Cereals News

AHDB has issued a yellow rust watch list to help flag winter wheat varieties most likely to perform out of line with the disease ratings published in the AHDB Recommended Lists (RL).

Applications of manganese in cereals are a matter of course at this time of year, but one crop nutrition specialist is calling for growers to also consider adding magnesium to this application to help boost photosynthesis and increase rooting ahead of winter.

David Bouch, Hutchinsons National Seeds Manager, provides his thoughts on spring 2021 and recommendations for spring seed varieties.

The UK’s leading farm assurance body, Red Tractor, is urging farmers to engage in a consultation on how its farm standards should evolve.

Launched on 30th November 2020, AHDB’s online edition of the Recommended Lists for cereals and oilseeds (RL) 2021/22 features major changes to wheat rust disease-resistance ratings. Rachel Hicks reports.

Harvest 2021 trials at AHDB Strategic Cereal Farms will focus on the prevention, detection and control of pests, weeds and diseases – key components of integrated pest management (IPM).

The BYDV risk is likely to be elevated this season as a consequence of several issues, says Neil Watson, technical support manager for Hutchinsons.

Across the country 2020 yields suffered due to various weather issues, so many farmers will be keen to get their winter crops off to an early start in an effort to secure better yields next year. Consequently, many fields have already been sown with winter cereal crops.

Independent trials conducted in drought prone soils, comparing the performance of commonly used bio-stimulants on Skyfall winter wheat with a 50% fungicide programme, have found AminoA FLO to be one of the best performing and most consistent bio-stimulants in the study.

Black-grass dormancy rates of over 80% in tests this year gives growers and agronomists a clear indication for the most successful control strategies for the season.

Spring 2020 saw the largest area of spring cereals for many years. Although not as large an increase as in spring barley, oats saw a significant increase this year with the English crop seeing a 26% growth in plantings, according to the AHDB, with most of those appearing in spring.

After the sodden conditions last autumn, some arable farmers may consider drilling wheat earlier to guarantee a decent area next harvest. But threats such as grass weeds and virus carrying aphids are both more of an issue in early drilled crops. Bayer’s Darren Adkins gives his thoughts on how farmers can balance the need for wheat area with pest and weed threats.