United Kingdom
June 7, 2013
Choosing an effective seed treatment for this autumn should be a simple matter – look back at what performed well under last season’s difficult conditions by protecting critical fungicide timings, advises Alastair Moore, sales director for Nickersons.
“In our own trials and on farm, there has been a clear distinction between crops that had an effective seed treatment and those that did not. Jockey has performed particularly well – with treated crops coming into the spring much cleaner and healthier than those treated with an SPD.”
“In fact, overall the Jockey treated crops have been easier to manage and certainly look at the moment to be attaining their yield potential,” he says.
“We got good foliar and stem based disease control from the Jockey as crops came into the spring and importantly, this carried through to the T0, meaning that subsequent timings were not compromised as a result. Once the T0 went on at the correct time, the T1’s were not put on too early and fungicides were able to operate at their full potential.”
“Many crops using only an SPD, required an earlier T0 therefore compromising the follow on timings meaning some leaves were left unprotected for several days lowering green leaf retention.”
As far as costs are concerned, Jockey more than pays for itself - even if only based on foliar disease control and discounting the take-all value – the yield benefits are significant. Based on a seed rate of 150 kg seed/ha the extra cost of Jockey over and above an SPD works out at £20/ha (£8/acre), or at a higher rate of 185kg seed /ha this is £22/ha (£9/acre).”
“Working on the cost of Jockey today being the equivalent of 0.12t/ha and considering that historically Jockey has shown yield responses of 10-15%, worth up to £200/ha (£180/ha margin over input cost.), the figures speak for themselves,” he says.
“Also to take into account is the additional value gained by protecting the T0 investment - with an average T0 treatment costing £11/ha (£4.50/acre) plus application costs of another £7.50-£10, this brings it to around £20/ha. Then add in a specific eyespot product at T1 for another £10. It’s worth making sure that this goes on at the optimum time.”
“For many growers thinking that the extra costs up front are too much when it’s impossible to know what the season will bring – my advice is think of it as an insurance premium – this is a critical part of protecting the investment in the ground from the very beginning of the season.”
Bill Clark of NIAB TAG agrees with these findings and advocates that in high risk areas in East Anglia (particularly coastal areas) and the east coast of Scotland, yellow rust can be severe and “triazole seed treatments like Jockey contain fluquinconazole, a systemic triazole that moves up into the emerging leaves, protecting them against very early yellow rust infection in the autumn.”
“This reduces the risk of early yellow rust establishment and can make the epidemic easier to manage with later foliar sprays. The majority of varieties on the current UK Recommended List are susceptible to yellow rust so it is a disease that most growers need to consider when planning fungicide strategies.”
“A seed treatment will prevent the need for autumn foliar sprays which can be needed in high risk seasons and areas; they are also cheaper than an autumn foliar spray. Although you might not need the yellow rust protection every year in every field, for high risk varieties and locations, it is an insurance against a very severe disease.”
Mr Clark suggests that if you don’t use a seed treatment you run the risk of not seeing the rust early enough to catch it and also not being able to travel because of poor weather conditions, as happened this season.
“Fluquinconazole based products will suppress take-all infection, so second wheats which are high risk yellow rust too would doubly benefit. For take-all alone, Latitude (silthiofam) is a better choice but it gives no rust or Septoria control.”
For those looking to sow saved seed he adds a word of warning that sowing untreated farm-saved seed means that you have the seed on farm when you need it, but it does carry some risks.
“Ensure that you check the seed germination, have it tested for bunt and also Microdochium. If percentage germination is low, it is quite likely to have high levels of Microdochium infection and will need treating or even discarding if levels are very high.”
“Microdochium levels can vary considerably from season to season – 2012 levels were very high and there is plenty of inoculum around in the 2013 crop so seed testing is very important. Home saving seed without testing always carries some risk particularly as Microdochium ear infection is not always very obvious, so just looking in the crop for ear blight will not tell you much about seed infection levels.”
“Certified seed will come pre-treated and with some suppliers you can pre-specify the seed treatment that you want. Without a doubt this is a cost worth incurring if you want to take early control of your cereal disease management.”
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