Monday, 22 December 2014 00:00

Early drill, but not for yield

Written by 
UK agronomist Patrick Stephenson with local grower. UK agronomist Patrick Stephenson with local grower.

Beware sowing wheat super early, but standard plant populations may need a rethink to push yields to new levels, leading UK agronomist Patrick Stephens told visitors at Crops 2014.

 The reason many growers in the UK sow wheat in the equivalent of early March or even late February isn’t to increase yields of those early paddocks, but to reduce the risk of not getting all wheats sown if the weather turns to custard, he explained. “It’s to maximise potential across all the crop.”

Going too early could “break the system”, he warned, producing excessive canopy where disease “festers” resulting in increased spray costs yet lower yields.

With fewer new fungicides coming to market, using other tools such as cultivar resistance, sowing date and possibly cultivar blends, could be necessary to increase yields while reducing the risk of diseases developing resistance to fungicides.

However, there’s a trend for the highest yielding varieties to have high fungicide responses, suggesting more disease resistant cultivars may use some of the light energy they capture to fight disease leaving less to go into yield.

Stephenson said several studies show average wheat yields across Europe have stagnated since the 1990s so work is underway to see why and how a rising trend might be resumed.

Putting phosphate fertiliser “down the spout” at drilling with seed, once a common practice but largely abandoned in the interests of getting larger areas sown faster, could be worth a revisit as trials have shown responses even at relatively high soil P levels.

Similarly, soil nitrogen supply (SNS) tests provide useful figures to calculate fertiliser inputs up to a point, but at high SNS readings growers shouldn’t rely on the soil providing all the crop’s needs, even though the SNS level may appear to have enough nitrogen in it for the target yield.

The industry standard 450 ears/m2 crop population may also need a rethink as a UK project called the Yield Enhancement Network has found the highest yielding crops today have about 700 ears/m2.

However, Stephenson warned growers not to read too much into the use of eight trace element applications on the highest yielding crop. “They spent about £360/ha more, including £193 on traces, and it yielded 0.1t/ha more…. There are a lot of other things in play before we get to snake oil.”

More like this

Pest confirmed on West Coast

A tropical insect pest with a big appetite for corn has been identified on the West Coast, the first time it has been found in the South Island.

‘Wet’ sums up season

‘Wet’ sums up the 2018-19 grain season for Canterbury, says the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) research manager for cereals, Rob Craigie.

Turnout tops previous ‘Crops’

FOUNDATION FOR Arable Research chief executive Nick Pyke says over 600 people attended the organisation’s flagship biennial event Crops 2014 – more than any previous FAR industry event.

Featured

Dr Mike Joy says sorry, escapes censure

Academic Dr Mike Joy and his employer, Victoria University of Wellington have apologised for his comments suggesting that dairy industry CEOs should be hanged for contributing towards nitrate poisoning of waterways.

People-first philosophy pays off

The team meeting at the Culverden Hotel was relaxed and open, despite being in the middle of calving when stress levels are at peak levels, especially in bitterly cold and wet conditions like today.

Farmer anger over Joy's social media post

A comment by outspoken academic Dr Mike Joy suggesting that dairy industry leaders should be hanged for nitrate contamination of drinking/groundwater has enraged farmers.

From Nelson to Dairy Research: Amy Toughey’s Journey

Driven by a lifelong passion for animals, Amy Toughey's journey from juggling three jobs with full-time study to working on cutting-edge dairy research trials shows what happens when hard work meets opportunity - and she's only just getting started.

National

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Faking it

OPINION: Demand for red meat is booming, while it seems the heyday of plant-based protein is well past its 'best…

M.I.A.

OPINION: The previous government spent too much during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite warnings from officials, according to a briefing released…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter