Assess risk and take out an insurance policy against lodging in cereals

Cereal growers need to assess the risk their cereals crops are at from stem and root lodging and take out a sound insurance policy against yield loss with a fully comprehensive PGR programme. "We have heard about the high risk that wheat crops are at to yellow rust this year, with experts telling us that over 60% of wheat currently in the ground is susceptible. But do we realise that 69% of wheat this year is at medium risk of lodging?" says Sarah Mountford-Smith, PGR Product Manager for BASF.

According to the HGCA Recommended List, key wheat varieties such as Gladiator and Einstein have a Lodging Resistance Score of 6 and Alchemy, Battalion, Claire, Gallant, Oakley, Robigus and Viscount have a 7 rating. They would be regarded as being of medium risk to lodging. "We also have this year a high percentage of first wheats, a good deal of early drilling and a mild November, all pointing to potentially high risk of lodging. Growers will need to implement a robust PGR programme, perhaps using products that are effective in colder conditions if this cold snap continues, to manage this risk."

Agronomist Derek Robertson of Agrovista in Scotland has had to deal with some challenging crops. "In West Scotland we often have cereals that are tall, lush and prone to lodging, so we always use a PGR. I have moved over to a Canopy based PGR programme and have had great results. Applied at Growth Stage 30-31, Canopy at 0.6 l/ha plus chlormequat at 1.2 l/ha has done even more than you would expect. It has reduced crop height and minimised both stem and root lodging. In particular I have been very pleased with the way it has evened up the crop so well."

"The last few years harvest in my part of the country has been quite a challenge and to have crops which stand well and are perfectly even has been a great help in getting the grain into the barn."

Derek considers Canopy to be a very straight forward product to use. "You can use Canopy on all varieties of winter wheat, winter barley and winter triticale and it is very crop safe. Starting at GS 30-31 usually means it is mixed with a T1 fungicide, manganese and an adjuvant such as Transcend."

Sarah Mountford-Smith points out that Canopy acts in a number of different ways to ensure the crop is kept standing. "Extensive trials work and commercial use over the last few years has demonstrated its ability to reduce the height of the plant and to optimise tiller numbers. Research work has also shown that it increases straw strength by 24%. Importantly it also increases the dry root matter by 27%, through increasing root depth and fibrous roots. This really helps it improve the crops resistance to root lodging, which is the main lodging problem we have to deal with in the UK, as well as improving the plants ability to take up water and nutrients. On a practical point, it has given consistent performance across a range of timings and temperatures, the latter maybe more significant this year as the spring so far has been much colder than usual."

She advises growers and agronomists to have a go with the new on-line Canopy Assessment Tool (CAT) to help them to assess their lodging risk more easily and more accurately. "Developed, trialled and calibrated by ADAS and BASF, the Canopy Assessment Tool can be found at www.pgrplus.basf.com. It estimates the Green Area Index (GAI) of the wheat canopy from a digital photograph taken in the field and from this GAI assessment, together with information on the variety and its predicted yield, calculates the crop’s Resistance to Lodging Score and suggests a suitable PGR programme. The tool also calculates crop nitrogen content in kg N/ha which is valuable for subsequent decisions about fertilizer programmes."