A BASF booklet produced in association with CPM

Transcription

1 A BASF booklet produced in association with CPM

2 Local BASF agronomy managers 2 barley a grower s guide

3 Introduction Whether it s to battle blackgrass, conform to the CAP three-crop rule, or just to open up another market outlet, barley s recently found favour on British farms. The AHDB/HGCA Planting Survey put the total barley crop for harvest 2014 at 1.09 million ha. While 8% lower than the 2013 barley crop, that was mainly driven by an unusually high spring barley area grown in 2013 the winter barley crop last year was the biggest since 2003, according to the survey. But even that s nothing, compared to the bumper crop expected in 2015 the winter barley crop is expected to rise 12% to 476,000ha, according to the Early Bird Survey, while tentative projections put the spring barley area up 9% at 713,000ha. But UK average yields from the crop languish at a disappointing 6.5t/ha, despite new winter varieties in HGCA Recommended List trials notching up 9.4t/ha and spring types yielding 7.6t/ha. Yields above 12t/ha have been recorded. So is the on-farm agronomy keeping pace with the new genetic potential? What s clear is that best practice agronomy and management of the crop has moved on in recent years, which is why CPM is pleased to support this technical guide that s been compiled by BASF. It brings together some of the new approaches to barley agronomy that ll help growers get the most from their crop and achieve its full potential. It brings in expert advice from leading researchers and agronomists, along with an insight from two of the UK s largest maltsters. Contents Page Barley varieties... 4 What the maltster wants... 6 Barley in the rotation... 8 Physiology and maximising yield Agronomy and crop protection Optimising other inputs The on-farm view Ear 2 Beer competition Whether you re a dab hand at growing the crop, coming to it new or just curious as to the potential barley might hold for you, we think there s plenty within these pages that ll pep up your premium or at least boost what goes in the barn. What s more, it ll be a guide worth hanging on to if barley maintains its current prominent place in many growers rotations. Tom Allen-Stevens Editor, CPM barley a grower s guide 3

4 Barley varieties By Clare Leaman, NIAB TAG The importance of matching the right variety to the market available and the situation on farm should never be under estimated. Evaluating the market and situation should be followed by seeking independent information and this is where the HGCA Recommended Lists have an important role. Recommended Lists for barley have been available since 1931 with the first lists including names like Spratt-Archer and Plumage-Archer. Initially just an agronomic and quality description was provided, and then came a small table of characters which included some disease information, followed in the early 1960s by the addition of yield data. Since those times, the number of trials has increased as has the breadth of the data available. The Recommended Lists are always moving forward with new, improved varieties continually being added whilst the older, outclassed varieties fall out of the system. Growers now have a huge amount of information at their disposal which should help them on the road to correct variety selection. Looking at the current lists we can see that the 4 barley a grower s guide

