2018 - Flea beetle attacks in OSR

jkw1706 · Sep 4, 2018

Hello all,
I'm doing some research into this issue - I would be grateful for replies on what the extent of the damage is and how the ban on the use of neonicotinoids is effecting farmers in the UK and overall damage to OSR, and what solutions there are (if any?!) to combating this problem following the neonic ban?
Many Thanks
Jemima

Brisel · Sep 4, 2018

A timely question! Look at any threads running in this Cropping section and you'll see growers in Lincs, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Herts, Cambs, Beds, Oxon, Hants & Glos having a hard time with flea beetle at the moment. I'm sure it's more widespread than that but those locations are the source of most of the forum posts recently concerning CSFB damage.

I have flea beetle here in 4-8 true leaf turnips but way below the threshold of treatment. My osr is just emerging so is being monitored heavily. I haven't applied an insecticide to osr for 4 years as part of a deliberate policy to avoid reducing my natural predator controls which include 48 miles of field margins and beetle banks. Only treated my spring beans once for a bad weevil infestation in May 2018, one dose on flax flea beetle on linseed last year & a March insecticide on wheat in 2016 following a long mild autumn in 2015 and symptoms of Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus in October sown wheat treated with Deter seed dressing to avoid autumn foliar pyrethroids.

jkw1706 · Sep 4, 2018

Brisel said:
A timely question! Look at any threads running in this Cropping section and you'll see growers in Lincs, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Herts, Cambs, Beds, Oxon, Hants & Glos having a hard time with flea beetle at the moment. I'm sure it's more widespread than that but those locations are the source of most of the forum posts recently concerning CSFB damage.

I have flea beetle here in 4-8 true leaf turnips but way below the threshold of treatment. My osr is just emerging so is being monitored heavily. I haven't applied an insecticide to osr for 4 years as part of a deliberate policy to avoid reducing my natural predator controls which include 48 miles of field margins and beetle banks. Only treated my spring beans once for a bad weevil infestation in May 2018, one dose on flax flea beetle on linseed last year & a March insecticide on wheat in 2016 following a long mild autumn in 2015 and symptoms of Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus in October sown wheat treated with Deter seed dressing to avoid autumn foliar pyrethroids.

Thanks for your help...I'll be sure to check out those threads..

Green oak · Sep 4, 2018

jkw1706 said:
Hello all,
I'm doing some research into this issue - I would be grateful for replies on what the extent of the damage is and how the ban on the use of neonicotinoids is effecting farmers in the UK and overall damage to OSR, and what solutions there are (if any?!) to combating this problem following the neonic ban?
Many Thanks
Jemima

getting on for total destruction. Despite two sprays in three days.

jkw1706 · Sep 4, 2018

Green oak said:
View attachment 712684 getting on for total destruction. Despite two sprays in three days.

wow, if you had been allowed to spray this with neonic do you think it would have been more effective?

Green oak · Sep 4, 2018

jkw1706 said:
wow, if you had been allowed to spray this with neonic do you think it would have been more effective?

I think I’d rather have the seed treatment back. I can’t grow osr. This is a 7k loss for clearfield seed.

Brisel · Sep 4, 2018

jkw1706 said:
wow, if you had been allowed to spray this with neonic do you think it would have been more effective?

A colleague of mine in Herts managed to buy some neonic treated seed in 2016 to sow an extra field using the NFU’ s derogation. The flea beetle ate it all after they had finished the adjacent fields of untreated seed! I’ve no idea whether the flea beetle were resistant to it or there were simply too many for the insecticide to cope with. Moot point now.

MrNoo · Sep 4, 2018

Re-drilling here tomorrow, 3 fields written off so far, the very early planted stuff is fine pushing along well. Shall up the seedrate and see how we go. Getting bored of growing OSR, I guess it's the challenge I enjoy in getting it away but a challenge doesnt pay the bills, seed invoice arrived this morning just to top it off.
My agron has written a lot of customers fields off this week, some farmers are going to re-drill, others are going with SB, one farmer has written off his total planted area of OSR (he's a large farmer)
Why do we have to blanket kill all surface based insects with multiple sprays, the world has gone mad.

Green oak · Sep 4, 2018

Worst of all for me is I had a bag of campus left over from the year before drilled 7th August looking like this only 3 hectares. The new seed which never got delivered until the 20th,65 hectares is almost a writeoff. Home saving next year if I can be bothered.

Flat 10 · Sep 4, 2018

jkw1706 said:
wow, if you had been allowed to spray this with neonic do you think it would have been more effective?

