WILTS WHEAT growers Edwin Shiles and son Peter are bracing themselves for hefty yield losses after discovering an unusual pest in their 28ha (70 acre) field of Savannah.

Peter discovered the field, near the M4 at Chipping Sodbury, was infested with saddle gall midge, after reading an article on FWi about the pest.

“I think we‘re lucky because it looks like it came in June and doesn‘t seem to have cut off the supply of sap to the ear,” he said.

“I understand if you get an infestation in May, you may as well write off the crop.”

Damage from saddle gall midge is often mistaken for take all, which is why it is rarely diagnosed, according to ADAS entomologist Jon Oakley.

The alert was raised recently after a Farmacy agronomist discovered a field in Lincs infested with the pest.

“I heard about the alert, and thought it was just a problem for growers in the east and of no consequence to us,” said Edwin Shiles.

“But then we were looking at the field and wondering when to harvest, saw something a bit strange and thought ‘what the devil‘s that?‘”

The midge larvae burrow into stem nodes, causing characteristic swellings.

“I saw bright orange lumps in the soil, which must be larvae that had fallen out of the straw,” said Peter.

“In the worst patches every tiller is affected, but it‘s at least one in four across the field.”

But it has not spread to other fields, and the crop itself does not look as though it is badly affected: “There are no white heads. We just seem to be left with lesions.”

The field has been in continuous wheat for some time, which Peter believes could explain why the infestation is so high.

“The yield‘s bound to be affected. We shan‘t grow wheat there again for at least a year,” he said.