Irish cereal crops are said to be at a medium to high disease risk as farmers approach flag leaf spray timings.
Septoria and rusts and increasingly visible as crops move through growth stages thanks to the warm May temperatures. University College Dublin’s tillage specialist Dr Tom McCabe says that the interval between T1 and T2 sprays will be crucial to prevent yields from being impacted.
“You underestimate septoria at your peril,” he explained. “Later-sown crops can look really clean after T1 sprays but it’s at the end of May and the first week of June the latent disease comes through.
“This is after you’ve made your big investment in crop protection, so it’s important to get it right.”
Due to the growing season, which started with difficult drilling conditions and saw wet weather throughout winter and spring, the quality of wheat crops varies from field to field.
Liz Glynn, National Field Manager for Corteva Agriscience in Ireland, said: “A warm February was followed by a very wet March which continued into much of April.
“As things warmed up in May, we’ve seen rapid crop development, particularly in the past two weeks.
“Many T0 applications were abandoned due to weather or ground conditions, while timing T1 sprays appropriately has been a challenge and were delayed in many instances, closing the interval between T1 and T2.”
Tom added: “Because sowing dates were so varied we have crops at varied growth stages and disease pressure ranges from medium to high.
“It’s a year for rust as well as septoria which is being factored into programmes.”
He went on to say that Corteva’s Univoq fungicide should be a central part of T2 applications. “It has also shown us to be remarkably consistent. I can say that after working with it for the past five years in Ireland and the UK.
“The yield benefit we have seen is connected to the disease pressure. It ranges from 0.25t/ha to 1t/ha in high-pressure situations.
“One of the other most valuable aspects is that Univoq has its own unique mode of action which is so important to resistance management.”
For more information go to www.corteva.co.uk