Careful planning needed to avoid disease eating into profit from higher grain price

WHEAT growers looking to capitalise on better grain prices must plan disease control cost-effectively if they're to stop high disease pressure and fungicide resistance shifts eating in to profit, they are being warned. Otherwise, any extra income could be wiped out.

That is the message from industry experts as growers plan this season's early T0 and T1 fungicide timings designed to control over-wintered disease.

But a newly updated fungicide, Cherokee, launched last year as a value-for-money solution could help fight back against such issues, its manufacturer points out.

According to Syngenta technical manager David Ranner, although wheat prices have climbed by around £20/t compared with a year ago, growers face mounting challenges that carry additional costs.

For a start, sensitivity shifts in the main disease Septoria tritici to triazole fungicides mean higher doses are now required to offset eroded performance, he maintains.

On top of that, high disease pressure after the mild winter means brown rust, in particular, has been found especially early – not only in its usual hotspots across southern and eastern England but as far north as Perth in Scotland. That hasn't been helped, he says, by many popular varieties having rust resistance ratings of 6 or below.

"Growers have a real dilemma," explains Mr Ranner. "Unless they can cost-effectively deal with these issues, any extra margin from better grain prices could be lost.

"I really question whether lavish spending on triazole fungicides is necessary, It was precisely as a cost effective response to such issues that Cherokee was developed.

"Not only does it provide growers with high doses of two triazoles against Septoria tritici and other diseases, but it also contains chlorothalonil – the anti-resistance ingredient of Bravo. It also has excellent activity against rusts. Across 66 trials in 2006, Cherokee gave comparable yields to other triazole programmes, but because of its lower cost it returned a better margin. Growers who used it last year said they saved £6 or £7/ha."

With disease pressure present, Mr Ranner says it will be an ideal fit for forthcoming T0 and T1 fungicide timings – designed to control the spread of disease onto upper yield-building leaves.

"The newly updated Cherokee formulation also removes the need for mixing with a separate compatibility agent. This makes it easier to use and means a 50% reduction in the number of packs for handling compared to a triazole + Bravo tank mix," he adds.

Independent crop consultant Richard Palmer of Farm Vision agrees that disease threats are building. The mild winter, early drilling and advanced crops mean several diseases threaten yield. "Residues of mildew are present. Obviously there's Septoria waiting to happen. Another big disease is brown rust. If ever there was a year for T0 sprays, this would be it," he points out.

In its launch year he used Cherokee for around 90% of his T1 fungicide treatments last season – reassured by its high dose of active ingredients. "We had very good results. It did everything you would have wanted, probably at a lower cost than in the past."

This year, he believes its components will also be a good fit at T0. "Cherokee would lend itself because of its cyproconazole and propiconazole. Cyproconazole is good on rusts. It would be an ideal spray – effective on the diseases that are there and it's got some chlorothalonil to protect against Septoria," he adds.