Agronomic Acumen - Professional Agricultural Consultants based in the Great Southern Region of Western Australia
 
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INDEX FOR 2002 NEWSLETTERS

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December 2002 No. 92 - paper version now in COLOUR
  • Bill Crabtree - introduction to the new regular contributor to the newsletter
  • 2002 drought - Australia wide and one of the worst on record
  • Crown rot in wheat - control options
  • Summary of stripe rust control options for 2003
  • Fungicide onto fertiliser - how to do it?
  • Summer weed control options - herbicide brews
  • Millet and forage sorghum
  • New crop varieties for 2003
  • Pickling canola seed - updated recommendations for Downey mildew control
  • 2248 - New soft wheat still not being released yet
  • Potassium and frost - foliar spray results
  • Getting through stubble, row spacings and no-tillage
  • Sunflowers and Rutherglen bugs
  • Creeping resistance to Glyphosate - Prof Jonny Gressel was right!
  • Smoke, frost and stubble
    • does smoke prevent frost damage?
    • Stubble increases the risk of frost - a big downside to no-till
  • Press wheels - which one? This will be covered by Bill Crabtree in the Feb 2003 edition
  • Bulk purchase of cars is on again - need a new car at the cheapest price?

November 2002 No. 91
  • Stripe Rust and next year
    • Summary of what we saw this year
    • Which wheat varieties are still resistant
    • What to do next year with varieties
  • What to do with fungicide strategies until we get Stripe rust resistant varieties
    • Jockey seed dressing
    • Fungicide on the fertiliser
  • Spot Type Net Blotch - Gairdner barley suffered severe damage again this year
  • Setting up the windrower to spray at the same time - what to do
  • Lupin and hay prices - do not sell lupins for less than $300/t
  • If you have a good harvest - some suggestions
  • Obituary to "No-Till Bill " - Tongue in cheek obituary to Bill Crabtree who is no longer working for WANTFA
  • Newsletter changes coming
    • Paper version now in colour (from Dec2002)
    • Bill Crabtree now writing articles for each newsletter issue as well.
  • Thick versus thin canola - too thick is much worse for yield than too thin
  • Frost damage - cereals and canola
  • Agronomy Fertilisers update

October 2002 No. 90
  • Stripe Rust observations
    • new African strain is very virulent
    • Most varieties are very susceptible
    • What to do now and next year
  • Aerial spraying - how to make it work better
  • Camm's demise - previously stem, leaf and stripe rust resistant variety has now lost its resistance
  • Stem rust - the scene at the moment
  • Varieties to keep for next year
    • Wheat, Barley, Canola and Lupins
  • Fungicide on fertiliser or seed next year?
  • Calcium deficiency in canola - a common problem this year in Surpass 501TT variety
  • Aphicides in canola - report on this season's performance
  • Weather forecasts - comments on David Stephens success at predicting the season 6 months ahead
  • Droughted areas - most of Australia in severe drought conditions at the moment :-(

September 2002 No. 89
  • Stripe Rust arrives - need to treat wheat crops with fungicide ASAP.
  • Spot-type net blotch in barley - Tilt (propiconazole) the only viable fungicide to combat this disease.
  • Aphid update - Controlling aphids in canola and cereals.
  • Add a spray line to swathers (windrowers) - spray weeds while you are swathing.
  • Fertilisers in 2003 .
    • Agronomy Fertilisers : A new bulk buying fertiliser company that imports fertiliser as cheaply as possible.
    • Superfert, United Farmers, Summit, CSBP, Whitfords - all quite similar in prices at the moment.
  • Sunn Hemp inoculum available
  • Pledge and Roundup resistance - Pledge produces excellent results used in conjunction with Roundup.

