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November 2008 No. 157 Do you want frost tolerance? - It is possible to have wheat and other crops tolerant to frost. Noodle wheat dilemma - Market says they now do not want it. Are you ready for sowing hybrid canola? - Most seeders are not good enough to cope with 1-1.5kg/ha seed rate and have seeds evenly spaced down the row. New varieties Wheat (Mace is the standout) Barley Canola Lupins Summer weed control options Late caterpillar control options - IPM approach the most effective. No need for pessimism - World might be doom and gloom, but outlook is still very good for agriculture. Variety trading status - check our website (www.agronomy.com.au ) for each varieties status if it can be sold over the fence, who owns it, what the fees are for growing it etc… Legume or another cereal - With high nitrogen prices, some are thinking of growing a legume crop. Is it a wise move? October 2008 No. 156 Croptopping barley - is it OK to use glyphosate or Paraquat? And discussion of other options to desiccate your barley crop. Seed dressings in brief - suggestions for each crop on what to put on the seed. When to pickle (treat) the wheat seed. Locusts, earwigs and termite control Fertilisers in 2009 - should you order now for next years supply? Late potassium foliar sprays - it is getting pushed by some sellers of potassium products, but is it worthwhile? Frost damage - what to look for and should you cut it for hay, spray it out or harvest it? Stripe rust has appeared late in Western Australia. Should you do anything about protecting your crop? The Brave New World excellent article from Rod Grieve on the new deregulated grain market in Australia and how to make the most of it. September 2008 No. 155 Rainfall outlook - still mixed messages from the different weather modellers. Late potassium deficiency symptoms in barley - or is it? Could be Boron toxicity. How to tell. Two outstanding barley varieties to grow. Aphid control not working? - nitrogen deficient crops make it hard to control aphids low in the canopy. Some insecticides are more suitable than others. White flowers in canola? - what this can mean and why pods are aborting. Bacterial blight in peas - what is it, what does it look like and how do we control it? Sheep - my comments to a question asking why I hate sheep? I don't, but to me there are far better options than the fickle Merino. The world does not want wool. August 2008 No. 154 Waterlogged crops - how to keep tillers alive using UAN (urea Ammonium Nitrate) or Urea in the spraytank. UAN scorch - how to minimise it, and what you can mix with it. Using Logran (triasulfuron) at the flowering stage of a cereal crop Croptopping pulse crops with SU's (sulphonyl ureas) and desiccant herbicides. Fungicide supply update Keeping hybrid canola seed Rainfall outlook Snippets Harvesting Mandelup lupins Choosing where to keep seed from in each crop Croptopping cereals Rust update - stem and stripe rust now spreading across Australia Mildew on Wyalkatchem wheat heads Direct harvesting canola July 2008 No. 153 Bacterial stripe blight in oats. Li-700 and AMS (Ammonium sulphate) - table of when and where to use these adjuvants Select (clethodim) at above label rates - salvage resistant ryegrass control option Potential salvage ryegrass control option in cereals Aphid control options in canola and pulses Caterpillar control options Rainfall outlook Phenoxy timings - when it is safe and not safe to apply phenoxy herbicides (eg 2,4-D) Critical fungicide shortages Mildew problems - control options Net blotch in barley - control options Rust situation - is better to spray two weeks early than two days late. Something to ponder - we now are getting taxed on the air we breath, but the Government calls it Emissions Trading scheme. Yet the facts say it is wrong. "The great tragedy of science - the slaying of a beautiful theory by an ugly fact". June 2008 No. 152 For your interest. Some farming photo's of my recent trip to Kenya . Rainfall outlook changed L 2009 in perspective - comments on anything we should change agronomically with the high fertiliser prices Being more efficient Late radish control options Ug99 stem rust and control options Late bromegrass control options in wheat N & S applications on canola Pasture manipulation options Metribuzin pre-sowing on wheat - an update. Is a great brew in no-till. Metribuzin post-emergent on barley and Eagle Rock wheat Slugs - management and control options Snippets Ammonium sulphate (AMS ) granules are in short supply. Other options. Cosmos (fipronil) and Apron (metalaxyl) seed dressings on canola again has saved many problems Best air-seeder bar comments May 2008 No. 151 Ryegrass survived knockdown? - options on what to do. Ecopar (pyraflufen) results so far as knockdown spike Ecopar for pasture manipulation option Searching newsletters update - http://www.agronomy.com.au/Newsletters/indexing.aspx Oils ain't oils update - not all spray oils are the same, even when they say they are. 2008 rainfall outlook - www.agric.wa.gov.au/climate APVMA nonsense - registration authority has lost the plot with its pedantic nonsense on use on ammonium sulphate as a spray adjuvant. Kenyan visit - some observations and photos of my latest visit to Kenya . 