should clear any issues. The variety would work well alongside either DK Exalte or DK Extrovert as there s a bit of a contrast between them, with DK Exalte being earlier to flower, harvest and quicker to get away in the spring than DK Exception, says Matthew Clarke. Orange label For the past two years GFP Agriculture has marketed very small quantities of DK Exception, as variety DGC250, under a pre-registration orange label. DK Extrovert is still a popular choice with our growers so it would be great to find a variety with similar performance levels to complement it, says Matthew Phillips. He says that DK Exception has shown early potential in the breeder s trials year-on-year, and in field-scale trials the yields have been promising too. DK Exception has good standing power and stiff straw. It fits into an early to mid drilling window and although it doesn t have as much vigour and is slightly later to harvest than DK Extrovert, yields appear to be comparable, he adds. Every grower wants to maximise yield and gross output as It has a vigorous establishment and covers the ground well in autumn. well as being assured of standing power so in time, DK Exception could prove an attractive companion to DK Extrovert. Anglia Grain Services also markets DK Exalte, which it has been selling for two years now. DK Exception is similar but is a little later maturing, so they should complement each other grown side-by-side, says Tim Eaton. Given that it s a fairly tall variety NIAB will want to see it go through this RL candidate year with flying colours and without lodging issues, says Simon Kightley. If growers are attentive to getting good establishment with relatively low seed rates and use growth regulatory fungicides in the spring, then we wouldn t anticipate problems, he adds.

63 Insiders View Based on its success in France, Alexandra Cadet predicts that DK Exception will sell well in the UK. It s a top variety in the French market and we re expecting a high uptake in the UK as it ll be able to optimise any growing conditions into yield. We re expecting it to be as popular in the UK as it is in France and other European countries. Tim Eaton has yet to see how DK Exception fares at harvest in the UK, but he s confident that it ll do well, based on previous trial results. I m excited to be involved with it. In a tough establishment situation, it did very well and even better than the breeder said it would. Though there aren t many Dekalb varieties on the RL, the ones that do make it sell very well and are popular with farmers. Tim Eaton says this is because each variety is very well defined by individual traits such as vigour and phoma resistance. The varieties always perform on farm and so once a farmer has grown one, he ll invariably re-order it. It s all to play for this year, says Matthew Phillips. As a candidate, it still needs to prove itself further in trials but from what I ve seen so far it certainly shows promise. Of course, it s never all down to just choosing a brilliant variety, it s about tailoring fields and situations to certain varieties, or fitting the right variety to the grower s needs, he concludes. Simon Oxley, head of the RL, errs on the side of caution when it comes to growing less proven candidate varieties. Growers should be aware that the scoring of the candidate varieties is based on limited information. If a grower wants to try a variety while it s still a candidate then they can, but so far the information on the list is only based on two seasons of data. Varieties need to have a third season and a wider range of trials before recommendation. There ll then be a better understanding of how DK Exception performs compared to the current leaders, he adds. The drive at the moment is towards higher disease resistance to a llow the potential for growers to have an economic crop. It certainly shows some promise, as with all other candidate varieties. Dekalb s breeding programme is now researching High Oleic, Low Linolenic (HOLL) varieties. The quality of oil produced by these varieties is the future of OSR as it has more uses, says Matthew Clarke. We re also focusing on getting higher disease resistance to reduce inputs as there are Exception has a mid-range maturity, making it later than some other popular DK varieties. fewer chemicals available, and to save on costs. The programme is looking at traits like Clearfield, designed for easier weed control, in conjunction with BASF chemistry, to help make varieties easier for growers. DK Exception at a glance Gross output (%) Treated seed yield (%) Oil content (%) 44.6 Resistance to lodging 8.4 Stem stiffness 6.9 Height (cm) Earliness of flowering 5.4 Earliness of maturity 6.1 Resistance to light lead spot 6.2 Resistance to phoma stem canker 8.5 Source: 2016/17 AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds Winter Oilseed Rape East/West Candidate List. (This summary is derived from National List and BSPB trials. Acknowledgement is made to APHA and BSPB for the use of the data.) crop production magazine april

64 On-farm innovator It s a fascinating life like being an explorer, never quite sure what you ll find out and mapping uncharted territory. Crowd-sourced science A two-way knowledge exchange is how one Rothamsted Research scientist believes growers and researchers will make the most of integrated pest management. CPM follows the path he s forged. By Tom Allen-Stevens 64 crop production magazine april 2016 When a group of scientists from Rothamsted Research posted a video on YouTube in April 2012 asking anti-gm protestors not to destroy a trial of aphid-repelling wheat, it marked a turning point in public opinion. The video went viral and its reach was worldwide, hitting headlines in national newspapers. But its message was simple, earnest and honest: please don t destroy years of our work if you do, we won t know what this technology has to offer. This struck a chord in blogs and opinion pieces, which defended the scientists quest for knowledge, and they turned instead against the proposed actions of anti-gm campaign group Take back the flour. One of the scientists behind the video was Rothamsted entomologist Dr Toby Bruce. We were just trying to explain our point of view to the protestors. We had no idea the video would attract so much public attention, he recalls. I suppose it was the GM aspect, but this was a public-funded field trial critical to researching a scientific discovery with the potential for clear environmental benefits. We couldn t understand why someone would want to rule it out before these were even properly considered. It s the same open and earnest quest for environmental improvements and knowledge exchange that Toby Bruce has carried throughout his time at Rothamsted, since he

