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Know How / Disease management

Get advice on managing disease in wheat, barley, oilseed rape, potatoes, and sugar beet. Find the best ways to combine cultural and chemical controls and how to deal with fungicide resistance. See tips, insights and farmer case studies focusing on major disease threats such as septoria, yellow rust, ramularia, phoma leaf spot and blight and how to combat them.

Advice and tips

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Wheat growers advised not to scrimp on T3 sprays

Wheat growers are being warned not to economise on T3 sprays and risk exposing emerging wheat ears in such a wet high disease pressure year. See also: World’s first verified…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Expert tips for T1 fungicide strategies in rain-battered wheat

Weeks of rain and higher-than-normal spring temperatures are creating challenges for T1 fungicide plans, with growers advised to be guided by drilling date and variety. In such a testing season,…

CROP MANAGEMENT

Why leaf layer emergence is key to accurate fungicide use

Growers will require “laser focus” to accurately monitor leaf layer emergence and hit critical fungicide timings in what has been an extremely variable cropping season so far. What’s more, cereal…

CROP MANAGEMENT

How to tackle hefty spring arable workloads after wet winter

Spring workloads are mounting on most arable farms, so sorting fieldwork priorities to ensure optimum return on investment where crops are variable and harvest profitability remains uncertain is a tricky…

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Case studies

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Eliminating chemicals helps future-proof pig and arable farm

Nick Dymond’s journey to chemical-free crop production began 10 years ago when he decided to escape the chemical conveyor belt and focus on soil health at the family pig and…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Dorset grower hopes for lift from septoria-hitting SDHI

Bob Rowe is turning to a new hard-hitting septoria fungicide across all his 700ha of winter wheat at the crucial T2 flag leaf timing later this month to gain from…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Will Arable Insights Farmers cut fungicide spend this season?

Should growers consider reducing fungicide spend given the state of this year’s wheat crops? Farmers Weekly asks our Arable Insights Farmer panel about their disease control plans. Scotland: David Fuller-Shapcott…

CROP MANAGEMENT

How two farmers are cutting back on fungicides this spring

Two arable farmers are planning to dramatically cut back their fungicide spend this spring, helping to overcome rising chemical costs. Wiltshire grower George Hosier aims to spend the absolute minimum,…

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Community

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Twitter round-up: Spring drilling and wheat T0 race is on

The recent spell of warm, dry weather has allowed many growers to get into full the swing of spring drilling and take on the first fungicide application timing in winter…

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Insights

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Cereals 2024: Advice on wheat actives to counter brown rust

Wheat growers are being urged to look at fungicide actives rather than products to control multiple diseases, and this has been highlighted by the early virulent attacks of brown rust…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Cereals 2024: Exceptional year puts T4 spray in the frame

The need for a T4 spray was being discussed by agronomists and growers at the Cereals 2024 event, as crops continue to come under pressure from disease. With brown rust…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

How farmers will benefit from new SDHI wheat fungicide at T2

Winter wheat growers will see a step up in the control of septoria, the crop’s number one disease, at the T2 timing this spring, with a new broad-spectrum fungicide offering…

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News

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Cereals 2024: Winter barley offers resistance to key virus

Winter barley growers have a new defence against barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV), with the launch of the UK’s first resistant variety. Syngenta’s Kestrel is the first six-row hybrid variety…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Cereals 2024: First two-row barleys with BYDV tolerance

The first two-row feed winter barley varieties to come with BYDV tolerance were on display at Cereals this week. Both are candidate varieties, meaning they will be up for recommendation…

PEST MANAGEMENT

Potatoes offered greater protection from aphid attacks

Potato growers have the option of managing non-persistent aphid-vectored viruses with a mineral oil following the emergency approval of a paraffin product. Until now, mineral oil products have only been…

POTATOES

Blight scheme gets funding as new strain threatens UK spuds

Potato growers will continue to benefit from a national blight monitoring scheme this season, as the James Hutton Institute successfully secured funding for one more year. The Fight Against Blight…

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Video

WEED MANAGEMENT

Video: Phone app is cheaper way to monitor crops with a drone

A new smartphone app offers farmers a cheaper and easier way to monitor their crops, simply with a mobile phone and a cheap drone. Developed by Northumbria-based Drone Ag, the…

POTATOES

Video: Early potato harvest start is worst for 40 years

Brothers Peter and Philip Le Maistre are sixth-generation Jersey farmers and for them this potato season has been the worst since covering spuds with plastic started to be used on…

POTATOES

Video: Jersey early potato yields dip 20% after frosty February

Jersey’s early potato harvest is almost a month late this spring, with yields expected to be down one-fifth after the Beast from the East frosted off young plants barely out…

ARABLE

Video: Crop Doctor sees septoria rising to worrying levels

Disease levels are rising in the nation’s wheat crops with the wet weather likely to encourage septoria to spread and put growers on alert to make sure their fungicide programmes…

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Webinar

OILSEED RAPE

How to balance high inputs and market prospects for OSR

Although the price of oilseed rape has risen sharply largely due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, so too have input costs such as fertiliser, fuel and energy costs. Therefore, oilseed rape growers…

ARABLE

Webinar: Combating fungicide resistance

Farmers need to find ways to combat problems in crop protection that are caused by development of resistance to fungicides. Pathogen resistance to fungicides is widespread. This is especially true…

ARABLE

Expert advice on maximising OSR yields in a difficult season

After such a wet autumn and winter, the big question over oilseed rape this spring is: "What can farmers do to maximise yields in a very difficult season for oilseed…

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