Agronomic Acumen - 2011 Newsletter Index

Agronomic Acumen - Professional Agricultural Consultants based in the Great Southern Region of Western Australia

			INDEX FOR 2011 CROPPING NEWSLETTERS If you would like to download some free samples of past newsletters, please click here.

		December 2011 No. 191 Hail and storm damage to crops. It has been a very tough harvest so far. The outlook is for more of the same L . Variety recommendations for 2012 - a list of what I think are the best varieties to grow in 2012. Some dilemma situations: what to do when you cannot purchase the best canola varieties what to do when growing canola on a non-wetting soil how to use harvested hybrid canola seed (farmer saved seed) as your seed source. Seed pickle summary - suggestions on what is the best option for pickling (coating) seed for sowing in 2012, if any. Spraying grain silos to prevent insect problems. Sakura (850g/kg pyroxasulfone) herbicide - It is available now for use in 2012. Suggestions on how to use it. Is GM canola dead? - Why is it that seed of the new GM varieties are sold out? Summer weed control brews. Jenabillup lupins - it has come up trumps this year with outstanding yields of 3-4 t/ha and is significantly better than other varieties. Gunyidi - The new metribuzin tolerant lupin variety that does not shatter like Mandelup, the variety it is superseding. Bacterial Blight tolerant peas - The first two pea varieties have been released that have useful levels of tolerance to the devastating disease Bacterial blight - Oura and Percy. Are they worth growing? Impose Clearfield wheat - Is this new variety worth growing? Or is there a better option? China, the OECD and the health of Australian farming - a very interesting article from Roger Crook, ex manager of ICI Australia. November 2011 No. 190 WA's wet Spring - It has been a wonderful Spring, at last. Android users needed to test new applications for Learning Plant Language apps. LPL update - The LPL website www.learningplantlanguage.com is 20% complete. Workshops will be run in 2012 teaching you how to know what is wrong with your crop and which problem needs fixing first. Propyzamide in 2012 - this is a very important residual grass killing herbicide, if you can obtain some. Supplies are going to be limited again L . Timing of glyphosate sprays in Roundup Ready canola - great photos showing what happens with weed control if you get the timings wrong. Small or big seed canola? - One company reckons small seed gives you more plants per kilo. But does it? Does size matter with canola seed? Switch blackleg genes - In 2012, we need to start growing canola with different sources of blackleg resistance genes. Buloke or Scope barley? - They are near identical except Scope tolerates Imi herbicides and has lower screenings, but it is not officially malting quality whereas Buloke is. Which one to grow? Croptopping barley with glyphosate - Does it really affect germination and malting quality? It is the normal practice now in large areas of Australia, but do the authorities have valid concerns? Grow a Clearfield (Imidazolinone tolerant) cereal in 2012 - it gives excellent weed control diversity especially when growing cereal after a cereal. Sakura (pyroxasulfone) herbicide - At ~$36/ha, will it be worth using it in 2012? October 2011 No. 189 Crop-topping Roundup Ready canola. - How to desiccate RR canola and kill weeds prior to harvest. Drying canola seed - direct harvesting moist seed and drying it is a great technique. Storing canola - examples of moisture in seed, oil content and temperature as to what is safe to store. Diamond Back Moth (DBM) larvae control failures - IPM techniques work far better than the cheap insecticides. Canola varieties for 2012 - comments on what varieties are looking to be the best for next year. Chickpeas and lentils - take every opportunity to grow these to add diversity. Comments on how to increase your chances of success. Hungry crops and pastures - many paddocks look droughted despite excellent rainfall. Bass barley - the new malting barley variety to replace Baudin. Is it worth growing? Soil tests or yield maps? - Are soil tests needed when we have yield maps? Harrington Seed Destructor - this great tool is now available to add behind harvesters to help achieve near 100% weed control. It will become common in the near future. Millet for non-wetting soils - How to biologically fix non-wetting soil for two years. September 2011 No. 188 Resistant mildew that wasn't - It appears Western Australia is not riddled with fungicide resistant mildew. Comments on the observed fungicide reactions to barley mildew. Controlling aphids - Pirimicarb is still the best option on canola. Controlling Diamond Back Moth (DBM) update - Cheaper version of emamectin improves our options. White petals in canola - a sign of sulphur deficiency plus other symptoms would also be present. Sulphur deficiency in