65 On-farm innovator The earnest plea from the Rothamsted scientists, posted on YouTube, went viral and led to a shift in public opinion against the anti-gm activists. started there in I ve always wanted to be a research scientist and had an interest in nature Rothamsted opened the door. It s a fascinating life like being an explorer, never quite sure what you ll find out and mapping uncharted territory. What s more, you re addressing agricultural challenges a lot of the work involves reducing dependence on pesticides. You ll never replace them, but we need a second tier of defence, which is where much of what I do is focused. Previous research he s worked on was a Defra-HGCA funded Sustainable Arable LINK project, led by ADAS, investigating a more integrated approach to controlling orange wheat blossom midge. At the time, it was very difficult to know if you had the pest, so many growers would apply a precautionary spray of chlorpyrifos, he explains. At Rothamsted we were involved in making and testing pheromone traps, and also in trialling resistant wheat varieties. Now resistance has been bred into about 60% of varieties used in the UK and OWBM is rarely seen as a problem, let alone sprayed against. Currently he s working on a project looking at an integrated approach to control pea and bean weevil in beans. It s partially funded by Innovate UK and BBSRC, with additional support from PGRO, BASF, Oecos and Exosect. It s known as the lure and kill project we ve developed a pheromone that attracts them into a part of the crop where you then apply a biological control. We re one year in, and the results so far suggest the potential for this as an alternative to pyrethroid use is fantastic. But it takes time to develop these approaches, and I m not sure the policy makers appreciate the consequences of restricting pesticides before we have proper alternatives in place there should be more investment in developing them, he says. He s now leading a public-funded project that aims to do just that, and empower farmers and agronomists with their own approaches to reducing dependence on pesticides. Croprotect is a three-year project, costing 292,000 and funded through the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Innovation Club (SARIC), a joint venture of BBSRC and NERC. Smartphone app It s a web-based knowledge exchange system with guidance on pest, weed and disease management, especially in situations where effective pesticides aren t available and alternative approaches are required. This centres around a smartphone app that puts Rothamsted and the fruits of its applied research at your fingertips. When a conventional pesticide is introduced, its best practice use is all taken care of the guidance is on the label. But there s no label guidance for alternative or agronomic approaches to controlling a pest, weed or disease. There s a pressing need for this, however, under the Sustainable Use Directive (SUD). This directive requires farmers to adopt a provision of integrated pest management (IPM) within control programmes. But for this to work, IPM approaches should be developed, there should be regulation of alternatives, such as biological and semiochemical (e.g. pheromone-based) controls, and there should be an effective knowledge exchange, maintains Toby Bruce. He made representations to Defra on these points during the SUD consultation, through his involvement on the biocontrol and IPM group of the Association of Applied Biologists. You d think this was obvious, but it didn t appear so at the time. It s hard to say how much this submission to the consultation helped, but a research call for a knowledge exchange came in 2014, so I submitted a proposal. Toby Bruce s background is in entomology, but he wanted to ensure his submission covered all areas, so he brought in Dr Stephen Moss on weeds and Dr Jon West on diseases. It s important to have expertise on the project that s field friendly, he says. One thing that s held back practical adoption of IPM techniques is that researchers in the past haven t done enough to engage with growers. So this element was clearly outlined in our proposal, and I think it won the bid because this is now seen as important. The aim of Croprotect is to bring practical management information on pests, weeds and diseases into one, easily accessible platform. The project started in Nov 2014, and pages are building all the time. But the essential difference about this knowledge exchange is that it s the users who prioritise In-field access to research-based knowledge The Croprotect app gives access to information pages as well as for registered users to feedback information from the field. Links within pages take you direct to relevant pages of related information. Much of the BBSRC-funded work at Rothamsted revolves around pre-breeding research, such as using its Field Scanalyzer, installed in 2014 to capture deep phenotyping data from crops and other plants growing in a real field environment. crop production magazine april

66 On-farm innovator How to be an on-farm innovator Toby Bruce s top tips 1. Make your approach user friendly. Even if complicated science lies behind it, this should be easily accessible. 2. Make life easier. Pursue research that offers a neat solution, such as a resistant variety or app. 3. It must meet a real need. There should be a policy or practical imperative, such as a new regulation or resistance issue. 4. Align your objectives to those of the funders. Getting funding is extremely competitive, so any proposal should clearly meet their requirements. 5. Get to know those who ll benefit. Those who make the time and have the willingness to engage with farmers to develop their ideas make far greater impact with their research. 6. Make it flexible and adaptable. Every farm and farmer is different, and locality is important. 7. Keep it concise. While the research may be wide ranging and thorough, the take-home messages should be clear and straightforward. the information that s available, points out Toby Bruce. The first thing we did was ask people to register and tell us what their priorities were. Then we started building pages. One of the first topics, for example, was blackgrass, with information compiled by Stephen Moss. It s not necessarily new information, but it brings research-based knowledge into the digital era. Nor will you find endless pages of information sometimes IPM has a tendency to be over-complicated, and you can get information overload. We ve aimed to focus on keeping the information concise and straightforward, he says. It s also curated information, compiled by scientists with specialist authority, rather than some free-for-all Wikipedia. That s important, If farmers are to adopt integrated pest management within control programmes, they need an effective knowledge exchange, maintains Toby Bruce. not only to gain the trust of users, but also because public-funded work must be peer-reviewed and remain high science applied science can sometimes be viewed as impure. It does provide a platform for users to contribute information, however. Pest and disease incidences can be reported and mapped, for example. Users can contribute commentary on what they ve found as well as ask agronomic information and views from the site curators or other users They ve also helped shape the project, notes Toby Bruce. Initially, it was going to Internet technology is the gateway to good collaborative science Apps like BASF s Total Oilseeds app turn good, industry-funded science into practical tools with real on-farm application at local level, says Clare Tucker. It s unusual for someone involved in research to embrace a more consultative approach, points out Clare Tucker of BASF. We have the technology now to communicate to a wider audience more easily and agriculture in general has been slow to make the most of it. With Croprotect, however, Toby Bruce is making the most of apps and other internet tools to consult directly with end users. This is valuable in particular in the field of biological sciences. It s not so much about what a technology can do, but how it interacts with the environment variables and farming practice. Key to getting good data is having a platform to exchange this information. But to manage this sort of platform requires a wide skill set, she says. You not only need to collect and analyse data and get results, you need to communicate these, and then be confident enough to manage feedback and make appropriate changes to your methodology. It s a progressive approach that s been clearly demonstrated here. Clare Tucker reckons more collaboration is the key to ensuring the benefits of scientific discovery are delivered onto farms. First and foremost, you need good independent science, of the level that s currently funded by BBSRC and AHDB. And the results should be peer-reviewed. This is the sort of research we re interested in being involved in at BASF, not because it has a positive outcome for our products, but because it helps the industry thrive, which is important for our medium and long-term future. How it s then delivered is also important, she says. Apps make the information much more accessible than it was BASF has shown through its involvement with the GAI app, the Weed and Cereal Disease ID apps and the Total Oilseeds app how good, industry-funded science can be turned into practical tools with real on-farm application at local level. As we move towards a more integrated approach to managing weeds, pests and diseases, on-farm collaboration will become more important. But good science must remain at the heart of this, so platforms that let the two interact will become more valuable. 66 crop production magazine april 2016

67 On-farm innovator be just a web-based tool. But I presented it at the AICC conference right at the start of the project, and the feedback from agronomists was that they wanted an app for iphone and Android users. So that s what we developed. As information is updated and more pages loaded, this can be accessed through either the app or website. We ve built in links to good sources of related information doing this project has really opened my eyes to valuable online research-based information, such as on the AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds website. It s sometimes hard to find, though, so we ve provided links direct to relevant publications or pages. But it s the community involvement element where Toby Bruce reckons most potential lies. We already have 600 registered users, although it s not a requirement to register to use Croprotect. The reporting element will become a valuable tool in itself. Crop Monitor has thorough in-season information on disease incidence, for example. But Croprotect potentially can provide hundreds of location points with opportunities for interaction. Building the user base when limited marketing budgets are allowed in public-funded projects has been a struggle, he admits. With 18 months of the project still to go, he s keen to ensure Croprotect continues to grow in terms of both its user base and the information available to growers. As a keen user of Twitter, however, he s found a strong community of growers who have been coming on board and helping the service develop. There s #clubhectare, for example, has 20,000 users. Many research projects develop in splendid isolation from the end users who ll directly benefit. With Croprotect, they re not Toby Bruce brought in Stephen Moss (right) on weeds and Jon West on diseases to ensure the project had authoritative field-friendly expertise. only involved, they re helping to shape it. These are the people who will ultimately decide its direction. with Although a Rothamsted project, it will be the Croprotect users who ultimately decide its direction. On-farm innovation Farmers are constantly innovating to improve their businesses, which is why BASF is committed to investing 10% of its sales revenues into R&D to deliver new technologies for farming. BASF s new innovations include pioneering agricultural chemistry, as well as Innovations Beyond Crop Protection like biologicals, bacteria, soil and water management and renewable technologies. Our future is firmly focused on delivering towards farming s future. Innovations Beyond Crop Protection crop production magazine april

68 Putting goodness in the ground Peas seem to do something to the soil. Features Pea grower profile The first year of growing marrowfat peas has been quite a learning experience for one grower in County Durham, but it s brought benefits for both the soil and the bank balance. CPM paid him a visit. By Tom Allen-Stevens There s any number of reasons you might make a move into spring crops, but for most it can mean a compromise on the profitability of the rotation. For Greg Hart, however, the profitability s largely remained intact, and it s bringing the arable system a bit of a refresh that he s convinced is setting the farm up for the long term. The honeymoon of living out of the bag is over the land just looks lacklustre and doesn t defend the rain well. But I m 68 crop production magazine april 2016 beginning to see the positives of what we re doing now. These are the building blocks of getting the land back to how it should be, he says. DL Hart and Son stretches to 255ha of medium to heavy soil, based at Foxton Farm, near Stockton on Tees, County Durham. The move into spring crops happened by default following the disastrous autumn of Crops wiped out All the winter cropping got wiped out apart from the oats as we hadn t yet drilled them, recalls Greg Hart. So the following spring, we had winter oat seed to plant it s a crop that doesn t need vernalisation and is as cheap as chips to grow. So the crop of Mascani oats was drilled on 1 April, with not much expectation of yield. In the end, it achieved 7.5t/ha with a better quality sample than the true spring oats we drilled. It wasn t just oats that performed well in the same year he planted some Tybalt spring wheat. We got 7t/ha off land that looked like the tide had gone out on it. Greg Hart is moving over to predominantly spring cropping and is beginning to see the positives. The realisation that spring crops could actually perform quite well prompted another cropping move in We were looking to get out of oilseed rape. It can be a hurtful crop in terms of how much you have to invest in it. Then we really struggle with slugs in the following wheat crop you re still paying for OSR after it s in the shed. With the new greening requirement soon

69 Pea grower profile to come into effect, Greg Hart set out at the Cereals event to investigate what pulses and cover crops might be able to deliver for the farm. It was there that myself and my neighbour came across a contract to grow marrowfat peas for Dunns, he recalls. Non-defaultable contact We didn t want to grow beans as they re too late to harvest. The peas were offered on a non-defaultable contract, and the price, at 350/t, looked very attractive. So marrowfat peas took the place of OSR in the rotation for 2015 harvest. These come before the wheat, and then It s hoped peas and cover crops will help to re-awaken the lacklustre medium to heavy soils that don t defend the rain well. There s a 4ha look-see area of radish, phacelia and clover cover crops with plans to roll them out across around 190ha in autumn there s a crop of spring-sown winter oats. After that, there s a spring wheat, with another crop of spring-sown oats completing the five-year rotation. We ve moved over to direct drilling with a 6m Horsch Sprinter, so the only autumn cultivation was a pass with the subsoiler directly after harvest. It makes sense to subsoil in front of peas, although I m hoping that in time we ll be able to dispense with the subsoiler and a cover crop will do the job. He s started with a 4ha look-see area of radish, phacelia and clover, supplied by Kings, but plans to roll out cover crops across around 190ha in autumn Last year, however, the 48ha crop of Kabuki marrowfat peas were set to be drilled into the subsoiled stubble. Kabuki was the variety recommended to us and we were strongly advised not to drill until the soil temperature reached 7-8 C, so that it comes straight up. We drilled it on 9-10 April and I thought the crop took a bit of time to emerge, especially on the headland where we d paddled the land a little with the rolls. But when it did emerge, it grew well. The first lesson he learned was with the seed rate, however. We were supplied enough seed to drill at 230kg/ha. We started at 200kg/ha and then increased it to 265kg/ha. That was too much, and that area leaned over at harvest, whereas the lower rate was fine. So I think we ll aim for around

70 Pea grower profile Keeping peas standing through to harvest is crucial this goes back to choosing the right seed rate. 220kg/ha in future. The crop received a seedbed dressing of diammonium phosphate (DAP) and muriate of potash (MOP). We rolled the crop straight after that s essential and it then had a pre-emergence herbicide of Anthem (pendimethalin) plus Linzone (clomazone+ linuron). Laser (cycloxydim) and Falcon (propaquizafop) were applied at the beginning of June for grassweed control. We have brome and ryegrass and a smattering of wild oats, but generally they re not too much of a problem. I m hoping to get fewer grassweeds now we ve moved to more spring cropping and are shifting less soil, notes Greg Hart. Really healthy At the same time, the crop was treated for pea and bean weevil, then at the end of June, it was sprayed for aphids and pea moth prevention in mid July. At the latter two timings, Amistar (azoxystrobin) was applied at 1.2 l/ha and 1.3 l/ha respectively. The crop looked really healthy all the way through, although I m mindful it was a good growing year, he adds. It was sprayed off with Reglone (diquat) on 26 Aug and harvested over two days on 5 and 7 Sept. The 15ha where the crop was leaning over took us a day and a bit to harvest if it had rained on it, it would have been a real bother. But we sailed through the rest of the crop, covering 24ha in a day. But it was the after-harvest care that Greg Hart was keen to get right. I knew that Marrowfat peas: how the finances stack up (/ha) Seed 143 Fungicides 40 Herbicides 78 Insecticides 15 Trace Elements 15 Fertiliser 81 Sundries 12 Variable costs 384 Yield (t/ha) 5.2 Price (/t) 350 Output 1820 Gross Margin 1436 Note: based on actual figures for 2015 harvest marrowfats are a crop you can t keep out in the field what you re aiming to avoid is bleaching. We were encouraged to go as soon as the crop went under 20% Marrowfat margin lucrative but high risk Marrowfat peas are a riskier crop to grow, but offer more reward to those who can grow them well, according to Franek Smith of Dunns. They won t perform for you every year you should budget on one or two years over a five-year rotation being a disappointment. But when it all comes together, they can offer a very attractive margin. The current contract price for marrowfat peas is 250/t, he reports, although the marrowfat pea area for 2016 harvest is now A new factory in Wales manufacturing extruded pea snacks could open up a new market for marrowfat growers. fully booked. For those looking to go into peas for the first time, I d recommend trying large blue varieties first there s less risk with these, although the price is much lower at around /t. The size of the market is very different, too. The total UK large blue pea crop is around 80, ,000t, while Canada, the world s biggest grower, produces a crop in the millions of tonnes. By contrast, the entire global marrowfat market is around 50,000-60,000t, of which 35,000t is grown in the UK, says Franek Smith. This has an impact on varieties. Marrowfats haven t had as much investment in the genetics as large blues due to the size of the market, which shows when comparing the varieties both agronomically and yield-wise. Our favoured marrowfat is Kabuki it s tried and tested and accepted by all end users. Campus and Daytona would be our large blues of choice. There s about a 10% difference in yield between them, according to the PGRO Recommended List. Campus has the best standing ability ease of combining is a very important feature for peas. Success with marrowfats comes down to farming ability, says Franek Smith. You need to give them due care and attention. The difference between a fantastic and disastrous crop is no Success with marrowfats comes down to farming ability, says Franek Smith. more than two days, so that s a delay at harvest, with the fungicide spray, or the pea-moth insecticide, for example. Perhaps the interesting side to the crop is its market. Mushy peas, either for canning or the catering sector, account for almost half of the UK crop. But a lucrative snack market has opened up more recently in Asia that sees around 10,000t exported every year. One really exciting development is UK-manufactured extruded peas a bit like a Wotsit. This is a snack that s huge in the US where the market s satisfied by the Canadian and US growers. But now a firm called Calbee has just built a 6.5 million factory in Wales to make the extruded Snapea snack. It s a market that s in its infancy, but set to rocket, and it s ideal for the UK-grown marrowfat, points out Franek Smith. 70 crop production magazine april 2016

71 Cautious over what the heat from the Svegma drier might do to the high value crop, pedestal fans were used to harden it off. moisture, and we actually started combining when it was at 18.5%. Quality-wise, we did exactly the right thing the crop came in and it was a lovely green colour, so keeping the quality right in the field is obviously a key priority. But the problem we had was a heap of very damp peas, and I didn t dare put them straight over the drier. Farm facts DL Hart and Son, Foxton Farm, Stockton on Tees Area farmed: 255ha Soil type: Medium/heavy clay loam Cropping: Winter wheat, spring wheat, winter oats (sown in spring), spring oats, peas Drills: 6m Horsch Sprinter Combine: John Deere CTS Twin Rotor with 7.6m header Mainline tractors: 2x Claas Xerion 3800 Cultivation: 8m Horsch FG cultivator; 5m McConnel 10-leg subsoiler with DD press; 9m Cousins rolls Sprayer: Trailed Chafer Guardian with 4000-litre tank and 30m boom Spreader: Lely Centreliner with 3t hopper He was cautious what the heat from the 30t/hr kerosene-fuelled Svegma drier might do to the high value crop, so instead decided to harden the crop off first using pedestal fans. It took 2-3 weeks and cost a fair bit in electricity, but the moisture never budged. It was at that point, he dried the crop. Most of it came down to 14% in the end and that was probably a bit too much. This year, I think we ll harden the crop off with the pedestal fans again, but won t be quite so cautious about waiting to put it through the drier. However, I think we were lucky last year you hear horror stories about how difficult peas can be to harvest, so we ll focus on making sure the crop stands and that we harvest it as soon as it s ready. The nice surprise was the yield. We were budgeting for t/ha, but in the end the crop yielded over 5t/ha. Bearing in mind it wouldn t have yielded too well where the crop was leaning, I reckon some of the better parts of the crop must have pushed out over 6t/ha, which shows the potential of the crop. What s more, it s given a good entry for the following wheat crop. Revelation was grown last year and yielded over 10t/ha. But Greg Hart is growing Cordiale following the pea crop this season. When drilling the wheat, we had a bit of an issue where the previous crop had leaned and there was straw on the ground that bulldozed. But there wasn t any problem with slugs. What s more, peas seem to do something to the soil they put the goodness back in the land. The soil is more friable and the top is finer, which is why we re trying for a milling sample. With the cover crops as well, we re really looking forward to seeing the positives begin to build they ll be putting even more goodness in the ground.

72 Biofumigant crop complexities Roots Potatoes With uncertainty over Vydate production, trials looking at biofumigant cover crops are proving their worth. CPM reports on results, along with the latest on blight and early weed control. By Lucy de la Pasture Many growers are facing a leap into the unknown this season with the absence of Vydate (oxamyl). With a degree of uncertainty whether the production of Vydate granules will ever resume, it s a good time to look at the alternative measures to help keep nematode populations at a manageable level. One of those measures is growing a biofumigant cover crop and it s something to consider now to be in time for next 72 crop production magazine april 2016 season s potato fields. Trials carried out by RAGT and Agrovista suggest that they could play an important role in controlling free-living nematodes (FLN). Their trial site at Elgin on the Moray Firth is under organic production on a farm that has suffered high FLN counts, says Agrovista agronomist Andy Steven. Spraing, the disease caused by the tobacco rattle virus transmitted by FLN, is a fairly common problem here and on other lighter soils in Morayshire. Around half the samples show high FLN counts. Chopped and incorporated The site was split into five sections one untreated and four areas each planted with a different biofumigant crop oilseed radish, white mustard, Hardy Mix (a blend of oilseed radish, Ethiopian mustard and rocket) and Japanese oats. These were drilled in late July to ensure there was plenty of biomass to be chopped and incorporated in mid-nov. Nematode numbers on the untreated area went up pretty significantly between Using biofumigants is something we ll get better at but there s still a lot to learn. June and Nov, particularly Pratylenchus and Trichodorus species, Andy Steven says. This would normally be expected as soils become wetter in the autumn, encouraging nematodes to move upwards through the soil profile. Numbers of these two species were higher than the treated strips to begin with and reached proportions where a nematicide would need to be given serious consideration, he adds. Longidorus was also present but the population was much smaller. We can t say statistically that everything worked better the Hardy Mix and the Japanese oats worked reasonably well. But in this trial at least, the oilseed radish did the best job and white mustard came a good second, he says.