5 top level of segmentation is by market. The first decision a grower has to make is where they plan to sell the grain, which will very much depend on their location and soil type. In the North and East, barley has been traditionally grown for malting, feed and export, in the West, feed is the main driver, while crops from the South tend to be feed or export. In Scotland the distilling industry has a huge influence. Once a market has been decided, growers need to consider suitable varieties which offer a high yield combined with good straw characteristics as well as resistance to the main disease risks in their area, for example, in the wetter West, resistance to rhynchosporium would be an important consideration. Winter barley currently has several malting types on offer, all for the brewing industry, but the majority of winter barley is grown for feed. The feed varieties have a yield advantage over the quality types and both two row and six row varieties are on offer. The top yielding six-row variety is a hybrid variety Volume, which offers very high yields combined with a solid disease profile and good grain quality. KWS Glacier is a popular two-row variety which has recently taken market share from KWS Cassia. A 3% increase in yield potential combined with manageable straw and disease characters create the pull to move to this newer variety. Malting types tend to have a longer life as the market is more specific in its needs and less keen to move on for no advantage. Pearl is a KWS Glacier is a popular two-row winter variety which has recently taken market share from KWS Cassia. The HGCA Recommended Lists are always moving forward with new, improved varieties and bring a huge amount of information to growers. long-lived malting variety that has been available since Its market acceptability kept it popular with growers long after its yield had been bettered. SY Venture is now the market leader in this sector with a 7% improvement in yield over Pearl, good market acceptance and decent agronomics. Spring barley provides a slightly different story. The malting types are the most common to be found on farm as the quality market offers good opportunities for a large swath of the country. In addition high yielding malting types are also routinely grown for the feed market as there is no yield gap between the quality and feed spring varieties. The spring quality market is more complicated with different types suiting the brewing, malt and grain distilling markets. A few varieties manage to satisfy both brewing and malt distilling markets and these are described as dual-purpose varieties. Maltsters are keen to use this type of varieties as it leaves their market options open. Growers need to fully understand their local market opportunities before committing to a variety. Once a market has been decided upon then yield, disease resistance and straw characters come into play, along with ripening date in more northern areas. Currently the dual-purpose market is dominated by a declining Concerto and an increasing Odyssey, while on the brewing front Sanette is taking ground from Propino. Belgravia is the only variety currently approved for grain distilling. The key to successful variety selection is good market knowledge combined with independent information and advice. barley a grower s guide 5

6 What the maltster wants By Bob King of Crisp Malting Group and David Cairns of Simpsons Malt The UK malting industry purchases approximately 1.9M tonnes of malting barley every year. Around 460,000t of winter barley and 1.45M tonnes of spring barley, depending on availability, are used to produce 1.55M tonnes of malt. Predominantly spring barley is used for producing malt for distilling and lager-type brewing malt, whilst winter varieties are used mainly in the production of ale and food malts. Maltsters usually purchase their barley through the agricultural merchant trade, a large proportion of which will be from contracts placed with specific growers on behalf of the maltster. Pre-harvest contracts have a number of advantages including ensuring the correct varieties are grown and certainty that the grower will have an end market for the crop. It assists the maltster with accurate planning and with traceability of the product. The contract will specify those grain parameters that are key to the successful production of malt including target grain nitrogen, minimum Crisp Malting Group produces 250,000t of malt per year in three plants in eastern England and two in Scotland for a wide range of brewing, distilling and food customers. 6 barley a grower s guide

7 germination, grain size, maximum moisture and food-safety requirements. The most important parameter is germination (usually minimum 98%); if the barley does not grow it cannot become malt. The main contributor to loss of germination in barley is poor on-farm storage; immediately after harvest barley must be carefully dried down to below 14.5% moisture, cooled, kept in a well ventilated store and checked regularly. Reducing the moisture also ensures that the barley should meet all food safety requirements. The target nitrogen content of the barley is determined by its end use. The nitrogen levels in distilling can affect the processability of the grain and ultimately impact on the spirit yield. Nitrogen levels are directly linked to spirit yield but can also affect fermentability, which lowers spirit yield. Lower spirit yields are ultimately less efficient for distilleries as they will then require more malt per unit of alcohol. Barley with the lowest levels of nitrogen content (ideally <1.50%) and therefore highest starch content is therefore used for making distilling malt, and this barley is invariably from specific spring varieties. Ale malt is usually made out of winter varieties with an equally low nitrogen specification. In brewing there is a range of nitrogen levels required depending on the type of beer being brewed. Lagers for example require higher nitrogen than cask-conditioned ales. Ultimately the wrong nitrogen level can affect the quality and appearance of the final product. High protein levels in cask-conditioned ales can cause cloudy beer and affect storage. Barley for lager malt can be either winter or spring varieties with a range of nitrogen requirements between %. For the grower, knowing into which market the barley is going is important so that the crop nutrition etc. can be adapted to produce barley that meets the target. Other quality parameters which need to be met include screenings to ensure uniformity of grain size, and low levels of skinning, which is when the husk of the grain separates from the endosperm. This not only causes more screenings at maltings but also affects water uptake during steeping. Grains with no husks take up water and begin to grow more rapidly than husked seeds, making this part of the malting process uneven. The most important quality parameter is germination if the barley does not grow it cannot become malt. What s more, seeds without husks are more likely to sustain damage in the malting process. This can stop germination and ultimately lead to the growth of mould and fusarium, which not only produce mycotoxins but also can reduce the quality of the end products. At end-user levels, grain husk is needed in mash for filtering so again skinned grain can become a problem. Various projects are underway to look at the skinning problem but careful harvest timing and combine set-up are essential. Simpsons Malt is involved in all aspects of the supply chain and offers expert advice to prospective barley growers. barley a grower s guide 7

8 Barley in the rotation There are many myths evolving around the role of winter barley in the rotation. But for those growers in the more far flung corners of the UK, winter barley has always been part of the rotational mix. Its early harvest and consistency in the second or third straw-crop position has been the By Patrick Stephenson, NIAB TAG backbone of many cropping strategies. Establishing oilseed rape after wheat is fraught with difficulty and barley is seen as the safe alternative. So while winter barley may traditionally have been seen as a Cinderella crop, perhaps things have changed. In reality, the crop itself has not changed but the environment both climatically and physically has. Good grassweed control is now a significant issue in rotations that have been wheat and OSR-based. The performance of herbicides, particularly post-emergence products, has deteriorated dramatically and good pre-emergence programs, Winter barley, with its early season vigour and aggressive crop competition, supports a blackgrass pre-em herbicide programme. 8 barley a grower s guide

9 which are similar in both wheat and barley, are now vital. Growers may previously have paid little attention to the competitiveness of cultivars to assist in weed control, as the answer-in-a-can solution was always available. But it s among the small improvements in weed control from cultural changes that are important in adding to the total level of control. A review of research carried out by Lutman et al in 2013 (see table) summarised the various effects from cultural changes. This work clearly showed the role cultivars could have on controlling blackgrass, offering between 8-45% a very important contribution. Hybrid varieties are often trumpeted as the best for vigour and competitiveness. Certainly they are good but not exclusive by any means and any variety could, with the right fertiliser program, perform. Established populations need to exceed 180 plants/m 2 to get the most competitive crop. However growers should not believe that putting barley in a bad blackgrass field will provide the miracle cure. The early ripening and subsequent harvest of winter barley can help with establishing a stale seedbed prior to OSR or before a spring barley, allowing another opportunity to attack blackgrass. If the rotation is wheat/barley/osr, then by the first week in Aug, two thirds of the farm could be combined, which is a huge advantage logistically for many farms. In the North, the value of straw for the livestock market cannot be ignored, which with early combining can be moved quickly on drier soils. Hybrids, backed by positive marketing and yields commonly reaching 10t/ha, have provided a spring board for adoption by more growers. High yields are not a hybrid-exclusive factor but more of an input-driven issue. Winter barley traditionally had a split of malting and feed varieties, which has led to an adoption of a more conservative approach to inputs. Feed barleys now dominate the winter barley market and nitrogen rates are now often 200kgN/ha or more. Early season nitrogen is particularly important, influencing grain numbers, tiller survival and competition. Sulphur is a key element and the first nitrogen application should include sulphur on deficient soils. To get the best yields at least 80% of all nitrogen should be applied by early April. Barley s early harvest and consistency in the second or third straw-crop position has been the backbone of many cropping strategies. Growth regulation has always been a key factor in winter barley production. Chlormequat applied early evens up tillers and reduces straw height, and at the higher nitrogen rates is critical. Fungicides are now no longer restricted to just strobilurins and triazoles. SDHI products have brought huge advantages in both disease control and yield. Integrated weed management Non-chemical approach Mean Blackgrass reduction achieved Range Ploughing 69% -82 to 95% Delayed autumn drilling 31% -71 to 97% Higher seed rates 26% +7 to 63% Competitive cultivars 22% +8 to 45% Spring cropping 88% +78 to 96% Fallow/grass ley 70-80% per year (the annual rate of losses) Based on Lutman et al (2013) in Weed Research barley a grower s guide 9

10 10 barley a grower s guide Physiology and maximising yield

11 Barley has the potential to produce very high yields in excess of 12t/ha for winter barley and more than 10t/ha for spring barley. The official UK record winter barley yield is 12.2t/ha set in Key to achieving high barley yields is the By Pete Berry, ADAS production of a high number of grains, with about 20,000 grains/m 2 required for a 10t/ha crop (see chart). Grain number is maximised by increasing the production and survival of shoots, spikelets per ear and grains per spikelet. These critical crop characteristics are determined between plant establishment and flowering, and the amount of light intercepted by the crop during this period is strongly related to grains/m 2 and yield potential. This means that crop management to increase the green area of the crop during this period is very important for maximising yield potential. A barley ear has adjacent nodes, each with three spikelets, and each spikelet contains a single grain. In two-row barley only the median spikelet is fertile, and all three spikelets are fertile in six-row barley. By comparison, each spikelet of wheat may produce up to nine grains. Barley therefore has less potential to produce large numbers of grains per ear than wheat and has a lower capacity to compensate for low shoot numbers. It is therefore clear that maximising tillering and tiller survival in barley is critical. Two-row barley generally produces about More light intercepted increases grains/m 2 Maintain GAI for 5 weeks after ear emergence The relationship between barley yield and grains/m 2 Grain yield 85% DM) ,000 15,000 20,000 Grain number/m 2 Source: HGCA Barley Growth Guide 800 ears/m 2 which is more than the typical final ear number for wheat. Mean of 3 years Once a large number of grains have been set it is then important to maintain a healthy green canopy during grain filling to ensure that the crop carries out enough photosynthesis to realise its yield potential. Barley requires a green area index (GAI) of between 5-7 units (5-7m 2 of green tissue per m 2 of ground) to intercept the majority of incoming light. It has been shown that a healthy canopy must be maintained for about five weeks after ear emergence to fill the grains. This grain-filling period is shorter than wheat. Between 1-3t/ha of yield also comes from the remobilisation of water-soluble carbohydrates which were accumulated before flowering, primarily in the stem. In summary, high barley yields depend on maximising early growth, particularly during the tillering and tiller survival phases, and maintaining a healthy canopy for about five weeks after ear emergence is usually sufficient to fill the grains. GS21 GS30 GS31 GS39 GS59 GS71 GS87 Maximise grain number by increasing light interception and growth between plant establishment and flowering. Ensure grain filling by maintaining a healthy GAI for five weeks after ear emergence. A barley ear has adjacent nodes, each with three spikelets, all three of which are fertile in six-row barley and each contains a single grain. barley a grower s guide 11

12 The main spray timing in barley is at GS31 (first node). This ensures tillers and spikelets are maintained to generate yield. The final spray is then applied at flag leaf emergence to booting ( paintbrush stage GS45). Agronomy and crop protection In contrast to wheat where the majority of yield is generated by the top three leaves, yield in barley is built more evenly from the whole plant. So optimised disease control in barley is all about keeping all the leaves, the stem and the ear, free of disease. By Ben Freer, BASF As barley is usually limited by grain number and tiller number, it is vital to control disease from early in the season in order to maintain a disease-free crop from tillering onwards. The main foliar diseases which should be guarded against are net blotch, rhynchosporium, ramularia and to a lesser extent mildew. Brown rust should also be considered in the spray strategy as well, particularly later in the season. The early spray (GS30-31) is important to protect tillers, the developing ears and prevent epidemics, particularly of rhynchosporium. Winter barley In winter barley, a spray may be applied early in the spring to control mildew and clean up over-wintered net blotch and rhynchosporium, but the use of an early spring spray is not universal. In barley, maximising ears/m 2 is critical to high yields, so ensuring tiller survival is important. Remember that barley growth is rapid in the spring and the later timing is often confounded by the May bank holiday. Spring barley It would be normal for the first spray to be applied between GS25-30 (end of tillering to when rows meet). The aim of this spray is to maintain spikelet and tiller survival. This is then followed by another spray at GS If no T1 is applied it is likely that this spray will be applied more towards the GS39 timing. Disease control The HGCA fungicide performance curves (see panel) give a good indication of technical performance of active ingredients and products against key barley diseases. SDHIs and triazoles are important pillars of disease control in barley crops. SDHIs should never be used without a suitable complementary active ingredient (a triazole). Therefore a combination product such as Adexar (epoxiconazole+ Xemium*) is an ideal choice in barley. Contribution of leaf layers in barley to yield Source: HGCA Barley Growth Guide 12 barley a grower s guide

13 Rhynchosporium protectant (2012/13/14) Net blotch protectant (High Mowthorpe) 2014 Use Zulu, Imtrex and Vertisan only in mixture with at least one fungicide with an alternative mode of action that has efficacy against the target pathogen. Use Zulu, Imtrex and Vertisan only in mixture with at least one fungicide with an alternative mode of action that has efficacy against the target pathogen. Imtrex is shown to be the top-performing SDHI on rhynchosporium (left) in independent tests over numerous years. It s also the leading SDHI against net blotch in protectant situations (right). Brackling Caythorpe 2014 (mixtures) Brackling Caythorpe 2014 (straights) Use Zulu, Imtrex and Vertisan only in mixture with at least one fungicide with an alternative mode of action that has efficacy against the target pathogen. In brown rust and net blotch situations, Adexar provides the largest benefit in terms of stem strength for the avoidance of brackling (left), while Comet 200 also provides good activity against net blotch and brown rust in addition to anti-brackling effects (right). Source: HGCA fungicide performance trials It is likely that a triazole will be used twice in any programme and an SDHI at least once. Growers should not forget that pyraclostrobin (as in Comet 200) retains excellent activity against rusts and net blotch in barley, so where the risk of these diseases are high, the addition of Comet 200 can provide a useful boost for disease control. Ramularia and abiotic spotting are more prevalent in spring barley and consideration of these should be made at the later timing. Rhynchosporium symptoms are scald-like lesions on leaves, leaf sheaths and ears. BASF fungicides recommendations Timing Winter barley Spring Barley T1 Adexar l/ha Adexar 0.75 l/ha T2 Prothioconazole Prothioconazole -based spray -based spray Adexar contains epoxiconazole plus xemium* Adexar can also be used at T2. Where the intended end use is malting, the latest time of application is GS45 (flag leaf sheath swollen) and do not exceed a maximum permissible dose of xemium* of 62.5g/l. This is equal to 1 l/ha of Adexar. Talk to your agronomist for further details. Where net blotch or rust pressure is high, consider using l/ha of Comet 200 with either Adexar or prothioconazole-based options. BASF supports the inclusion of chlorothalonil throughout the spray programme as a resistancemanagement tool. *Xemium is the brand name for fluxapyroxad. barley a grower s guide 13

14 Optimising other inputs By Pete Berry, ADAS Crop management to maximise early growth is critical for achieving a high yield potential. This means establishing a vigorous stand of plants and minimising any nutritional stresses, particularly manganese deficiency which is often prevalent in barley on light soils or unconsolidated seedbeds. reducing grain N concentration by 0.1%. The review of winter barley research has also shown that fields with a high yield potential require an additional 20-25kgN/ha more per tonne of yield above 8t/ha. Managing the barley crop to increase early growth A reasonable proportion of the nitrogen (N) fertiliser must be applied before the start of stem extension to maximise tillering and minimise tiller death. A recent review of winter barley research funded by HGCA has shown a 0.5t/ha yield increase when at least 50% of the total N was applied before the start of stem extension compared with when less than 30% was applied at that timing. Early N was shown to increase green area and the amount of light intercepted, as well as generally More light is intercepted, resulting in a higher yield, when 50% of the total N is applied before GS30 (left) compared with when less than 30% is applied before GS30 (right). 14 barley a grower s guide

15 increases the risk of lodging, however. For example, applying more N before stem extension increases GAI and the final crop height. Three main factors determine lodging risk; 1) varietal lodging resistance, 2) green area index at the start of stem extension and 3) yield potential. ADAS research has shown that increases in GAI cause a significant increase in lodging risk. For example, increasing the GAI at GS30/31 from 1 to 2 has been calculated to reduce the effective varietal lodging resistance score by one point. It is therefore crucial to assess the GAI at the start of stem extension to help estimate lodging risk. A crude method of estimating GAI is described below: 30% crop cover: GAI % crop cover: GAI 1 65% crop cover: GAI 2 Photos illustrating a range of GAIs in winter barley GAI = 0.5 Another method of estimating GAI is to take a photo and use the Canopy Assessment Tool (CAT) app or upload the photo online to Each unit of GAI contains 30kgN/ha, so assessing GAI is also useful for estimating the crop N uptake and N fertiliser requirement. Plant growth regulators (PGRs) are applied to three quarters of winter barley crops. Of this about half is chlormequat, which may occasionally increase tillering and give small yield increases in the absence of lodging. But chlormequat only causes modest plant height reductions and cannot be relied on to minimise lodging on its own. Other PGR active ingredients such as prohexadione calcium, trinexapac-ethyl and 2-chloroethylphosphonic acid have been shown to reduce height by several centimetres. The greatest height reductions (up to 14cm) are achieved with applications at early stem extension followed by at GS37 (flag leaf emerging). GAI = 1.0 GAI = 1.5 As a rule of thumb, reducing height by 5cm increases the effective varietal lodging resistance score by one point. Spring barley with a high yield potential is also at risk to lodging, especially if the variety has a lodging resistance score of less than 8, and therefore needs careful management to minimise the lodging risk. For more information on plant growth regulators, visit the Crop Solutions: Canopy Management section of BASF recommendations can be found in the Decision Guide for Canopy Management. GAI = 3.0 barley a grower s guide 15

16 The on-farm view Barley tool in Lincs blackgrass battle Reducing the grassweed burden is behind Andrew Ward s decision to introduce spring barley across his 650ha farm in Lincs. All our decisions are now made with the sole objective of reducing blackgrass on heavy land. This is our primary focus, he says. Spring barley was introduced three years ago on heavy land, when we were unable to drill all our winter crops due to the weather. At that time we had a fixed rotation on each soil type and on heavy land it was wheat, OSR, wheat. Now the crop rotation across the farm is extremely flexible and depends very much on the blackgrass control achieved in any crops. If this has been poor in OSR, wheat or indeed any crop, we will follow up with spring barley. And if it s really bad, we follow up with two spring barley crops. Somewhat surprisingly, this applies to all soil types, he continues. Traditionally farmers are happy to sow spring barley on light land, but have been hesitant to grow it on heavy land. But in my experience, if you cultivate heavy land straight after harvest in early Aug when it s dry, spring barley goes in a treat. We use a Quadtrac with a Simba Solo, instead of ploughing. This gives ample time for several flushes of blackgrass to be sprayed off with glyphosate before the winter. We apply glyphosate again in the spring before we go straight in with the Simba Freeflow drill, without any further seedbed preparations. His yields for spring barley last year across all soils averaged 9.2t/ha and met malting requirements. If some farmers say they can t grow spring barley on heavy land, they need to look to their cultivations first, says Andrew Ward. If there s still some blackgrass in the spring barley, he employs hand roguers or sprays off the crop with the weeds. The aim is to go into harvest without letting any blackgrass go to seed. All spring barley on Roy Ward (Farms) is grown for Coors, Burton on Trent. Coors specify the variety that they want and for the past three years that has been Concerto a malting variety with a good overall agronomic package and high specific weight. This year their selected variety is Odyssey a higher yielding spring barley with good malting potential, notes Andrew Ward. 16 barley a grower s guide