cereals - how to diagnose it and how to detect when it is sulphur and nitrogen deficient at the same time. Kenya - comments and pictures on the excellent progress Kenya is making with their cropping. Sprayline update - How to spray weeds from the swather (windrower) while swathing. Crop-topping Roundup Ready canola and cereals Keeping hybrid canola for sowing again next year. Canola variety recommendations for 2012 - there are many new brilliant varieties. Wheat and barley variety recommendations for 2012. Mix your canola varieties - it is wise to sow different canola varieties on separate paddocks with different blackleg (Leptosphaeria maculans ) resistance genes to preserve the resistance. Comments on how to choose which varieties. August 2011 No. 187 Rainfall outlook - We are supposed to be having a good finish to the season. We will see. DBM (Diamond Back Moth) control update. IPM products are the best ones to use. Making your own break to the season - how to sow into moisture when it has not rained for many weeks. Oil adjuvants - ones to avoid and ones that are OK to use on sensitive crops. Dr Wal Andersons article - Part 2 on How to manage nitrogen and seed rates on new varieties. Nutrition snippets. How to detect: Copper deficiency in cereals Sulphur deficiency in canola Potassium deficiency in cereals and discussion on foliar sprays Boron deficiency in crops Zinc deficiency in cereals Other snippets: Mataven (flamprop-m-methyl) Is it ever worth using or are there better options? Precept (pyrasulfotole + MCPA LVE) - a great option for salvage weed control in cereals Fungicide strategies with resistant mildew and other cereal diseases. July 2011 No. 186 Rainfall outlook - Western Australia is having a much better season than predicted. Rainfall outlook still variable between models. Mildew time - barley mildew time is here. Need to watch for fungicide failure from the increasing spread of mildew resistant to many fungicides. Suggestions on the best fungicide and strategy to use. Nutrition watch - a summary with photos of some nutrient deficiencies to watch for. Dr Wal Anderson's part one article on sowing time of new varieties with excellent views on practical approaches of when to sow each variety. Net and Spot Type Net Blotch in barley - discussion on the best fungicide to use. Stubble and pest links - no-till with stubble retention appears to have more insect problems. Or is something else happening? J Chaff carts and non-herbicide weed control measures discussion on why I am not a fan of chaff carts at harvest and why I am keen on the Harrington Seed Destructor. June 2011 No. 185 Guest commentator joins this newsletter for a few months - Dr Wal Anderson, Adjunct Professor School of Plant Biology, UWA. First article is on timing and split applications of nitrogen to crops. Bromegrass and barley grass control in cereals - best options to use. A herbicide brew to control weeds on fencelines without glyphosate or glufosinate. How to chemically reduce the height of canola and cereal crops - using growth regulators. Snippets Supa Link crucial to fix most spray tank blockages Suggestion on what to use if Supa Link does not fix a spray tank blockage. Spraying wet leaves is fine but not when beady (droplets on leaves). Adding ammonium sulphate to sprays - is it needed with all brews? Night time spraying - does it work? Zinc deficiency in cereals - descriptions and photos of what to look for. Copper - deficiency symptoms, what crops have the problem, and how to fix. Manganese on lupin crops Manganese on cereal crops Intervix and OnDuty herbicides - why use these when you can make your own so much cheaper? Be careful with certain spray oils on canola - a list is given of which ones are known to be safe. Boxer Gold (prosulfocarb + metolachlor) post-emergent on cereals. Crown rot control option - there is a foliar fungicide that does give significant reduction in the damage from crown rot (Fusarium pseudograminearum ). Controlling black leg in canola with a foliar fungicide. May 2011 No. 184 Treflan (trifluralin) rates. How high can we go? Wet paddocks and nitrogen - Waterlogged crops need nitrogen through leaves. Discussion on how to do this via UAN or Urea sprays. Roundup Ready canola - With a $50/t discount, ~$13/t End Point Royalty and varieties lower yielding than Clearfield lines, should we bother growing it? Rainfall Outlook - Not good for Western Australia. Models suggests yet another very dry winter. Severe stem and stripe rust risk in the eastern states this year. Discussion on how to manage the risk. Snippets How to get wheat out of Clearfield barley How to get wheat out of normal barley How to get barley out of Clearfield wheat and normal wheat Clearfield wheat and barley herbicide brew recommendations. Clearfield canola herbicide brew recommendations. Using Boxer Gold (prosulfocarb + S-metolachlor) pre-emergent and/or post-emergent in cereals. Controlling fungicide resistant mildew in barley - including recommendations using some currently non-registered options when all else fails. Dry soil on top? It does not mean stop sowing! Comments on how to make the most of this situation. Broadleaf herbicide options and updates for cereals. Includes options to control herbicide resistant radish. Land shortage? Comments on the world cropping area, yields, expected demand over next few decades, and Monsanto's bold aims to double corn and soybean yields from 2000 by year 2030. Can biofuels be made cheaper than fuel from the bowser? Some companies think so using new GM organisms using a new technique that does not require processing biomass. Something to keep an eye on. It could have significant implications on future grain prices. April 2011 No. 183 Western Australia 's average wheat yields - a look back at the awful past decade (7 droughts in 11 years) yet our average yields in the worst drought are still better than 20 years ago in a good year. Outlook (dimethenamid-P) herbicide - a new grass and broadleaf herbicide for use pre-sowing in legumes and canola. Suggestions on how to use it. Sakura (pyroxasulfone) -he new herbicide we have been waiting for is here soon in limited amounts. Suggestions on how best to use it. Slug and snail problems -these pests will be a major problem this year in many areas of eastern Australia due to the very wet conditions for the past ten months -recommendations on how to protect your crops. Mouse plague -some areas of eastern Australia are facing another mouse plague. Comments on how best to control them and protect your crops. Pre-sowing brews for 2011 - Recommendations on what pre-sowing brews are the best ones to use on all cereals, canola and pulse crops. Knockdown spikes - recommendations on what to mix with the knockdown herbicides to achieve complete weed control before sowing crops. Paraquat or Sprayseed - now that Paraquat is so cheap, can we use it as a knockdown herbicide instead of SpraySeed? Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus warning - this disease complex poses a severe threat to early sown wheat crops if paddocks are not prepared in time. Comments on how to reduce the risk. Herbicide carryover risk - this is a real problem in Western Australia coming out of last year's drought. Comments on what to do to avoid the problem. March 2011 No. 182 Hallelujah. Western Australia's farm chemical laws change for the better J . Using Gaucho (imidacloprid) in the liquid stream at sowing. Making your own Hombre seed dressing with cheap imidacloprid and tebuconazole. Controlling locusts on your early sown crops. Is Roundup (glyphosate) poisoning our soils? Decile 3 farming - a necessity in our variable climate. Jumpstart / TagTeam ( Penicillium bilaii) - are these seed dressings worth using to release phosphate from the soil? Rainfall outlook for the coming year. Resistant barley mildew now everywhere? - Comments on what to do if it is. Hindmarsh barley update - despite it classified as Food grade, it is again receiving the full malting premiums. Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus risk is very high this season in eastern Australia. Comments on how to reduce the risk. February 2011 No. 181 Hiccup with best RR varieties - Pacific Seeds have had major production problems with the new highest yielding RR canola varieties. Which ones to grow now? Recommendations for the best Roundup Ready, Clearfield and Triazine Tolerant canola varieties to grow this year. Recommendations on the best wheat, barley and lupin varieties to grow this year. Gaucho (600g/L imidacloprid) now only $20/L. This changes everything J . More comments on summer weed control brews. Sharpen (saflufenacil) release delayed again L Chemical costs - the only costs in agriculture that have been going down. Discussion on if and how this changes the way we should use these tools. Rust resistance or yield? - Comments on the wasted expenditure breeding rust resistance in Australia. Getting ready - will you be ready to sow if it rains early? Sowing winter cereals for grazing - we have a chance to sow these early this year, but should we? Cheap trifluralin Using Metribuzin pre-sowing wheat and barley - is actually very safe on wheat in no-till Pickling canola seed - what should we put on canola seed before sowing? Using weather (rain) damaged seed for sowing this year. Rainfall outlook Grain price outlook Terbuthylazine for use in pulse and TT canola crops - a must have herbicide in my view. What about Hindmarsh barley this year? - Should be still growing this highest yielding variety despite it now being classified as Food grade and paid between malting and feed? Vaccinated crops - a better term than Genetically Modified Bud Williams - THE cow whisperer. He is still running a few more courses on how we should be handling our livestock. An amazing man !!

INDEX FOR 2011 CROPPING NEWSLETTERS