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December 2010 No. 180 Don't sell lupins too cheaply. When feed wheat and barley are in the mid to high $200/t, lupins should be $400/t. Hindmarsh barley - has not achieved malting status in Australia, but is wanted as malting barley in Asia. Another complexity to the malting barley mess. Now we have "food" grade barley too. $500/t wheat !! Noodle wheats soar past $500/t. Keeping weather damaged seed. The eastern states are having a wet harvest. Comments on how to choose seed for sowing in 2011 if it has been weather damaged this harvest, including sprouted canola. Summer spray brews for weed control. Results from using Boxer Gold (prosulfocarb + metolachlor) post-emergent on wheat and barley. Results of using terbuthylazine on legumes and triazine tolerant canola. Variety recommendations for 2011, including how canola should be grown. Wet summer in the eastern states - comments on summer crops, green manure (cover) crops and farming systems. Sunn Hemp - Crotalaria juncea is a plant we want as a legume cover crop in Australia. Burning stubbles. What? Stubble is the key to why the most profitable farmers in the world do so well with no-till. Why destroy your crucial asset? There are ways to manage it other than a match. Farewell to Owen Brownley. The world lost a great no-till pioneer far too early. Kenyan study tour 2011 - we have two vacancies to come with Wayne Smith on the study tour and safari in August 2011. November 2010 No. 179 Late season canola diseases are causing problems in the eastern states. Control options and photos of Sclerotinia and Alternaria. Noodle wheat prices soar. Currently there is a $125/t premium. Soft wheat deliveries. Is currently much better to deliver it into a noodle wheat classification. New Clearfield (Imidazolinone tolerant) wheat and barley varieties are available in 2011. Discussion on which are the better ones to choose. Heads up on some new wheat and pea varieties for 2011. Passion needed against weeds. Never give weeds a chance to set seed. Also discussion on croptopping cereals with glyphosate and paraquat. Scab (Fusarium Head Blight). This disease is prevalent again in the eastern states with the wet Spring. What to look for and discussion on control options. Rotationally grazing dead stubbles. How can rotational grazing work when all the stubbles are dead? Learning Plant Language - an update on this website. Anyone who would like to be part of this venture is most welcome to discuss options. Late stem rust in wheat. Is it worth it and what products to use? October 2010 No. 178 Sakura (pyroxasulfone) has stumbled at the last hurdle and wont be available until 2012 L . Season rainfall outlook - Western Australia's driest spring on record wasn't predicted. Wet summer still likely in eastern Australia. WA's drought and coping with depression. Drought years can give the most valuable information to your future profitability. Controlling the 2nd and 3rd generation of locusts in this current plague. Study tour to Kenya in August 2011 is full. Malting barley prices - need to shop around as there is currently up to $40/t difference between buyers of one variety. Noodle wheat premiums are on the rise, at last. Croptopping (desiccating) RR canola, other canola types, pulse and cereal crops. Identifying Diamond back Moth larvae from hoverfly larvae. Should you direct harvest canola or swath/windrow it this harvest? Agronomy Inputs - a new company set up to co-ordinate the bulk buying of chemicals and other inputs in agriculture. Mace wheat is outstanding again. It is free to trade to sell across the fence rather than to grain buyers. Greener growth under trees is a sign of potassium deficiency. Low potassium areas are also amongst the first to die in a drought. Hyola 404RR canola is a standout in the drought, and high rainfall areas. A must have for next year. Learning Plant Language website - an invite to invest to help me get the website up and running. September 2010 No. 177 Locust control "on" crops and other options. The plague has started to hatch L . Is it worth spraying pod seal products onto canola to stop pod shattering? Canola seed dressings - what you should ask for when ordering seed. Mildew on wheat heads. Summer crops - with many areas in the eastern states being on the wet side, it may be a good chance to turn some of that excess water into profit with a summer crop. Tramlining (controlled traffic farming) - it has other side benefits. Mataven (flamprop-methyl) - comments on why I don't recommend this herbicide. Stem and stripe rust control options. Being early to order seed and chemicals for next year that are often in short supply. August 2010 No. 176 Comments on the recent trip to Kenya and their exciting agriculture future. Locusts - how to control them best. A huge plague is coming for most of the eastern states. More on fungicide sprays as we enter the high risk period. Fertiliser for 2011 - should you lock some in now? Ordering new canola varieties - you need to be quick to get some of the new outstanding canola varieties that are coming next year. Fixing non-wetting soil. Control options for Diamond Back Moth (Plutella xylostella ). Aphids are increasing rapidly - discussion of control options. Fungicide resistant mildew is confirmed in barley in Western Australia. Direct harvesting canola and drying it through a grain dryer. July 2010 No. 175 Rainfall outlook and nitrogen top-ups. Late radish control options. Problems using Boxer Gold (prosulfocarb + metolachlor). Frost, dry conditions and some spray oils do not let this herbicide do its work. Fungicides on cereals - they are now really cheap. Comments on which ones are the best ones to use. Why not use Igran (terbutryn)? Comments on why I rarely recommend this herbicide. Shortening canola options - what to do when canola is going to be too tall. Preparing to control the coming locust plague - fipronil the product of choice. Aphid and rust update. Wales - comments on my short trip to Wales regarding their farming. Bill Crabtree's excellent no-till book has just been published - "Search for Sustainability" www.no-till.com.au June 2010 No. 174 Are we poisoning the soil with the fertilisers, herbicides, insecticides and fungicides that we use in agriculture? Using