A new-look Bayer CropScience stand at Cereals 2015 will give growers the opportunity to talk through their toughest agronomic challenges in each crop.

Plots will be split into wheat, barley, oilseed rape and root crops, with Bayer CropScience experts available to discuss the issues growers are facing in each crop, and help pinpoint strategies that will help increase or protect yields and quality.

For example, in wheat, there will be a focus on how non-chemical cultural control can help with both getting black-grass populations and disease pressure down to manageable levels, and how integrating these into growing programmes can be most successfully achieved.

“Delayed drilling might be one option growers are considering, for example,” says Mike Abram, PR & Communications Manager for Bayer CropScience. “It can certainly help with both black-grass control and decreasing disease pressure, but has other implications for growers to consider. Our team in the wheat plots will be on hand to chat through the benefits and disadvantages, as well as how to integrate products such as Liberator (diflufenican + flufenacet), Atlantis WG (mesosulfuron + iodosulfuron), Aviator 235Xpro (prothioconazole + bixafen) and Redigo Deter (clothianidin + prothioconazole) into this or other strategies.”

In oilseed rape, growing consistently high-yielding crops that are coming under higher pest and disease pressure will be a talking point. “Growing oilseed rape after losing neonicotinoid insecticide seed treatments this season has already caused some growers significant problems, but we are learning more about how to mitigate against pests such as cabbage stem flea beetle and aphids carrying turnip yellows virus.”

With seed treatment choice restricted, the use of drilling date, sowing rate, variety choice and well-timed insecticide sprays will need to be considered carefully, says Mr Abram. “We will be able to help give advice in these areas, as well as showcasing some online tools that can help with decision-making against oilseed rape pests.”
Planting hybrid varieties, such as Fencer and Harper, which are more resilient to environmental pressures, is one area growers might like to discuss, says Mr Abram. “These varieties also have other advantages, including simplifying disease control programmes. Light leaf spot control is a problem more and more growers are facing, with the disease increasing its incidence in southern parts of the United Kingdom, as well as its traditional heartland in the North.

“The use of a variety with excellent phoma resistance , such as Harper and Fencer, can help make sure timing of light leaf spot sprays, such as Proline275 (prothioconazole), is not compromised. We will also be showing growers our new National List 2 InVigor variety, InV 1030, which combines  excellent phoma and light leaf spot resistance with high gross output.”

With potentially more barley, especially spring barley, in the rotation in the future, new or returning growers may well have questions about how to maximise yields and quality, says Mr Abram. “Again, our experts will be around to discuss how these crops can help with black-grass control and how to minimise disease threats.”
In the roots area, sugar beet,potato and vegetable growers are facing uncertain times. For those continuing with the crops, maximising yield and quality will again be foremost, and our team will be around to advise how the use of products such as Betanal maxxPro (desmedipham + phenmedipham + ethofumesate + lenacil) for beet weed control and Infinito (fluopicolide + propamocarb) for potato blight control will help.

Finally, various tools and services developed by Bayer CropScience will be demonstrated on the Cereals stand. These include the new Bayer Agronomy Tool mobile app, which has combined the three previously available apps for weed and pest identification and product information, into one easily usable application, and online decision support tools, such as the Bayer Pollen Beetle Predictor and the new Wheat and Barley Disease Warning tools.