Researchers have identified four key areas where farmers can reduce ergot disease pressure, limit crop infection and keep clean grain clean.

Adas experts have carried out an AHDB-funded review which appraised academic and non-academic sources, including information from industry stakeholders and current ergot management guidelines.

The review has identified four key management strategies that tackle specific points in the ergot life cycle.  

See also: Why ergot contamination of grain is higher than expected

1. Reduce initial inoculum

Reduce the amount of ergot and its viability to limit the production of primary spores

The higher-impact interventions cover the strategic use of cultivations and drilling high-quality, clean seed. This could be either certified or home-saved seed that has been cleaned via a gravity separator or colour sorter.

Cultivations should aim to bury ergots to at least 5cm for at least one year. Although ploughing is best for burial, any cultivation is more effective than direct drilling.

Medium-impact interventions include using seed treatments that cite ergot suppression on the label, cleaning machinery after working in infected fields, and controlling grassweeds in non-host and host plants.

Finally, don’t forget to keep records of fields with previous ergot infestations.

2. Reduce infection risk

Grow lower-risk crops to reduce infection events

Higher-impact interventions include making changes to rotations, such as growing a non-cereal crop or a less-susceptible cereal crop (in order of decreasing susceptibility: rye, triticale, wheat, barley and oats).

Although information on varietal risk is limited, higher ergot risk is associated with varieties that are open-flowering, flower for longer, or produce more late tillers.

3. Reduce secondary spread

Manage grassweeds to stop them becoming a spore source

Ergot affects a wide range of grass species, including blackgrass. As blackgrass flowers earlier than cereals, it is a key target for management.

Therefore, the higher-impact interventions are based on integrated weed management approaches to reduce grassweed pressures.

These include stale seed-beds, delayed drilling, spring cropping and herbicides

Other interventions include managing grass margins, buffer strips and beetle banks.

Farmers are advised to sow later-flowering species with lower infectivity and to mow or top grasses (if permitted within the funding scheme).

4. Reduce contamination

Know where ergot is and manage infected grain to keep clean crops clean

Higher-impact interventions require careful management of high-risk fields or areas (such as headlands and tramlines) and grass margins.

It is particularly important to harvest infected areas separately and segregate contaminated grain from other grain.

Although it is possible to clean grain to some degree, it is not always completely effective, especially as some ergot fragments are extremely small.

The full report, which includes moderate- and lower-impact approaches, is available on the AHDB website.