August 2002 No. 88
  • OnDuty mixtures with grass selective herbicides
  • OnDuty residue problems in next years crops
  • Availability of cheaper chemicals
  • Custom herbicide mixes - trial results in making our own cheaper mixes
  • Aphids in canola and other crops - control options
  • Rhizoctonia control - how to make it disappear without cultivation
  • Ryegrass in furrows - how to stop this happening
  • Big brew - for interest only, a 10-way brew used this year
  • Frost tolerance - options for reducing frost risk with nutrients
  • Which no-till seeder is the best?
  • Snippets
    • Use for old scarifiers in no-till paddocks
    • Hoegrass and Achieve damage (prevention)
    • Gairdner barley replacement coming
    • Suggestions for controlling weeds along fence lines
    • Diamondback Moth status
    • Hoegrass price drop
    • Clartex pellets - more pellets coming for more trials on slugs and snails
  • Coming field day event

July 2002 No. 87
  • Blocked spray tanks - a cure at last (Supa Link)
  • Clartex snail and slug pellet update
  • Rust and sprouting in perspective
  • The rust and mildew scene at the moment - and what to do
  • Leaf disease in Gairdner barley and control of Spot Type Net Blotch
  • Trace element sprays and compatibility
  • Aphids and the dry conditions
  • Talstar failures on weevils - Desiantha weevils in particular
  • New pest on canola? - Cabbage leaf minor might be a new pest to contend with
  • Diamond Back Moth control using salty water with insecticides
  • Targa or Pantera/Genie - chemical cousins but same rates?
  • Cheaper Import flood - many new cheaper chemicals about to be available
  • Pasture manipulations of broadleaf weeds
  • Thistle control
  • Sowing sunflowers, safflowers, corn and Sunn Hemp
  • Farm Hygiene  - keeping weed nurseries dead
  • Support-a-light - great new gadget for spot-lighting at night in paddocks
  • Spectral Imaging of your paddocks

June 2002 No. 86
  • Deja vu? - Similar horror start to the season as last year???
  • High Potential Year - early sown crops have high yield potential. Keep nitrogen rates high
  • Spraying in the dust
  • Grass Selective herbicides for broadleaf crops - update on suggested brews for different weeds
  • Controlling aphids in cereals - high potential for aphid and virus problems this season
  • Insect resistance - know your insecticide groups
  • Rogor (Dimethoate's) half-life be aware of how quickly it can break down
  • Making your own Touchdown BP herbicide
  • Post-emergent broadleaf weed control in cereals
  • Herbicide snippets
    • Barley out of wheat
    • Wheat out of barley
    • Pasture manipulations
    • Killing 402CL Clearfield canola
    • Salty water for better insecticide performance
    • Eclipse for clover control in lupins
  • Cheap Ammonium Sulphate still available - $120/t ex Kwinana
  • Staff changes - welcome to Helen Carr

May 2002 No. 85
  • Off and running - early start to the season
  • Water quality for spraying
  • Beware of weevils and mites including Bryobia mites; Balaustium mites; Red legs; Blue Oat mites
  • Lemat bare earth
  • Aphid & rust potential
  • Thin canola
  • Touchdown BP & Logran BP
  • Concentrations of chemicals mentioned in past newsletters
  • Affinity or Hammer?
  • Wheat after canola problems
  • Atrazine and TT canola
  • Guildford grass control
  • Paddock Adviser - update includes QA
  • 2248 Soft Wheat
  • Past newsletters on CD
  • New weather link on website (Meteogram rainfall prediction)

April 2002 No. 84
  • Pre-sowing herbicide mixtures - including suggested brews
  • Glean is always expensive
  • Stomp or Treflan?
  • Rainfastness of knockdowns
  • Saia Oats
  • Sowing on minimal moisture
  • Knockdown herbicide brews
  • Early fungicides
  • Sleeping dogs - leave them (Germinating then killing weeds vs leaving them alone)
  • IT or TT with radish?
  • Websites of interest
  • New Paddock Adviser software
  • Beeline bulk purchase

March 2002 No. 83
  • B-Power chemicals - Touchdown and Logran - should you use them?
  • Keeping canola seed
  • Which canola variety
  • Weed control in canola - TT canola and Clearfield canola
  • Wide rows on pulses
  • Too much Calingiri?
  • Brodal resistant radish - control options
  • Westonia and Camm stem rust
  • Carbon in perspective
  • Agrotain treated Urea
  • Bulk buying update

February 2002 No. 82
  • 2001 review
  • Falling numbers and seed quality of wheat - what is OK to keep for seed!
  • Grain storage & yield estimates
  • Herbicide mixes for 2002
  • 2001 variety overview
    • Wheat
    • Barley
    • Canola
    • Lupins
  • Soft wheat dilemma
  • Make your own break to the season
  • Summer weed control and moisture conservation
  • Sunn Hemp - been too cold
  • Urea deal update