We didn't spray with neonic, the seed was dressed with it!

Do some research at least.

Flat 10 · Sep 4, 2018

Green oak said:
View attachment 712684 getting on for total destruction. Despite two sprays in three days.

Thats a bummer, sorry. Think mine will make it just. Sprayed once, not planning on going again despite high no.s. What are people using? cyper? I used lambda cyalohathrin I think, not sure it did much good.

Green oak · Sep 4, 2018

Flat 10 said:
Thats a bummer, sorry. Think mine will make it just. Sprayed once, not planning on going again despite high no.s. What are people using? cyper? I used lambda cyalohathrin I think, not sure it did much good.

Hallmark found a few dead ones this morning. But also the very much alive ones. I’m truly gutted because in went in perfectly. Pellets on time. Emergence lovely. Fert predrilling before rain. Spray at dusk when first shot hole was seen. Not a plant without damage.

Heathland · Sep 4, 2018

Haven't suffered to badly the last couple of years,but this year its getting a right old hammering

.
It just looks like @Green oak picture.
Applying slug pellets with the quad bike yesterday and I was covered in the little critters and the sh*tty little blighters bite too.
I did sow at 100 seeds sq/m,so quite a high seed rate plus it was all new seed

Some plants just getting first true leaf while other fields were only planted at the weekend so the battle/worry hasn't started yet.
Haven't sprayed..................yet.

warksfarmer · Sep 4, 2018

jkw1706 said:
Hello all,
I'm doing some research into this issue - I would be grateful for replies on what the extent of the damage is and how the ban on the use of neonicotinoids is effecting farmers in the UK and overall damage to OSR, and what solutions there are (if any?!) to combating this problem following the neonic ban?
Many Thanks
Jemima

Having farm saved the seed all we will loose is the seed cost £5/ha + royalty. We’ve applied 4kg of slug pellets but probably would of done had it been any other crop so not really sure this is a loss as it’s done a job and finally 30kg of Nitrogen which without checking has probably cost £10/ha.

If we loose the crop as we won’t spray for flea beetle then it won’t be redrilled with osr.

I’ve got no idea why anybody is buying new seed for their entire acreages and no idea why anybody is spraying for something you can’t beat. Makes no sense at all and extremely bad for the environment.

Cowmongers · Sep 4, 2018

About to plaster ours with digestate tomorrow which seemed to work well last year although pressure was far less
Fingers crossed
I’ve sprayed once with insecticide but that will be only application
Home saved seed, direct drilled and no pre-em so if have to pull the pin then not a big loss albeit mighty frustrating

Green oak · Sep 4, 2018

warksfarmer said:
Having farm saved the seed all we will loose is the seed cost £5/ha + royalty. We’ve applied 4kg of slug pellets but probably would of done had it been any other crop so not really sure this is a loss as it’s done a job and finally 30kg of Nitrogen which without checking has probably cost £10/ha.

If we loose the crop as we won’t spray for flea beetle then it won’t be redrilled with osr.

I’ve got no idea why anybody is buying new seed for their entire acreages and no idea why anybody is spraying for something you can’t beat. Makes no sense at all and extremely bad for the environment.

What about charlock this block is bad for it. It hasn’t had rape for 12 years. So I thought I would give it ago with clearfield. If I drilled conventional a could be stuck with a even bigger problem. In the long term. Cannot win.

Billboy1 · Sep 4, 2018

Just been out to have a look at some I sprayed yesterday evening and at a guess there’s probably 1 beatle every square metre still chomping away ![emoji35][emoji35]

Bill Turtle · Sep 4, 2018

My Agronomist organised a lecture from Alan Dewar a couple of years ago.
He has been studying CSFB and insecticides. The take home message was that the population are mostly resistant to everything in our armoury, so it is a waste of time and money and selects for even more resistance by applying insecticides.
Alan has a website for his business Dewar Crop Protection.

Flat 10 · Sep 4, 2018

Billboy1 said:
Just been out to have a look at some I sprayed yesterday evening and at a guess there’s probably 1 beatle every square metre still chomping away ![emoji35][emoji35]

That doesn’t sound too bad I had 3 or 4 in an area the size of a dinner plate.

Wombat · Sep 4, 2018

Flat 10 said:
That doesn’t sound too bad I had 3 or 4 in an area the size of a dinner plate.

That after a spray? We had 8-12 in that size on the stubble turnips last night, as its turnips just hoping they can grow through it

2018 - Flea beetle attacks in OSR

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