Growers flag up emerging brown rust and phoma in crops
While the recent frosty weather has been a boon to growers looking for help from the elements to control disease, some are still seeing early signs of trouble in wheat and oilseed rape.
Farmers Weekly recently reported that yellow rust has been found in wheat in the north-east and now brown rust has followed further south in the variety Crusoe, a variety known to be susceptible to the disease with a resistance score of 4.
See also: 11 farmer tweets as crops are hit by frosty weather
Here’s a round-up of what farmers and agronomists around the country have been reporting in their crops.
First signs of Brown Rust on Crusoe this autumn pic.twitter.com/FqLeqgHavA
— David Jones (@Kenya_Agron) December 2, 2016
Oilseed rape growers should be on the lookout for phoma, with multiple reports of the common disease from different agronomists around the country.
Still seeing #Phoma in #OSR. Be vigilant and #spray if thresholds are met #watch #cropprotection pic.twitter.com/KGbKURPTT5
— Bartholomews (@BartsAgri) December 6, 2016
Active #phoma in Cotswolds rape crop last week, no sign of #LightLleafSpot #outandabout with our fungicide expert Andy Bailey pic.twitter.com/g0nXTJDj5m
— ADAMA (@AdamaUK_) December 3, 2016
Phoma lesions have increased in number & become more visible in untreated trial plots at #3Dthinking sites in the last week pic.twitter.com/a6djJ9isyX
— Frontier Agriculture (@FrontierAg) December 1, 2016
However, the problems are far from widespread at this stage and many growers are very pleased with how crops have established after an autumn where establishment conditions have been near-perfect.
Week 13 – Very wet early start to the week, drier now. No weed, disease or pest issues, yellowing of older leaves due frosts. pic.twitter.com/Bck0TxgcUj
— Crop Watcher (@Crop_Watcher) November 26, 2016
Most noticeable plots in the trial site go to DK Imperial DSV Coded and Bayer Coded varieties looking good with the ground temp just above 0 pic.twitter.com/Y5lNstIfeh
— Martin Smart 💙 (@MartinSmart2) December 5, 2016
https://twitter.com/ianholmes20/status/804378712770772992
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