Young slugs set demand for pellets soaring

Farmers have been urged to secure orders of slug pellets in good time this autumn. Demand is set to be unprecedented as high value wheat crops will face severe pressure from a record population of juvenile slugs.

"The market is currently seeing strong demand for slug pellets," says Frontier technical manager, Bob Mills. "Growers are looking to protect young oilseed rape crops and are securing orders for cereal crops."

At the moment distributors believe there is sufficient product available to meet demand, but growers must ensure that they plan ahead so that they have enough product available when they need it to treat their wheat area. "The cloddy seedbeds that many farmers are struggling with at the moment are a concern. These, combined with slow emergence, are going to make the new crop very vulnerable."

The worry is that a high population of young slugs – that ravenously gorge on emerging crops – has survived the summer, according to Styloma Research's David Glen, who is one of the UK's leading experts on the country's number one arable pest. "Each adult slug will lay 300-500 eggs. This year these have hatched in perfect warm, moist soils – 200-300 juveniles per square metre would not be out of the ordinary."

They also tend to be more voracious eaters in cereals, killing the embryo and then moving on to the next seed, whereas adults will hollow out the whole seed. "They are also very fond of fresh shoots and can devastate an emerging wheat crop. With the high number of slugs you'll need to apply the right number of pellets and you'll need to be sure each one will do its job."

Bob Mills recommends growers use quality pellets. "You need to ensure the product you use has longevity and evenness of application – don't waste money on dusty pellets that won't do the distance. Seed in rough seedbeds with high slug pressure will be very susceptible to slug attack and grain-hollowing, so providing sufficient baiting points is also critical for good control – 40 to 50 per sqm should be the aim."

Recent trials carried out by an independent company for pellet manufacturer Certis have shown the company's Trigger 5 and Red 5 deliver 50 and 45 pellets per sqm respectively when used at 7.5kg/ha. Some other metaldehyde products deliver as few as 30 per sqm.

"Getting sufficient baiting points of a palatable pellet will always be a compromise between pellet size and density," says Certis' Peter Shakespeare. "A very small and therefore light pellet cannot be spread effectively. Equally a pellet that is too big and heavy may not be palatable and will not provide sufficient baiting points per sqm at a practical application rate. These trials show that Trigger 5 and Red 5 have got the balance right and are equally as effective as wet-extruded pellets."

With a new manufacturing facility at Neatcrown in North Wales – the only UK plant manufacturing Meta-metaldehyde(1) slug pellets – Mr Shakespeare is confident the company will satisfy this season's high demand for pellets. "But business is brisk. Growers will be well-advised to get enough Red 5 and Trigger 5 on farm in good time to cover their winter cereal acreage."