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74 Potatoes Biofumigants work well on PCN and trials suggest the same is true of FLN which, in the right rotation, could help to keep numbers down. Oilseed radish provided the best control of Longidorus and Trichodorus, while white mustard had the edge on Pratylenchus. The results suggest that targeting different species of nematode with specific biofumigant crops may help further and is likely to be a key focus of future trials, says Andy Steven. If these results were repeated in the field, he predicts significantly less feeding damage as well as potential disease reduction. Growers in this area have achieved a 10t/ha yield increase where feeding damage has been reduced. Potatoes will be planted across the trial site so we ll be able to measure this effect. Mild climate The trials also show it s possible to establish biofumigant crops in the far north of the UK, albeit in a relatively mild climate. A big challenge in this area is getting a cover crop established in time to provide enough green material for it to work. In practice it might be best to plant biofumigant crops after winter barley or EFA fallow, he adds. Overall we seem to have achieved what we hoped, in terms of establishing the crops and reducing numbers, and it certainly merits further investigation. Helen Wilson, head of forage crops at RAGT Seeds, says FLN is becoming a more important pest in the UK. Crop Groundkeepers may be primary blight source this year Stuart Maltby stresses there are a number of elements growers must get right in order to get the desired results from biofumigant cover crops. damage thought to be caused by poor fertility, compaction and/or poor drainage can often be an FLN problem. Growers are becoming more aware of it and it appears David Cooke reckons blight is likely to develop on groundkeepers after the mild winter and they have the potential to be a source of early infection. Speaking at the recent AHDB Potatoes Winter Forums, late blight specialist Dr David Cooke of the James Hutton Institute, warned potato growers to remain vigilant during this coming season. Despite many potato specialists forecasting a potentially high blight season last year, the peculiar weather patterns last spring and summer meant it turned out to be a low blight season. In 2015, a dry April checked primary inoculum of Phytophthora infestans and then a dry June slowed down any established infections. Thereafter, it was generally cool when the relative humidity was high which limited pathogen development, explained David Cooke. Despite the unusual season last year, with only 58 positive reported outbreaks compared 74 crop production magazine april 2016 with 267 in 2014, this winter has been dominated by unseasonal mild and moist conditions. The marked absence of any prolonged frosts means this is no time to forget about blight management, he cautioned. UK Met Office data backs up the statement, showing how temperatures in Dec were comparable with those that might be expected in Oct, April, or even May. It was the wettest, and warmest Dec on record since 1910 by a wide margin, sitting at 4 C above the long-term average. Outlining genotype findings from the past season, David Cooke reported that the strains blue 13_A2 and pink 6_A1 continue to dominate the population in England and Wales. Both are more aggressive and fitter than previously common strains and they can infect a plant more rapidly, narrowing the control options. Following the wet and warm winter, if this weather trend continues, any weakness in control plans will be exploited by the pathogen and could result in crop losses during the growing season. The majority of Phytophthora infestans survives as clones and most inoculum is locally generated. Target infected outgrade piles and keep a special eye out for groundkeepers. These should be an even more important focus because groundkeepers will have continued to grow over the winter, following the lack of any real frosting. Blight is likely to develop on them and they have the potential to be a source of early infection. The picture in Scotland is a little different than the rest of the UK, explained David Cooke, with a much larger proportion of novel types in the blight population. The blue 13_A2 genotype has almost disappeared and we re finding a more diverse population in Scotland with a high proportion of novel types especially in North Aberdeenshire, along the Moray coast. This suggests that in Scotland the pathogen was sexually recombining and producing oospores, known for being more challenging to manage. While a real concern to the industry, we fortunately found that the novel strains were mainly confined to localised regions of Scotland, and in fact were largely originating from other crop sources. There s very little evidence of spread of these novel strains via seed or air, either between or within seasons, he reassured growers. The strains blue 13_A2 and pink 6_A1 continue to dominate the population in England and Wales.

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76 Potatoes Change in FLN population July to Dec Numbers per 250g soil 50 0 untreated Oilseed radish White mustard Hardy mix Japenese oats Longidorous Pratylenchus Trichodorus All four biofumigants reduced numbers across all three FLN species, apart from the Japanese oats which struggled to contain Longidorus. Source: Frontier to be more widely spread than many people think. While biofumigants may not replace nematicides as long as they re available, the results show they could keep potato growers in business if such chemistry does disappear, she adds. We know biofumigants work well on PCN, though not as effectively as nematicides, and I suspect the same is true of FLN. But they ll still deliver a good level of control which, in the right rotation, could help to keep numbers down. Frontier agronomist Stuart Maltby has Nematode numbers are believed to be rising faster in fields with shorter potato rotations, says Douglas Dyas. been involved with using biofumigants for 15 years and stresses that while the theory is good, there are a number of elements growers must get right in order to get the desired results and not be disappointed. It s not as easy as just putting a cover crop in the ground. You need the same commitment to a biofumigant crop as any commercial crop, even though it ll end up being incorporated, he explains. 76 crop production magazine april 2016

