UK feed wheat growers are probably missing out on £36 million this season simply as a result of growing lower yield potential varieties.

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Furthermore, as a result of letting Septoria gain a foothold on just 5% of leaf 2, bottom line margins are being cut by a further £75 million. That’s the view presented by plant breeder, KWS UK and leading crop protection businesses, BASF and Agrovista.

KWS calculates that at today’s prices, the top yielding wheats – protected by a robust, well timed fungicide programme - can generate £50-60/ha more income on farm.

“It is simply a case of grasping the best varieties and then utilising the latest fungicide technology to maximise returns,” said KWS product development manager, John Miles.

He said that based on Recommended List data the four top wheats - KWS Santiago, Conqueror, Oakley, and KWS Solo – all offer either a 3 or 4% yield advantage over other varieties in the trials.

“While accepting that these varieties don’t suit every situation, across 100ha they can provide an extra £5000-6000.” 

“Apply this to the UK situation and, based on seed sales last year, the current UK feed growers is missing out on income potential by £36m.”

Even if the wheat price fell to £100/t, Mr Miles said that farmers would still be £30-40/ha better off with these varieties rather than the next best, lower yielding wheats.

According to KWS agronomy consultant, Bob Simons, where a typical fungicide programme in the past would cost £75/ha, a £90/ha spend across high yield potential sites and varieties of this nature is more than justified this season, particularly given the good wheat prices.  Indeed in some cases, an even bigger spend should be considered.

“All current high yielding wheats have a disease weakness and virtually every crop will benefit from a robust fungicide programme,” he said.

“The key threat is Septoria and almost 70% of wheats are rated 5 or less for the disease, so ignore it if you dare.  However, 70% of the wheat area is rated 5 or below for brown rust and half of all wheats in the ground ranked 6 or less for yellow rust.

“So, this season, with crops drilled earlier than normal, the high rust loadings already being seen and high Septoria pressure, nobody should be taking any risks particularly with strong wheat prices providing such a high reward over fungicide investment.”

Mr Simons advised growers to start with a T0 spray primarily as an aid to managing disease progression and reducing pressure on subsequent spray applications.

Then at T1 he suggested a triazole combination, utilising a rust active strobilurin such as pyraclostrobin as a protectant when the disease is still active or chlorothalonil as a low cost addition where Septoria control needs to be supported.  Growers should not overlook eyespot either.

It is at T2, where growers can gain most through building in the benefits of new SDHI chemistry.  Mr Simons pointed out that KWS Santiago – the high yielding KWS Group 4 wheat – benefited more than most from a sound product combination at this T2 stage.  “In some trials last year, the net value of the SDHI Adexar on Santiago was £100/ha,” he said. 

“This year again, keeping the high yielding varieties greener for longer by early adoption of this new chemistry on top varieties must be the right way to go.”

£75 Million/annum Septoria Cost

BASF agronomy team manager, Steve Dennis, said that despite treatment, over the last ten years, there has been an average 5.3% Septoria infection on leaf 2 effectively costing UK farmers nearly £75 million with wheat at £150/t.

“While yellow rust and brown rust are also yield robbers in susceptible varieties, annual losses due to both are small because of strong fungicide products. However, there is no room for complacency when it comes to controlling these diseases,” he said.  “Products such as Ignite, Comet 200 and now Adexar can provide the control growers need.”

The best varieties need the strongest fungicides, said Steve.

Tracker has proven to be the best eyespot fungicide as well as providing strong Septoria and rust activity. At T1 timing it has proven yield benefits over many years with many different weather conditions. When applied at T1 Tracker lifted yields by over 0.5t/ha compared to an azole treatment in 2011, following the pattern demonstrated over several years.  Even with Adexar at T2 Tracker gives superior yield benefits at T1, said Steve.

This year growers should be looking to partner the best yielding wheat varieties with the best performing SDHI in Adexar, giving the opportunity to take yields to new levels. Adexar has been shown to be the most curative Septoria fungicide and a flexible option for rusts too.

Steve Dennis is convinced that Adexar is the strongest for Septoria and the strongest for yield. “Using Adexar we can rescue more yield from Septoria – way above that which triazoles can achieve,” he said.

In a trial featuring KWS Santiago, a programme of Ignite at T1 followed by Adexar at T2 resulted in 38% less Septoria on the flag leaf and more than 0.3 t/ha over other SDHI treatments.

Mark Hemmant, technical manager with Agrovista said that growers needed to combine most robust products with best application techniques where risks are high and spray days are numbered.

In some years between March to May, two-thirds of available spray days can be lost due to rain or wind, so growers need to make the most of the thirty five or so that remain. In this scenario, growers can be forced to apply products later than planned which stretches the interval between applications, leading to increased disease pressure.

Water volumes and boom height important

In  the Agrovista trials, halving water volumes to 100l/ha provided an average yield benefit of 0.2 t/ha in 2011, but this increased to more than 0.5t/ha under higher disease pressure instances.

Angling of nozzles – whether flat fan or air inclusion - also proved beneficial, Last year pointing alternate nozzles across the boom forward by 30 degrees with those between set to spray straight down into the crop, provided the best and most consistent results across the trials.

In terms of nozzle selection while air inclusion nozzles were not as good as flat fan nozzles, they still provided a yield benefit when set up in the same way.

“The trials show that boom height had a significant effect on disease control and yield with the current fungicide standards.  Further studies have shown however, that the addition of application aids in the tank with either flat fan or air inclusion nozzles improved disease control and yield further and allowed growers to make the most of the days available to apply product,” said Mr Hemmant.

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