Weed & Pest Management

Following a relatively wet autumn, weeds could take advantage of wet soil and open canopies to cause problems this spring. Adam Hinchcliffe of Bayer shares his thoughts on how to approach weed control in 2024.

Every farmer knows that controlling rats and mice isn’t as simple as picking the strongest bait off the shelf and leaving it down for rodents to consume. There are a whole host of factors that should be considered. Laurence Barnard, country business manager for BASF’s professional and specialty solutions, offers some advice.

A free integrated pest management (IPM) planning tool has been developed by ADAS, NFU, SRUC and Voluntary Initiative (VI) to help farmers create crop-specific IPM management plans.

Garford Farm Machinery has substantially increased its territory across the East of England with its new distributor agreement.

Following a successful lobbying campaign for the government to withdraw or delay the impending ban on seed treatments, Limagrain UK is optimistic that treated maize seed will still be available to growers for the upcoming season.

With higher than average BYDV risk predicted this autumn, managing aphids that can infect newly emerging cereal crops will be of critical importance to arable growers, warns Neil Watson from production specialists Hutchinsons.

Farmers need to maximise efficacy and minimise resistance risks when using glyphosate to eliminate weeds ahead of drilling according to Matt Siggs of Bayer. Roundup (glyphosate) is a vital control tool on many farms, so a proactive approach is best to ensure long-term efficacy.

With rising temperatures and a high water table providing optimal growing conditions for both cash crops and undesirable weeds, growers are advised to consider a split dose post-emergence herbicide approach to reduce competition for nutrients and protect final yield.

Following reports of peach-potato aphids caught in traps across the sugar beet growing area, farmers are being advised to monitor aphid numbers closely and treat non-Cruiser protected crops with a foliar insecticide as soon as thresholds are met.

Simon Jackson, Syngenta’s technical manager, provides advice to support vegetable growers with decisions on programmes to deal with pest control and the difficult challenges to come through the growing season.

Growers are being warned about high slug risk in potatoes where crops have been planted into cloddy seed beds and are urged to counter the threat with a good quality pellet as soon as tubers reach golf ball size.

New modelling work indicates that the inclusion of the multi-site fungicide, folpet, can more than double the effective life of fungicide treatment programmes containing ‘at risk’ single site modes of action.