17 He points out there are still good herbicide options in spring barley, including Avadex (tri-allate), Crystal (flufenacet+ pendimethalin) and Liberator (diflufenican+ flufenacet). Spring barley itself is very vigorous with good tillering ability so it s competitive. What s more, growing costs are lower, and with fewer input costs apart from glyphosate before March, it helps significantly with cash flow. High-yield focus for Scottish barley crop Farming 320ha in Aberdeenshire, Andrew Booth grows both winter and spring barley as part of his arable rotation. The majority of our crops are winter-sown winter wheat, winter OSR and winter barley but we also have some spring cropping, which includes milling oats and barley. The 25-30ha of spring barley helps spread the workload and harvest dates as well as giving us opportunities to control some difficult weeds including brome and annual meadowgrass. It s also cheaper to grow than winter crops, he adds. Both winter and spring barley are grown mainly for their yield, although the spring crop can sometimes reach malting standards. The varieties need to be easily managed and to be clean with good disease resistance, stiff straw and standing power. To fit with our five-year rotation, they also need to be early maturing, so harvest can be managed more easily, he notes. We started drilling 100ha of winter barley on around 17 Sept and were done by the end of the month. We usually plough followed by one pass, Andrew Booth looks for good disease resistance, stiff straw and standing power from high-yielding spring and winter varieties. If blackgrass control has been poor in any crop, Andrew Ward will follow up with spring barley. and will subsoil the heavy soils, as the weather allows. Timeliness of drilling is key to the success of our crops. The later the sowing, the lower the yields, Andrew Booth points out. The winter barley varieties grown on Savock Farm are KWS Glacier and Harlequin. We ve tried Retriever and trialled winter barley hybrids, but they don t really seem to suit our soil type. Glacier and Harlequin are high-yielding feed varieties in our area of North-East Scotland. Our winter barley yields last year were, on average, 8.94t/ha and in t/ha. They took a dip in 2012 as drilling was delayed. For spring barley, Andrew Booth is growing Odyssey and is considering some Propino this year. Both again are high-yielding varieties. Our spring barley yields in 2014 were 6.74t/ha and in 2013, 7.6t/ha, he reports. The main disease problems are wet-weather diseases such as rhynchosporium and net blotch. We have a comprehensive fungicide programme starting with a good triazole at T1 and followed by an SDHI at T2. Last year we used Adexar (epoxiconazole+ fluxapyroxad). No autumn herbicide was applied to the winter crop this year. We do apply one when necessary annual meadowgrass and brome are the key weeds. Brome s been mainly on the headlands, but is drifting into the field now. barley a grower s guide 17

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20 Disclaimer Adexar, Imtrex and Comet 200 are trademarks of BASF. All other products are those of other manufacturers or other companies where proprietary rights may exist. Adexar contains epoxiconazole and fluxapyroxad. Imtrex contains fluxapyroxad. Comet 200 contains pyraclostrobin. Siltra Xpro contains bixafen and prothioconazole. Vertisan contains penthiopyrad. Proline contains prothioconazole. Zulu contains isopyrazam. Phoenix contains folpet. Use plant protection products safely. Always read the label and product information before use. For further information including warning phrases and symbols refer to In no way does CPM Ltd endorse, notarise or concur with any of the advice, recommendations or prescriptions reported in the booklet. If you are unsure about which recommendations to follow, please consult a professional agronomist. For further information, please do not hesitate to contact your local BASF agronomy manager or the BASF Technical Services Hotline: Alternatively, visit