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78 Potatoes Thumbs up for Praxim Luke Hardy believes Praxim looks to be so much more than just a linuron replacement. Praxim (metobromuron) was a welcome introduction to the potato herbicide armoury last season, especially as some of the old stalwarts are under close scrutiny by CRD. After a full seasons experience in 2015, has it lived up to expectations? As far as agronomist Stuart Maltby s concerned, the answer is a yes. Praxim can be used pre-emergence right up to cracking of the ridges and I m comfortable using it late on when potatoes are very near emerging. I haven t seen any adverse crop effects so it appears to live up to the claims of good crop safety on all soil types. Stuart Maltby has his own potato demo site near Holbeach where he s able to run a number of experiments both on and off-label, though the latter requires crop destruct. I looked at Praxim on the demo site last year and investigated a number of different tank mixes and rates, he explains. So what were his key findings? There s a very definite drop off in performance when used at 2 l/ha rather than 3 l/ha. When used at 2.5 l/ha there s still a slight drop off in comparison to the 3 l/ha rate. At the full rate of Praxim (4 l/ha) there was no noticeable difference to using 3 l/ha, he explains. The conclusion I ve come to, is that you need to be using Praxim at 3 l/ha and definitely not below 2.5 l/ha, and then only with a partner product, such as Defy (prosulfocarb) or Sencorex (metribuzin). There s an impression that Praxim is highly priced and for that reason some growers aren t using rates that are robust enough. At the 3 l/ha rate, I m seeing broad-spectrum weed control and good longevity on weeds like bindweed and willow weed (pale persicaria). There ve been issues in a few following wheat crops where clomazone (Gamit 36CS) and metribuzin were applied the previous spring to the potato crop. I m not seeing any visible effects in wheat this year following potatoes where Praxim was used in 2015, he notes. Although there aren t any buffer zone restrictions for Praxim, Stuart Maltby reminds growers to bemindful of the buffer zone requirements of any partner products. Agrovista agronomist Luke Hardy advises growers in Shrops and was keen to try Praxim last year, particularly because of the likelihood that linuron may soon disappear and leave a yearning gap for a light land herbicide replacement. The cover crop has to contain the right varieties, be established well and must be incorporated at the correct timing when soil moisture and temperature are above the critical level for the biofumigant gases to volatilise and move through the soil. At the flailing and incorporating phase it s important to have a real understanding of what you re trying to achieve, believes Stuart Maltby % of the biofumigant effect can be from the roots and the remainder the green top. The cells need to be ruptured to release the gas, so it needs to be chopped as finely as you can, he advises. But the most important part of the operation is getting the top incorporated minutes after flailing, so ideally you need a single pass machine. The surface then needs to be lightly smeared, though not packed, to produce a cap to seal the gas in, stopping it escaping too quickly. It s also important to understand that you re only treating the soil to the depth that you re incorporating into. That means being careful during planting Rhizoctonia is a relatively weak pathogen and can be effectively controlled in the soil by incorporating Amistar. 78 crop production magazine april 2016

79 Potatoes I have a lot of light land in my area, so there s potential for problems with crop damage if using metribuzin. I ve used Praxim at 2 l/ha in tank mix with Defy on light land where fumitory is the main problem. On the heavier land I ve either used metribuzin as a partner product or a three-way mix of Praxim plus metribuzin plus clomazone, he explains. According to Luke Hardy, Praxim looks to be so much more than just a linuron replacement. It s expensive compared with linuron but also offers flexibility and a broader spectrum of weed control, with activity on fumitory and wild oats. Praxim controls a weed spectrum very complimentary to the activity of metribuzin which makes them ideal tank mix partners, he says. Although Praxim appears expensive in comparison to other pre-ems, he believes it s money well spent. Last season, no post-em follow-up treatments with Titus (rimsulfuron) were needed where we used Praxim. cold soils, the effects can be severe. However, rhizoctonia is a relatively weak pathogen that can be effectively controlled in the soil by incorporating Amistar (azoxystrobin), he says. Delayed and patchy emergence has serious implications for crop management. While the canopy appears to recover over the season, it inevitably has a consequence at harvest, with variable tuber size, maturity and quality. Damage to root systems, from the combined effects of nematode pests and rhizoctonia attack, is also likely to inhibit the crop s ability to take up nutrients and water, likely to have a further effect on yield. It also puts plants under greater stress that makes them more susceptible to other threats, such as alternaria (early blight), points out John Sarup. Nematode feeding damage allows the soil-borne rhizoctonia pathogen to get into plants more easily, warns John Sarup. cultivations not to work at a depth below the treated layer, which would mix it with untreated soil, he cautions. Using biofumigants is something we ll get better at but there s still a lot to learn about selecting the correct biofumigant crops and getting them to work reliably. Suppression only As far as nematicides go, Nemathorin (fosthiazate) is the only option this season, with Mocap only offering suppression of nematode populations. For early growers in particular that s a problem because of the lengthy harvest interval for Nemathorin. Clarifying the definition of harvest interval, Syngenta technical manager, Douglas Dyas explains: Nemathorin has a harvest interval of 119 days, which means there must be at least 17 weeks from application before burn down or harvesting green crop in order to comply with the label. A knock-on effect of an increasing incidence of nematodes in soils is an increased risk of rhizoctonia infection, warns Yorks-based potato specialist, John Sarup of Spud Agronomy. He reckons that nematode feeding damage allows the soil-borne rhizoctonia pathogen to get into plants more easily, with infection resulting in stem and stolon pruning which causes protracted emergence. If growth is further delayed by wet or

80 Potato blight Potato blight has always been one of, if not the most devastating disease in any crop. Its ability to evolve with newer and more aggressive strains make it a difficult pathogen to control and Belchim are keen to support the gathering and transfer of knowledge that will aid in the fight against blight. Blight can be an unforgiving pathogen if you take your eye off the ball, it can cost you dearly. Exploitive and aggressive crop threat Following a wet and mild winter, potato blight will take advantage of any weakness in control programmes. CPM asks SRUC s Dr Ruairidh Bain to review the fundamentals. By Tom Allen-Stevens Potato blight is arguably arable farming s most destructive plant disease the only one to have ever caused widespread crop loss leading to famine in the British Isles, as it did during the Irish and Highland blight epidemics of the mid 1840s. It currently costs the industry around 55 million/yr to keep the disease under control. Recent developments in the blight population mean that it s now an even tougher disease to control than it was a decade ago. Key to effective management is good monitoring of risk and outbreaks and hygiene, as well as a control programme that starts at the right point in the season and maintains tight intervals between fungicide applications, says Dr Ruairidh Bain of SRUC. But behind any effective strategy lies a good understanding of the pathogen you re dealing with. What is potato blight? Often referred to as late blight, the disease is caused by the pathogen Phytophthora infestans that spreads fast, with a life cycle of just three to eight days, depending on genotype and conditions. It s spread mainly by wind-borne spores (sporangia) that infect the leaves and stems of potato plants. Under cooler conditions, the sporangia mainly release zoospores, which can be washed down through the ridges and come into contact with the potato tubers, resulting in tuber blight. The typical leaf symptoms of the disease are irregularly shaped lesions that enlarge rapidly, turning the foliage a dark brown colour. Unchecked, the complete crop canopy can become infected and collapse. Infected tubers develop fox-red or dark marbling of the tuber tissue, and can quickly decay through secondary bacterial soft rotting to a foul-smelling mush. How is the disease spread? The pathogen predominantly reproduces asexually the greatest number of wind-borne spores is produced under warm and humid conditions and the pathogen needs green plant material to develop. When the weather is the right combination of temperature and humidity, known as a Smith Period, blight will spread fastest and crops are most at risk. However, in recent years, blight has been found to spread before Smith Periods are triggered. Local Smith Period information can still be useful but it s critical to know that the long-established temperature and humidity thresholds will miss some high-risk periods. The industry is currently revising the system of monitoring the blight threat, and new thresholds are close to being agreed. 80 crop production magazine april 2016