2009 fertiliser prices - is going from bad to worse at the moment. Post-emergent cereal herbicide brews Identifying zinc deficiency in crops SU's (sulphonyl urea) herbicides in front of sowing oats and barley Flagship barley's obituary - too risky to grow when it sprouts so easily. Options to control various insect pests April 2008 No. 150 Searching the newsletters and updated website - www.agronomy.com.au 2008 rainfall outlook - www.agric.wa.gov.au/climate Strategies for the coming months Weed control strategies - usually cheaper to use more up front to reduce the risk of needing post-emergent grass herbicides. Atrazine shortage - other options when you can not obtain enough Atrazine for TT canola and pulse crops. Kixor (saflufenacil) - New knockdown herbicide coming from BASF. Update on herbicides to mix with Roundup and Sprayseed for better weed control. March 2008 No. 149 2008 rainfall outlook and what "good" farmers would do Weevil control in canola Dubious lime - many lime suppliers are supplying inferior quality lime to what they state. Where to test independently. Grazing winter wheats Roundup Ready canola - At last it is here in Australia. How I would grow them, ignoring the inefficiencies that the companies want you to do. Clearfield canola and wheat - what herbicide brews to use and how to grow them. TT (triazine tolerant) canola - what herbicide brews to use and how to grow it. Canola on canola - how to grow canola again straight after a previous canola crop. Sprayseed vs Roundup - Sprayseed (Paraquat + diquat) is now half the price of Roundup (glyphosate). Rates of trace elements to use in a liquid cart at sowing. Snippets Hombre dropping price (Imidacloprid + tebuconazole seed dressing). Everyone wanting to use IPM techniques should be using this product this year on their cereals. Rates and volumes of Triadimefon and flutriafol to use on granular fertiliser Phone advice - anyone may ring, fax or email for agronomic advice - $30+GST per call. Bartolo bladder clover - The first variety of Trifolium spumosum released in Australia. A very productive clover and with very high seed yields. Can be harvested with a normal harvester. Dates and times I am speaking at up coming conferences and field days. For those who are nearly skint (insolvent) - a few thoughts on where to allocate scarce resources and what to do if you cannot afford any fertiliser this year. New pre-sowing herbicides Boxer Gold (prosulfocarb + metolachlor) Terbyne (terbuthylazine) Pre-sowing herbicide brews for cereals Eagle Rock - update on suggested herbicide brews to use on this metribuzin tolerant wheat variety. February 2008 No. 148 2008 rainfall outlook 2008 strategies - extremely high prices, lots of summer rain, good winter rainfall season predicted. It could be a very exciting year. How to make the most of it. Searching through these newsletters - website nearly ready for you to be able to search through these newsletters. Integrated Pest Management - easier now that Gaucho (Imidacloprid) is available and dropping in price. How to achieve IPM in crops. Propyzamide update - price gone back up but still a brilliant grass killer in broadleaf crops. Update on how to use it in a notill system. Knockdown spikes revisited - glyphosate has tripled in price. Does this change what we should add with it to kill hard to kill weeds? Using Ecopar (pyraflufen) as a knockdown spike. Creeping glyphosate resistant ryegrass - research proves we can obtain Roundup resistant ryegrass within four years using low doses. Bromegrass and barleygrass control options in 2008 Snippets Mandelup lupins can't be sown as deep as other varieties. Buloke barley accepted as malting in all southern states of Australia. Vlamingh barley - doubts about its acceptance as a malting barley by some maltsters. Triadimefon or Flutriafol on the fertiliser for cereal disease control? Canola seed rates. Too thick is not good. Is that variety free to trade? - a new link on our website for you to quickly see if a variety is free to trade in your state. Learning Plant Language Workshops - learning how to know what your plant is saying is wrong, and which one to fix first. Kenya and USA trip comments Getting the soils balanced with nutrition - You do not have to. Albrecht's theory is codswallop. Discussion on research papers testing this erroneous theory.
November 2008 No. 157
October 2008 No. 156
September 2008 No. 155
August 2008 No. 154
July 2008 No. 153
June 2008 No. 152
May 2008 No. 151