tebuconazole to shorten the height of canola Spraying at night. A good or bad thing? Predatory beetles - the good bugs that eat the bad bugs. How to kill barley in a wheat crop. How to kill wheat in a barley crop. Roundup timings in RR canola Using UAN with herbicides Spraying trace elements on crops Terbuthylazine is very damaging post-emergent on pulse crops, but is excellent presowing. How to tell if the damage on young barley is from Metribuzin or mites. Bunched up stubble problems with knife point seeders. Waiting too long to spray weeds and using Boxer Gold (prosulfocarb + metolachlor) as a salvage post-emergent herbicide in cereals. Radish herbicide options including how to control herbicide resistant ones. Hindmarsh barley as a malting barley. May 2010 No. 173 Go wider if you can't sow through stubble. Row spacing really is a dead issue compared to nearly every other agronomy factor. Tedera - the most amazing plant I have seen for livestock. It grows on almost no rainfall. Identifying mites - different mite pests need different insecticides to control them, so identification of these little bugs is essential. Escaped milk (sow) thistles and how to control them in-crop. Insecticides in the liquid cart at sowing time? Locust plague - control options discussed. Avail - the real deal or snake oil? It promises to greatly improve phosphate uptake by plants. Boxer-Gold timings - when best to use this prosulfocarb herbicide on wheat and barley. Snippets: You can combine many herbicides in Clearfield canola sprays. Using Metribuzin post-emergent on barley. RR canola brews. Never use butroxydim or tepraloxydim herbicides on canola, even if registered. The risk of damage is too high. There are cheaper and safer alternatives. Don't spray 500ml or higher rates of Select (300g/L clethodim) past the flower bud stage of canola. McKell medal winner - the prestigious award for outstanding contribution to soil and land conservation this year went to Bill Crabtree. Congratulatons Bill. It is well deserved indeed !! April 2010 No. 172 Knockdown herbicide brew suggestion pre-sowing pulses, canola and cereal crops. Snippets: Loose Strife weed control in canola. Herbicide suggestions in Clearfield canola The best canola types for waterlogged soils. Locust control - there are options but too many are using the wrong options L . Doubleknock opportunity this year with the early rains. RR canola herbicide mixes for better control than straight Roundup, and how to avoid Roundup resistance. Keeping your own canola seed. Sowing early - what if it is too early? Techniques for minimising risk and increasing profits. Spray oil adjuvants. A list of the ones I would use on canola that I know are safe. Chemical shortages Row spacings. This is a dead issue but still it causes stress for those moving out from narrow to wider rows. Comments on how wide and on what crops. Canola plant numbers - 20-50/m2 is plenty, especially with the hybrid varieties. Using UAN and with herbicides, fungicides and insecticides post-emergent. Blackleg risk very high with Cobbler and Tanami canola - I wouldn't grow them anymore. March 2010 No. 171 Rainfall outlook for the coming season. Not too bad at this stage. Snippets: Two new stay green hay oat varieties have been released called Mulgara and Tungoo. Can't sow canola at 2kg/ha? Then mix different canola types together. Cosmos (fipronil) and Apron (metalaxyl) essential for canola seed dressing. Net Type (Form) Net Blotch on barley has some new strains that attack previously resistant varieties. Comments on how to control it. Making VRT (Variable Rate Technology) fertiliser maps should not be based on what you remove from the paddock. Discussions on what is a better way. Are humans influencing the world's temperatures? "One fact disproves a theory" is a problem. Delivering wanted varieties. Don't deliver scarce new varieties that are free to trade. Many people will pay more if you sell it to them. Fungicides in furrow - these are now only $3-4/ha and are best used in-furrow rather than sprayed on leaves. Cost cutting tips - where best to allocate scarce resources. Some things should not be cut. The future of canola windrowing (swathing). Is the end nigh? Hatred of weeds. This is a problem. There is not enough hatred of weeds. Weed blowouts are everywhere because of this, and profits are way down. Discussion on some things that need improving in weed control. Wheat and barley pre-sowing brew suggestions. Dry sowing - sowing before it rains and how to do it successfully. Should we be using Gaucho (imidacloprid) on all crop seed now that it is cheaper? Roundup Ready (RR) canola package and how I would grow RR canola. February 2010 No. 170 WA GM moratorium suspended at last. All who would like to can grow GM canola this year under permit. Moratorium is still in place though L . Suggestions on how to grow them and which variety to grow. www.agronomy.com.au/crop.aspx is where you can check each variety's PBR and EPR status. You can search past newsletters via www.agronomy.com.au/Newsletters/indexing.aspx 2010 the beginning of the end of weed problems in Australia ? The flip side of reducing costs - If you say yes to something, you usually say no to something else. Priorities where to cut costs. Rancona (ipconazole) and crown rot control in Australia Seed pickle updates - suggestions on what products and rates you should use on your crop seed. Blanket fertiliser rates teach little - we all need to be moving towards using variable rate technology and yield maps to learn faster and be more efficient. Grain and fertiliser prices - a few comments Summary of pre-sowing herbicide brew suggestions for the coming year. Canola pod shattering - it is not always the weather that causes this. It can be diseases. Photo's of the culprits and some discussion on the topic. Clearfield (Imi Tolerant) canola herbicide options - some cheaper products are coming onto the market. Study tours Kenyan trip with Wayne Smith in August 2010 is full but reserves can still be taken. USA/Canada tour with Bill Crabtree in August 2010 only has a few places left. www.no-till.com.au
December 2010 No. 180
October 2010 No. 178
August 2010 No. 176
July 2010 No. 175
June 2010 No. 174
May 2010 No. 173
April 2010 No. 172
March 2010 No. 171
February 2010 No. 170