81 Until now, Smith Period information from BlightWatch ( has been provided after high-risk days occurred. For the 2016 season, BlightWatch will provide forecast data so that Smith Period predictions will be for the coming 24 hours, instead of the previous 24 hours. The service will also make a prediction out to 48 hours, based on the forecasts for the current day and the next. Ruairidh Bain is concerned that growers fail to consider diseaseresistance ratings when planning fungicide programmes. How has the pathogen changed? The blight population is made up of a number of different genotypes, grouped into two mating types, A1 and A2. Until around 2006, the A1 mating types were dominant in the UK. But the newer A2 mating type, first identified in the 1980s, then rose to dominate the population, which is monitored through a research programme, funded by AHDB Potatoes. Currently, the population is relatively stable, with two dominant genotypes 13_A2 and 6_A1 making up 80-90% of the population (see panel on p74 for latest information). They are relatively aggressive, so the amount of damage they cause to crop foliage is severe compared with many other genotypes. What s more, they are relatively fit, so survive well over winter and can start to spread early, which explains how they ve come to dominate the population. Stay focused from start to finish A key concern since the A2 mating type rose to prominence is that the two genotypes can reproduce sexually and produce oospores. These can survive in the soil for up to four years, and in other European countries have been responsible for early and severe blight outbreaks. Although no oospores have yet been identified as starting an outbreak in the UK, it s generally considered sexual recombination is probably taking place. The diversity of non-dominant unique genotypes makes this likely, although this hasn t yet led to a new dominant genotype, and new ones that are identified disappear quickly. In 2010 and 2015 seasons of notably low blight incidence there was a relatively high proportion of non-dominant genotypes. It s not yet clear if this greater diversity in the population in these years represents a gradual shift to a sexually reproducing population, or Tech Talk The typical leaf symptoms of blight are irregularly shaped lesions that enlarge rapidly, turning the foliage a dark brown. simply that these miscellaneous genotypes were less masked by 13_A2 and 6_A1 than in moderate to severe blight years. How do you prevent blight? The consequences of the shift in blight populations are that blight will tend to come into the crop earlier and hit harder. So vigilance early on and planning are crucial. Growers must stay alert for signs of blight and control sources of Once the blight season starts, Agrii agronomist Nick Winmill will be urging his growers to stay focused until the risk is well and truly over. It s important to start programmes early and maintain protection beyond the start of desiccation while there s green leaf present. Blight can be an unforgiving pathogen if you take your eye off the ball, it can cost you dearly, he says. When planning the strategy, keep in mind varietal resistance. Many varieties have had their blight ratings re-evaluated in the presence of more aggressive blight strains. It s unlikely to change what variety you put in the ground the consumer determines the market, and that s unlikely to be governed by the blight risk. But it s important to know how susceptible your crop is. Once the season starts then a robust disease forecasting system can assist in shaping the frequency and timing of blight sprays. We moved away from using Smith Periods several years ago as this appeared not to be flagging high risk periods either at the start of or during the season, notes Nick Winmill. Instead, Agrii uses Dacom s Forecast-Xtra service in conjunction with its network of more than 180 weather stations to keep tabs on likely high risk periods. Following last year s low levels of blight, the risk of blight in seed stock should be low. But the disease is still likely to start early, he notes. So he ll be starting programmes early at, or even before the rosette stage with mancozeb if varietal resistance is good. Otherwise he ll mix in some cymoxanil for some curative kick-back. At the rosette stage I ll be looking to a cymoxanil plus mancozeb mix, such as Profilux the advantage of that product is the rate is more flexible if you need to strengthen it. Alternatively, you can use cymoxanil plus fluazinam as in Kunshi. Once the crop enters the rapid canopy phase, the focus should be on keeping intervals tight and mixing and matching products. There are many products to choose from and my programmes are built around key active ingredients. Some of the main choices in my view are cyazofamid (Ranman Top), mandipropamid (Revus), fluazinam (Shirlan), fluopicolide+ propamocarb hydrochloride (Infinito) and dimethomorph (e.g. in Invader and Hubble). But you need to keep your eye on the weather if you re due to spray in 2-3 days time and the weather forecast is poor but risk is high, then bring the application forward. If you do get delayed beyond your target interval then consider strengthening the mix with some cymoxanil, for example. Once the canopy stabilises, the focus shifts to tuber blight, continues Nick Winmill. Ranman, Infinito and perhaps Shirlan (fluazinam) are good choices it s worth putting some Ranman in with an appropriate desiccant. Bear in mind the risk of alternaria on some varieties. 1700g/ha of mancozeb is a good baseline to maintain as supplied with the full rate of Profilux. As the risk increases, move up through the gears adding an azole, such as Narita (difenoconazole), if you need a If there s a weakness in your system, blight will find it out, warns Nick Winmill. bit of curative activity, or bring in a strobilurin-based treatment. While product choice is important, he stresses the benefit of starting early, keeping intervals tight and remaining vigilant. Good coverage is essential watch around telegraph poles while controlling volunteers and growth on outgrade piles is a must. If there s a weakness in your system, blight will find it out, and you ll be fighting it for the rest of the season. crop production magazine april

82 Tech Talk Potato blight top tips Stay vigilant Be aware of what the risk is through FAB and monitoring Smith Periods and deal with outgrade piles and volunteers. Timeliness is key Start fungicide applications early and keep spray intervals tight. Protect the tuber Keep an appropriate programme in place until the threat of infection is definitely over. Infected tubers develop fox-red or dark marbling of the tuber tissue. infection, such as outgrade piles and volunteers, destroying any green growth before it becomes infected. It also helps to know the blight health status of seed stocks. As well as monitoring your own crops, make use of a good blight monitoring service, to keep yourself abreast of disease developments and weather-based risk. This can be achieved through AHDB Potatoes free Fight Against Blight (FAB) service. There is concern that growers fail to consider disease-resistance ratings when planning fungicide programmes. Research has shown Oospores can survive in the soil for up to four years, and in other European countries have been responsible for early and severe blight outbreaks. there are significant differences, as well as fungicide savings that can be made, by growing a variety with a blight rating of 5 compared with a 3 a typical disease rating for the current UK crop. How do you build a control programme? Although growers are now dealing with a different type of blight, the current fungicide armoury, used well, will still bring good control. The difficulty is that these aggressive and fit genotypes will mercilessly take advantage of any lapse in a robust strategy. There are some key principles that ensure a blight control programme remains effective: Start early The more aggressive genotypes 13_A2 and 6_A1 are generally the first to appear in the crop, so assume these are the ones you are tackling. Gauge the risk The timing of fungicide application in relation to high-risk weather is key. Fungicides give more protection if applied just before a high-risk period. Curative fungicides prevent more early infections from developing into lesions if applied shortly after a high risk period. Tight timings Spray programmes should build well timed applications around a realistic threat-based blight control strategy. Given these genotypes aggressiveness, there s now much less scope to extend spray intervals beyond a maximum of seven days. An even tighter interval may be required to get on top of a blight infection. Keep going There s no point in keeping blight out of the canopy for almost the whole growing season if it s then allowed to infect tubers. The economic losses resulting from blight that flares up at the end of the season can be huge, so ensure the crop is protected until there s no green haulm left. Ensure rapid and thorough desiccation. The choice of fungicides will vary throughout the season depending on crop growth Blight that flares up at the end of the season can result in huge economic losses, so ensure the crop is protected until there s no green haulm left. whether the canopy is developing rapidly or relatively stable if tubers need protection, and blight threat at the time or just prior to application. Key aspects to bear in mind are: Efficacy of fungicide combination to protect leaf, stem and tuber The level of curative activity needed How important rainfastness is. Another threat to bear in mind is alternaria, which is increasing in prevalence, particularly in England and Wales, and can result in significant damage. While control of late blight should remain the Sponsors message Belchim are a key supplier in the potato fungicide market for control of both late blight and Alternaria spp. Kunshi contains fluazinam and cymoxanil and fits throughout the programme but particularly the rosette stage, taking advantage of the spore activity of fluazinam and the kick-back activity of cymoxanil. At 0.5kg/ha Kunshi delivers 188g+ 125g respectively. Profilux contains cymoxanil and mancozeb and can be applied up to 2.5kg/ha in high pressure situations delivering 112.5g cymoxanil and 1700g mancozeb, which at that rate also has effects against Alternaria. Ranman Top (cyazofamid) is a market-leading blight product with proven efficacy against foliar and tuber blight that can be used throughout the spray programme with a five-day interval between sprays if needed. Narita contains straight focus of a control strategy, it s worth considering whether the fungicides you re applying will also control alternaria. Growers must stay alert for signs of blight and control sources of infection, such as outgrade piles and volunteers. difenoconazole for control of alternaria. Belchim will continue to innovate to help growers to achieve the best crops possible in terms of yield and quality. 82 crop production magazine april 2016

83 Yellow rust a mental challenge Keeping up with the twists and turns in the yellow rust population has always been a bit of a mind bender. I came away from this year s UKCPVS stakeholder meeting in Cambridge thinking that there are serious challenges ahead for us all, both in the field and in understanding the disease. Since the Warrior race arrived from outside Europe, things are changing apace. One of the challenges the scientists have is classifying the pathogen the dominant red group in the UK now has many subgroups. This had led to a total shake-up of the naming system this year and, in all likelihood, there ll be further changes to come. Yellow rust races have always been named after the variety in which they first overcame resistance most recently Solstice, Warrior and Kranich. Now that different groups and sub-groups of the Warrior types are present, the naming system is confusing. As things currently stand, the predominant group of yellow rust present in the UK is now called Warrior 4, an amalgamation of Warrior 3 and 4 under the previous system. The same group is referred to as the red group by the John Innes Centre, who identify the genotypes in the field. In Denmark, the very same is termed Warrior Minus, which at least makes a bit of sense because one of the peculiarities of this particular pathotype is that it doesn t cause disease in the variety Warrior. The yellow rust that used to be termed Solstice has now been termed Warrior 3 (blue). It looks and behaves in the field like the old Solstice yellow rust but the experts at JIC have found that they re genetically unrelated to the Solstice pathotype, yet are closely related to the Warrior pathotypes yes, it s confusing. Fortunately, a group of experts from across Europe were due to meet the very next day to discuss how these groups should be named, so let s hope they come up with something more intuitive and consistent. I ve purposefully referred to each group by colour as well as name because it s something that seems to work well with potato blight. Pink 6 and blue 13 are instantly recognisable to potato growers and it would be an easier system to follow when names change and new pathotypes emerge. The thing is that, in the field you just have symptoms of yellow rust that s all you know about it and you have to deal with what you re seeing. The data UKCPVS have collected on varietal adult and seedling resistance is a useful reference but can you really afford not to get yellow rust under control early by assuming adult resistance will kick in at some point and yellow rust will just die out? Bill Clark doesn t think so and I think most agronomists would be inclined to agree. The problem is that it s impossible to know precisely which pathotype you re dealing with, or even more likely, mixture of pathotypes. The French have shown that Warrior-type yellow rust is showing an ability to adapt to its environment. They ve discovered isolates in the south that were adapted to high temperatures meaning that at those higher temperatures the rust has a shorter latent period. This is unusual because normal European isolates prefer lower temperatures. meaning they can continue developing later in the season. So it s possible that yellow rust may start to behave in a way that s unexpected. The important thing is to stay vigilant in the field because we now have such a genetically diverse population of yellow rust that literally almost anything could happen. Without getting bogged down in the science, what we really need to do is to look out for the unusual. If you get yellow rust infecting a variety that s supposed to have good resistance, yellow rust continues to develop when adult resistance should have kicked in, or infections keep going late in the season, then alarm bells should start ringing and a sample should be packed off to NIAB, pronto. By now you probably have a headache but in a nutshell, yellow rust is changing and will continue to do so. All you can practically do is monitor crops closely and apply fungicides as needed. Based in Ludlow, Shrops, Lucy de la Pasture has worked as an agronomist and finds just keeping track of disease in crops can be a mind-bender in itself. So is this Warrior 4 (red), Warrior 3 (blue) or just yellow rust that should have been controlled? crop production magazine april

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